Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

[ex-250]

I didn't own anything with singlecoils until 2011. And even then I didn't play the strat all that much. My Phat Cats I loved, but they're a good bit beefier. Hell, this past summer I came very close to selling my lone strat.

But lately everything I write is on my strat. Its become my go-to. Mid-late 80s MIJ, SSl-1s in neck and middle, stock pup in bridge. I brought it to practice this week and the drummer said that something just sounded more "right" about it, and praised the articulation. It sounded delightful cranked through a AC-15 combo and Tiny Terror into a Marshall 412 with my pickup booster in front of both.

Now I find myself perusing ebay for more strats. Even though I am without pay right now.




Has anyone else undergone a similar transformation? Suddenly buckers-to-singles or singles-to-buckers? Or another such change?

 

[Rockstar216]

Re: Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

I started out on a SSS strat but later moved on to buckers and what I found out about myself is I like both for certain applications.

I love singles for cleans and mid gain stuff SSL-1s preferably. But overall I'm a humbucker guy for two reasons
1. A single can't hit you in the chest like a bucker can
2. No 60 cycle hum

Thats why I'm fond of HSH or HSS guitars I get the best of both.

 

[hydro]

Re: Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

I played mostly single coil guitars for years; humbuckers always seemed too dark for me. But I picked up an SG with humbuckers at some point and made it work for me, and appreciated the control, sustain and lower noise/feedback.

I don't jones for the Fender single coil sounds but I still have my Rickenbacker and may buy another when I get the dough. That tone is so unique and awesome for certain things, it's my go to guitar for writing songs on.

If you are loving the sounds you are getting there is a reason... Nothing cooler than finding a new voice to express yourself with.

 

[ex-250]

Re: Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

It may also be the difference between playing mostly thrash metal in my youth and going for the early/proto-metal and doom sounds now.

 

[hydro]

Re: Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

Seems like the doom/stoner bands these days are generally more humbucker based BUT there are plenty of these bands who use strats and get crazy heavy tones. Radio Moscow for example, also Wo Fat out of Dallas.

 

[stevesmith1987]

Re: Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

I play sludge and doom with Teles and Strats on a few songs.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

'Have you become a Strat guy?' Oh, I hope not. It's so unoriginal. There's millions of them already. What are you, a lemming?

 

[Rich_S]

Re: Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

I have believed for years that eventually, everyone ends up playing a Strat. It's because we all go deaf sooner or later, and we switch to Strats to compensate for the loss of high-frequency hearing.

 

[JeffB]

Re: Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

I went through a strat and tele period, as my mid life criris. They helped me to really define what I was chasing in my head all the time.

I LOVE a good SSS vintage style strat..I still have one. There are things they do brilliantly beyond the scope of SRV/Clapton or plinky blues. I have absolutely no use or love for noiseless singles, or HSS or what have you, but a good SSS is a excellent instrument...a pure instrument that requires alot of effort, and a different touch, but is quite satisfying once you get it.

That said, my sound, the sound in my head, goes back to Gibson, but not all the gibsons and gibsonalikes I spent multiple 10s of thousands of dollars on like an idiot. A good SSS strat could be part of your journey, or the end. Give it time and enjoy it for what it is.

 

[CTN]

Re: Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

'Have you become a Strat guy?' Oh, I hope not. It's so unoriginal. There's millions of them already. What are you, a lemming?

and les pauls are super unique and original?

lmao

 

[blueman335]

Re: Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

and les pauls are super unique and original?

lmao

No, but they're heavy in weight and tone, and that counts for something! From the many blues festivals and local bands I've seen, the ratio here is about 10 Strats for every LP. Way too lopsided, and most of the Strats (but not all of them) sound either bright and thin, or when there's too much distortion, like 'a bee in a can.' I wouldn't mind the dominance of Strats that I've seen on the west coast of Florida, if most of those guys knew how to EQ the darn things. I've been conditioned over the years and now when I see a guy walk on stage with a Strat and say: 'Oh god, here we go again.' And most of the time I'm right, it's an avalanche of treble.

But, I've heard enough Strats that sound great to know that it is possible. It just seems like a lot players feel an obligation to buy them (either mass hypnosis or the Hendrix/SRV influence) but then don't put the effort into dialing in the tones, and they sound like crap. They seem to think that simply owning one is automatically the key to great tone. It's really the player's fault more than the guitar when that happens though. As Wah Wah said: 'Strats don't suffer fools lightly.'

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

I'm right there, OP. There's nuance to a single coil's sound that a fat humbuggy just mows over. You get so much variance in tone from pick angle and placement.

HEY. keep dem hummers. You better not rid yourself of them and them backslide into dense Engl tone without them.

 

[jon the art guy]

Re: Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

It's weird that it's always a strat you see in beginner guitar packages, am I right? Strat guys mess with their tone knobs and...volume too. weird.

I'm starting to think it's a lot like building old cars. Everyone wants a 57 Chevy, old Camaro...something with a blower hanging out of the hood...something ear-bleedingly fast and strong. Sooner or later, some of those guys would rather get more complicated and go smaller, more numbers-matching, or into vintage motorcycles. Complicated, difficult to work with and in no way competition to a blown Mustang. Or Turbo Vette, thank you Sir Mixalot. SO much more satisfying for the person working on it though.

 

[Securb]

Re: Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

They will get my humbuckers when the pry them from my cold dead hands.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

I'm right there, OP. There's nuance to a single coil's sound that a fat humbuggy just mows over. You get so much variance in tone from pick angle and placement.

We've heard the opposite here, from a number of Strat players who say they require a more forceful approach, like pounding on the strings. With HB's having more output, you don't need to bang on them; it's easier to lighten your picking and get more subtleties and nuances. True, Fender single coils have a distinctive sound (which are not necessarily the definition of single coils, as P-90's were around a few years before them), but I don't think they have the tone variety of HB's. Having two coils also give you options like parallel and coil cut.

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

I wonder how it feels to be lost in one's delusion.

 

[blueman335]

Re: Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

I have believed for years that eventually, everyone ends up playing a Strat. It's because we all go deaf sooner or later, and we switch to Strats to compensate for the loss of high-frequency hearing.

I think there's some truth to this. As you age, you gradually lose the ability to hear higher frequencies, and you do see some players past their prime switching over to Fenders. Their ears are probably shot, and most other guitars may sound muffled to them. Prime example being Clapton, who blew out his ears in Cream (volume was one of the reasons they disbanded), and he's never been able to match the tone quality, or playing, he had in the 1960's (listen to 'Lay Down Sally' and others for the tumble he took in tone quality).

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

ex-250. Just do what feels right man. If strats are getting you your sound and you feel comfortable with them, go for it.

 

[LReese]

Re: Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

Quality is a matter of perception - Clapton sounds just fine on a Strat... or whatever else he lays his hands on. That includes "Lay Down Sally".

I'd say that Clapton just does not sound the same as he did in the 60s.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Mid-life crisis: Have I become a Strat guy?

It's not a crisis, it's a graduation. I don't think there's any high level guitar players who don't like single coils, no matter what else they use.

Congrats. You're now out of Guitarist Junior High.