Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

[Artie]

Mind you, this is a philosophical question since I'm not really in the market for one right now. And I know you can block the trem, (thats what I've done to my current Strat), but I like the idea of not removing all that body wood for a cavity I won't use. I would think that Fender/Squier would have at least one in their line-up. They have the Robert Cray and Billy Corgin, but those are both more expensive "artist" models. Squier has none.

Does anyone else think it would be nice if there was more hardtail options?

 

[guitfiddle]

Re: Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

I blocked the trem on my old Strat, so I'd rather have had a hard tail. The only time I used the trem after unblocking it was at the end of a tune to add a bit a waver to the last chord.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

My best Strat ever was a hardtail- they feel a bit different than a blocked trem. Tighter attack.

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

I like using the whammy bar occasionally but I would like to see more hardtails. The best strat I ever played was a mid 90s hardtail std (Basically a hardtail american standard).

 

[LtKojak]

Re: Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

I actually don't own one, and that's because I'm all for hardtails and it's difficult to find one in the used market.

The only one it comes to mind is the Robert Cray sig model, which doesn't help to keep the price down...

Unless somebody knows something I don't know that could help me to find one?

I actually own a PRS SE EG, which is a S/S/S but I couldn't find the hardtail, so mine has the vibrato, which's blocked.

 

[JOLLY]

Re: Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

I've never understood why Fender didn't make more hardtail Strats. The majority of players block the trems anyways.

 

[skyydogg01]

Re: Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

I never use a trem. On my fender strat, I have all 5 springs on it and the claw tight. Essentially a hardtail with wood missing. Still a very resonant guitar. I plan on filling in the cavity on my squier strat. I don't trust myself doing the string through, so I'm going with a topload bridge.

 

[Jessie's ghost]

Re: Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

I never use a trem. On my fender strat, I have all 5 springs on it and the claw tight. Essentially a hardtail with wood missing. Still a very resonant guitar. I plan on filling in the cavity on my squier strat. I don't trust myself doing the string through, so I'm going with a topload bridge.

I'd think filling the cavities would be harder than doing a string-through bridge on a Strat. There's at least one report from a forum member here who filled in the trem cavities on his Strat only to find that it sounded worse than when he just had it blocked. Proceed with caution, unless you're willing to risk the guitar as a potential throwaway.

 

[dominus]

Re: Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

Mind you, this is a philosophical question since I'm not really in the market for one right now. And I know you can block the trem, (thats what I've done to my current Strat), but I like the idea of not removing all that body wood for a cavity I won't use. I would think that Fender/Squier would have at least one in their line-up. They have the Robert Cray and Billy Corgin, but those are both more expensive "artist" models. Squier has none.

Does anyone else think it would be nice if there was more hardtail options?

There's the Tom Delonge model too, of which there is a Squier variant. That one is probably the cheapest nice one.

Squier Bullet hardtail models are thin topload plywood bodies, FYI.

 

[Jessie's ghost]

Re: Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

My seven-string Ibanez is a basswood RG, a string-through hardtail with a Strat-style bridge. Nothing thin about the way that guitar sounds. (I'd live to find one like it with a pickguard and put single-coils in it. Sick, sick, sick.)

 

[tc]

Re: Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

As a owner of a Tom Delonge Stratocaster set up SSS, I approve of this thread, however...

...you've gotta realize that the demand for hardtails is pretty low versus vintage synchronized bridges or two point vibrato units.

Most people say that the difference the spring cavity makes is so huge that well, they'd rather have the bridge decked with five springs instead of a hardtail. It also means that you can just unblock if you ever want to use the vibrato the bridge offers.

It's like Les Pauls with Bigsbys or Floyd Roses. A lot of people like them and want them, but even more people don't like them. So, Gibson produces more T.O.M./stoptail models than Bigsby or Floyd Rose equipped models.

You have to remember that Fender used to produce Am. Std. hardtail models. There's a reason they don't make those anymore, and it probably is because they didn't sell as well as they thought they would.

Now that said, I'm still waiting for them to make a hardtail '55 Strat RI.

 

[Artie]

Re: Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

The only one it comes to mind is the Robert Cray sig model, which doesn't help to keep the price down...

They make the non-sig version also, which isn't priced too badly.

There's the Tom Delonge model too, of which there is a Squier variant. That one is probably the cheapest nice one.

I'll check it out.

