Make the call, Strat or Tele

Make the call, Strat or Tele

  • Tele

    Votes: 24 46.2%
  • Strat

    Votes: 28 53.8%

  • Total voters
    52

jayK

New member
Never thought I'd say it, but I like my tele more than my strat now, like it's playability more and has a nastier attitude.

If you had to pick between your best of either, what would it be?
 
Re: Make the call, Strat or Tele

I'd take my '54 Tele over any other guitar I own or have ever owned.

But I love Strats too and miss the neck pickup only and neck/middle pickups combined tone when I play my Tele sometimes.

That's when I reach for a Strat and play it for a while.

Lew
 
Re: Make the call, Strat or Tele

I'm definitely a Tele man right now. But I still love my Strat too.
 
Re: Make the call, Strat or Tele

I've found strats really great at doing a few things (in between tones, that great neck pickup tone, tinny, uber bright funk stuff on the bridge pickups) but they always sound mediocre in my hands when attempting other things. I think teles are better all arounders.

...of course, the best all arounder is a Jag :D Most people will think I'm joking, but no. Jags sound almost like a cross between a tele and a strat to me; strat glass, tele twang... though a bit harsher than either of those guitars, and definitely with its own character. I haven't even found them to be as lacking in sustain as people say... just find a good one, and make sure it's set up right (few people know how to set them up right).

Jags are magical. Listen to the beach boys and sonic youth.

slade
 
Re: Make the call, Strat or Tele

Sorry, I had to vote Strat.

From a tonal standpoint, I just can't get the tele=country equation out of my head...or ears.

From a cosmetic standpoint, the Tele headstock looks only slightly cooler than that old 80's, rounded Kramer hockey stick.
 
Re: Make the call, Strat or Tele

agreed I'm not one for the tele look. especially the headstock. but I'd rather have a tele exclusively than a strat exclusively. Almost, if I was normal that is. I mostly play the stuff that sounds best on the strat anyways.

slade
 
Re: Make the call, Strat or Tele

Gamera,

That's funny what you said about the tele=country thing.

I think most people make that connection, probably because almost every guy you ever see in a country band is playing a friggin tele, and there is something kind of annoying about it even though I love the guitar and understand why they have them! It's almost like they are not allowed to play anything else!

Obviously they can get that "twang" but they bring a lot more to the table than that. So many rockers have played teles, Jimmy Page used a tele for most of Zep's first album and of course "Stairway" was recorded with a tele, so much for the "you can only play country with a tele" thing.
 
Re: Make the call, Strat or Tele

I love them both, but if you put a gun to my head and forced me to choose only one, it would have to be the Strat. It's much more versatile, much more comfortable to play, and far too many great tones have come from Strats over the years.
 
Re: Make the call, Strat or Tele

I voted strat, love the quacking tones! But tele's are great instruments too!

Hey slade, I don't know if you've ever considered this, but have you ever considered getting a little adventurous and adding another middle jag pickup to your jag? check out mel waldorf's page www.jagandjazz.com, his 3 pickup jag is serious! Then you get your typical jag stuff, as well as the strat notch position quack!
 
Re: Make the call, Strat or Tele

Tele's are known as much for being blues axes as for country. I vote Strat, but it's closer than it once was since I bought a Squier Tele as a test bed for my Tele pickups. For a $150 guitar, this thing really sings, and then I came up with a Tele pu recipe that just kills...so you get the idea.

I'm getting a custom pickguard from LewGuitar that will allow me to have a Tele pickup in my Strat.

So I guess my vote is for the....

....Strele.
 
Re: Make the call, Strat or Tele

telecaster no doubt. I can get just as good (but different) clean tones with a tele compared to a strat, but i miss that extra zing a tele has that a strat just doesnt have whenever i pick up a strat
 
Re: Make the call, Strat or Tele

joelap said:
I voted strat, love the quacking tones! But tele's are great instruments too!

Hey slade, I don't know if you've ever considered this, but have you ever considered getting a little adventurous and adding another middle jag pickup to your jag? check out mel waldorf's page www.jagandjazz.com, his 3 pickup jag is serious! Then you get your typical jag stuff, as well as the strat notch position quack!
hmm... might be a new project for me :D sonic blue with a white stripe, white guard and 3 pickups... mapleboard with pearl block inlays... goddamn it. All this fantasizing is unhealthy. Better get some money one of these days...

He's got some good soundclips there.

slade
 
Re: Make the call, Strat or Tele

danglybanger said:
hmm... might be a new project for me :D sonic blue with a white stripe, white guard and 3 pickups... mapleboard with pearl block inlays... goddamn it. All this fantasizing is unhealthy. Better get some money one of these days...

He's got some good soundclips there.

slade
Yeah, I like his site a lot. He outlines step by step how he did it too, so it's a good guide if you do decide to go for it!
 
Re: Make the call, Strat or Tele

I voted Strat, because when I tried the Tele in the store, I found it's sound was basicly a beefed-up Strat. And we all know a Strat pickup change would solve that. The Strat can quack, twang, and crunch. The Tele (at least when I tried it), can't do half those things.
 
Re: Make the call, Strat or Tele

jayK said:
Never thought I'd say it, but I like my tele more than my strat now, like it's playability more and has a nastier attitude. If you had to pick between your best of either, what would it be?

Guitars can sometimes be a "fad" we get into for a while. Like when I get my Ibanez modified, I'll probably play it more than my current ESP, but not for long. I'd say keep both and play both.
 
Re: Make the call, Strat or Tele

jayK said:
Never thought I'd say it, but I like my tele more than my strat now, like it's playability more and has a nastier attitude.

If you had to pick between your best of either, what would it be?

Tele, with a middle pickup added. A friend of mine did this, and while it didn't quite nail the strat tone, it had enough quack to satisfy for the time being.

Lately, I've been almost exclusively playing LP, until I put that Chopper in my Strat and plugged it into my friend's HM-2 pedal. I think I've finally found a good enough front end to be happy with a nice clean SS amp. Once I find the right amp, no more backaches! :>
 
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