Ok, so as I slide down the leeward side of the mountain of life, I am seized by the desire to do that which I have never fulfilled. A few of these are to own: 1) a Martin acoustic (done 10 years ago with a D16 that has great tone, and a very excellent satin finish neck), 2) a Fender Stratocaster in 3-tone sunburst, made in the US, 3) a Gibson Les Paul (maybe too much money, but I'm thinking Goldie), and 4) a Blue Corvette (way too much money! ).
Now if I could just order up some actual talent too.
I did not play guitar, but I taught myself some chords and play Christmas music for my family on the Martin. The Gibson and the Corvette are too extravagant (well...maybe the Gibson). But I finally purchased that Strat on EBay. I took a chance on a 2004 Made in the U.S.A. sunburst, with tremolo. I am very impressed (I am a newbie, though) with the tone. I have one problem that I will detail in another post, if that's OK.
After that ramble, I have a question for the group. WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS THE GREATEST SONG RECORDED WITH THE CLASSIC STRAT TONE? For me it would have to be the Bobby Fuller Four, and Bobby Fuller, on "I Fought The Law". That Strat is absolutely perfect! Anyone know how he did it? What amp was he using?
I have tried to mimic this riff, and just can't seem to get it. From the movies on YouTube, it looks like an open F-chord shape up the neck. And the chordal solo, forget it, I am totally lost. You would do an old(er) man a real favor if you could help me play this song EXACTLY as Fuller does it (I may not have the amp for it, it's a Champ 110).
I have lurked in here for some time, trying to get tips before I went for the EBay Strat (it's a little beat up, but I like to think a real musician used it to make real music). I am astonished by the knowledge of the "locals" in here. I just wanted to thank all of you. I have gained much insight from your knowledge. Now, if you could just osmose over some of your talent, I would be eternally grateful !

More GRUNT to us old blokes. The joy of owning a Strat is beyond mere words. I belt mine thru a 40 watt deluxe. And it makes a great racket, the neighbours just LOVE me. The solo on Machine Gun, Jimi Hendrix, Band of Gypsies is the tone that pushes all the right buttons, for me. Some may dissagree, but thats good, promotes healthy debate.

David Glimours solos on Comfortably Numb...

At the great personal risk of being banished permanently to bogie land -

Rory Gallagher's Deuce album for me is the classic Strat sound .... pure and clean with no treble boosters, wah's , screamers, etc. The second track " Used to Be" starts off with a huge A7 chord and Gallagher utilizes
the entire fretboard to get nasty bass runs and the metallicky upper notes that really shows the Strats possibilities. I GUARANTEE ANYONE who plays or likes guitar ( Strats in particular ) will be amazed at this . The # 10 track " Crest of a Wave" is one of the greatest slide guitar performances in rock - right up there with Duane Allman, Sonny Landreth, Leonard Skynards " Free Bird " !

ps- on the back is a really cool picture of Gallagher tuning his guitar !!

I second that one.

David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler, & SRV

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04' American Strat w/ interchangeable SCN pups & EMG DG-20 pups through a Red-Knob Twin

ROBIN TROWER'S "BRIDGE OF SIGHS".

Everyone says that...



Because it's pretty close to the truth. Gilmour was the ONE person that made me want to get a Strat.

Other great examples:
Hendrix, (along with Machine Gun mentioned earlier) with the Bold as Love solo- the tone on that is just fantastic...

John Fruscante (or however the hell you spell it) has some fantastic tone on te new Chili Peppers album- Wet Sand is a favorite...

Joe Walsh with Hotel California

Mark Knopfler- Sultans of Swing


My favorite tone on however, is on this Gilmour clip from "The Strat Pack DVD":

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3W6hBI1SAL4

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There is no such thing as a stupid question, but there sure are a lot of inquisitive idiots in the universe...

How about the cats & dogs ?????

don't forget The Beatles " Nowhere Man" - one of their first recordings with a Stratocaster - still good after 40+ years !!


Buddy Holly's " Peggy Sue" is a classic Strat sound !!! Then again most of his stuff is classic R & R !!!!!!!!!!

What about the surf sound? Dick Dale? The early 60's (pre Beatles) was ripe with classic strat tone.

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"is that a real poncho...i mean
Is that a mexican poncho
Or is that a sears poncho?
Hmmm...no foolin ...." FZ

Stevie Ray's version of Little Wing.

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"Music is really a way to reach out and hold onto each other in a healthy way." --Stevie Ray Vaughan

Agreed. Dick Dale took Strats and reverb to a whole new level.

There's just too many strat tones to choose from. Jimi, Trower, SRV, Surf, Mark Knopfler, George Harrison, David Gilmour....etc. I'm just happy the strat is such a versitile instrument.

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"is that a real poncho...i mean
Is that a mexican poncho
Or is that a sears poncho?
Hmmm...no foolin ...." FZ

Frank showing what he can do with a strat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgdtOPL0ZEU

_________________
"is that a real poncho...i mean
Is that a mexican poncho
Or is that a sears poncho?
Hmmm...no foolin ...." FZ