I am wanting to know what are the reasons to choose one over the other? Both have an American Special model with the Texas pickups which have the sound I am looking for. I do mostly country and gospel and some rock and roll. Which of these is the better choice and why?

Thank you.

Stratocaster, watch Hendrix at Woodstock.

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1984 Squier Contemporary Stratocaster
1986 Peavey Envoy 110
1967 Kingston Acoustic

Welcome.

As far as I'm concerned, there is no more versatile guitar on the planet than a Stratocaster. It is also more comfortable with it's cutaways too.

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You dig?

I own both, I play both and love both. You need to sit down and play both for all applications you are going to use it for and then make your choice from there.
ABS

Why settle for one or the other? I've got a number of each and which I pick up just depends on the kind of day I've having.

Or just merge the two together...

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Dennis in CR
Rockin' since 1963

For the price of an American Strat or Tele you can buy a Mexican made one of each and still have 2 fine guitars with all the tones that you can dream of.Either guitar however would be suitable for your application but the Strat will give you more tonal range.As others suggested your best bet is to sit yourself down with examples of each and let your ears and hands tell you.Happy hunting and welcome to the forum.

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'65 Strat,65 Mustang,65 Jaguar,4 more Strats,3 vintage Vox guitars,5 Vox amps,'69 Bassman with a '68 2-15 Bassman cab,36 guitars total-15asst'd amps total,2 vintage '60s Hammond organs & a myriad of effects-with a few rare vintage ones.

I appreciate the responses so far. I plan to stop in at a guitar center Friday and try a few.. hopefully they will have a good selection.

I'm sure amps play a part... I am waiting on the local guy to get the Acoustasonic 150 in to try out.. that's what I intend to play on if I like it... I play both acoustic and will have the new electric so having one amp that will do both is the way I prefer to go.

Thank you all,

Daniel

A guitar collection is not complete without at least one of each.

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Just think of how awesome a guitar player you could have been by now if you had only spent the last 10 years practicing instead of obsessing over pickups and roasted maple necks.

Another possibility is the MIM Nashville power deluxe tele. It has tele neck and bridge pups and a strat middle pup (all tex/mex) with the strat 5 way switch. It also has Fishman piezo pups which can be played alone, or blended into the mix.
A very nice guitar with a great tonal palette.
cheers,
Alex

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......it's a topsy-turvy world when noses run and feet smell...

As others note, eventually, you'll want one of each type for completeness sake. There's a large overlap in the sound. I have one Strat-type and three Teles (one with regular pickups and 50's switching, one with a neck humbucker and 5-way switching (the neckbucker splits), and one with regular 3-way switching but with a mini-humbucker in the neck.

Although the general consensus is that Strats are more "versatile," that's not true of Nashville Teles or a Tele with a neckbucker that splits, because each of those type Teles can get 5 different sounds, although they won't be the same exact ones a Strat does (though the Nashville will be very close). Even with the 3 traditional Tele sounds (neck, both, bridge), you're still getting a sound (neck+bridge) that's not available on most Strats.

Although I went through a phase where a Strat was my main guitar, I've since come to prefer Teles. Since you like country and gospel, the Tele may be slightly more suited to you.

Tele all the way. Strats are overused.

+1

cheers

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It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting - paulo coelho

I listened to the sound files SK linked to.. but for my ear I didn't hear a real big difference... the Strat sounded louder sometimes but that may have just been volume settings.

What is the opinion on the HSS.. American Special?

Does anyone have the new 150 acoustasonic amp? If so... can they upload an example of how they sound?

If you have trouble stretching the four frets... does the radius make it harder?

How do the jumbo frets affect things?

I appreciate all the input... I like to feel I've made the best choice for me when I do pull the trigger on one.

Thank you again,
Daniel

Thanks SK.. that's good information. I am guessing I won't notice much difference Friday when I try some out. Need to see if the radius or jumbo frets feel right to me.. I'm use to just playing my jumbo Yamaha I've had since I was 14.... 30 years now...


Any opinions on the HSS American Spec. Strat?

Or the Fender 150 amp? Does anyone have one yet?

Thank you.. and Happy Thanksgiving.

Daniel

I like both.

Strat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrTShoJlTac

Tele
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpwpdt3fi8U

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