Let's have out with it: the Stratocaster is seriously over-exposed

singemonkey · 2012-10-08T20:52:07+00:00

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.

AlanRatcliffe

singemonkey wrote
Nitebob wrote Not playing strats, simply because a lot of other people do, is like saying I'll have a fondue because everybody else is braaing....doesn't make a braai any less fun, or a fondue any more fun...

Maybe I should take cover...
Or is it more like saying I won't have a fondue because everyone else seems to be braaing... I better do likewise?

No it's not. I'm with Nitebob on this one. Silly reason not to consider a guitar.

singemonkey

Nobody's being put off them because they're too popular, clearly. I'm suggesting the opposite. People are drawn to them because they're popular. The safe choice.

vic

singemonkey wrote Nobody's being put off them because they're too popular, clearly. I'm suggesting the opposite. People are drawn to them because they're popular. The safe choice.

But clearly there's a reason/s WHY they're sooo popular. See the pro-strat posts above.....Great guitars....I have one too :-[ ?

arjunmenon

singemonkey wrote Nobody's being put off them because they're too popular, clearly. I'm suggesting the opposite. People are drawn to them because they're popular. The safe choice.

Not necessarily Singe.
Most guys who own Strats will tell you that they probably played through a whole bunch of them before they found the #1.

Someone mentioned a few things going for the Strat previously...

1. It is very very mod-friendly
2. It is lighter than an LP
3. Has a fulcrum style bridge that can be set up floating or flush against the body
4. Has 3 knobs instead of 4
5. The pickup selector placement is (IMO) much better than an LP
6. No twin humbucker guitar can do a really good single-coil...but throw in humbuckers on a Strat (albeit after a scratchplate swap) and you're sorted.
7. It is a whole lot more comfortable to play than an LP

As for being able to identify a Strat on a record, i'll bet you could do the same with LPs.

Disclaimer : I don't own a Strat...but i've played some LPs and some Strats. Strats FTW

Warren

A Les Paul player is calling Strats the "safe choice"? Colour me amused ?

I'd call both Strats and Les Pauls a "safe choice". They're essentially the same old instruments Fender and Gibson were knocking out sixty years ago, in terms of basic design.

Any modern high-end "super Strat" (Ibanez, PRS, Suhr - whatever) will kick serious Strat / LP ass in terms of sheer playability, versatility and even build quality. And how about 7 or 8 string guitars, with fanned-frets and other "newfangled" bits and pieces.

With modern amps, effects and pickup options, you can get almost any kind of tone out of almost any kind of guitar. I didn't, for example, go into a music shop one day looking for a Strat. I just fell in love with one. I'm not sure how scientific other people are when guitar shopping, but speaking for myself: I head out the door knowing I need to get something with strings on it.

That said: a decent higher-end Strat is comparitively cheap when stacked against other brands. My American Standard cost me around R15k or so (I think), whereas I'd be heading into the 20s for a new Les Paul standard (based upon LP pricing last time I checked) and that's after discount. American-made PRS guitars, Music Man etc. all start appearing around the same mark, from what I've seen. The Strat makes a good argument for a workhorse guitar: lots of versatility with a strong pedigree that won't break the bank, and is easy enough to fix up if you drop it on its ear.

That said, I think players in general could do well to branch out beyond Strats, LPs and Teles...it's pretty ironic that the electric guitar (once called the most blasphemous instrument on the face of the Earth, by Frank Zappa) is still stuck in the '50s and '60s...or maybe that's just us players. ?

ZarK

Arjun Menon wrote

?

I usually prefer more subdued/vintage solid colours on a Strat but fcuk thats HOT!

Tokai-SA

Ducking for cover......... ?

I've never heard a guitarist playing a Strat live that sounded better than when the same guitarist plays his Les Paul or Tele live...through the same amp.

Then again, I've never seen or heard a better live guitar performance than David Gilmour on "Pulse".

Chabenda

Come on Singe, put the strap on her, sling her around your neck, plug her into your favourite amp, catch a dop and listen to her calling......."Aaaw Singebaby....Aaaw Singe.. tell it to Mama.. Mama feels your pain...ooh, do it to me baby..." Before long you'll be famous. ? you would call her 'Epiphany'.

