Andy R Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 You have to really "tweak" in most Strats and Teles. There are a lot of them that aren't setup worth a damn. As mentioned before they have a lot of different neck profiles and fretboard radius as well as fret size. I have not met a Strat yet that had the neck angle shimmed correctly ( or the set screw), Pickup heights set correctly for the pickups that are in it or have the saddles set and radiused correctly for the fretboard, bridge springs adjusted and Last but not least proper neck relief. Add the scale length difference and people who are used to Gibsons with tune 0 matics and stop tailpieces will find Strats and Teles to be let's say Difficult... If they are setup right they can be great instruments. They just take more tinkering and are generally a guitar your gonna have to fight ( in a good way) a bit when you play. Just my experience.... Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damian Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 My MIM Strats and Teles are great........They came well set up........ They ARE made of pieces of wood, not ply, and not two or three pieces, but CHUNKS glued together.... For the price, I love them......... Fender Squire has some new Strats and Teles in their CLASSIC VIBE line that are BETTER than MIM Fenders, and some MIA Fenders.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff-7 Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 Not a big fan of Strats, which is unfortunate because it is the guitar I see for sale the most on Craigslist. I would like a Mustang though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bookkeeper's Son Posted June 23, 2011 Share Posted June 23, 2011 I had been playing my P90-equipped Dot for about 3 years when I picked up a cheap used Squier Strat. At first, it felt and sounded pretty strange, although the contoured body is very comfortable to hold. But it's grown on me quite a bit since then. First, I had to get the action, etc. set to my liking, and then I had to experiment with guitar/amp settings to find tones that suited the two. I had to play it for awile to get used to the neck, scale length and fingerboard radius (9.5"), quite different from the Dot. Lastly, I blocked the trem, as I had no use for it. The Dot and the Strat are indeed two very different animals, but I like them both, and the Strat gives tones that the Dot cannot. Fender-type single-coils take some getting used to if you've only owned humbuckers and P90s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shnate McDuanus Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 I'm not crazy about the Fender Strat itself--it's mostly the neck. I feel largely the same way about the Tele (in addition to thinking the Tele is hideous beyond all belief--but that's another story and that's not an issue that I would consider primarily in buying an instrument.) However, I have played a lot of super-strat type guitars from different makers that I've loved, including a Washburn that was pretty cheap and had one of the best necks I've ever played. I didn't really feel like spending the money, though. I've also played a lot of MIJ Ibanez super-strats that have been heavenly. And a few ESPs. Oh, and that Fender Showmaster. That was pretty sweet. But the neck still wasn't as nice as the Washburn's, or even as nice as my SG's neck (which I happen to think feels just excellent.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookieman15061 Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Well no secret here. I own 3 American and have owned 2 mim strats. They are the most comfortable guitar for me. Every thing about them feels right and if your a player what's more important? I enjoy playing my les Paul, rics, and casino bit none compare to my Clapton sig. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy R Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Well no secret here. I own 3 American and have owned 2 mim strats. They are the most comfortable guitar for me. Every thing about them feels right and if your a player what's more important? I enjoy playing my les Paul, rics, and casino bit none compare to my Clapton sig. !! Dun! DUN! DUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnastynebr Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Keep in mind MIMs are the cheapest Fenders that you can buy. There are great ones, and there are average ones too. You have to make sure you get one that feels good and has good sounding pickups. The quality of hardware on a $350 guitar is not going to compare to what you would find on a $2000 Gibson. The USA Fender models start at around $1000 and have much better quality components. One of the advantages of the Stratocaster is the versatility of the bridge. If you don't care for the tremolo, you can convert it to a hard tail with a couple of springs and a screw driver in about 6 and a half minutes. All of the electronic components are built into the pickguard, which makes them super easy to mod. And of course, the Stratocaster is almost indestructible. Strats can leave a bad taste in people's mouths because many players dial in Hendrix/SRV tone and call it a day. Much like the Les Paul, you can use the cool knobs on the Stratocaster to get different sounds. With three pups in five combos, the Strat is one of the most versatile guitars you can buy. To each is own. I have yet to play a Telecaster that I had to have, and I have played many and owned 2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enmitygauged Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 My first guitar was an American Strat from the 80's it was beat up as it was bought second hand but I hated it. I hated the look of it the feel of it. Mind you I was a 10 year old with this huge arse guitar. I traded it at school on a fake SG not knowing I had done a bad thing until I got home and my dad crucified me!!!! The school got involved and I got it back but my dad gave it to my step brother (his son) because I didnt respect it!?!?!? So yeah I have issues with Strats. I love my tele though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinh Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 Let me put this a different way. Do all Strat trems move when you bend a string, thus lowering the pitch of all the other strings? It depends on how much tension is put on the springs at the back of the trem. Fender tend to ship MIM strats with the trem in a "balanced" set up, e.g the trem baseplate is not sitting flat on the body, but instead is balanced in a "half way" position by the pull of the strings versus the pull of the springs. This enables the user to trem upwards in pitch as well as downwards. It also, IMO, makes the tuning extremely unstable. As you noted, bending a string increases the tension on the string side of the trem, causing a small stretch in the springs. the result is that the bridge tilts forward a faction, and the entire instrument drops slightly in pitch. Worse, IMO, is the fact that if you play with your hand resting on the bridge, the pitch constantly jumps around dependant on your hand pressure. Further, if you break a string, the remaining 5 go out of wack. The solution I have always used with my Strats is to increase the spring tension until the trem base sits flat on the body. I lose the ability to bend "up", but gain stability. If you want a fender, personally,I'm with the poster who said "buy a tele." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bonzoboy Posted June 24, 2011 Share Posted June 24, 2011 My guess is that the guitar is in dire need of a set up.Setting up the vibrato on a Strat is a touchy thing to do,you have to get the tension on the springs and the string tension balanced just so.It's a bit of a pain doing the first couple of time bujt after a few tries becomes relatively easy.Also the pickups have to be set up right or else they'll either sound thin and trebley or cause pickup pull and intonation problems.I own 5 Strats and 2 of them are MIM models.The last time I took my Jimmie Vaughn to a jam with 3 Les Paul player/fanatics and real Gibson fanatics too,they were floored by the tone of the J.V. through my old JCM800 combo especially when playing blues and Hendrix stuff.A poorly setup Strat can sound and feel terrible but a well set up one with a properly set vibrato is hard to put down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enmitygauged Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 The first Strat I have ever liked the look of Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookieman15061 Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 I hate the feel of strats, but love the sound, so I decided to spend a bit if time playing a mates MIM Strat to see how it worked out. Frankly, I'm disgusted, the saddles are made of pressed steel plate, looks really cheap. The tone on the treble side seems thin, like the pups just aren't picking up the string vibration, maybe just needs a setup. But much worse, if I let a bass note on an open string ring while I bend elsewhere with say a 13th (quite a major part if my style) the base note drops A LOT because the trem moves due to the bend. Are all strats like this? Is a USA Strat better made? Are the trems better? Maybe you're playing a fake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G McBride Posted June 27, 2011 Share Posted June 27, 2011 I have an American Standard Strat that hasn't been out of the case for a while. Maybe I'll have to give it another chance and see why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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