I Think I’ve Turned Into a “Strat Guy”

[supersoldier71]

For now, my favorite strat pickups are single coils with low-medium winds ranging from about 5.5-6.7. Very much preferring a scatterwound coil (I imagine this can vary a lot between winders personal technique) vs neat machine guided windings.

Am finding big clearer separation of strings. Plenty bright, nothing shrill in highs, with good mids and plenty of tight lows. I want as much 3-D string openness as I can find while retaining the mids and lows. With cranked guitar and lower wattage amps (8-15w) not even dimed, I am still able to get edge of breakup sounds with lots of clarity and string attack responsiveness.

This is almost exactly the setup/pickup specs I have in my strat. Pups are wound in the 6-6.5 range, and scatterwound. Love the sound I get from these pickups. Turned a cheap strat into a hell of a great sounding player. My brother loaned me his MIM Fender to play, and while it sounds great as well, I prefer the sound of these pickups.

The other thing I find indispensable now is wiring the bridge pickup to the tone pot, and turning the middle tone into a blender pot. I like having a master tone, and it really gives the guitar more flexibility on the bridge.

It’s interesting how many special run Strats have the bridge wired to the tone control. The last time I checked though, that’s becoming more common across the range, up and down the product line.

Or at least it seemed that way. I think the Players Series do, and that’s the least expensive Mexican line.


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[tonebender]

I wanted to be a Strat guy some kind of bad but just never could. I prefer the Gibson scale and Gibson over Fender. Not that I can't appreciate a Fender but when it comes to Fender I prefer the Telecaster. If I had one guitar it would be Gibson with P90's.

[peskypesky]

You know, I think of myself as a Strat guy....but then I pulled my Agile out of the case today and started playing it....and boy do I love it.

[Mossman]

I didn't like Strats for a long time... Or I should say; I didn't like Strats when *I* played them. They sounded fine by me in the hands of Stevie Ray, Clapton, Blackmore, Hendrix, the guys in the bands I was in, and everybody else who ever wielded one, but to me, Strats might as well have been from another planet. My first electrics were hollow and semi-hollow guitars, and Strats just sounded alien to me (I didn't even think it sounded like a guitar!). And the scale, and the radius of the strings felt weird, and I was all thumbs whenever I played one. I couldn't put a Strat down fast enough! One time at a party, my friends all wanted me to play, but the only guitar around was a Strat, and I had to tactfully decline. I just knew I'd be tripping over the strings and I wouldn't be able to get it to sound the way I wanted to, and my playing would be all stiff and robotic.

Fast forward several years, and I've also gotten the Strat bug. Just on a whim, I bought that SX 24.75" scale "Gypsy Rose" Strat for an hilarious refinishing project, and it actually ended up turning me on to Strats and their many tonal options. Now I've started building myself a "proper" Strat, and I wonder why I could never warm up to them before?

[PsychoCid]

Everything about Strats are great except for the pickup positions, knob positions, switch design, bridge design and output jack.

SGs are so different than anything else though. Since the neck mounts high they hang differently on a strap, in a way that just feels so undeniably rock and roll.

That's why I gave up the SVK SG clone, because it had a standard neck mount which for me defeats the purpose of an SG.

[dabbler]

I didn't like Strats for a long time... Or I should say; I didn't like Strats when *I* played them. They sounded fine by me in the hands of Stevie Ray, Clapton, Blackmore, Hendrix, the guys in the bands I was in, and everybody else who ever wielded one, but to me, Strats might as well have been from another planet. My first electrics were hollow and semi-hollow guitars, and Strats just sounded alien to me (I didn't even think it sounded like a guitar!). And the scale, and the radius of the strings felt weird, and I was all thumbs whenever I played one. I couldn't put a Strat down fast enough! One time at a party, my friends all wanted me to play, but the only guitar around was a Strat, and I had to tactfully decline. I just knew I'd be tripping over the strings and I wouldn't be able to get it to sound the way I wanted to, and my playing would be all stiff and robotic.

Fast forward several years, and I've also gotten the Strat bug. Just on a whim, I bought that SX 24.75" scale "Gypsy Rose" Strat for an hilarious refinishing project, and it actually ended up turning me on to Strats and their many tonal options. Now I've started building myself a "proper" Strat, and I wonder why I could never warm up to them before?

It's possible the shorter scale length and flatter board of your SX was simply more like what you were used to.

[Tiga]

I was playing my SX GR this morning - love that little thing. I'm now planning on converting my SX Surf Green strat to 24.75" scale. If all goes well it might make me re-evaluate the need for my MIM Standard.

