in my time ive had a few guitars but always come back to strats..i had a les paul but it never felt as good as the strat or as comfortable so i sold it and yet i still want to own one again or a sg just as possessions,i also owed a ricky 330 that i loved just to look at ,again it was sold and i wish i still had it ,and yet lets face it a strat can jangle with the best of em...i had a musicman axis that was nice but not as versitile as a stat and when i got a bargain USA bc rich gunslinger to cover my EVH impersinations it seemed greedy to have both LOL...the fact is that the strat is the most comfortable,versitile guitar ever made i feel that some players will avoid it cos they want another type of image like the les paul look or rickys are popular with indie rock bands,PRS are a compramise (if ya ca afford it!!) ..the truth is if you were stuck on a desert island with only one guitar i bet most players in the know would pick a strat to cover most bases....sure if you can afford it its nice to have brief affairs with other guitars(id love to own another gibson but what with the credit crunch,and UK prices it aint gonna happen for a while even though i have quit smokin LOL) but no one quite cooks like the old girl the faithful strat!!!

FMIC spoiled me at an early age. I had a Fender, wanted something more flashy. Several years and guitars later I am back where I started, Fender. Nothing beats a good FMIC guitar.

RK

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RK

2007 Fender Highway 1
2012 American Deluxe
2015 MIM Dave Murray HHH
2010 Fender Blacktop
1987 Fender Avalon Acoustic
2012 Marshall DSL 15 watt head

[quote="paulpc"]in my time ive had a few guitars but always come back to strats..

Sounds just like EC! As I wrote in another post today, Leo, George, Freddy, and Bill did their homework. Been playing them more than 50 years now.

Must make the exchange rate worth the squeeze.

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"Another day in paradise!"

there is a story that says. "when you start in the music your first guitar will be a strat. With that guitar you will cover all the basic steps in the music (blues, rock, jazz, heavy, etc.) When your taste will grow (and your musical skills too) you will want another guitars to fit that need. Your taste will go from better harmonics to more "rage" sounds. You will experiment with a lot of pedals, amps, mics and cables. In this journey you will want the logical next step..."my custom guitar!"...So, you will want a guitar with a special type of wood for that desing that you want. And of course a type of mics that will fit in this desing with that beatifull color that you always wanted and dreamed. So another tour will be start...a new amps, cables and pedal that suit with this new babe...But one time in the future, you will be very tired and your bones will hurt (of hanging a lot of guitars) you will be back to the strat. And you will be asked by yourself why is so perfect to me "yet"?. Because like an old par of jeans, her weight is perfect, she sounds greats and she is always ready to give you that extra spice that you need. Beacuse she is the one and she will be the one always."
p.s.: sorry for my english!

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"music make peolpe smart..."

Yes they are perfection as is the tele. A very interesting post on Harmony Centrals guitar site which I like because it is a neutral site and I learn and keep up with what is going on outside of the Fender world. It was a pretty long post and it started off by this guy stating he never had GAS for a Strat. Well I was amazed how many guys agreed with him some of the issues were the same as when I crossed over -The middle pick up being in the way when you pick amd the placement of the volume knob. But what shocked the hell out of me was how many guys love the tele and prefer the tele over the Strat. Now it does not matter to me because I love both but I would still have to say the Tele is the most comfortable guitar to play for me.

Gday paulc, I have been hit hard by the love affair I am now having with strats partscasters and creating my own Vinny Pop signature series. I doubt it will ever go away its like a guitar drug I have never had before or experienced. My desease (sic) started 5 months ago when I bought my first strat a 1980 standard natural blonde finish and then I was smacked in the face with the almost nightmare of the Lonely Boy Saga. Now Im building about 4 partscasters and custom strats but I love it. Gibsons just dont seem to turn me on anymore as I did have a 1968 SG once till the neck split.

I would take the tele over the strat comfort wise. But to look at, and listen to, the strat is about as good as it gets!

They do get under your skin. Its an addiction.

Interesting observation considering the intent of the body design with the offset waist and arm relief was to make the guitar more comfortable to play, particularly when seated. My comfort with the Stratocaster has always been the fact that the guitar demands less from the strap and supports the arm. I could never get that comfort from a traditional Tele.

Doc

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"Another day in paradise!"

Now whilst the Tele has its own very particular je ne sais quoi that is absolutely inimitable. I wouldnt say they were more comfortable. More raunchy, more rock n roll, more roadworthy .... yes to any of those. The necks are arguably more comfortable on earlier tele's if you've a penchant for the chunky. I always find the body digs into my forearm though.

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No no and no

[quote="nikininja I always find the body digs into my forearm though.[/quote]

There you go! My objection precisely. My arm always felt that it was 'out there' as opposed to comfortably relaxed against my side. I'll tell you this...PRS has borrowed that to the nines. Their guitars play effortlessly for that reason.

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"Another day in paradise!"

While I do prefer Strats, I don't really mind the box-y shape of the Telecaster, because I play acoustic sometimes. It's really the tone and feel that just don't quite hit the spot for me.

Sometimes I do like a nice humbucker for the crunchy, warm blues and full out rock. I played an Ibanez Artcore two days ago, and while big, it was light and the humbuckers+the feedback+Bigsby=heaven. A phenomenal piece of work, and would definitely compliment a Strat well.


-The Screamin' J

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CURRENT RIG:
2008 Squier bullet stratocaster modified with Rumpelstiltskin pickups -> Dunlop GCB-95 Original Crybaby -> Fender Vibro Champ XD

"Could you take the stain from this pair of pants, and put in on this pair of pants?"

I imagine that my reason for having two strats (my favorite guitar) is I find them the most easy guitar to play (I prefer "C" necks), comfortable way they fit the body (mine), and good sound on top of the first two reasons.

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"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them."-John Wayne

I could never be happy with just one type of guitar I guess I am just a guitar &hore

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The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.

Thomas Jefferson

I agree with the thread title. I have recently tried other guitars after playing strats for years. (les paul like guitars, sg, super strat ibanez and esp, prs, taylor solid body)

I find that none of them feel and sound right to me. The other guitars are great, but not right for me. I know owners of the others same the same thing about the respective brands/models. EC in a forward in a book about stratocasters said the same thing.

The guitar has to feel and sound right. There are lots of things that can be done about the sound: pickups, strings, set up, bridge. There is not a lot you can do about the feel however. The neck shape, angle to the body, feel of the surface, frets, body thickness etc. The feel is inextricably linked to how one plays. and subsequently your own sound.

I have been occasionally distracted by seeing great artists play and temporarily wanting their guitar, but that is the incorrect to advance as a musician. There are lots of great players playing lots of different guitars, because those guitars are right for them. That is the point.

Having said that, the strat style single coil, is the one for me.

Cheers

MK