singemonkey
So I've been doing a bunch of gigs in the better part of the last 2 years. All have been in the Western Cape, so maybe things are different elsewhere.
That incredibly well known guitar, the Les Paul, I've seen played by precisely four other gigging musicians besides me: Our Reinhard and Nick, the player in a band called Barre Code, and one time by a guy called John Paine (a nice old early '80s Standard with EMGs that he needs to change out ?). Telecasters... Kevin Floyd... not sure who else. I've seen pics of Manfred playing his wonderful home-made number in CT. Maybe one other person. Our EZ has started gigging so that's one more Les Paul and one more Tele.
I've seen a handful of Ibanez. One 335.
And everywhere, as ubiquitous as a bass drum or a microphone stand... the Fender Stratocaster. Every colour. Every pickup combination. Running through every kind of amp. Every kind of effects board. Played by kids and those who get pensioners rates at the movies. Band after band. Everywhere. Stratocasters. Stretching to infinity like they're trapped between mirrors.
We talk about a lot of different guitars here. But statistically speaking, there is the Stratocaster... and a few outliers.
studmissile
I'd imagine that statement could extend beyond the borders of this forum. The Strat is a incredible versatile instrument, and a pretty safe choice in most situations? Over-exposed or just seriously loved?
Danny-B
There's a very good reason I play a Strat - its the only guitar I feel comfortable playing.
epictring
The exact reason I don't own one. Everyone has one, I find that so boring.
ezietsman
epictring wrote:
The exact reason I don't own one. Everyone has one, I find that so boring.
I'm not going to say "never" but I'm with you.
Manfred-Klose
i can still remember the day when i said i will never play a tele.........
AlanRatcliffe
I avoided them for 15 years after being seriously let down by the crap that was my brand new, top-of-the-line CBS Strat that I saved up for as a teen. Took a few favourable run-ins with some Jap Strats to make me realise what I was missing.
After all, what's not to like? Done properly, they sound good, they're flexible, comfortable to play, eminently modifiable and come in 1001 different flavours.
Dare I say it? They are everything a Les Paul is not... Except expensive... ? (Ducks and runs for cover).
singemonkey
Comfortable and generic. Comes in a range of looks.
Much like a Citi Golf.
nicovlogg
Probably the best mass-produced electric guitar out there. What's not to like? ?
psyx
ez wrote:
epictring wrote:
The exact reason I don't own one. Everyone has one, I find that so boring.
I'm not going to say "never" but I'm with you.
+1
BluJu
I own and love a few finer and more expensive guitars but always revert to my workhorse.
The strat.
Keira-WitherKay
Well like my mother says " the proof of the pudding is in the eating" strats are popular cos they comfortabe/ not too heavy/versatile beyond most other brands/ and consistantly good build quality in the usa made ones ,,,,,,,
however the most wonderful thing about a fender strat is that because of the modular build design they easy to mod with parts that fit avvailable everywhere from scratch plates to bodies and necks and any pup configuration , leo designed it well and its a true working musos tool , not forgetting how damn tough they are and can take a beating even fall of guitar stands which would usually snap off the headstock of most gibson design types ...... And lastly the usa ones play beautifully ,
i hate that strat shape but even when i was looking for an electric solid body jazz guitar after trying various very good guitars i settled on a beautifully playable usa standard '95 stratocaster , being modular i put the humbucker of choice in neck, modded the scratchplate to personalise it and a few other mods that cost very little and i now have a strat working as a jazz guitar ...... But that neck is simply to die for,
so yes strats are not my favourite looking guitars but i can find more reasons to own one as a main gig guitar than not , and believe me i tried a few
Nitebob
Propably not the best person to add here, since I've only had two electrics (and one was a hybrid)...and I know it's not a Fender, but I love my SX strat, I set it up myself, so it behaves the way I'd like it to...
What I used to love about the Les Pauls is that you didn't get "knock off's" like you do with the Bucklay strats etc in other words very cheap copies. You did get Ibanez, which is proper, Cort, which is proper, but then I walked into Cash Crusaders the other day and saw a Sanchez Les Paul...
