Absolutely Trauma.

Why on earth would I want to listen to someone so ignorant as to make that statement.

If I wanted to listen to fools I'd go to labour party rallies. Atleast then I'd get a cup of tea for nothing.

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No no and no

The more complete Hendrix quote was: "The Stratocaster is the best all-round guitar for the stuff we're doing. You can get the very bright trebles and the deep bass sound. I tried Telecaster and it only has two sounds, good and bad, and a very weak tone variation."

I used it in a previous post. I believe it came from the Electric Gypsy book (the Hendrix bible, actually), though the original source might have been an interview for Guitar Player magazine. I'd have to check at home if anyone really wants to know.

The whole "good and bad" thing is weird. There are, of course, the myths about him using a Tele for "Hey Joe" or "Fire" or "Purple Haze," but that's been covered before, with no real proof if he did.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

Niki, if you want to get rid of your Hendrix stuff, I got you right here. :]

I am not a big Hendrix fan, so I don't have a reason to defend him or his beliefs. But, I think that "telecaster has only two sounds" thing doesn't have anything to do with three or five way switches or pickups. I think what he figuratively tried to say was that he could get either good or bad sound from a tele, and that it wasn't really his cup of tea. That's how I understood it.

I have just started to "reveal" such greats on telecaster as Danny Gatton, Brent Mason (now Valley Arts signature model based on his modified telecaster), and some others that I find are changing my perspective on teles significantly. It's not that I thought they were bad, I am just a strat guy so I have never really thought about them. I do now.

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"If you're on a path that's beaten, it's not your path." Joseph Campbell

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

"All that is impossible remains to be achieved."
Jules Verne

www.stratcollector.com

Someone who gets it.

Teles are an objectively more challenging guitar. I respect folks also like Jim Campilongo and consider him an influence/inspiration...

From my perspecctive, what made Hendrix great was playing a Strat simply as a guitar...with emphasis on rhythm...

There's a good chance that every one of our guitar heroes, from whatever genre you choose, has verbalized something that we would vehemently dispute and find ignorant. My guess is that there'd be no guitar heroes at all if we chose to write them off and stop listening to their music because of their opinions. While I'm not a superhuge Hendrix fan I do think he's entitled to his opinion about guitars. YMMV.

the thing is with telecsters - they are beautiful in their simplicity. So much so that I think it encourages you to play/feel more with your hands than with the gear effects amp etc to get sounds. They're so raw, and yet so full of amazing tone.

Strats are great, no doubt, but equally clinical I find, and in a way thats why the tele will always win in my books, even though I won a strat now - they lack the passion and raw fire of a tele.

I do agree that Teles indeed out of the box have a more "raw" sound. I do think, though, that a lot of players take that for some kind of statement about themselves and their playing. Fine. The whole "Teles sound bigger than Strats thing..." has been going on for quite some time. I'll agree to that because I think it's objectively true.

Passion and Teles? Well, passion isn't the easiest thing to define, really. And it's hard for me to connect stuff like volume swells, squeals, and chicken pickin' with passion. Even in a great living player like Campilongo (whom I admire) they can verge on "effects" and gimmicks, but I think he employs them with a sense of wit. IMO, Strats have little need of effects since besides a trem there's a built in acoustic almost reverb quality.

If you get a hold of that Telecaster book where it seems they try to catalog everyone whoever played on a Tele, you'll note that even the Telemasters like Burton, Gatton, and Lee ended up esp. through pickup swaps with BIG workarounds to the challenges of a "vintage" set up. True for Strats too. But esp. with Burton, things get pretty Straty and with Gatton, almost humbuckerish and Lee he ended up playing Strats.

Fender himself worked tirelessly on the Tele into the ASAT which when it comes down to it has more in common with a P-90's guitar and something like a Strat.

I think in my own playing I am learning to rethink stuff like "cutting through" and even how extensive rhythm really is...

and as a somewhat reformed Strat-basher, believe me I get the complaints and observations and more commonly simply preferences of others...

Frankly I think guitar playing itself is overrated and that "backing up" is as really good as it gets...

Much of the rest, esp. in isolation becomes "guitarists for guitarists" and that the natural emphasis should always be (and will always be) on vocals and rhythm...on songs.

With that said, they're both great guitars. But neither one is inherently more passionate. That comes from the person playing not the unearned, automatic bigger sound of a guitar that's more "raw."

That's why when you go to a Guitar Center and listen to some kid playing heavy distortion, he or she's not a "bigger" guitarist.

As far as the Strat being "cliche" yeah I'll go along with effects saturated chrus stuff (which inlcudes Andy Summers on a Tele!) and out of phase (and even Knopfler) but believe me the whole "Indie" thing and everything under the sun has already been done...

Plabius,
Great resource, thanks for sharing.

Cheers,
John.E

Hendrix was good. He was amazing of his time. I've listened to Hendrix so much that I've burned myself out on him. I don't personally think he is the best thing next to sliced bread but he was and is influencial on musicians all around. It's what he was able to do with the strat that was amazing. He played one because that was the guitar he loved. Just like James Burton played a tele. It did job and for him it did the job well. I played a strat for years then went to a tele for years both time pretty much avoiding the other at alll cost so I could concider myself a tele player or a strat player exclusivly. But now I play switch hitter. Whichever one fits the bill. In one band I play a tele and on the other a strat. And let's not forget that everything besides information on how to fix or adjust a guitar in these forums is mostly opinion and everyone is entitled to it even if the others don't care much for it.

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"coretta" '71 tele thinline
"domino" '97 lonestar strat
"marie" squire strat
"lexy" jag-stang
"owa" martin 000

tone=fingers; fingers=tone

Essentailly agreed. I think playing the guitar you love to play is simply the way to go.

With that said, I think being overly self-conscious about being a "Strat player" or a "Tele player" gets most people into trouble, especially when it amounts to simply a rehash of whomever...

What I find more annoying and more recently amusing is the whole "statement" many still continue to see in what string gauge they play...

string gauge is just another preference. I've played the same gauge for years cuz I'm used to it. If I go down to the smallest size I end up bending strings when I play chords so I'm not in time with myself let alone a band and if they are to large I can bend but 1/4 steps. So it's a preference.

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"coretta" '71 tele thinline
"domino" '97 lonestar strat
"marie" squire strat
"lexy" jag-stang
"owa" martin 000

tone=fingers; fingers=tone

Never a big Hendrix fan, myself. My current project guitar is a MIK Telecaster with P94s and have a tough time getting good tones out of it. Thats why its my project, I guess. I am thinking some lower output pups might help me dial in some good sounds. Overall, I have not had much luck with my 2 telecasters. For the record, I didnt care for my first couple of Stratocasters, either. In my limited run with teles, it has been difficult to find the tones that I am looking for. Maybe Hendrix had the same problem?

Go lower output...

For me, the issue with Teles is quite simple. I really can't get beyond the benchmark sound of a 52 Reissue or thereabouts. That's as good as it gets. I realize that's my problem...