As some one who is newly falling in love with Strats, I'd like to know from others....Why do you love your Strat(s)? What is it that made you fall in love with them. I personally can't talk to the playability, as I am just a lowly beginner, but I know why I am falling for them. I personally like the futuristic, yet tastefully conservative look, that I haven't seen anything short of an Aston Martin pull off. What I'd really like to know, is why, with so many great guitars on the market, has Fender managed to catch you and keep pulling you back with the timeless Stratocaster?

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"Easy, guys.. I put my pants on just like the rest of you -- one leg at a time. Except, once my pants are on, I make gold records." - Christopher Walken as The Bruce Dickinson

It is the guitar I started with so it has become the one I am most familiar with. to me it has allot to do with comfort. there are no parts that dig into my body, it balance's really well and the controls are in places I naturally reach. they also hold resale value pretty well
there are other guitars that are very good. I myself own some very fine "non strats" but thats what they will always be to me. great guitars but its just not a strat

it is kinda like dogs.... they are all essentially just dogs, but there are some breeds you like and some......... not so much you would much rather take them all home but there is always one that gives you that warm fuzzy feeling

variety is what makes the world go round

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For me its how versatile and comfortable they are. Theres other guitars id much rather have for certain situations, but if i had to have one (which is often the case for gigs as i cant be doing with the constant switching guitars) the strat is so versatile and light and comfortable and just easy to play.

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`I prefer not to listen to music that I can't rip off or improve on` - Ian Dury

Really nothing has the ergonomic feel of a Strat - there is just something about how they hang on you that Leo & his team got right in 1954. They are very versitile in their original SSS configuration.

I have a wrist injury that has forced me to stop playing 25 1/2" scale guitars; I really miss the Strats. I could go with a couple of small builders that do the Gibson scale on stratty instruments, or I'll have to save my pennies and see if the CS will do one.

Hey dreilly1982, great thread and welcome to the forum!

The look is a big part of it but it's more than that - The shape alone is not the complete icon, I mean the name itself is just so cool! Everything about Strats is just right.

And they sound perfect - not as twangy as a tele, not as thick as a Gibson but somehow the way a Strat sounds really helps you say what you gotta say and empowers you in expressing yourself just how you want to. It's a very versatile instrument but that goes beyond having 3 pickups.

One of my favourite things about Strats is the tremolo and its cavity - that mechanism plays a massive part in making Strats feels and sound how they do even if you never take full advantage of it. The way the springs resonate in that chamber add an eery sort of reverb to what you're playing and the fact that the springs absorb some of your attack plays a crucial role in determining the ultimate sound you achieve. It's why I could never understand why people would want a hardtail Strat... to each his own, but for me a Strat has to have a trem.

But the thing I love most about the Strat is when I plug one into a crunchy sounding Marshall amp, select the neck pickup and play the filthiest sounding bluesy rock licks that I can - I feel like the baddest mofo in the world right then.

Strat was my first electric guitar (I was choosing between Les Paul type and Stratocaster type). For me, Stratocaster is guitar which achieved perfection in year 1954 and still is most beautifull and great-sounding guitar. Perfect thing on Strats is, that it doesn't matter what kind of music genre you're playing, from blues to metal, I would use Strat. Good for beginners, good for professionals. Maybe someone doesn't like single coils, anyway, you can buy Strat with humbucker, but for me, strat with humbuckers looks ugly to me. If you're playing on Strat, and you don't love it, maybe it's not guitar for you.

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As far as my solo record, I don't want a gold record or anything, I'm happy to be small and to have the people appreciate the music who really like me for being me.
John Frusciante

That's why.

Cheers - C

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There's nothing more versatile. It's impossible to make a Les Paul sound like a Tele or a Strat -- and I'm sure a lot of Les Paul fans wouldn't even want to do that -- but give me a good tube amp and maybe an overdrive pedal, and I can make crank out some very Paul-like tones with a Strat.

Why a strat? basically for every musical reason you can think of. Tone, versatility, and it can do just about anything, plus if we get the Pete Townshend strat with the fishman thing we'll be able to double on acoustic as well! now how can that be beaten?

Also for me the contoured body is a marvellous thing, the instrument just hugs your body unlike other instruments with their angled edges.

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Luck won't do it and ignorance can't

George Van Eps.

- My first ever proper electric guitar.
- I've always, always owned one- while I've chopped and changed other guitars, there's always been at least one Strat in my stable.
- They're SO easy to modify.
- They come in every flavour conceivable- out of all the Strats I've owned, they've all had their own unique character, voice, look and feel.
- It's so damn good looking. A truly timeless design. Ask any of the great unwashed to draw a guitar, and there's a strong likelihood this is what they'll come up with. It's the same as a Coke bottle, a Mini, or Marilyn Monroe- an icon.
- They've got such a distinctive sound... you can tell when someone's playing a Strat.

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'01 American Deluxe HSS Strat.
'87 Japan HSS Strat.
'11 Custom Shop FMT HSS Strat.

"Without music, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines and dates by which bills must be paid."

They make other guitars?

The stratocaster looks so freakin' sweet! And it is comfortable to hold, they are usually light weight, and they have gorgeous clean tones! And...they come in sunburst! LOL

I love everything about a Strat. The look, the sound, the playability, etc........but the thing that has kept me using Strat's as my main guitars for the last several years is the practicality of the instrument. There's nothing un-neccessary on the guitar. I don't think anything is there "just for looks". It's all got a practical function. I love the location of the volume knob. So convenient. And when you get used to playing a Strat, nothing else ever seems to feel comfortable.

Because Leo got it perfect right out of the box! How did he do that? He listened to actual working musicians about what they NEEDED...and then he went forth and built it. All the reasons listed above just go to show, what a Genius Leo really was. All hail Leo

T2

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What time is it? It's Fender Time.

I have played many guitars in my life. The Stratocaster is the best balanced and least bulky of all the guitars I have played. Why a Stratocaster, because I just love them.

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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