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Post subject: Re: Your reason(s) for buying a Strat?
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2016 1:19 am
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I already owned and regularly play several other guits that have humbuckers. I've always been a humbucker fan since getting into playing, through my hard rock and metal stages. I've owned a couple of strat-copies over the years and have steady, reliable access to a couple of MIM strats through family that own them, and an old friend let me gig his MIA a handful of times about 8 or 9 years ago now.

Recently I've been growing unhappy with my tone. I knew it wasn't my amp and the pedalboard I'm currently in the process of building is so varied that it wasn't going to be from that either. I started looking for single coil guit and decided I was going to go for one of the "classics." Tossed and turned between strat and tele for a while, tried a few out. And then one day randomly tried out a specific strat and just absolutely fell in love!

Only had her 3 days, but from the tones I've been getting out of her already she's exactly what my collection and playing needed!!

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Post subject: Re: Your reason(s) for buying a Strat?
Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2016 1:26 pm
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Bigsby wrote:
Miami Mike wrote:
This same topic in the Telecaster section has 54 replies and 3084 views (and lots of pics!)

Here it's at (currently) - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ->38 replies and 488 views.

C'mon slackers...lol :D

Fair enough....

When I bought my first Strat in the 80s I was gigging with a single pickup Guild & using a Yamaha SG as a back up. I really wanted something with a slimmer neck than the Yamaha, & more tonal range than the Guild. So I bought a new MiJ Contemporary Strat, HSS, system I locking trem & all black, including the headstock & hardware.

It was an awesome guitar, in every respect, so I traded my Bond Electraglide for a used MiJ with the system III trem in a metallic cream finish. A few years later, with the band broken up, I sold the black one - and it's the only guitar I truly regret selling. I still don't know why I sold the wrong one! I finally sold the cream Strat a couple of years ago, thinking I was no longer into Strats... In truth, it had never been anything special, just had a beautifully engineered trem.

Then a bargain priced MiM in arctic white changed my mind - and I discovered I really do like maple fretboards, not sure why, but I thought I didn't! That new MiM was so cheap I could've sold it with no loss, so it wasn't a gamble. It immediately become my 'most played' guitar, so, tempted by the exceptional versatility the cards offer, I've just bought an American Deluxe Plus, also with a maple fretboard. But I can't let that MiM go - it really does have something special about it and I'm not going to make the same mistake again. :)

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Great story & thanks for sharing. How do you like the 2 point trem/bridge vs the standard?

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Post subject: Re: Your reason(s) for buying a Strat?
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 5:43 am
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When I bought my Strat, I walked into the music store to buy a Tele. I've always wanted a Tele but the heavy music I played begged for humbuckers. That band dissolved and a couple of years later, I was asked to play in a blues rock outfit. I just didn't see my B.C. Rich Bich fitting in, so I went shopping.

I tried most of the Teles in the store in my price range before the guy asked what it was I liked about the Telecaster. I gave him the heavy to blues rock story and mentioned their versatility. He had just gotten a 60th anniversary MIM Strat in Blizzard Pearl as a trade in. Still had the shrinkwrap on the pickguard and trem plate on the back. Used, it was the same price as the MIM Teles I'd been checking out.

I played the Strat for a few minutes, then a couple of the Teles that I thought played the best, then back to the Strat, A/B-ing them until my wife looked about ready to cry from boredom. I walked out with the Strat and it was my main guitar for about 6 years. I still have it but play my PRS SE Tremonti more now since the other guitarist in the band (straight LP guy) moved to another state for his job and his replacement is a strict Strat guy.

I still love my Strat, though. Maybe one day I'll get around to owning that Tele I've wanted since high school.


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Post subject: Re: Your reason(s) for buying a Strat?
Posted: Tue Jul 19, 2016 1:43 pm
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Miami Mike wrote:
Great story & thanks for sharing. How do you like the 2 point trem/bridge vs the standard?

The 2 point is way better in terms of tuning stability, and I can't really work out why. I've begun to wonder if it's possible to loosen the 4 central screws & have the MiM bridge pivot on the 2 outer screws. Though I'm not even sure if that's the reason it's more stable. But it's close to a locking trem, which amazes me!

Currently I'm tempted to do some upgrades to the MiM bridge with Callaham parts - the trouble is the MiM's sustain is sightly better, and more even than the MiA, so I'm hesitating to change anything that might influence that.


