My love/hate relationship with the strat

[SFW]

I love Strats. I love the body style, and how comfortable they are to play. However, after coming up on Les Pauls for the bulk of my 26 years of playing, I can't get used to the position of the volume knob. It drives me crazy. I've considered ordering a pick guard from Warmoth with the relocated volume knob position, but I'm not really sure if it will help. All I know is that in its stock position the knob is very much in my way. I can't rest my hand on the bridge when standing to acini date how I like to play.

For those of you who have relocated the knob, does it help? I'm about to sell off my last strat if I can't figure this one out.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: My love/hate relationship with the strat

I love Strats. I love the body style, and how comfortable they are to play. However, after coming up on Les Pauls for the bulk of my 26 years of playing, I can't get used to the position of the volume knob. It drives me crazy. I've considered ordering a pick guard from Warmoth with the relocated volume knob position, but I'm not really sure if it will help. All I know is that in its stock position the knob is very much in my way. I can't rest my hand on the bridge when standing to acini date how I like to play.

For those of you who have relocated the knob, does it help? I'm about to sell off my last strat if I can't figure this one out.

I'm just the opposite,in that I hate having to reach down for the volume/tone controls on the LP..I Like having my pinky right there on the strat's volume control..

 

[B2D]

Re: My love/hate relationship with the strat

I never had a problem with the position of the volume knob UNTIL I got used to playing my EC1000 and my Music Man, which have the volume knobs farther away, and my playing posture changed... now when I pick up a strat, I do tend to bump the knob until I get used to it again, but what really bugs me is how it gets in the way of the downward arc of the trem bar.

My solution? Use the two tone knob slots as a master volume/master tone setup and plug up the old volume knob hole with a small plastic plug from Home Depot. I like it a lot better that way. My hand never bangs into it and it doesn't get in the way of the trem arm.

 

[tonello]

Re: My love/hate relationship with the strat

That's why I use warmoth strats with custom knob positions (I did them myself). I also prefer the Gibson style of 2 volume 2 tone when available, which isn't on Warmoth's website for strats.

 

[Andrew Lamprecht]

Re: My love/hate relationship with the strat

I'm just the opposite,in that I hate having to reach down for the volume/tone controls on the LP..I Like having my pinky right there on the strat's volume control..

+1 I had a custom pickguard from warmoth made and they had 3 different places you could put the volume knob. I chose the standard one because it is just nice having it so close. Play soft and just move your pinky for however much grit you desire.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: My love/hate relationship with the strat

I use a two knob Strat. There it is in my profile pic. The tone knob is in the usual place but the volume knob is between where the volume knob and middle tone knob would be. I like it better. But I play a three knob Strat as well and get along with it just fine. Many Strat players tend to ride the volume knob and make constant adjustments and volume & tone shadings even during solos. I know I do. It's part of the technique of getting a great tone out of a Strat, IMO.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: My love/hate relationship with the strat

The position of the vol knob has never been a problem for me, but I absolutely HATE where the switch is. I'm always hitting it when I'm stumming and changing its position. It's pretty disconcerting to be strumming in a nice quacky position 4, then all of a sudden to be in position 3 or 1 (much fuller and louder). Really sounds bad, very embarassing.

 

[GuitarDoc]

Re: My love/hate relationship with the strat

I love the shape and feel (very comfy) of the Strat. And the tone of good single coils.

But I also love the tone of my LPs. And SGs are really fun to play and sound great too, especially with P-90s. And I also love how my Wilshires play and feel. And my Schecter C1 with P-Rails has totally amazing tones and is really comfy to play as well. But my homemade ones (very highly polished turds) have terrific tone and feel like they aren't even there (the most comfy of any guitars I've ever played...especially my latest, "Emerald Burst". But my "Caramel Burst" is a very close second).

 

[LReese]

Re: My love/hate relationship with the strat

This might sound a little nutty....

I'd bet most of us never touch the volume control. I typically don't, but I also don't mind the location either.

Do away with it. Simulate a 250K potentiometer with a resistor then if you want some sort of volume control, use a volume pedal.

As always YMMV with that. Several potential issues to work around.

 

[Psykel]

Re: My love/hate relationship with the strat

I'm not a volume knob twiddler, so accessability to it is of no issue to me, and I can't say it's ever been in the way when I've played strats.
The pickup selector switch tends to take hits when I strum tho. Haven't owned a strat since I got rid of my cheapo copy first ever guitar 10 years ago tho, and I haven't really played a strat "for real" in years.

