The Dominance of Stratists

thegummy

Love finding new music with good guitar on it and do it all the time, as I'm sure we all do.

Now and then a special player comes along that's a step above "good" and makes it in to the elite, whose guitar playing is just so amazing, moving, enjoyable etc.

For me, with only one or two exceptions, it always seems to be players who primarily (or exclusively) play a Strat.

I don't jump to the conclusion that it's the guitar that's better than other guitars; I have no doubt that when these players play other guitars (and some do on some tracks) it's just as great.

But it's strange just how ubiquitous Strats are as the main guitar among players that become among my favourites.

Strats are also my own personal favourite guitar to play; maybe whatever brain connections / wavelengths etc. we share that make us both like Strats is also what causes us both to think the same musical ideas, parts, concepts are great.

Sassafras

Better clarity, string definition, dynamics, variety and comfort.
The only guitar you'll ever need.

Tenebrous

I'll always be a tele guy, but a good HSS strat can just about cover every single genre of music imaginable. Surprisingly, not many of my favourites play em, though!

ICBM

Many of my main influences are Strat players too, but they just don't work very well for me.

I do have a sort-of Strat, which is my favourite guitar to play, but to make it sound how I want it to I had to put much hotter pickups in it.

thegummy

Tenebrous said:

I'll always be a tele guy, but a good HSS strat can just about cover every single genre of music imaginable. Surprisingly, not many of my favourites play em, though!

Is there a common guitar that a majority of your top players have as their main guitar or is it spread out?

thegummy

ICBM said:

Many of my main influences are Strat players too, but they just don't work very well for me.

I do have a sort-of Strat, which is my favourite guitar to play, but to make it sound how I want it to I had to put much hotter pickups in it.

Initially I was very much up for playing something different if it suited me better, I definitely didn't decide on a Strat for myself because my favourite players play them. It's quite possible my unconscious was influenced by that but consciously I was willing to try out a variety and thought I was going to be a PRS guy initially.

I was always going to get a Strat to have "in the arsenal" and the more I played it the more I realised it really was for me and that continued to now where I have 1 SSS and 1 HH Strat and am gradually getting rid of the other guitars, maybe even completely.

Tenebrous

thegummy said:

Tenebrous said:

I'll always be a tele guy, but a good HSS strat can just about cover every single genre of music imaginable. Surprisingly, not many of my favourites play em, though!

Is there a common guitar that a majority of your top players have as their main guitar or is it spread out?

Pretty spread out really, I was thinking about it before you asked... My top ten is probably something like:

Hendrix/SRV/Gilmour - Strats

Buchanan/Greenwood/early Page - Mostly Teles

Zappa/Iommi - SGs

White Stripes era Jack White - ???

Cobain - JagStang

Then you've songwriters like Steve Marriott & Pete Townsend, & guitarists like Dave Davies that have just played a mix of everything over the years. If we're adding superstrats into the strat pile, however, the strat list definitely does go up for me overall.

But yeah, their versatility no doubt plays a part in their popularity among the elite players nowadays.

ICBM

thegummy said:

Initially I was very much up for playing something different if it suited me better, I definitely didn't decide on a Strat for myself because my favourite players play them. It's quite possible my unconscious was influenced by that but consciously I was willing to try out a variety and thought I was going to be a PRS guy initially.

I always thought I was going to be a Les Paul player for some reason, but many attempts have convinced me that they don't generally quite work for me physically.

I've always found real Strats - and Teles - a little too big... possibly that's why my favourite 'Strat' is my Aria RS, which is a slimmer shape.

I'm also definitely a Rickenbacker player, guitar as well as bass - some of my favourite sounds were done on them*, they sound right when I play them, and they do fit me physically very well.

(*Although not REM's 'The One I Love', despite the video! Peter Buck says it was a Les Paul...)

thegummy

ICBM said:

I'm also definitely a Rickenbacker player, guitar as well as bass - some of my favourite sounds were done on them*, they sound right when I play them, and they do fit me physically very well.

Strangely, a few years back when I was a keyboard player and hadn't even touched a bass I thought the Rickenbacker 4003 was the best looking bass in the world.

Now that I actually have been playing bass for a few years, I've still never touched a Rickenbacker but the look of it no longer appeals to me at all. Quite a drastic change.

Also, back then I thought the best looking guitars in the world were the Tele and the SG. Now I still think the Tele is beautiful but can't even understand why I liked the SG at all!

fastonebaz

Hmm Steve Vai,  Angus Young,  Dave Sabo, and many more,  none of which are famous for playing strats. 

