What does contribute the most to a good sound on a strat?

[Steviecaster]

The Trem and bridge.
If you swapped the Trems on those 2 Strats, and the pickups, they'd sound much closer

 

[Oinkus]

In my opinion the 2 things that make the largest contribution to the sound of a guitar is the scale length and where you place the pickups along that length. I know this isn't a,b or c but I have been working on guitars for almost 47 years and I can get a guitar build to do what I want successfully.

 

[Blanket Jackson]

After pickups and electronics, to my ears the most impactful factors remain the string contact points and harmonic alignment

• nut
• saddle
• frets
• strings (material, wind, & gauge)
• set up

 

[DavyJones]

The player

 

[Swaters]

Neck radius

 

[Go Cat Go!!]

My opinion is all the parts contribute equally to the whole. I've had pickups sound shrill and bright on one guitar sound big and full on another. I have an ESP Series 400 strat from the 80s that is magical. No matter what pickups i put in there it sounds amazing. As a kid I had it routed for the ESP Floyd. It made no difference. Currently it has some Van Zandt Rock pups and I think they're staying in there. I've taken a lively neck and put it on a lively body only to find the guitar be less than expected. Experimentation and patience are key.

I love partscasters for this reason. You can experiment with different parts until you are satisfied,

 

[Timtam]

In no particular order, the sound of an electric guitar can be defined by 6 factors:
1. Plectrum filter
2. Plucking position filter
3. Pickup position filter
4. Pickup transfer filter
5. Damping mechanisms
6. Non-linear string movements
"The Physics of E-Guitars : Vibration – Voltage – Sound wave - Timbre" ...
https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/The-Physics-of-E-Guitars-:-Vibration-–-Voltage-–-(-Zollner/88a7c4bedb89fdfda7ed01f11f77d9e14939c004

Deeper dive ...

Gitec | Everything about the book “Physics of the Electric Guitar"

Sleuth about among the growing number of translated English-language chapters of the book “Physics of the Electric Guitar” of Prof. Manfred Zollner!

www.gitec-forum-eng.de

 

[Paulstarr]

True story. The other guitar player in my band plays a Strat. One day he was warming up and I noticed and said how much fatter his guitar sounded than usual. He'd replace the tremolo block. I don't remember what he changed it to, but it made enough of a difference that I heard it and commented on it.

\
that makes a big difference, i did that on one of mines once ,heavier blocks do make it sound better

 

[Alan Dunn]

I’ve been wondering what does contribute the most to a good sound on a strat, besides all the electronic, which is it, the neck, the saddles or the body?
Thanks

Rosewood fretboards with prefabulated amulite fret marker dots.

 

[Irreversal]

I just picked up a GT11 Strat from Sweetwater. It was amazing out of the box.

Last weekend, I gave it a proper set up, tweaked the truss rod, tension on the springs, adjusted pickup height, etc. Now, an amazing guitar is downright spectacular. I couldn't imagine wanting/needing anything else out of a Strat.

The set up is crucial!

 

[Ron Kirn]

the PLAYER... quality technique adds more to the overall sound than anything else.. after that your amp.. if it't a nickel and dime rig, you don't have much of a chance of getting quality sound out of it..

Now you get to everything else... I'd say pickups are on top of that pile... then everything else falls so far down so as to be relatively insignificant..

r

 

[DavyJones]

Flatsawn neck. Nothing else matters.

 

[iNomis]

I’ve been wondering what does contribute the most to a good sound on a strat, besides all the electronic, which is it, the neck, the saddles or the body?
Thanks

The neck.

 

[monkeybrains]

Action.

 

[Scuttlebutt]

Interesting question. Unfortunately, I think it's the sum of the parts. Saying that one part contributes the most doesn't have a whole lot of utility.

 

[Mad Wombat]

There was another strat thread, and someone (can't recall who) said:
"Play it like you mean it."

Put some energy into it.

 

[Big Chippie]

My fingers.

 

[RCM78]

I’ve been wondering what does contribute the most to a good sound on a strat, besides all the electronic, which is it, the neck, the saddles or the body?
Thanks

A good player

 

[Madison]

There are all kinds of pickup winds, wires, magnets for strats. Choosing which and how high/low you set them will make quite a difference.

 

[crazymauler]

While of course it's the sum of all its parts (like a fine bolognese), if you're restricting the comments to just the neck, body, or saddles, I would say 1st) the neck is the most important factor to a guitar's tone, followed by 2nd) the body, and then the saddles at a very distant 3rd.