What bothers me about strats

Ventilator

New member
I love strats, but I really have issues with the location of the volume knob. I know that it can be a blessing if you're trying to do something like Echo Etude, but it really just gets in the way a lot of the other times; palm mutes especially. Maybe it is just poor technique on my part, maybe it is because I have big hands. I dont know.
 
Re: What bothers me about strats

This is why I completely overhauled my Strat and it's a one-volume, one humbucker rocker with the volume in a less stupid place. You could always have a custom pickguard made by Warmoth and put the volume wherever you want.
 
Re: What bothers me about strats

i think every player that is not used to it being there finds it in the way... i used superstarts and Les Pauls for a long time before i got a real Fender strat and when i got my first strat it did bug me... took me a while to get used to it for sure... after a while you don't notice it and sometimes i reach down on my other guitars looking for the pot to be right there like a strat!!! LOL

i remember the day i brought my Les Paul home over 21 years ago now... i was used to playing a Kramer strat... when i got the Les Paul it felt like the bridge was a million miles in the air away from the body... i was used to the straight body faces and flat string angles... took me ages to get used to the LP...

in the end all guitars take a while to get used to
 
Re: What bothers me about strats

I think everybody who plays Strats has to "learn" how to play them. Once you do you will love it.
 
Re: What bothers me about strats

I like the placement....I couldn't imagine doing volume swells on some other makes of guitars.
 
Re: What bothers me about strats

My workaround is to put a stiffer pot in that place. Softer pots always get moved around.
 
Re: What bothers me about strats

I think everybody who plays Strats has to "learn" how to play them. Once you do you will love it.

Exactly. I was mostly a Gibson guy for 20 years but would pick up a strat on occasion, and the volume knob used to bug me.

I eventually ended up playing a strat for a couple years exclusively, and now I cannot stand any other control setup (or rather just greatly prefer the strat). It takes some getting used to but once you do it's hard to go back to other stuff.

Also, really depends on just how loose/tight the throw is on the pot. If it's loose you will always have issues- my 2 Destroyers both had a volume very close like a strat, and the pots were cheap and very easy to knock down, I was constantly having to re-adjust the volume.
 
Re: What bothers me about strats

Just ditch the volume knob that's close to the strings:

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No problems accidentally knocking it ever again.
 
Re: What bothers me about strats

^^ yup.

move the volume pot, and make the remaining tone pot a master tone.

problem solved.
 
Re: What bothers me about strats

Turn it around and learn to play left-handed. Clearly the easiest solution since the pot in there is mounted in a ultraniotided multi-cast gnorz and can't be removed even if you buy a new pickguard :)
 
Re: What bothers me about strats

my first guitar was a les paul and when i got a strat it didn't bother me at all. it's nice to have the knobs right there when you wanna noodle with the vol or tone.
 
Re: What bothers me about strats

Single humbucker, straight to the jack. No worries there. :D
 
What bothers me about strats

When I first started playing this used to bug me as well, so I started playing only Teles. Finally, after many years I decided to get a Strat again and it doesn't bother me at all. I guess my technique has improved.
 
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