Please sum it up and school me on Strats

[MORE BARN]

Hello...

Okay, I have owned the SG, Tele, & Les Paul styled guitars, but I have never had a Strat. Early on it was because I wasn't into the sound, and when it came to Fender I went for the Tele (believe it or not, for the LACK of contours-the sharp edge gave my arm something to rest on like an acoustic).

Anyway, played a friend's Strat and did like some of the sounds and may someday want to play something with a trem. So, since I've never had one, doing random searches and reading TGP one hears all kinds of things-but was wondering if some of that knowledge could be distilled here for me by the experts that are here...

I've seen things like "block the trem", "wire the tone to the bridge"..."lower middle pickup"..."add a spring, remove a spring" etc.

So obviously there are some differences with the springs/trem as they relate to tuning. If there are 5 springs, are there tuning stability issues, and does this make it harder to use the trem? If you do have and use the trem arm are there things you should do for the nut/bridge?

Also I am guessing that because of the springs, there is more "give" than my Tele in terms of feel?

Anyway full of Strat questions, any help appreciated

thanks!

[jiml]

Buy a cheap one, tweek it, play it tweek it more....

[Dillow4092]

All of those things you mentioned are part of the beauty of a strat. When you throw in the different woods you can use (neck/body) The different pickup configurations and wiring it all becomes clear.

The strat becomes a very personal instrument to those who love them (me included) It can whisper, quack, and all out rock depending on the amps used with it. To me it's the perfect instrument, the tele aint bad either.

[joec63]

Originally Posted by MORE BARN

Hello...

Okay, I have owned the SG, Tele, & Les Paul styled guitars, but I have never had a Strat. Early on it was because I wasn't into the sound, and when it came to Fender I went for the Tele (believe it or not, for the LACK of contours-the sharp edge gave my arm something to rest on like an acoustic).

Anyway, played a friend's Strat and did like some of the sounds and may someday want to play something with a trem. So, since I've never had one, doing random searches and reading TGP one hears all kinds of things-but was wondering if some of that knowledge could be distilled here for me by the experts that are here...

I've seen things like "block the trem", "wire the tone to the bridge"..."lower middle pickup"..."add a spring, remove a spring" etc.

So obviously there are some differences with the springs/trem as they relate to tuning. If there are 5 springs, are there tuning stability issues, and does this make it harder to use the trem? If you do have and use the trem arm are there things you should do for the nut/bridge?

Also I am guessing that because of the springs, there is more "give" than my Tele in terms of feel?

Anyway full of Strat questions, any help appreciated

thanks!

Everything you mentioned is just preferences basically. I don't have any tuning issues but I don't wail on the trem. My EJ strat came with 5 springs but I prefer a little less tension so removed two. Also the EJ has low output pickups, which I prefer compared to my American standard. I would say play a bunch and see what you like. My favorite strat playing positions are the neck and also 2 and 4 positions. Just a little fatter sound but they all work for me.

[FredD]

Get a Hardtail !!

[tjmicsak]

Don't expect to unplug your SG or LP or even the Tele and just plug in the Strat. You need to set the amp for the guitar. Those single coils are thinner and brigher so add mids and cut the highs down some to give the Strat some body. Roll back the guitar tone too and then bring it up slowly just until you start getting the treble back to the surface. Now play and listen to the tones you've been missiing.

[teleman1]

Guitars are all different size and feel paint brushes.

[MORE BARN]

Originally Posted by teleman1

Guitars are all different size and feel paint brushes.

Yep, this I knew, but was curious about that Strat paint brush, in all this time I'm still clueless on that instrument...

[MORE BARN]

Originally Posted by joec63

Everything you mentioned is just preferences basically. I don't have any tuning issues but I don't wail on the trem. My EJ strat came with 5 springs but I prefer a little less tension so removed two. Also the EJ has low output pickups, which I prefer compared to my American standard. I would say play a bunch and see what you like. My favorite strat playing positions are the neck and also 2 and 4 positions. Just a little fatter sound but they all work for me.

What's the difference between the 5 springs and hardtail, are they close?