ICBM

thegummy said:

Strangely, a few years back when I was a keyboard player and hadn't even touched a bass I thought the Rickenbacker 4003 was the best looking bass in the world.

The funny thing for me is that when I knew nothing about musical instruments at all, the 4001 - played by Roger Glover among others - was simply the best-looking instrument there was. So it's interesting that after trying most of the types of bass there are and owning a couple of dozen, it's not only exactly the sound I want, it's the one that fits me best physically too.

Second best is the Aria SB, which I first saw in the hands of John Taylor of Duran Duran, again before I even took up playing music - and is almost the same shape as my Aria guitar. So both my favourite guitars and basses are Rickenbackers and Arias... some things are just meant to be.

uncledick

I have a nice Strat but it just doesn't get used.  The middle pickup gets in the way of my plectrum and the volume knob and term arm just seem to be permanently in the way.  Having said that,  messrs. Blackmore, Clapton, and Gilmour seem to cope.  The best players usually sound great on anything with strings.  Give Joe Walsh a Squier Tele and a Boss Katana and he'll sound epic.  Meanwhile, the rest of us squabble over scatter-winding, nitro finish depth and NOS valves to try and get remotely close.

Sassafras

I've never liked the look of Strats, I always preferred Les Pauls and Ricks lookswise but they just didn't work for me. Looks are a minor consideration for a musical instrument. You use your ears, not your eyes assuming you're not a big poseur.

bluechargeboy

ICBM said:

I've always found real Strats - and Teles - a little too big... possibly that's why my favourite 'Strat' is my Aria RS, which is a slimmer shape.

Yep, I would love a "Strat" something like the size of a Washburn N4.

But not this.

richardhomer

I think one of the reasons Strats are so popular, is that they ‘let the player through’ - there’s a tonal transparency which seems to allow nuances to be heard clearly. Even though (say) Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler and Richard Thompson each used very similar tones in the late 70s/early 80s, there’s no mistaking each player’s character.

brooom

Tenebrous said:

Cobain - JagStang

Cobain barely played his JagStang... throughout most of his live performances he played Fender Japan stratocasters with rosewood necks. As for the other guitars, he's more associated with his 1965 Jaguar, his multiple Fender mustangs (either originals or japanese reissues), his japanese 62 telecasters, his Univox hiflyers, epi ET-270, original Mosrites, etc.

The JagStang as it stood was never really a guitar he favoured. Whether he intended it or not, he used strats for most of Nirvana's big tours.

sweepy

Strats really do allow the player to stamp his or her authority on the music, still the ultimate guitar design imho

Tenebrous

brooom said:

Tenebrous said:

Cobain - JagStang

Cobain barely played his JagStang... throughout most of his live performances he played Fender Japan stratocasters with rosewood necks. As for the other guitars, he's more associated with his 1965 Jaguar, his multiple Fender mustangs (either originals or japanese reissues), his japanese 62 telecasters, his Univox hiflyers, epi ET-270, original Mosrites, etc.

The JagStang as it stood was never really a guitar he favoured. Whether he intended it or not, he used strats for most of Nirvana's big tours.

Aha, my bad. Always happy to learn!

AlexC

Aside from their versatility Strats are not really a ‘statement’ guitar. People are so used to seeing that shape that it doesn’t immediately define you when you walk out in public. It’s used in pop, rock, metal, alternative - anything really. Teles are a close second,  but LPs seem to market themselves and appeal to a more niche market. 

roberty

brooom said:

Tenebrous said:

Cobain - JagStang

Cobain barely played his JagStang... throughout most of his live performances he played Fender Japan stratocasters with rosewood necks. As for the other guitars, he's more associated with his 1965 Jaguar, his multiple Fender mustangs (either originals or japanese reissues), his japanese 62 telecasters, his Univox hiflyers, epi ET-270, original Mosrites, etc.

The JagStang as it stood was never really a guitar he favoured. Whether he intended it or not, he used strats for most of Nirvana's big tours.

Left hand Japanese strats were abundant and reasonably priced. He used them because he was smashing them every night

thegummy

brooom said:

Tenebrous said:

Cobain - JagStang

Cobain barely played his JagStang... throughout most of his live performances he played Fender Japan stratocasters with rosewood necks. As for the other guitars, he's more associated with his 1965 Jaguar, his multiple Fender mustangs (either originals or japanese reissues), his japanese 62 telecasters, his Univox hiflyers, epi ET-270, original Mosrites, etc.

The JagStang as it stood was never really a guitar he favoured. Whether he intended it or not, he used strats for most of Nirvana's big tours.

Interesting.

Did his Strats have humbuckers?