Strat or Tele?

dklsplace

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After doing some work on a couple older USA Strats, one eerily similar to my very first love, I'm getting the bug for a maple neck Strat again...but I know if I'd had a Tele in hand recently, the bug would be just as bad. Do you prefer one over the other? If so, for reasons other than music style?
 

gilded

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Don, when I think Tele, I think early 50's. When I think Strat with a maple neck, I think '50's, '60's and '70's. So, the below-expressed opinions make sense to me, but may or may not do anything for you..

You can get more bite out of a Tele than a Strat. More sonority, more spank out of the plank. Some people like that.

The Tele bridge pickup is much hotter than a Strat. Think thin P-90.

The classic black guard Tele has an Ash body, while most people think of Strats as having Alder bodies. Difference in sound. Alder is more muted than Ash.

The classic Tele 3 saddle bridge sounds different than a Strat bridge with 6 saddles.

Most Teles have a fixed bridge. Most Strats have a trem bridge, which uses up some of the energy of the guitar in comparison to the Tele.

Does that help? HH
 

AcornHouse

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Don, if you do want to go either way, may I suggest you try you try a G&L ASAT and/or Legacy. They are Leo's final say on the Tele and Strat and, I feel, superior to the standard Fender fare (American Standard, of course). They are more akin to Fender Custom Shop, at American Standard pricing.
I used to have an American Standard Strat, and it was fine, but not very inspiring. I saw a G&L Legacy for cheap on CL, snagged it, and within a month, the Strat was gone. The G&L was instantly a keeper! (plus the tremolo actually stays in tune!)

Worth checking out.
 

dklsplace

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Maybe a little clarification? I've owned multiples of both (several other brands too), & have enjoyed "most" of them. Ultimately, I'm sure I'll have multiples of both come & go again over the years. I'm just curious if anyone has a clear favorite between the two, & why?

I love the G&L's Chris, & would take an ASAT Special in a heartbeat!

Harry, great descriptive break down.

Steve....needs more cowbell!
 

Alan_M

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I'm going to be completely unhelpful here and say that I don't prefer one to the other, because they are just so different from each other. The shape, the contours, the necks, the pickups, the weight, the hardware.... On mine the necks are very different. The Strat has a modern neck, the Tele is a baseball bat! The one solid preference I have is the whole bridge setup of the Strat is better for me than the Tele. The Tele is very raw (its an AVRI so it's got the old school bridge) and is not the most comfortable thing to be resting on when playing lots of muted string stuff. But at least it stays in tune well. The Strat had some tuning issues with the trem, but only when doing deep dives. I have managed to cure most of them with a concentrated effort to free up the nut pinch and balance the trem springs.
 

Walter Broes

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I definitely prefer telecasters. The middle pickup on a strat gets in the way for me, and I really prefer twin pickup guitars. (I have a twin pickup parts-o-caster strat) I never liked the "in between" combined pickup sounds on a strat either, have had some regular strats, and I always put three way switches in them.

I love the simplicity of teles, the indestructability, the fatter bridge pickup, and the fact that they work for any type of music except maybe the heaviest of metal, and that music I don't like anyway.

That said, as I already said, I do have a (somewhat tele-fied) strat. But I have a vintage style MIJ tele, a custom built twin P90 tele, and I'm in the process of painting and assembling a twin-lipstick baritone tele and a telecaster with two vintage Kay "Barney Kessel" pickups. So it's fairly safe to say I really do prefer telecasters... :)
 

Bill Ashton

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Personally, I prefer teles...ask TwoCorgis... =)

I have two Strats and a Jaguar sitting around here that don't get played enough, yet I am still wanting another tele...oh, G & L, finest kind!

Though, the MFD p'ups don't really sound like Fenders, though I believe their new AlNiCo ones do.
 

bluesypicky

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I own both, and a dozen other, and if as often submitted, I was told I can only keep one electric guitar, it would be the Strat.
Why you ask? Because there is nothing a Strat can't do. It's the most flexible (style-wise) guitar ever created, and in addition to that, the most comfortable to play. It's got that "one-shape-fits-all" design, there's something almost sensual about playing a Strat.

