Well for me I think it was something of an evolution more than anything else...quite a bit of trial and error.

At first I played whatever I could really get my hands on...I had always wanted an "electric" as a young kid buy my folks would never get me one so when I was 17 and was working my first day job I went out and bought my first electric guitar...which was a -serious- POS to say the least (it was a Kay and it wasn't really even a clone of anything...just a cheap slab of wood with a pickup on it). Shortly after that I got a Memphis LP copy with I still have today. Now it was funny as for a long time I thought I really liked LP's but I found out that I didn't care for other LP's or "real" LP's...I liked -mine-. The thing about my Memphis is that first it's a flat top...NOT and arch top and second, even though the pickups look like humbuckers, they're actually single coils...she actually sounds more like a Tele than anything.

Anyways, after having played that old Memphis LP for a few years I happened in to a Kramer...it was one of the Striker models like EVH played back in the 80's (although not nearly as nice as Eddie's). The guitar had one humbucker which I later routed the body to ad a second and she was really my main guitar until around '96. So that was really my introduction to the Strat shape. At this point I still couldn't really find any Strat dealers around me so I had never really played a genuine Strat by this point. Then places like Cleveland Music and later Guitar Center opened and suddenly I had access to Strats and after playing my first Strat, I was pretty much hooked.

Now it's probably also worth noting that when I got my first Strat back in '96 (birthday present from my wife), I had actually been looking at 2 Strats...the one I have now and some sort of 50's reissue. The RI sounded just full and lush and I even liked the sunburst body and all. The '96 MIM actually sounded a bit flat and I really didn't care for the Lake Placid blue...but it just felt so fantastic to play...the RI just felt awful to me. I've done a lot of work on the '96 MIM over the years and she now sounds the way I want her too and she still feels wonderful...and over the years I've even grown to actually like the Lake Placide blue, LOL!!!

So for me I guess it's about feel first. I just like the way a good Strat with the right neck feels. In my years I've played -a lot- of guitars and honestly axes like LP's and ES335's and such just feel wrong to me...I just don't like arch tops. They just are not comfortable for me to play. Second is the versatility issue...with a bit of work you can get a Strat to sound like just about anything and they really are great instruments for everything from country and blues to jazz and metal...Strats are good, all around, general purpose instruments. Over all they do the job that I need them to do and they seem to do it a lot better than a great many other instruments out there...for me.

That all said, I would also have to add that asking "why Strats" is really very much like asking "Why HP instead of IBM?" or "Why RCA instead of Zenith?" or "Why Canon over Nikon?"...a lot of it is quite obviously about personal taste and nothing more. A lot of people will play one brand/style of guitar over another because perhaps their favorite guitar player did/does or that's what their teacher played or because they've developed some since of brand loyalty or a hundred other reasons. Personally I play them because that's just what I like. Why do I like them? Why do I like the color yellow? Why do I like dogs better than cats? Why do I like ham on my pizza when other people like pepperoni (I can't stand pepperoni!)? Why do I like Nike over Reebock? Why do I like black lights and lava lamps? Why do I like overly endowed women? The eternal question burns on and on

Peace,
Jim

Top Ten Reasons:
1- Great design
2- Not as heavy and bad on your back as a Gibson Lester
3- You can get many more sounds out of it
4-Cheap guitar stands and broken necks..4 bolts and your done with a new neck
5- More upgrades for a Strat, humbuckers, blocks , ect.
6- Sounds great with various amps
7- Looks like a womans body
8-Almost everyone, even the Les Paul players have one in there collection
9- Clapton, Beck, SRV, Buddy Guy and the list goes on
10- Why not, it's like asking why take a breath

I must admit that I gravitated to the Strat because Jimi Hendrix and George Harrison played one but once I started playing my 1st Strat in 74 it was like it was custom made for me.Right from the start the Strat felt great in my hands and the contouring fitted my body like a well tailored suit.The sound of the Strat also was the best that I'd ever heard from any guitar,so that's why I chose and still choose Strats.

_________________
'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.

For me the Stratocaster symbolizes Rock-n-Roll. The shape of it and the way it looks and sounds. Even though I like other guitars for me there is no other guitar.

I love them because of the multiple voices. Neck has blues or jazz or mojo, the softer quack of the neck and middle or the lightly brighter middle, the honk'n tonk'n of the bridge and the middle and then the biting Tele type tone of the bridge. My LP just can't do that. Plus there is the spring harmonics and the ability to dive a whole octave if your feeling a little crazy.....

