Why don't YOU like Strats?

mystixboi1

Kick Henry Jackassowski
So I've been thinking about this for a while... Strats used to be my goto guitars. I played them for years in different bands, but I always ended up selling them.

I love the way most Strat necks feel... but I think it comes down to the tone and playability of the Strats I've owned... no matter what pickup configuration I've tried, I just can't get along with a Strat.

Superstrats... I love them!!! That's a whole other story...

Why don't you like Strats?... or do you?
 
I don't hate them, but I'm pretty much a humbucker guy.
also, I've never owned a "nice" Strat. they've all been super-cheapies, with the usual aggravation that can come with that.


also, they lack pointy parts :wink:
 
#fuqastrat

The 2 & 4 position sounds are like nails on a chalkboard to me. I don't want any guitar that even comes close to emulating them. Hence the 3 way switch on my PRS, and the removal of the middle pickup on my Ibanez.
 
Howie, got a pic handy of your Ibby?
I don't remember that one...

I could do without the mid pup on mine as well, but don't want a gaping hole there (no pickguard)
I just lowered it as much as I could...
 
I love Strats. My #1 has been a Strat of some type since the beginning. All of them have had a humbucker in the bridge but all have been a Strat. Right now I tend to favor my Chris Shiflett Tele Deluxe but I still play my two Strats a fair amount.
 
my ideal Strat would have a bucker at the bridge, and a Floyd (or similar whammy system)

so really, it'd be an Ibby :lol:
 
Howie, got a pic handy of your Ibby?
I don't remember that one...

I could do without the mid pup on mine as well, but don't want a gaping hole there (no pickguard)
I just lowered it as much as I could...

Here's both of them, with their respective gaping holes:



the one with the binding is currently in pieces, waiting for a piezo pickup to be installed. but it will/does have a neck pickup now.
 
nice!

weird that I don't recall ever seeing either of them...

the one on the right kinda-sorta looks like the same model as mine
minus the blue flameyflame :wink:
and mine's more rounded on the edges.
it's an R-somethingsomethingbunchanumbersandshit... :lol:
 
For me, it's not a matter of hating Strats (or even just not liking them). In fact, I love Knopfler's sound on the first Dire Straits album. I just dig Les Pauls. It goes back to being 13 - 14 years old, being a Zeppelin fan and seeing pics like this:

Jimmy-Page-and-Robert-Pla-004.jpg
 
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Love 'em! It's those superstrats I finally realized I'm not made for. All that talk about fast guitars, I reckon a properly set up Strat should do the trick just nicely. And singlecoils rock my world.
 
For me, it's not a matter of hating Strats (or even just not liking them). In fact, I love Knopfler's sound on the first Dire Straits album. I just dig Les Pauls. It goes back to being 13 - 14 years old, being a Zeppelin fan and seeing pics like this:

I don't like Les Pauls either. :embarrassed:
 
I've only ever owned one LP
while I didn't hate it, we just never clicked. though I did like it better after I put flats on it.
but when money got tight and something needed to go on the block, it was the first to go.
strat went right after it. (both listed the same day)
 
I ALWAYS come back to Strats. For whatever reason, no matter for how long or what other guitars I get/have, if I don't have a Strat, I'm jonesing for one.

The FSR MIM I got recently is just killer off the rack. I haven't even done the usual "get it home, change the strings, and set it up pronto" thing - it's in taken-down-off-the-rack condition since I got it. I am almost afraid to mess with it, even though it needs a new nut, whammy bar, and I want to adjust the bridge more toward the body - it just plays and sounds so sweet right now.

I'll give Howie this, though: I am not a huge fan of the notch positions. I never use them, except for neck/middle when I want to play a few seconds of "Sultans". I have ALWAYS loved the clean neck pickup tone, and I use the middle for leads. The typical Strat bridge pickup has always sounded thin and shrill to me, and in my new Strat I may replace it with a Lil '59 or something.
 
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I like strats. I always have. I think a strat feels right in my hands, and it is kind of my default guitar to which other things are compared.
 
I like the sound of pos 2&4 but I usually play with my right hand fingers. I can't use it without sounding exactly like somebody trying to cop Mark Knopfler badly.

I don't like the V-T-T knob setup with the pickup that most needs a tone knob not having one. That's an easy wiring fix, though. I also think the volume is too close to the strings.

I would prefer pos 3 to be neck and bridge rather than middle pickup.

I like a high-quality strat trem more than anything else but it does take away some punch compared to a hard tail.

I used to really love the bevels and contours but now they aren't that big a deal to me.
 
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Wiggly necks
Strings sit too close to the body
Third pickup is in the way
Don't like the scale length
Don't like the blade switch
 
I am a humbucker guy :shrug:

I owned a G&L S-500 which is basically a Strat, and although it played very nice, I couldn't get a sound out of it that I liked. Or I couldn't get the sound out of it I like
 
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