"I'm just not a strat guy".

[GuitarStv]

Except that it does...
I don't ***** about it, but there is absolutely a very noticeable difference
especially in string tension and fret spacing/finger reach.
I can play either, but I'm much more comfortable with a shorter scale.

Yeah, I own and regularly play 24.5 and 25.5 instruments. There's definitely a difference that you notice. Even just the string tension is quite different. Playing .10s on a Fender is like .11s on my Dot.

 

[Coma]

I don't understand the b1tching about the scale. 0.75 inch makes no noticeable difference.

It absolutely does. Though I would imagine that could be offset somewhat by extending the length of the upper horn (for playing standing up) or moving the waist upwards along the body (for when sitting down).

 

[alex1fly]

I AM a Tele guy, but the Strat has been my primary guitar since day one. My first guitar was a strat. I hated the sound of it. Couldn't gel with it at all. Being broke at the time, it took about 4 years to get a guitar with humbuckers. That guitar was a '69 Cameo Deluxe SG copy. Shortly thereafter I picked up an Epiphone SG. Knowing I prefer the sound of Humbuckers, I started loading my Strats ( by this point I had two of them ) with Single-Coil sized humbuckers. This was the answer for 20 years. Why I keep gravitating to Strats is a mystery to me, there was never anything about them that really " had me " so to speak. I played out with my SG earlier on, but as soon as I had humbuckers in the Strats, they then became the primaries. I have never owned an LP, and I have never picked one up that impressed me. They sound fine on the records and even in person at shows, but every LP I have ever played has just been meh.

I say I am a Tele guy, and I am, now... It took about 20 years for me to finally acquire one. I have always wanted one, and always loved the look and sound of them, but just never acquired one. I finally set out to own one and decided to build one instead. It became my primary instantly. I had it loaded with SC sized humbuckers at first, as I was still stuck on the humbucker train. It is now loaded with a set of single coils that I hand-wound to my specs, with my machine!!! They make me smile every time!

I currently own 4 Strats, and one of them I had always left alone for the most part. It had basic single coils and never really tickled my fancy sound-wise. I decided that since I have a pickup winding machine, I would take a crack at making a set of pickups for it that I really liked. I have succeeded!!!. I picked up a set of Antiquity Surfers around the same time and swapped the two back and forth a couple of times, I kept going back to my set. Between the Strat and Tele pickups that I made, I realized what the single-coil craze was all about. All of my guitars that in standard form would have single coils are now ALL loaded with single coils that I have either made or purchased.

When I had humbuckers, it was all about forcing the sound to be a certain way. Now that I have gone to single coils, the sound is more dynamic, nuanced, organic, and real. The Strat has a thing or three that it does that cannot be done on any other guitar. The ergonomics are an issue for me sometimes, but I play around it, which is why I am a Tele guy. Ergonomically the Tele is perfect, nothing in the way and it just has the bark, growl, and bite that I have always wanted in a guitar. I now own two Telecasters, both of which I have built. One is loaded with an SD Jerry Donahue bridge and a Fender Twisted Tele neck. My other is loaded with a custom-wound set of my own making. My next Tele is going to be a P90 loaded one with a fully back-routed setup. Just need to finish up the design.

I think what turned me on to single coils was when I started my amplifier designing. I wanted to make an amp that went from clean to mean with minimal controls. This is extremely hard to do have and maintain an original design. I could get the clean to mean with humbuckers, but it was just too this or too that, and with single coils, it was just too thin and weak. When I designed the amp around working with SC's it just sounded better with either pickup type and instead of going for clean to mean, I went for clean to dirty. That was the ticket. Now I have an amp design that is very much a pedal platform amp, that if you wish, can do the dirty crunch thing. The clean sound is where it is at though. Ever since I started that venture 2 years ago, single coils have been my newest fascination. The Strat wins in that category, you can't replace it for that job. The Tele sure puts a good argument though, that country twang, snap, and growl is what gets my blood pumping.

Great story! I'm the same way - first 20 years of guitar was on Strats, always kind of gravitate towards them, but loving the couple of Teles I have now. They sound and respond the way I always tried to make my Strats sound and respond.

 

[Coma]

Its not just the overall length of the scale. Its also that every distance between any two frets is now scaled down. When you have sausage fingers, you notice this, especially in the second octave.

And that too, yes

 

[Oldfart_Shredman]

I'm not a Strat guy, but am more of one than I used to be.

I am a Les Paul guy.
I am an Explorer guy.
And it turns out I am a Firebird guy.

The Strat middle pickup does bother me at times but then I am a savage picker. I adjust the middle pickup down to almost the same heighth as the pickguard and it solves that problem. I can never seem to get a Strat's action adjusted to where it feels right.

I will play on my Strat for awhile then grab my Les Paul or Schecter, and then it seems like they are missing something now lol.

I was raised playing Gibson style guitars and they seem like home.

This last part may sound rather stupid but being a bigger guy I really don't like small guitars. If I play on an SG or a Wolfgang, Strat etc it almost looks like I strapped on an electric ukulele lol.

Never have tried a Jazzmaster though.

I'm still completely gaga over this Epi Firebird I got. Whenever I pick it up it feels like home! Much brighter than the Les Paul and Schecter and more bottom end than a Strat. Really seems like the best of both worlds. Still really curious about a SM2b in the bridge though.

 

[GuitarStv]

This last part may sound rather stupid but being a bigger guy I really don't like small guitars. If I play on an SG or a Wolfgang, Strat etc it almost looks like I strapped on an electric ukulele lol.

Never have tried a Jazzmaster though.

I'm also a bigger guy, and feel like most guitars look a little too small on me. Except my 335 and my Jazzmaster. Both of those are great body sizes if you want a large looking guitar.

 

[Lucius Paisley]

Everybody's talking in circles now.