Tele vs. Strat. Help! I can't decide.

S

Syris

New member
Ok, looking at two guitars here. An American Vintage ‘62 Telecaster® Custom or an American Vintage ‘62 Stratocaster®. I've heard the sound files for both of them on Fender's website, Tele seems awesome for rythm with awesome bass and lower mids. Strat seems the opposite, better sounding for leads with mids and treble. I like both.

My question is what are the pros and cons of strats and teles? Things like action and pickup buzz.

If anybody has owned either of these, some info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks everybody!

*EDIT*

Here are the sound clips for each guitar from Fender's web site. Are these a pretty good representation of each instrument you think? They both have that special *something* that I can't quite place. I guess for the tele it's that "spank" that everybody is always talking about, and for the strat it's the "quack".

Strat
http://www.fender.com/products/sounds/guitars/0100100.mp3

Tele
http://www.fender.com/products/sounds/guitars/0106200.mp3
Tele

Still so hard to choose!
 
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Re: Tele vs. Strat. Help! I can't decide.

Get a 72 tele custome, put a phat cat in the neck, and rout the body for a single coil strat pick up. there. You have both Twang, Quack, and single coil goodness.
 
Re: Tele vs. Strat. Help! I can't decide.

I say play both of them and see which one feels better, although, I will say, they will feel very VERY similar. At that point, go with the one you think looks better. Keep in mind a maple vs. rosewood neck will affect the tone (maple is brighter, rosewood is warmer) and you can ALWAYS change/upgrade the tone by putting some better pickups in.
 
Re: Tele vs. Strat. Help! I can't decide.

Tele- Plank, hardtail, workman, ashtray bridge
Strat- Comfy contour, Whammy, Bit fancier

You'll know what's right when you go play.
Or like me you'll get one of each and be complete!
 
Re: Tele vs. Strat. Help! I can't decide.

A strat is a astrat, and a tele is a tele.

Neither will sound like the other, but you can get close with the right pickups and wiring.
 
Re: Tele vs. Strat. Help! I can't decide.

They don't feel similar (sorry SnakeAces, I disagree there). Both are a Fender with single coils but that's where the similarity ends. Ok, they both can pull off any style.

The Tele neck is a little thicker than a Strat. The Strat is also a little more forgiving than a Tele. A Tele will tell you when you hit a bum note, much more so than any other guitar. The contours on the Strat make it a little more comfortable to some people, some like the non-contoured Tele body.

I own a Strat and Tele (both MIA), but not those specific models. My Tele has plenty of mids with the stock pickup. Surprised me actually. I love playing leads on it. Same with the Strat. Remember, pickups will help define the EQ of the guitar as well but they won't be able to totally reshape it.

Best advice, go play them and decide from there, and play them through an amp YOU use, not something you don't have. You may be disappointed after getting one or the other home.
 
Re: Tele vs. Strat. Help! I can't decide.

You can play solos on both... and both are great for rhythm for almost any style...
You just have to play a few and then go for the Tele... :)
 
Re: Tele vs. Strat. Help! I can't decide.

Yeah, those are easily two of the most versatile guitars on the planet. There are even some of the greatest jazz guitarists of all time that swear by a telecaster! They can do it all. I find the Tele has more high end bite and spank in the bridge position without sounding brittle than the strat, but that's just my experience. I have an american standard strat and a highway 1 tele with texas specials...they're both amazing guitars and I'm currently in the slow process of selling off all my other guitars because I don't need them when I have these two
 
Re: Tele vs. Strat. Help! I can't decide.

I agree with ErikH. Teles amplify your mistakes a lot more than Strats do. You can get some really good tones on a tele, but when you mess up, man does it show. Personally I prefer strats (because I make a lot of mistakes :27:) but in the end just get what feels better to you. You can have the greatest tone from a guitar, but if it doesn't feel right you're not going to want to play it.
 
Re: Tele vs. Strat. Help! I can't decide.

ErikH said:
They don't feel similar (sorry SnakeAces, I disagree there). Both are a Fender with single coils but that's where the similarity ends. Ok, they both can pull off any style.

The Tele neck is a little thicker than a Strat. The Strat is also a little more forgiving than a Tele. A Tele will tell you when you hit a bum note, much more so than any other guitar. The contours on the Strat make it a little more comfortable to some people, some like the non-contoured Tele body.

I own a Strat and Tele (both MIA), but not those specific models. My Tele has plenty of mids with the stock pickup. Surprised me actually. I love playing leads on it. Same with the Strat. Remember, pickups will help define the EQ of the guitar as well but they won't be able to totally reshape it.