 

[SFW]

Re: My love/hate relationship with the strat

It's just something that I have been noticing since I strated playing strats again this year. I haven't owned one for probably five years. I like to fan my middle, ring and pinky fingers for muting the strings. With the edge of my palm resting lightly on the bridge. This is th technique that I have used on my Les Pauls for 25 years now. It works on my Schecter and on every Ibanez that I have ever had. But them the volume knob is in a different location on those guitars compaired to a standard Strat.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: My love/hate relationship with the strat

This might sound a little nutty....

I'd bet most of us never touch the volume control. I typically don't, but I also don't mind the location either.

Do away with it. Simulate a 250K potentiometer with a resistor then if you want some sort of volume control, use a volume pedal.

As always YMMV with that. Several potential issues to work around.

Boy...I'm going to guess that you mostly play with a lot of overdrive or distortion. In any case, I don't and I use my guitar's volume knob to clean up my tone or go to a more distorted tone.

 

[ErikH]

Re: My love/hate relationship with the strat

I don't mind the stock position but I do find having the volume in the middle tone position to be about perfect for me. When I set one up with a single volume, that's where I put it.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: My love/hate relationship with the strat

I use a two knob Strat. There it is in my profile pic. The tone knob is in the usual place but the volume knob is between where the volume knob and middle tone knob would be. I like it better. But I play a three knob Strat as well and get along with it just fine. Many Strat players tend to ride the volume knob and make constant adjustments and volume & tone shadings even during solos. I know I do. It's part of the technique of getting a great tone out of a Strat, IMO.

Exactly...I ride the volume and the tone knobs...

 

[ratherdashing]

Re: My love/hate relationship with the strat

Having basically grown up with a Strat, I'm fine with the volume knob position. I actually like it there. I flipped the control plate on my Tele to move the volume knob closer. When I play my Dot or my Duo Jet, I feel like I'm reaching across the Pacific Ocean to find the volume.

 

[tubecrunch]

Re: My love/hate relationship with the strat

I got tired of fighting with a tele and made the guitar in my avatar. If anyone ever realizes I'm the best guitarist on earth and hires me to go on tour, I'll be doing the same thing with a strat/Paul build.

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: My love/hate relationship with the strat

I'm just the opposite,in that I hate having to reach down for the volume/tone controls on the LP..I Like having my pinky right there on the strat's volume control..

Me too. I love my ES-335 but the darned controls are to far away. I have to practically stop playing to reach them. Strat controls are much more ergonomic.

 

[LReese]

Re: My love/hate relationship with the strat

Boy...I'm going to guess that you mostly play with a lot of overdrive or distortion. In any case, I don't and I use my guitar's volume knob to clean up my tone or go to a more distorted tone.

Actually, no - mostly clean. I dont use my amp for overdrive unless testing something - use pedals for that. If I want to do swells I'd usually use a volume pedal which is rare. The older I get, the more "stock" I go with guitars.

I just was not thinking about riding the volume control technique when I made that comment. Ugh.

Was just throwing out a thought out there, basically just moving the volume control somewhere else if the stock position is trouble - like at the beginning of the effects chain (via a volume pedal).

 

[Bludave]

Re: My love/hate relationship with the strat

I'm just the opposite,in that I hate having to reach down for the volume/tone controls on the LP..I Like having my pinky right there on the strat's volume control..

Yeah me too. The volume knob and my little finger wrapped around it I can adjust my volume on the fly. Now what I do have some minor issues with is the switch. As I said MINOR !! What I do on almost all my strats is I remove the spring on the switch and trim one to two coils out so this tightens up the switch quite a bit and it makes it harder for me to knock it out of position. Works...

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: My love/hate relationship with the strat

Yeah me too. The volume knob and my little finger wrapped around it I can adjust my volume on the fly. Now what I do have some minor issues with is the switch. As I said MINOR !! What I do on almost all my strats is I remove the spring on the switch and trim one to two coils out so this tightens up the switch quite a bit and it makes it harder for me to knock it out of position. Works...

I've been playing on strats for so long that I guess whatever is a problem for someone else,I have adapted to...Each model guitar one picks up feels different though..I approach a LP different from a strat for example..I Love all the different guitars I own!