The Soul of the Stratocaster...?

Re: The Soul of the Stratocaster...?

I've found I just like the tone of single coils better than humbuckers. They seem clearer and take more work to cut through and sustain (probably due to the generally weaker output). I love the singles in my strat and I love the P90s on the LP Special and somehow humbuckers don't speak to me as well.
 
Re: The Soul of the Stratocaster...?

maybe some instruments have an instant connection with me some i dont have at all. I played my strat today for the first time in a while and it was great playing it again.
 
Re: The Soul of the Stratocaster...?

Even an amatuer like me can relate to the Strat's qualities. I don't really think of it as having "soul", or "magic", or "mojo", but as GJ eluded to, its just a great design. The lower body cut-out is placed perfectly. Add in the balance, tummy cut, and forearm relief, and you have a guitar that sits in your lap like a happy puppy.

Tone is just a question of finding the right pups. I've got mine very close to perfection now, even though, its not a traditional layout. But I don't care. Its mine. ;)
 
Re: The Soul of the Stratocaster...?

the guy who invented fire said:
IMO, it is hard to get a good sound out of a Fender, and it is much harder t play them that a Gibson, PRS, etc...it's like a fight, and if you win you have a great sound! I will say this (sound and playabilty aside), there is nothing in the world that feels like a good Strat...they just fit like a broken in pair of shoes, or your favorite blue jeans.
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See now I'm a strat player for many many years but I do play the Gibson's shorter scale length also...I don't fight with a strat,in fact I'm more comfy or just more used to playing strats...I find the LP to be harder to play lead in the upper registers also...This isn't a problem on my strat or my Teles or SG though..The strat's longer scale length makes bending harder,plus your tone is cleaner and more articulate on a strat simply because the strings are under more tension...For me,it's just the overall difference in the way the guitars are made that matters most...I think the better you become as a player,the easier it is to pick up any decent instrument and have your voice on it...

I'm way more comfy on a strat and Icould play 1 strat all night and cover every single song our band plays and be perfectly happy....The strat also speaks to me in it's tone and versatility....I've tryed the PRS C22 and I'd still prefer 2 strats over that guitar....THE STRAT IS KING! :laugh2:
 
Re: The Soul of the Stratocaster...?

I think the Strat and Tele will make a player sound more like themselves than a humbucker equipped guitar. Can aynone tell the 80's hairmetal guitar tones apart? Who is who, All humbucking equipped guitars through amps with so much gain for that mosquito tone. A Strat or Tele through a tube amp will let the player's tough & technique come through. The amp makes a big difference too, I bet blindfolded almost no one could tell what guitar is being played through a saturated Crate transistor amp. Just an observation....Joe
 
Re: The Soul of the Stratocaster...?

bungalowbill said:
I think the Strat and Tele will make a player sound more like themselves than a humbucker equipped guitar. Can aynone tell the 80's hairmetal guitar tones apart? Who is who, All humbucking equipped guitars through amps with so much gain for that mosquito tone. A Strat or Tele through a tube amp will let the player's tough & technique come through. The amp makes a big difference too, I bet blindfolded almost no one could tell what guitar is being played through a saturated Crate transistor amp. Just an observation....Joe
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Players of the time like Randy Rhoads or EVH were very easy to figure out who they were...Satch plays humbuckers,as does Santana and these guys have an immediate tone that makes it easy to tell who they are...

Neal Schon is another humbucker player and he too,has his own voice...It's the player and his or her's touch and technique with great gear....
 
Re: The Soul of the Stratocaster...?

Rid said:
Hehe Mincer you got a style on your own, plus you have a way different sound than most others have;)
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I just saw this, thank you very much for that- it made my day!
 
Re: The Soul of the Stratocaster...?

I've had a difficult time getting along with my Strats. My Teles just feel better and sound better to me. I've started getting back into Gibsons with HBs lately, but I'm going for the more open sounding HBs, like the Seths and Antiquity HBs, which I find very dynamic and expressive. It's nice to have options for expressing your creativity.
 
Re: The Soul of the Stratocaster...?