Bob-Dubery
What's a "strat" these days? Time was when a "strat" was a specific thing - the twin offset shape, the three single coil pickups, the blade switch, the three pots, the trem bridge that you could lock if you didn't want a whang bar.
These days Fender have the most confusing product line in the solar system and a strat might have all sorts of nonsense attached to it - including humbuckers ? I remember seeing one at McGibbon's that had a domed top, bound body, twin humbuckers and a Les Paul style selector switch. It was a strat-shaped Les Paul basically.
So it's no wonder you see so many guitars that have the strat shape and say "Fender Stratocaster" on the headstock. Add in the Squiers and Corts (since you're willing to count a Tokai as a Les Pau) and Gibson's absence from our shores for a while and it's no surprise you're saying more strat-shaped things.
Wizard
X-rated Bob wrote:
... (since you're willing to count a Tokai as a Les Paul) ...
Bob-Dubery
Wizard wrote:
X-rated Bob wrote:
... (since you're willing to count a Tokai as a Les Paul) ...
OK... that one cuts both ways, though my impression was that in SA Tokai sold rather more Love Rocks than Springy Sounds because of the gap in the market.
Another thing: Gibson have been very aggressive going after anybody who makes anything that looks too much like a Les Paul, so would-be copiers have been less keen to make Les Paul shaped guitars.
vic
The Strat is the "flavour of the decade" I guess.
During most of the 60's (post-Marvin) no respectable band was seen with one ? 'cause back then the Gretsch-,Rick-, (ala Beatles and Stones) and Gibson-look were hot.
Jimi and Stevie is to blame !! ?
Bob-Dubery
Vic wrote:
The Strat is the "flavour of the decade" I guess.
During most of the 60's (post-Marvin) no respectable band was seen with one ? 'cause back then the Gretsch-,Rick-, (ala Beatles and Stones) and Gibson-look were hot.
Jimi and Stevie is to blame !! ?
I think the turning point was when people realised that you could mount a humbucker in a Fender. I don't know who started it. I recall seing Sandy Robby (then with Circus) playing such a guitar in the late 70s, and Jeff Beck had used a Telecaster with humbuckers fitted in the mid 70s. Back then this was a mod - Fender hadn't got round to making HSS or HH strats. Anyways... once that started happening you could cover a lot of bases with one guitar and the HSS strat became popular.
Blame Mark Knopfler too. He put that twangy strat sound back in fashion. Even Santana was playing around with that sound for a while.
vic
X-rated Bob wrote:
Vic wrote:
The Strat is the "flavour of the decade" I guess.
During most of the 60's (post-Marvin) no respectable band was seen with one ? 'cause back then the Gretsch-,Rick-, (ala Beatles and Stones) and Gibson-look were hot.
Jimi and Stevie is to blame !! ?
I think the turning point was when people realised that you could mount a humbucker in a Fender. I don't know who started it. I recall seing Sandy Robby (then with Circus) playing such a guitar in the late 70s, and Jeff Beck had used a Telecaster with humbuckers fitted in the mid 70s. Back then this was a mod - Fender hadn't got round to making HSS or HH strats. Anyways... once that started happening you could cover a lot of bases with one guitar and the HSS strat became popular.
Blame Mark Knopfler too. He put that twangy strat sound back in fashion. Even Santana was playing around with that sound for a while.
Yes ! he too ! ?
singemonkey
But the point remains. Alan has a thread on what guitars we'd ideally like to get various flavours for different purposes - something that's really fun about electric guitars compared to orchestral instruments, for example, that vary more on quality than on timbre.
For most gigging musicians out there, the flavour they choose is simply vanilla Strat.
In the USA, Jack White and Dan Auerbach play some zany instruments to get away from the usuals. In SA, you're being almost as radical by playing a Telecaster. ???
I can't help feeling like it's a lack of boldness. You know? Your semi-hollow is great to play at home, but is it acceptable to play anything non-stratish in front of company?