Just on a whim, I bought that SX 24.75" scale "Gypsy Rose" Strat for an hilarious refinishing project, and it actually ended up turning me on to Strats and their many tonal options. Now I've started building myself a "proper" Strat, and I wonder why I could never warm up to them before?

[Dallas]

Amazing how much difference scale length makes.
I tried for years to get comfortable with Strats and Teles and never made it happen and I couldn't figure out why. Then I picked up one of the 3/4 SX Teles. The thing needed a ton of setup-fretwork out of the box but once done, it fit me like a glove. Then I snagged one of the 3/4 Strats. It was damn near perfect straight out of the box. The 24 scale and slightly smaller bodies made all the difference. They've been two of my main guitars every since.

[Partscaster]

Amazing how much difference scale length makes.
I tried for years to get comfortable with Strats and Teles and never made it happen and I couldn't figure out why. Then I picked up one of the 3/4 SX Teles. The thing needed a ton of setup-fretwork out of the box but once done, it fit me like a glove. Then I snagged one of the 3/4 Strats. It was damn near perfect straight out of the box. The 24 scale and slightly smaller bodies made all the difference. They've been two of my main guitars every since.

I like my SX 3/4 strat very much, too.
I have a 1/2 scale SX Strat too. Plays good for tiny town. Fits in a backpack. Same nut width as the 3/4 scale ..I think 1-1/2
I have an old reverse stagger SD SSL1 set in it. Its JimiMij-it

[Mossman]

It's possible the shorter scale length and flatter board of your SX was simply more like what you were used to.

Yes, back then, when I had my initial experiences with Strats that was definitely the case. All I had ever played was 24.75" scale with a 12" radius board (with the exception of my acoustic), but that's not what turned me on about the Gypsy Rose. I had been playing Teles for some time before that, and had gotten used to the scale and radius... Well, I can deal with 9.5", anyway. I don't care for 7.25", and I still prefer 12" (all my favorite Teles have a 12" fretboard). What really hit me was the sound. It was kind of like suddenly being able to understand a foreign language. Strats never really sounded as "musical" to me as they do now.

I don't discount the notion that I may have progressed as a player since then too, and I'm more able to make music come out of a Strat... but I still feel just as pedestrian.

[peskypesky]

there's a reason that Strats are the best-selling electric guitars of all time.


well, a lot of reasons.

[Sinster]

I was a Jackson V fan because the Big 4 played them.. then moved onto Dinky's. Then about 2005 I played a Les Paul and I was hooked from that point on. I started off on Epi's and then moved onto GIbsons. Don't get me wrong I do love my Strat and Tele's, but just like the feel of the Les Paul.

[peskypesky]

I was a Jackson V fan because the Big 4 played them.. then moved onto Dinky's. Then about 2005 I played a Les Paul and I was hooked from that point on. I started off on Epi's and then moved onto GIbsons. Don't get me wrong I do love my Strat and Tele's, but just like the feel of the Les Paul.

My only "issues" with the Les Paul are no tremolo and the upper fret access is very limited.

[pratteman]

I've tried and will probably continue to try Strats out. I've had 6 or 7, a couple of really nice ones too. I just can't seem.to bond with them. The next one, I'll remove the top volume knob and give that a spin.

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[supersoldier71]

I've tried and will probably continue to try Strats out. I've had 6 or 7, a couple of really nice ones too. I just can't seem.to bond with them. The next one, I'll remove the top volume knob and give that a spin.

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I think it was mostly me coming around to Strats, but a part of it was getting a Strat dialed in to make Strat noises.

I didn’t really dig those peculiarly Strat tones, 2-4. Now I very much dig those tones, and the easiest way to get them, is a Strat.


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[CyFan152]

I’ve been a Les Paul guy, a SuperStrat guy, a PRS guy, and I have good examples of each, but my current favorite is my MIM Ed O’Brien Strat.

I thought I’d have to work around the fat neck, but I don’t even notice it now. I do notice that some of my other guitars have thin necks though. I’d worried that with the kooky electronics from the Sustainer, it wouldn’t sound like a Strat. Not a problem. It sounds like an HSS Strat, but positions 2-4 are all Strat.

Live, I prefer it, over my PRS Standard 24 mostly because of the Sustainer. I’ve gotten a fair bit of use out of that thing. The PRS has DiMarzios, and to my ears and hands, it kind of works like a 70s SG, but with a working vibrato system.

The Strat though. I’d dig it even without the Sustainer.

This is the fifth Strat I’ve owned, and currently my only Strat. Oddly enough, it’s enough of an oddball, and fat necks aren’t that common (Fender 10/56, for the record), so I’m not really looking for another.

To sum: my keeper Strat is a fat necked, vintage inspired Artist Series Strat with goofy electronics for an artist I don’t dig.

Go figure.