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Post subject: Re: Your reason(s) for buying a Strat?
Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 6:43 am
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For myself, the move to Strats was all about feel and sound. When I came back to guitar in my late teens (back around '84), I started off on Les Paul knock offs...and still have my Memphis flat top LP (the ONLY LP style I've ever actually liked). In those early years, I had a couple of LP knock offs, an Explorer knock off and a Rhythmline Tele knock off (serious piece of crap), but sometime in the late 80's I picked up a Kramer (which I also still have), which moved me closer to the Strat feel...she was originally a single HB, now she's a double. By the mid 90's I had played a couple of Strats here and there in music stores...particularly a couple of those mid 80's E-series (I have one of those now too) and became convinced that the "Strat sound" was really what I was looking for. Unlike others, I was never really motivated to play Strats (or any other guitar for that matter) because "so and so played them"...the truth is that folks like Hendrix, Clapton, Gilmour, etc., have all played a variety of different makes/models over the years. At the risk of sounding terribly full of myself, any specific guitar I choose is always about what -I- want out of a guitar.

In '96 I finally decided that yea, that's what I wanted...a Strat, so for my birthday that year, my wife took me around to a few music stores to look at Strats. I musta played a dozen or more that day and finally settled on a brand new ('96) MIM Standard. It was a bit strange at the time, as I didn't really care for the Lake Placid blue - I had really wanted a sunburst and the pickups were really flat sounding, BUT...the feel was just incredible. From the first time I picked her up, it really was like being with an old friend. That same store also had some sort of 50's style/reissue (sorry...I forget the exact model)...lovely guitar with a tobacco sunburst finish and a really great sound, but the feel just SUCKED. I knew I could swap out pickups and such easily enough and for myself, feel is FAR more important than color...so I took home the LP blue that day, now affectionately named "Ol' Blue" and to this day, she's still my #1. In fact, she's actually sitting right here next to my desk at the moment as I have an audition next weekend, so I've been brushing up on my chops :D .

At the moment I actually have 9 Strats in the aresenal...and yes, they are all pretty much setup for different sounds/uses. I don't use Strats exclusively...at the moment I have a really sweet Ibanez Artcore semihollow that I rather adore as well, but when push comes to shove my MIM Strats are my "go to" instruments of choice.

Since it was mentioned, personally I do NOT like the 2 point trems...I really just don't care for the feel at all. To me they just feel WAY to close to a Floyd Rose, which I also really just hate (for locking/dbl locking trems, I prefer Kahlers). The best way I can really describe it is with a car analogy...it's a lot like the difference between Chevy steering and Pontiac steering. Pontiacs, even the big old boats from the days of yore, always had a very tight feel, almost like a race car. By comparison, Chevy steering (for the most part) just feels sloppy...to me that's how a 2 point Strat trem feels - sloppy. Contrary to other comments here, I've NEVER had a problem with tuning stability with the 6 point trems (except for my '99 MIM...she's always been a tad twitchy). While this is true of virtually all electric guitars (or guitars in general), 9/10's of tuning issues with a Strat come down to the setup. As I do my own setups and have for a great many years now, I know how to get what I need out of my instruments. Unless you're prone to doing dive bombs or something, there's no reason at all that a standard 6 point trem shouldn't hold tune well. As to feel, that's all about personal choice...some people do actually prefer Chevy's.


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Post subject: Re: Your reason(s) for buying a Strat?
Posted: Sun Jul 24, 2016 2:56 pm
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Buddy Holly

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Post subject: Re: Your reason(s) for buying a Strat?
Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 1:38 am
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The first electric guitar I ever played, and the only one, until recently, was my Westcoast highschool chum's '62 Daphne Blue Strat. It's feel in my hands and the sound never left my head or my soul. and as I was playing the drums at the time, my interests for the guitar were only put on hold while I owned percussion gear and the fact that my job took up much of my time.

My wife bought me a 12 string which kept me somewhat active in the early 70s, but, again the guitar didn't see me much until I retired. Mrs. FSB gave me a new 2012 American Deluxe 3 tone sunburst Stratocaster.

I was stoked. Mrs. FSB had never heard me play an electric; fortunately, I had remembered some of the 60s tunes I had been taught in my teens, and she was happy that her investment had not been in vain. The rest of the story carries on, and I will always be happy with the Strat, even if more axes are added. To me, a Strat is just so flexible that it finds some way to get and stay in your blood.