Best advice, go play them and decide from there, and play them through an amp YOU use, not something you don't have. You may be disappointed after getting one or the other home.
Click to expand...

Right on. I am still a rookie compared to many of you guys on here!! Someday...

I personally have never owned a Tele...yet. I've always wanted one though. I've played on a few but that was about 2 years ago (basically before I really started noticing differences). All I remember is it felt a lot more like a Strat and definitely not anything close to other models out there (like a LP, SG, PRS, etc).

At any rate, thanks for clarifying.
 
Re: Tele vs. Strat. Help! I can't decide.

I think that for many players (including me) the Tele has the perfect bridge pickup and the Strat has the perfect neck pickup... although the Tele neck is amazing for a more then a few musical styles...
You can always put a Strat neck pickup in the Tele and get th best of both worlds.
 
Re: Tele vs. Strat. Help! I can't decide.

SnakeAces said:
Right on. I am still a rookie compared to many of you guys on here!! Someday...

I personally have never owned a Tele...yet. I've always wanted one though. I've played on a few but that was about 2 years ago (basically before I really started noticing differences). All I remember is it felt a lot more like a Strat and definitely not anything close to other models out there (like a LP, SG, PRS, etc).

At any rate, thanks for clarifying.
Click to expand...

The reason it felt similar was probably the scale length. The others you mentioned are 24 3/4" scale (PRS is 25" scale) and feel absolutely totally different from a Strat and Tele.

I love them both so I can't help anyone decide. :D

OT: What LP is that in your avatar? Is that a Gibby?
 
Re: Tele vs. Strat. Help! I can't decide.

Oh yeah, that's a Gibby. It's my pride and joy. I love that guitar. I used to play it about 3 to 4 hours a day, but then I decided to upgrade my Strat for a daily player just to try to keep the Gibby in good condition. I still play the LP about 30 minutes a day though.

As far as I know it's a very limited edition Les Paul studio very similar to the Guitar Center run from 2004. The difference is mine has all brushed chrome pups covers, pickguard, bridge, switchplate, control cavity cover, bridge ST piece, etc. The GC run had black for all that stuff. I have contacted Gibson for the exacts on my serial number, all they said was it's more limited than the GC run. I have only known of one other LP exactly like mine and that one was selling for $1600. I got mine from ebay for $900 though.
 
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Re: Tele vs. Strat. Help! I can't decide.

Wow. It sure is purdy. I love the color and the brushed chrome look. It's got a great vibe goin'. Keep that baby.

The only Gibson Les Paul I ever had was an early 90's Studio, black, chrome hardware. It was sweet. Had to sell it though to pay bills. I recently got a Epi LP Standard Plus to fill the LP void. It's no Gibby, but it does the job just fine for me.
 
Re: Tele vs. Strat. Help! I can't decide.

I've had both ... they are both great guitars ... I like the Tele the best myself. But it really is a personal decision ... heck just buy one of each.
 
Re: Tele vs. Strat. Help! I can't decide.

FWIW- I play my Tele more than my Strat- though I like 'em both.
 
Re: Tele vs. Strat. Help! I can't decide.

If I could only have one, I'd have to choose the Strat. You can do a lot more with it. More sounds on your toggle switch.

You can have a Strat be HSS, and not kill the overall Strat persona, you can have coil splitting, and you have an awesome instrument, that can cover so much tonal ground, but in my opinion, a bridge HB in a Tele will change the guitar too much.

Though a standard Tele (SS) has a much fatter sound than a standard Strat (SSS).

Plus, from a totally narrow-minded idiot perspective, the Strat looks better.
 
Re: Tele vs. Strat. Help! I can't decide.

ErikH said:
Wow. It sure is purdy. I love the color and the brushed chrome look. It's got a great vibe goin'. Keep that baby.

The only Gibson Les Paul I ever had was an early 90's Studio, black, chrome hardware. It was sweet. Had to sell it though to pay bills. I recently got a Epi LP Standard Plus to fill the LP void. It's no Gibby, but it does the job just fine for me.
Click to expand...


Yeah, even though it's not a one of a kind, it's very unique. I would never think of selling it no matter how hard up I got. I don't care if it meant being homeless and my only possession was that LP!! Haha.

I used to have an Epiphone LP Classic, it wasn't bad. You are correct, they are not Gibsons, but they definitely can fill the void.
 
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