You have to remember that Fender used to produce Am. Std. hardtail models. There's a reason they don't make those anymore, and it probably is because they didn't sell as well as they thought they would.

Thats true, but I also wonder how much it was affected by dealers not stocking them. I remember going into one of our local guitar stores, (George's Music), and asking if they had any Cyclones or Toronados, (back when they were in production). They said they didn't stock them because they didn't sell well. I asked if perhaps they didn't sell well because you don't stock them. No one's going to buy what they can't handle and "feel".

Now Fender quit making them. I wonder if its the same situation for the hardtails?

 

[Kam]

Re: Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

I've never owned a whammy bar that I haven't immediately taken off the guitar and lost somewhere. I never use vibrato bridges so I really like the idea of a hardtail Strat but I don't know how much that big old spring cavity affects the sound, so I can't say if I'd really gel with a hardtail.

I do know that both of the guitars I regularly play with vibrato bridges are lacking a little thickness in the high end and could do with a bit more sustain. Would a hardtail (or even just blocking the vibrato with a block of wood) do anything to help with those issues? Is that even a common thing with vibrato bridges or is it just a quirk of my two (admittedly relatively low-end) guitars?

 

[uOpt]

Re: Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

Mind you, this is a philosophical question since I'm not really in the market for one right now. And I know you can block the trem, (thats what I've done to my current Strat), but I like the idea of not removing all that body wood for a cavity I won't use. I would think that Fender/Squier would have at least one in their line-up. They have the Robert Cray and Billy Corgin, but those are both more expensive "artist" models. Squier has none.

Does anyone else think it would be nice if there was more hardtail options?

There is a huge difference between a real hardtail and a blocked trem. Much bigger than between blocked and not blocked trem. I had routed an ex-hardtail to trem so I know what it sounded before and after.

The removed wood isn't the "problem". It is the large metal block, the sustain block, that makes the majority of the sound change.

Unfortunately in my option it isn't a good change to go to a Strat hardtail. The Strat body shape (presumably mostly due to the large upper horn) will make the neck position come out very bassy. It isn't like a Tele, and a Tele is already pretty bad (that's why it has such a wimpy neck pickup). Even with a Strat single coil in the neck I don't get satisfactory results in a Strat without trem block.

I suppose you can get improvements for bridge sounds, in particular if you want the snap of the long scale but a real low-mids push from a bridge humbucker.

 

[Artie]

Re: Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

Thats interesting uOpt, because it goes along with what a friend of mine has said, (who's a well respected luthier). He advised that its better to block the trem, add springs, and then "tune" the claw to get the resonance that you want.

Still, it would be fun to have a true hardtail in order to compare the difference.

 

[Diego]

Re: Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

So what should you be listening for when "tuning the claw"? With a blocked trem and everything.

I'm interested.

 

[ParameterMan]

Re: Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

I'm not sure I totally agree with uOpt - I've gigged with two different hardtail Strats and don't remember the neck pickup being extra bassy. They both did sound like hardtails, though - tighter, drier, and snappier without that peculiar airy, metallic "thing" that comes from the trem and makes up a lot of the classic Strat attitude.

 

[uOpt]

Re: Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

I'm not sure I totally agree with uOpt - I've gigged with two different hardtail Strats and don't remember the neck pickup being extra bassy. They both did sound like hardtails, though - tighter, drier, and snappier without that peculiar airy, metallic "thing" that comes from the trem and makes up a lot of the classic Strat attitude.

I usually also find neck humbuckers in Les Pauls too boomy, so I am obviously more sensitive to it. In a trem strat the neck pickup is not too bassy for me, that's actually the primary reason I tend to shift towards Strats these days. Even a neck humbucker is fine then, in fact a Jazz turns into a very nice and sparkly piece with the trem block.

Either way, I think we all agree that removing the big metal block holding a large portion of the strings and replacing it with wood changes the sound dramatically, even if you had been blocking or decking the trem.

And obviously you might want it as a boost for a bridge humbucker. I am sure Jake E Lee would agree.

 

[Artie]

Re: Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

So what should you be listening for when "tuning the claw"? With a blocked trem and everything.

I'm interested.

Good question. I'm heading over there shortly to look at a wiring job. (I do his wiring.) I'll ask him.

Artie

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Am I the odd man out for wanting a hardtail Strat?

I have thought about a hardtail but the parts are harder to come by and the prices are higher.