Thanks, Leo.

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Post subject: Re: Your reason(s) for buying a Strat?
Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 12:39 pm
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Fender Strat Brat wrote:
The first electric guitar I ever played, and the only one, until recently, was my Westcoast highschool chum's '62 Daphne Blue Strat. It's feel in my hands and the sound never left my head or my soul. and as I was playing the drums at the time, my interests for the guitar were only put on hold while I owned percussion gear and the fact that my job took up much of my time.

My wife bought me a 12 string which kept me somewhat active in the early 70s, but, again the guitar didn't see me much until I retired. Mrs. FSB gave me a new 2012 American Deluxe 3 tone sunburst Stratocaster.

I was stoked. Mrs. FSB had never heard me play an electric; fortunately, I had remembered some of the 60s tunes I had been taught in my teens, and she was happy that her investment had not been in vain. The rest of the story carries on, and I will always be happy with the Strat, even if more axes are added. To me, a Strat is just so flexible that it finds some way to get and stay in your blood.

Thanks, Leo.

FSB


Not only are fortunate to have a great guitar, but a great Mrs. FSB.

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Post subject: Re: Your reason(s) for buying a Strat?
Posted: Mon Jul 25, 2016 4:55 pm
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Lenny1716 wrote:
Fender Strat Brat wrote:
The first electric guitar I ever played, and the only one, until recently, was my Westcoast highschool chum's '62 Daphne Blue Strat. It's feel in my hands and the sound never left my head or my soul. and as I was playing the drums at the time, my interests for the guitar were only put on hold while I owned percussion gear and the fact that my job took up much of my time.

My wife bought me a 12 string which kept me somewhat active in the early 70s, but, again the guitar didn't see me much until I retired. Mrs. FSB gave me a new 2012 American Deluxe 3 tone sunburst Stratocaster.

I was stoked. Mrs. FSB had never heard me play an electric; fortunately, I had remembered some of the 60s tunes I had been taught in my teens, and she was happy that her investment had not been in vain. The rest of the story carries on, and I will always be happy with the Strat, even if more axes are added. To me, a Strat is just so flexible that it finds some way to get and stay in your blood.

Thanks, Leo.

FSB


Not only are fortunate to have a great guitar, but a great Mrs. FSB.
Thanks. Lenny. Mrs. FSB smiled when I passed your kind words on. She is definitely a keeper and she is still
a step above the Strat. :D

FSB

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Post subject: Re: Your reason(s) for buying a Strat?
Posted: Fri Aug 12, 2016 10:57 am
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Because it's the COOLEST guitar model ever.

There are different models, some of them equally good or classic, but to my very own personal taste, no other guitar beats the strat in sounding amd looking cool.

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Post subject: Re: Your reason(s) for buying a Strat?
Posted: Sun Aug 14, 2016 6:59 pm
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Image[/quote]

Ditto on the Buddy Holly. I'll drink to that!

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Post subject: Re: Your reason(s) for buying a Strat?
Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2016 10:26 am
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Beautiful guitars here guys. This is my baby. She may not not look like much, but this guitar is the best feeling and sounding strat I've played. I remember I went into GC once looking to trade it in for something a little newer and anytime I compared another strat, this one just blew the others out of the water. Why buy a strat? Well when I first got this one, it was because I was really getting into SRV and Hendrix, like most to everyone else here. However, if I were to buy this guitar today, it'd be because it simply fits like a glove.

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Post subject: Re: Your reason(s) for buying a Strat?
Posted: Fri Sep 09, 2016 12:10 pm
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It feels great and comfortable to play whether I'm standing or sitting. The 9.5 radius C neck feels ultra natural to my large hand with relatively small fingers. That single coil note attack. The variety of cool tones from 3 pups with a 5 way switch. The unique tone of the second switch position, and the sweet singing mid range of the neck pup.
The way the whole body vibrates when strumming chords. I love that it can sing clean and sweet like an angel, but can become a downright mean and dirty demon when your exorcising your blues.