_________________
Xhefri's Guitars
www.xhefriguitars.com

for me it was that all my guitar heroes played them. my dad got me a natural 1974 with a factory bird's eye maple neck for graduation. i kept it until i needed money to finish school. i'm glad i finished school but miss that guitar. in my mind that was THE perfect Strat. there has never been a Strat that didn't feel good when i've held them. now i have 3 Strats, an 89 AmStd with a floyd i got at a pawn shop, a mim that i turned into a psuedo gilmour, and a 60th anniversary mim white lefty that was abused by somebody, burnt headstock and chipped up.i got a right handed nut on it but it is hard to get used to. its like the cord gets in the way or something. makes mre appreciate jimi even more. if i had a dream guitar it would be a midnight wine maple neck abalone inlay 3 bolt big headstock beauty. an RT signature strat. Maple neck Stratocasters rule. Now i'm puttiing together my ebay special parts guitar.i'm going to paint it mirage ice and see how that turns out.

I started playing in the seventies and most of the top players played Strats or Les Pauls. This was before Squires and Epiphone LPs. Most young players had Univox copies like I did. My first genuine guitar was a used Strat. I thought it was harder to play than Gibsn style guitars but I loved the sound. I sold it to return to school. Later ender up with a LP. Too heavy and limited tonally for the styles of music I was playing. Went to a so called Japanese superstrat. A Suntech. Brilliant instrument. Ebony fretboard, brass hardware, neck thru ect.. Doesn't sound like Strat. I have had a few different guitars including a pink flying v rewired by Joe Naylor but I always end up home with strats. They just feel natural to me. For me Strats are like Vettes (I'm a Vetteguy too) they've got character and are even better when modded.

It's a design and "feel" thing for me.

Strats balance darned near perfectly, they are comfortable as heck to play, and they look good.

No other guitar out there has all that going for it (except Strat copies of course)

_________________
"Life is like eating jalapenos. What you do today may burn your arse tomorrow"

1. It's the perfect electric Guitar.

Strats get you your own true individual tone. I own a Les Paul, and when I play it, I feel like it sounds like every other Les Paul and I sound like every Les Paul player. My Strat is an American Standard that I put a Deluxe Neck on. I replaced the volume knob to a silver Telecaster one because I feel like it's more precise for live shows when I'm constantly switching up and down and works better when I rotate it with my pinky. Basically, you can turn your Strat into anything you want and in doing so achieve a unique looking and sounding axe.

I really dig my PH strat. I have the dark metallic blue with maple neck. It is one of my favs. I want to get another... carmel metallic maple.

Back in the day... for me it had and was a black beauty/fretless wonder Les Paul Custom circa 59-61. In early 70's you could pick them up for under $500, out in the midwest,(indiana) no one wanted the Custom's.
However it was like strapping a railroad tie to your shoulders. Great sound but who can play when you are screaming for a chiropractor.

I still have regrets about having sold it in 93 (monetary only).
Today I play a 2001 custom shop "56 NOS reissue" sunburst and a 2001 MIM ,which I replaced the pups with SCN's, sperzel locking tuners, different pickguard and voila!!!
I also have an old J.B. Player strat. copy which is awaiting a new body and hardware. (winter project). this has single coils neck/middle and humbucker at the bridge with single to dual coil switch. (Carvin pickups).
The two Fenders have maple necks, the J.B.Player has a rosewood neck.
The beauty of strats is that as Leo Fender was an engineer, he designed the guitars from an engineer's viewpoint of creating a better mousetrap with guitarist's feedback which lets us replace or experiment with every part of a strat in seeking a better instruments for our individual needs.
Try that with a Les Paul.

As far as hero's... T. Bolin, K. Simmonds, R. Montrose, Dave Peverett, Gary Richrath, Phil X, etc... etc...

Back in the day... for me it had and was a black beauty/fretless wonder Les Paul Custom circa 59-61. In early 70's you could pick them up for under $500, out in the midwest,(indiana) no one wanted the Custom's.
However it was like strapping a railroad tie to your shoulders. Great sound but who can play when you are screaming for a chiropractor.

I still have regrets about having sold it in 93 (monetary only).
Today I play a 2001 custom shop "56 NOS reissue" sunburst and a 2001 MIM ,which I replaced the pups with SCN's, sperzel locking tuners, different pickguard and voila!!!
I also have an old J.B. Player strat. copy which is awaiting a new body and hardware. (winter project). this has single coils neck/middle and humbucker at the bridge with single to dual coil switch. (Carvin pickups).
The two Fenders have maple necks, the J.B.Player has a rosewood neck.
The beauty of strats is that as Leo Fender was an engineer, he designed the guitars from an engineer's viewpoint of creating a better mousetrap with guitarist's feedback which lets us replace or experiment with every part of a strat in seeking a better instruments for our individual needs.
Try that with a Les Paul.

As far as hero's... T. Bolin, K. Simmonds, R. Montrose, Dave Peverett, Gary Richrath, Phil X, etc... etc...

Why a Strat?....simply comfortable and the TONES!

Because they feel good.......................to me