How useful is a Strat? Do I need one?

[Stefan87]

So serious question.

Am trying to bring a bit more variety to my collection and don't have a strat, truth is I have never really been a strat guy but lately have been listening a lot of bluesy stuff and John Mayer so am thinking that it maybe something I could use.

But I have a Tele, so do I really need a Strat?

I know this is a bit of a rhetorical question but all you Strat lovers post why you love them.

 

[radd]

Everybody should have a Strat and a Tele…..If for no other reason than to respect and enjoy the history of the solid body guitar.

 

[Stefan87]

Everybody should have a Strat and a Tele…..If for no other reason than to respect and enjoy the history of the solid body guitar.

You make a good point there, also a good reason to justify owning a LP and an SG.

 

[GlenP]

For positions 2 and 4. I just got my first Strat recently. I would have been happy with a Squier Classic Vibe, but found a good deal on a lightly used Player.

(I had a HSS Yamaha short-scale-length 24-fret shredder, but it was not really a strat.)

Does your Tele have a maple fretboard? Then you might need a Strat with a rosewood fretboard, or vice versa. You can use different gage strings or different tunings on the Tele and the Strat, if you need a reason to justify another similar, but not too different guitar. Set one up with high action for slide? Tele is really a different animal but also uniquely different from a Strat. You could get by with a Tele, sure, just ask Steve Cropper.

 

[General_Lee]

How useful is a Strat? Very. Do I need one? Of course...

All kidding aside, I actually do believe every working musician should stock at least a Fender or two and preferably one of each. Tele's and Strats have their own individual voices and while either may cover all the bases in a more or less convincing way, sometimes only one or the other will do to give you complete authenticity of sound in the style you are attempting to pull off at the moment. I love both. I own both. I NEED both!

 

[wabash slim]

I highly appreciate what many others have done with Strats, but, for some reason, I've never really been able to bond with one. Variety is the spice of life.

 

[Stefan87]

I highly appreciate what many others have done with Strats, but, for some reason, I've never really been able to bond with one. Variety is the spice of life.

I'm like that with Gibsons, completely appreciate them but not for me, really wanted to like P90's but just not my sound.

 

[juks]

I had one Squier but that got traded in towards a gretsch. I like teles but never bonded with a strat.

 

[TSims1]

I think the Tele can do almost anything. But what it can’t do…..a Strat does. And vice versa. They both make you play differently. And the Strat is oh-so-comfortable. Do you need one? Yes. Truthfully. A guitar player needs a Strat in the pile.

 

[wabash slim]

I'm like that with Gibsons, completely appreciate them but not for me, really wanted to like P90's but just not my sound.

I like P-90s. I'm a single coil kinda guy. Just never could bond with Strats. Love the Teles, tho.

I'm complicated that way.

 

[BCRatRod73]

Everybody should have a Strat and a Tele…..If for no other reason than to respect and enjoy the history of the solid body guitar.

I’d like a full size set neck Tele and Strat with similar body dimensions as a 6120. Just bigger versions of those designs. Thin body, and at that size, chambered for weight savings. At 6‘-6” I make normal guitars look tiny. I’m aware of the Greg Koch Reverend Tele and Ray Benson big Tele.

 

[radd]

I’d like a full size set neck Tele and Strat with similar body dimensions as a 6120. Just bigger versions of those designs. Thin body, and at that size, chambered for weight savings. At 6‘-6” I make normal guitars look tiny. I’m aware of the Greg Koch Reverend Tele and Ray Benson big Tele.

Consider a Reverend Greg Koch Gristlemaster Tele. It is sized for big guys like Greg

 

[BCRatRod73]

Consider a Reverend Greg Koch Gristlemaster Tele. It is sized for big guys like Greg

View attachment 181051 View attachment 181052

I need a set neck. I do not like bolt on neck joints.

 

[General_Lee]

One thing I like about both Teles and Strats is the way they love to be manhandled. You can twist 'em, turn 'em, flail 'em, beat 'em with a stick or a pick, rip the whammy (in the case of the Strat), snap the strings, jibe the tuners, bow the neck, punch the pups, or even light 'em on fire (a la Hendrix). They just keep on singing. Try that with your favorite Gretsch or Gibson and you'd soon have the guitar police on you tail. But with Fenders, it's almost a requirement. If you are a physical player, or even just have the odd hankering to take your meaner licks out on a guitar, then a Fender is your baby. Just be prepared for it to bite back...

 

[Ricochet]

A Tele(and you know I love'm) cuts and twangs. A Strat chimes.
Nothing like a Strat pickup in the neck position. I put one in LP type guitars several times. Nope.

 

[Chmason85]

So serious question.

Am trying to bring a bit more variety to my collection and don't have a strat, truth is I have never really been a strat guy but lately have been listening a lot of bluesy stuff and John Mayer so am thinking that it maybe something I could use.

But I have a Tele, so do I really need a Strat?

I know this is a bit of a rhetorical question but all you Strat lovers post why you love them.

Absolutely get a Strat and forget the tele. I love strats. The teles I’ve had have been marginal, but a good Strat is something you always need in your closet. They are hard to play though. I grew up on nothing but strats and that taught me endurance

 

[swivel]

If I hear the term "How useful" referncing guitars, a Strat immediately comes to mind....

 

[audept]

Nothing else sounds exactly like a Strat. You need to spend some time to find out whether you love them or dislike them. For me, there has always been something about Mary:

 

[Ricochet]

I need a set neck. I do not like bolt on neck joints.

Oddly enough Fender doesn't make one. They do make like 300 different other Teles though.
CS(the ones I've seen anyway) or the FMT feature set necks but both are HH.

Looks like a custom build is in order...

 

[BCRatRod73]

Looks like a custom build is in order...

Yeah, I’ve thought of it, and also thought of doing a custom Tele by myself. For the money a custom Fender would cost I immediately think about spending the same money on a Gretsch. I’d rather have a high end Gretsch.