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I had never heard of the guitarist/artist that spec'd my Sig series Strat but I couldn't have done a better job myself! I don't think if I had bought a David Gilmour Strat, my personal guitar hero, that I would find so much of myself in it as I do from the one I bought. Funny how things work out. Congrats, I feel where you're coming from!

[supersoldier71]

I’ve been a Les Paul guy, a SuperStrat guy, a PRS guy, and I have good examples of each, but my current favorite is my MIM Ed O’Brien Strat.

I thought I’d have to work around the fat neck, but I don’t even notice it now. I do notice that some of my other guitars have thin necks though. I’d worried that with the kooky electronics from the Sustainer, it wouldn’t sound like a Strat. Not a problem. It sounds like an HSS Strat, but positions 2-4 are all Strat.

Live, I prefer it, over my PRS Standard 24 mostly because of the Sustainer. I’ve gotten a fair bit of use out of that thing. The PRS has DiMarzios, and to my ears and hands, it kind of works like a 70s SG, but with a working vibrato system.

The Strat though. I’d dig it even without the Sustainer.

This is the fifth Strat I’ve owned, and currently my only Strat. Oddly enough, it’s enough of an oddball, and fat necks aren’t that common (Fender 10/56, for the record), so I’m not really looking for another.

To sum: my keeper Strat is a fat necked, vintage inspired Artist Series Strat with goofy electronics for an artist I don’t dig.

Go figure.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I had never heard of the guitarist/artist that spec'd my Sig series Strat but I couldn't have done a better job myself! I don't think if I had bought a David Gilmour Strat, my personal guitar hero, that I would find so much of myself in it as I do from the one I bought. Funny how things work out. Congrats, I feel where you're coming from!

Which one?

[CyFan152]

I’ve been a Les Paul guy, a SuperStrat guy, a PRS guy, and I have good examples of each, but my current favorite is my MIM Ed O’Brien Strat.

I thought I’d have to work around the fat neck, but I don’t even notice it now. I do notice that some of my other guitars have thin necks though. I’d worried that with the kooky electronics from the Sustainer, it wouldn’t sound like a Strat. Not a problem. It sounds like an HSS Strat, but positions 2-4 are all Strat.

Live, I prefer it, over my PRS Standard 24 mostly because of the Sustainer. I’ve gotten a fair bit of use out of that thing. The PRS has DiMarzios, and to my ears and hands, it kind of works like a 70s SG, but with a working vibrato system.

The Strat though. I’d dig it even without the Sustainer.

This is the fifth Strat I’ve owned, and currently my only Strat. Oddly enough, it’s enough of an oddball, and fat necks aren’t that common (Fender 10/56, for the record), so I’m not really looking for another.

To sum: my keeper Strat is a fat necked, vintage inspired Artist Series Strat with goofy electronics for an artist I don’t dig.

Go figure.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I had never heard of the guitarist/artist that spec'd my Sig series Strat but I couldn't have done a better job myself! I don't think if I had bought a David Gilmour Strat, my personal guitar hero, that I would find so much of myself in it as I do from the one I bought. Funny how things work out. Congrats, I feel where you're coming from!

Which one?

I bought the Lincoln Brewster model.

[golem]

While I enjoy other guitars, a strat is the most ergonomic for me. Most of my guitars are variants of Fender style guitars at this point.

[supersoldier71]

I had never heard of the guitarist/artist that spec'd my Sig series Strat but I couldn't have done a better job myself! I don't think if I had bought a David Gilmour Strat, my personal guitar hero, that I would find so much of myself in it as I do from the one I bought. Funny how things work out. Congrats, I feel where you're coming from!

Which one?

I bought the Lincoln Brewster model.

Dude,if I got another Strat, which is probable, just not soon, that'd probably be the one. Amazing specs on that guitar.

How big is the neck (neck carve) on that thing? Like the EOB, Brewster had been playing a Clapton Strat before his signature model came out, so the EOB has a similar neck carve to the Clapton, as does the LB Strat.

[golem]

[mention]supersoldier71[/mention] I have a beat up Lincoln Brewster I'm certain was relic'd by the last owner. It's a great guitar. I don't feel like the soft V on the LB is all that big. I think the Elite HSS I have might be chunkier (and it's easier to compare to since they're both compound radius).

[CyFan152]

Which one?

I bought the Lincoln Brewster model.

Dude,if I got another Strat, which is probable, just not soon, that'd probably be the one. Amazing specs on that guitar.

How big is the neck (neck carve) on that thing? Like the EOB, Brewster had been playing a Clapton Strat before his signature model came out, so the EOB has a similar neck carve to the Clapton, as does the LB Strat.

Sorry, been busy at work. The neck isn't really THAT big but it sure is comfortable!