Chabenda

Tokai SA wrote Ducking for cover......... ?

I've never heard a guitarist playing a Strat live that sounded better than when the same guitarist plays his Les Paul or Tele live...through the same amp.

Then again, I've never seen or heard a better live guitar performance than David Gilmour on "Pulse".

Hear, hear!

ZarK

@Arjun & Shreddy: for the most part a solid +1

The irony in my case is that I had to go through quite an extended process that included purchasing and living with some very elaborate high-end guitars, just to end-up falling in love with a guitar I once used to openly dismiss... The more traditional models are almost pale in comparison to some, yet the one I have offers me all the feel, tone and inspiration that I could ask for -and then some... Understated and unpretentious... There are a few guitars I've really grown to appreciate but my Fender Strat is definitely the one that caught me unawares and subsequently managed to change my approach to guitars in general...

vic

Check this out....some good reading here ?

http://chazmatthews.blogspot.com/2011/12/in-defense-of-fender-stratocaster.html

"And let's remember, it's not what guitar you play, but what you play on that guitar, that counts."

ZarK

Vic wrote
Check this out....some good reading here ?

http://chazmatthews.blogspot.com/2011/12/in-defense-of-fender-stratocaster.html

"And let's remember, it's not what guitar you play, but what you play on that guitar, that counts."

+1 As you said, some good reading indeed - and spot-on quote...

Miemie

Isn't it just possible that at least some of these strat players have a Les Paul at home, but because of the OTT pricing on Gibson, feel they are too "precious"
to gig with?

Kalcium

For me its simply a case of whether you are playing clean or dirty...For RAWK and blues, LP's are great, unbeatable even. But if im wanting to strum some rhythm with a clean tone, humbuckers just don't quite cut it, its like a mini blanket over the amp type thing. Thereafter it becomes accessibility, strat copies and strats are everywhere. If you're in the market for a second hand guitar, you have a wide choice of strat style guitars at decent prices so its easier to choose one.
If I owned a tele I'd probably want to throw a pickup in the middle just cause it adds options, on a strat its already there...
I am however quite in favour of finding humbuckers that sound good split such that its more a case of this is a single coil with a switch for "add coil". On a strat you just change the pickguard and put in the humbuckers you want. Then if you change your mind cause you realise your single coils sounded better and you don't really use you add coil switch, you just switch it back and no harm is done...not like routing a middle pickup into an LP ?

vic

Miemie wrote Isn't it just possible that at least some of these strat players have a Les Paul at home, but because of the OTT pricing on Gibson, feel they are too "precious"
to gig with?

Yes that may be so. In my case I use both a LP and Strat (on the few occassions that I gig nowadays) because some songs (or instrumentals) are just better enhanced by one or the other.
I however think that at least some of the material being played live could be better suited to either a LP or Strat. So ideally one should have both guitar types on stage. BUT be as it may, we all are influenced to some degree, by the aesthetics of the guitars which we prefer to sling.

Keira-WitherKay

Vic wrote
Miemie wrote Isn't it just possible that at least some of these strat players have a Les Paul at home, but because of the OTT pricing on Gibson, feel they are too "precious"
to gig with?
Yes that may be so. In my case I use both a LP and Strat (on the few occassions that I gig nowadays) because some songs (or instrumentals) are just better enhanced by one or the other.
I however think that at least some of the material being played live could be better suited to either a LP or Strat. So ideally one should have both guitar types on stage. BUT be as it may, we all are influenced to some degree, by the aesthetics of the guitars which we prefer to sling.

absolutely agree with vic...... a guitar is a tool to make music on for all but the collector............so if you a les paul fan it's unlikely you will gig with a strat which is a totally different tone..... and leave your beloved tone machine under your bed......

RJN

The strat is an extremely versatile guitar and I guess thats why its such a common guitar.

Oh man what I would give for a new Fender USA Delux Strat. :'(

I just go Nuts for those Screaming bright Single coil pickups. It sounds flipping Awesome. The tone derived from a USA strat std/delux is so definitive.