It's elegant in it's simplicity of construction. It's beautiful with it's flowing feline flow. And it amazes with it's complexity of tone.
I didn't get my first Strat until 1991. I had been playing for about a decade by then. I loved my 1983 Gibson Explorer II with it's thick and creamy "velvet brick" humbuckers, ebony fret board, antique cherry finish on a flamed maple top. But, like a FOOL I sold it around 1990 when Gibson's were not selling for much. I was then adrift playing soul-less Charvels and Jacksons, until I discovered the Fender American Strat Plus Deluxe in crimson burst with rosewood fingerboard and Lace sensor pups. I HAD TO have it and I did. I have it to this day and will NOT sell it.

I am now looking for another new Strat with more traditional pups. But, I don't know which one. I like the Eric Johnson Strat in turqouise or the Jeff Beck model in surf green.
I REALLY REALLY want a new Strat in either seafoam/surf green or daphne blue or tropical turquoise.
Rosewood fingerboard.


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Post subject: Re: Your reason(s) for buying a Strat?
Posted: Sat Sep 10, 2016 5:58 am
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Rverb wrote:
.I REALLY REALLY want a new Strat in either seafoam/surf green or daphne blue or tropical turquoise. Rosewood fingerboard.


Splurge!! Nix the rosewood and find yourself someone who is selling one of those LTD Daphne Blue Clapton's. :idea:
Helluva guitar! 8)

Doc :wink:

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Post subject: Re: Your reason(s) for buying a Strat?
Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 6:24 am
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As a teenager reading Guitarist and International Recording World the Strat always seemed like "The" electric guitar shape. Les Pauls seemed a bit too conventional, the SG a bit unbalanced and Explorers and Vs just plain silly.

I played a friends Les Paul and was really disappointed. It still had the scratch guard fitted and this really seemed to get in my way.

My pocket money eventually saw me to an Avon SG copy. It was an electric, didn't look too way out and played OK. Perhaps it was good that it wasn't a cheap Strat copy as this might have put me off them.

I then started an apprenticeship, was playing in a few bands and had a bit of money to buy a new guitar. It came down to a toss up between a new 25 Anniversary Strat and an Aria TS500. I perhaps chose the wrong one but, in retrospect, I understand the 25th Anniversary Strats weren't great guitars.

The Aria promised to be all things to all people; 24 fret neck, active electrics, coil tapped humbuckers and more combinations of tone then you could think of. This was a good thing as I had a Marshall MV50 who's tone controls did next to nothing.

The Aria served me well for a good number of years. I became a Company Director, was married and had little time to play but plenty of money. I changed jobs and my new MD was a wannabee drummer with a mate who played keyboards and a cover band was formed. We played a lot of standards and Radio 2 stuff.

I'd always liked Hank Marvellous and it annoyed me that, despite all the tonal variations available, the Aria failed to get that exact tone I was looking for. I was also very much into EC by this time and decided it was time for my own "Blackie".

My first foray into purchasing a Strat. I knew I wanted an American but didn't appreciate the significance of the EC signature model and, being surprised by the price, bought a black Standard with a maple neck instead. I perhaps made the wrong choice (again) as I now can't justify an EC though would dearly love one.

My Blackie served me well for 21 years with no thought of wanting or needing another guitar. Two homes then prompted the purchase of a substitute guitar to avoid constantly moving Blackie - CW was purchased.

Then it seemed like a good idea to have a guitar upstairs and downstairs - just an excuse to get one of the ridiculously good value limited edition "10 for 15" hard tails. An outstanding guitar for the money and has now allowed Blackie a venerable semi retirement as upstairs guitar having purchased Odee as my downstairs guitar.

Blackie will always be my first love. His frets are shot and nut worn down. His PUPs lack the character of Hardtail, Odee, or (now) CW. With Hardtail and Odee feeling lighter he feels a bit weighty and doesn't have Odee's fantastically compact and tactile neck but Blackie is still that faithful old collie dog. I very much hope we will be together in another 21 years or more.

So what's next? Well I can't justify another guitar and, as a freelance draughtsman, can't afford anything exotic. If I won the lottery (unlikely as I don't do it) I would have to get "the one that got away" and get a reasonable 25th Anniversary. And if I had a 25th I aught to have a 50th to keep it company. Then there is the other one that got away in the EC I didn't get.

After that Odee has opened my eyes to the true glory of the Classic Strats and I could easily spend many thousands on better reproductions or even originals.

It is nice to dream but, in honesty, I am very content with my current collection and don't really feel a need to extend it .... an AVRI would be nice though ;-)

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