As described above by Harry , there is a lot to love about the twang and bite of the Tele, and logically so, is the preferred option for any rocker-abilly, but as a wanderer when it comes to musical styles, I think a strat just can't be beat.
 

jcwu

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I've always preferred Strats, simply because I liked the look of the strat headstock better. :)

I had a hardtail strat that many friends say had a lot of bite for a strat. Maybe a hardtail strat is a best-of-both-worlds kind of thing?
 

shihan

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I have a so-so tele and a really good sounding strat. If I'm going Fender, I pick up the tele 90% of the time. I have had several strats over the years, and I want to like them, but I really don't bond with them. I don't like not being able to combine PU's (except for the out of phase 'quack', and I don't care for that, either). The vibrato is cool when set up correctly, but I don't like the way it goes out of tune when you do bends.
I really like the twang and bite of a tele. It really makes me dig in and play.
 

griehund

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Maybe a little clarification? I've owned multiples of both (several other brands too), & have enjoyed "most" of them. Ultimately, I'm sure I'll have multiples of both come & go again over the years. I'm just curious if anyone has a clear favorite between the two, & why?

I love the G&L's Chris, & would take an ASAT Special in a heartbeat!

Harry, great descriptive break down.

Steve....needs more cowbell!

Ever consider building your own? You will need a screw driver.
 

bluesypicky

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Another quick observation on both guitars:

Many great performers play a Tele, the overwhelming majority of whom are in a very specific musical "niche": Rockabilly/Rock and Country.
Of course there are a few exceptions to this with Muddy and Roy for instance, but they only confirm the majority rule.

Name ANY musical style, and I will show you an artist from this genre playing a Strat.
It's just an animal apart from any other. No competition.
Hendrix opened the door to a whole new world of electric guitar playing, followed by Beck, and Malmsteen, only to name a few, and they couldn't have done it with a Tele. With all due respect, how ya doin', and not to take anything away from the greatness of the Tele..... Even Beck agrees with that:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZBeerUD-zc

GET BOTH! :victorious:
 
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dklsplace

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griehund said:
Ever consider building your own?

In fact, I do have a frankentele that I built a few years ago. 2 P90's, 5 way superswitch, with Bigsby, but it has a rosewood fretboard.

...the overwhelming majority of whom are in a very specific musical "niche": Rockabilly/Rock and Country.
Of course there are a few exceptions...

And here's one of the greatest exceptions!
 

Default

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I have a Strat and I just can't help hitting that pup selecter switch, m ocking it into the bridge pickup. :-/
 

dklsplace

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More of a feel thing on the maple vs rosewood. That, & I don't have a single maple board in my arsenal right now, so there's nothing I can use as a temporary pacifier.
 

guildman63

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I have owned both and have to go with the strat for the versatility bluesypicky referred to. However...

Acornhouse makes a good point. Upon popping into a store in Rhode Island many years ago to check out some Heritage guitars I spotted a burgundy burst G&L ASAT Deluxe on the wall. I plugged it in and wound up being late for my destination as I could not put it down. It had bite, growl, twang, and everything else a guitar should have. I don't recall the price, but I talked myself out of it at the time because I was fresh out of grad school and didn't need to spend the money. I thought about it all night, then upon waking up the next day called right away to pay for it. I got a call just after the shop opened saying that it had been sold to a guy that walked in just after I had left the night before.

Since then I have come across a few others that did not do it for me the way the first one did. Perhaps it had to do with the guitar/amp combo, or maybe the pickups were different as I don't recall what the first one had. I also think that guitars differ slightly from one to the next of the same model, so it takes playing many guitars before you find the one that really speaks to you. I still tend to prefer the variety of tones I get from a strat, but that ASAT Deluxe many years ago is proof that there are no absolutes.

By the way, my current strat is an inexpensive made in Japan "Grimace" fotoflame strat with the Clapton noiseless pickups installed. While it cost less than $500 with an amp back in 1995, I have not been able to justify buying another as it sounds as good to me as the newer strats costing well over $1000. However, since I have officially given it to my son maybe I can justify buying another? Oh wait, I just bought a black NS Aristocrat and have an AP X-500 on order. :biggrin-new:
 
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