If I could buy a Les Paul , I rather go for Tokai instead of Gibson. Some of the newer Gibsons have Rubbish finishes and absorbant price tags. Should I buy the tokai it would probably be used for Blues and Rock exclusively. The Humbuckers just sounds so flipping sexy when you Crank your Tube amp to the max. It has alot more balls than the single coils , which i love !

Something to note : there are alot more El Cheapo Fender start models than Les Pauls. By this statement I dont mean Epiphone and Squire .

In Conclusion i think it all depends what you want to do , or how you want your tone to sound.

Oh man what I would give for a new Fender USA Delux Strat. :'( !!!

singemonkey

Vic wrote
Check this out....some good reading here ?

http://chazmatthews.blogspot.com/2011/12/in-defense-of-fender-stratocaster.html

Indeed there is. This gets to the meat of the issue. I guess what makes me raise an eyebrow at all the strats is: "He not only came to epitomize the Strat player, he came to epitomize watered down, shitty white blues music."

It's the feeling that people are playing these guitars because they like this legacy, not despite it. That they are going for strats in numbers disproportionate to what you'd find in Europe or the USA because these players actually want to associate themselves with bland, corporate soft-rock.

But I suppose it's more because many players are overwhelmingly influenced by the same players: Hendrix, SRV, Gilmour, Clapton, and Knopfler. Pink Floyd and Dire Straights are absolute titans among SA rock fans - and justifiably. Maybe we just have a different hierarchy of rock interests from the USA where The Who, The Rolling Stones, and Zeppelin loom larger?

"And let's remember, it's not what guitar you play, but what you play on that guitar, that counts."

Never forgetting. And let's also not suggest that anything I'm asking here is to denigrate the many qualities of the Strat. I'm only asking, with so many different guitars of interest, why do you see almost none of them at live shows. The Les Paul is not a wild choice, I'm well aware of that. But when it's outnumbered more than 10 to 1, that seems weird.

vic

singemonkey wrote
Vic wrote
Check this out....some good reading here ?

http://chazmatthews.blogspot.com/2011/12/in-defense-of-fender-stratocaster.html
Indeed there is. This gets to the meat of the issue. I guess what makes me raise an eyebrow at all the strats is: "He not only came to epitomize the Strat player, he came to epitomize watered down, shitty white blues music."

It's the feeling that people are playing these guitars because they like this legacy, not despite it. That they are going for strats in numbers disproportionate to what you'd find in Europe or the USA because these players actually want to associate themselves with bland, corporate soft-rock.

But I suppose it's more because many players are overwhelmingly influenced by the same players: Hendrix, SRV, Gilmour, Clapton, and Knopfler. Pink Floyd and Dire Straights are absolute titans among SA rock fans - and justifiably. Maybe we just have a different hierarchy of rock interests from the USA where The Who, The Rolling Stones, and Zeppelin loom larger?

"And let's remember, it's not what guitar you play, but what you play on that guitar, that counts."
Never forgetting. And let's also not suggest that anything I'm asking here is to denigrate the many qualities of the Strat. I'm only asking, with so many different guitars of interest, why do you see almost none of them at live shows. The Les Paul is not a wild choice, I'm well aware of that. But when it's outnumbered more than 10 to 1, that seems weird.

I know Singe....you made the correct statement in the title of your post.....Strats are numerous.....just about everywhere (for whatever reason).

What gets me a bit is when a Strat player comes to my place and wonders why he can't overdrive or "crunch" an AC30 at "a bit louder than bedroom volume" with his 3xsingle coil Strat....true story

ZarK

I reckon the comfy ergonomics of a Strat, lower relative price, proven versatility and better upper fret access alone make them more popular than Les Pauls... Personally I don't buy guitars with anyone else than myself in mind... I got a Strat because it just felt and sounded great. I play Ibanez because they do not limit you physically and some of them have an unsurpassed (imho) modern tone. I play Gibsons and PRS's when I'm after quality humbucking rock tones... None of these guitars can completely replace each other but some are certainly better value-for-money and more versatile than others...

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