One thing that seems to have popped out over the years is that guitars tend to reflect the player and I find myself a different player almost everyday. Some is learning, some is mood, some is that my fingers are looking for a lighter string after a heavy workout the previous night..

I probably play my strat style gtrs 65% of the time- When I do, I'm usually more bluesish countryish, but it certainly rocks as well.

On the other hand, pulloffs, long sustain, etc are much easier on my PRS, but the really funny thing is that from a timbre POV all of my gtrs cross spectrum all of the time- In other words with coil rolloffs on strat rails and the 2,3,4 positions on the PRS, I can end up with very similar sounds- Of course the PRS has more sustain, but once I'm up to feedback level this isn't as big a deal.

So which do I use when? Again, much has to do with feel- About a year ago I was laying down tracks, had a long, melodic, almost santana like solo planned, and I was 99% sure I would use the PRS when it was time.

But when it was time, the strat felt right, and I got exactly the sound I wanted- But whenever performing the EXACT SAME SOLO ever since, I have used the PRS!

Maybe it comes down to the fact that we are very analog in our body chemistry- Between recording and playing out, I've moved 95% of my playing to modeling amps, so theoretically there are few varabiles- But some days certain patch and pup combinations seem to shine and others on other days-

Maybe it's a bit like pressure changes to your ear drum when you yawn- Ever noticed the pitch shift? Maybe our entire bodies are shifting all of the time and certain combos work best on certain days?

Certainly sounds like a good excuse to have a wide variety of geer available at all times (at least that's what I tell my wife:)
 
Re: The Soul of the Stratocaster...?

Lewguitar said:
I think Strats and especially Teles are much harder to get a warm resonant and pleasing tone out of than a PRS or nice Les Paul type guitar.

So you HAVE to put more of yourself into it when you play a Strat or Tele and be more concious of the tone you are actually creating.

For that reason, I hear more of my own soul or self come through when I play my Fenders...I hear more of my own personality. Because a Fender will not do most of the work of creating a good tone for you the way a nice Gibson or PRS might.

The results are worth it!

Lew
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I don't think you could've put that better. I think that is why people like Malmsteen, SRV, Hendrix, Clapton etc all have their own "unique" sound.
 
Re: The Soul of the Stratocaster...?

Umm, how about Albert Collins, Freddy King, Albert King, Roy Buchanan, Danny Gatton, Muddy Waters, Hubert Sumlin, Paul Kossoff, Jimmy Page, and on and on... They might have used a Strat occasionally, but their primary choice was something else, and they definitely sounded like something else -- and don't confuse these originals with the later guys who incorporated their styles to varying degrees. I'm not knocking anyone, I'm just pointing out that finding your own voice is a personal process, not a Strat process.
 
Re: The Soul of the Stratocaster...?

I find that I like the lively sound that comes from a bolt-on neck, 25.5 inch scale, and single coils whether it is a strat or a tele. I do prefer hardtails though so they stay in tune.
I know that humbuckers work better for some kinds of music and are usually friendlier to distortion and sound incredible under some folk's fingers (think Seymour's sound at the UGD jam)... but when I play them, I always feel as if humbucker equiped guitars sound like someone has put a blanket over the speaker cabinet. So give me a strat type guitar or a tele...
 
Re: The Soul of the Stratocaster...?

I couldn't be bothered to read all 3 pages so if this has been pointed out already I apologise. If singles do sound like you get more out of them than hummers maybe it's because the hum isn't the only thing that gets bucked. You could, I suppose, lose some of the tonal qualities that would be picked up in just the one coil.
 
Re: The Soul of the Stratocaster...?

yeah, that's what i think too. In bucking the hum you lose some stuff i guess.

GO 60 HZ HUM!!!
 
Re: The Soul of the Stratocaster...?

Humbuckers just don't have the clarity or the glassy chime of a single coil basically...With the humbucker you give up noise,but you also lose the highs and some of the note clarity of single coils...Always a tradeoff and I use both..
 
Re: The Soul of the Stratocaster...?

Time for me to get my first strat...

Opinions on superstrats? They combine both SC and humbuckers (well some of them anyway). I think the Floyd Rose just kills tone though...

Are they any dedicated humbucker on traditional strat users here?
 
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