[EADGBE]

Originally Posted by MORE BARN

What's the difference between the 5 springs and hardtail, are they close?

I'd say they're close in tone.

[alyers]

I'm still clueless on that instrument...[IMG]http://www.****.info/g.gif[/IMG]

[MichaelSaulnier]

Listen to Jeff Beck for a while before you commit to hard tail or otherwise "locking" your trem. Even if you don't develop a whammy bar style of Beck-like skill, strats are MADE to be floating and you'll get somewhat of a different vibe from one that isn't.

One good thing is that Fender's Squier Classic Vibe strats make getting into a vintage style strat with modern features very inexpensive. For just over $300 with all the x-mas discounts floating around for a new one... and less if you can find a used one.

Great strat tones, nicely setup, easy to play... it's a great way to see if strats are "you" before going for a more expensive guitar.

If you DO want to jump up to the high end right away you may want to consider some of the cool signature models available. They often have mods based on the preferences and experiences of the sig artists and often have subtle advantages over stock models.

For example, take the Jimmy Vaughn MIM strat. A good value, especially used, comes with a fat V style neck, and has a tone control that controls the bridge pup, where a stock strat second tone doesn't. Tex-mex pups gives it a nice edgy bite... and for the price, it's a nice vintage style strat.

The Eric Clapton sig strat adds a 25db mid-boost that gives a "humbucker" type growl to your chords or solos... along with a TBX active tone control for the ability to cut or add tone textures. This guitar DOES include a "blocked" bridge from the factory... (although you can remove it easily if you choose).

I REALLY like the American Deluxe line of strats. They feature "noiseless" (typically stacked humbucker) pups, have great playing necks that include "jumbo" type frets, and really play, sound and feel great. Short of "custom shop", I think they're the best guitars Fender produces.

I guess it goes without saying that if you regularly read posts here, you know there are MANY other awesome strat style guitar makers... Suhr, Grosh, Tyler, Anderson, Melancon, G&L, Sadowski, Kirn, and many more...

Then there's all the Fender Custom Shop stuff...

But my advice is buy an inexpensive first one... and see how it goes. You can always go high end later!

M

[MORE BARN]

Originally Posted by MichaelSaulnier

Listen to Jeff Beck for a while before you commit to hard tail or otherwise "locking" your trem. Even if you don't develop a whammy bar style of Beck-like skill, strats are MADE to be floating and you'll get somewhat of a different vibe from one that isn't.

One good thing is that Fender's Squier Classic Vibe strats make getting into a vintage style strat with modern features very inexpensive. For just over $300 with all the x-mas discounts floating around for a new one... and less if you can find a used one.

Great strat tones, nicely setup, easy to play... it's a great way to see if strats are "you" before going for a more expensive guitar.

If you DO want to jump up to the high end right away you may want to consider some of the cool signature models available. They often have mods based on the preferences and experiences of the sig artists and often have subtle advantages over stock models.

For example, take the Jimmy Vaughn MIM strat. A good value, especially used, comes with a fat V style neck, and has a tone control that controls the bridge pup, where a stock strat second tone doesn't. Tex-mex pups gives it a nice edgy bite... and for the price, it's a nice vintage style strat.

The Eric Clapton sig strat adds a 25db mid-boost that gives a "humbucker" type growl to your chords or solos... along with a TBX active tone control for the ability to cut or add tone textures. This guitar DOES include a "blocked" bridge from the factory... (although you can remove it easily if you choose).

I REALLY like the American Deluxe line of strats. They feature "noiseless" (typically stacked humbucker) pups, have great playing necks that include "jumbo" type frets, and really play, sound and feel great. Short of "custom shop", I think they're the best guitars Fender produces.

I guess it goes without saying that if you regularly read posts here, you know there are MANY other awesome strat style guitar makers... Suhr, Grosh, Tyler, Anderson, Melancon, G&L, Sadowski, Kirn, and many more...

Then there's all the Fender Custom Shop stuff...

But my advice is buy an inexpensive first one... and see how it goes. You can always go high end later!

M

Great info, thank you!