The Stratocaster and Telecaster

p90fool

LooseMoose said:

When you factor in that he wasn't really a player, it's even more impressive!

Maybe that helped, allowing him to take a step back as an objective problem-solver.

I bet James Dyson never hoovered his mum's house either.

Gassage

THis is the best programme made on Strats, ever.

impmann

Gassage said:

THis is the best programme made on Strats, ever.

It is... however, there's too much Keef (who rarely plays a Strat on stage) and not enough Rory (who got edited out, even though he took part).

blueskunk

Leo Fender was a genius

I love all fender guitars , they are simply the best as Tina put it. 

jimmyguitar

Yep, don't get much sexier than these two designs!
https://i.imgur.com/jFpjkEt.jpg

Gassage

impmann said:

It is... however, there's too much Keef (who rarely plays a Strat on stage) and not enough Rory (who got edited out, even though he took part).

Worth it for "Leo, Leonardo, da Vinci, Fender..." though...

And "This is the hardware store..."

richardhomer

Agreed @Gassage, the Strat is 'the' most brilliant piece of design ever. The ergomonics could not be better sorted - just perfect - and beautiful to look at too.... 

midlifecrisis

im a recent convert to teles,  always thought they looked ugly and utilitarian then suddenley i got inspired by a tele player i saw and found myself buying a cheap squier affinity tele and preferring it to my les paul studio. i have now got myself a fender baja tele off a forumite here and really loving it, Its a bit llke meeting a plain looking girl and finding how great she is and now appreciating her as a thing of beauty.

thermionic

Ask 10 people to draw an electric guitar and 8 or 9 of them would draw a Strat. Looks like something that had come off a spaceship - but only a spaceship that had landed in 1950s California.

JohnPerry

midlifecrisis said:

im a recent convert to teles,  always thought they looked ugly and utilitarian then suddenley i got inspired by a tele player i saw and found myself buying a cheap squier affinity tele and preferring it to my les paul studio. i have now got myself a fender baja tele off a forumite here and really loving it, Its a bit llke meeting a plain looking girl and finding how great she is and now appreciating her as a thing of beauty.

be careful. This happened to me. Now I have nine. They are very moreish

Voxman

Sassafras said:

Then Fender go and screw it all up by putting  humbuckers in Teles and Strats.

Meeoooww!  

Voxman

richardhomer said:

Agreed @Gassage, the Strat is 'the' most brilliant piece of design ever. The ergomonics could not be better sorted - just perfect - and beautiful to look at too.... 

Sexiest guitar ever made, no question!  

Sassafras

JohnPerry said:

midlifecrisis said:

im a recent convert to teles,  always thought they looked ugly and utilitarian then suddenley i got inspired by a tele player i saw and found myself buying a cheap squier affinity tele and preferring it to my les paul studio. i have now got myself a fender baja tele off a forumite here and really loving it, Its a bit llke meeting a plain looking girl and finding how great she is and now appreciating her as a thing of beauty.

be careful. This happened to me. Now I have nine. They are very moreish

What, you've got nine plain looking girls now?

Lebarque

Agree. Leo and colleagues = genius. And we haven't even mentioned the amps yet!

Loving its straightforward nature, I've always REALLY wanted to get a tele, but as a strat guy (with an upper horn!), the 'neck dive' on teles has always bothered me. Is it just me? Can anyone cure me?

Ps. Thanks for posting that video, @Gassage. That's my Friday night sorted!

Octafish

Lebarque said:

Agree with the OP. Leo was a genius. And we haven't even mentioned his amps yet!

Loving its straightforward nature, I've always REALLY wanted to get a tele, but as a strat guy with an upper horn (!), the 'neck dive' on teles has always bothered me. Is it just me? Can anyone cure me?

Maybe I'm unobservant, but can't say I've ever noticed any real issue with neck dive on a Tele.

guitars4you

Lebarque said:

Agree with the OP. Leo was a genius. And we haven't even mentioned his amps yet!

or indeed all the wings on those American cars

Blueingreen

Never owned a Fender guitar and likely never will.  (I do have a Fender bass).

When I started most the players whose sounds I aspired to played Gibsons.  When I acquired my first "serious" guitar is was a Les Paul.

When I eventually got a Strat, as a hard-up student, Tokai were making better Strats for a lot less money than Fender, so I got one of those.

Once I was in a position to buy something more upscale I ABd Custom Shop Strats against Suhr, Tom Anderson and Tyler and thought they suffered by comparison.  I bought a Suhr (then another Suhr).

Now I have a touch of arthritis in my fretting hand I have a strong preference for shorter scale.  I doubt I'll every buy another 25.5" scale guitar.

Lebarque

Blueingreen said:

Never owned a Fender guitar and likely never will.  (I do have a Fender bass).

When I started most the players whose sounds I aspired to played Gibsons.  When I acquired my first "serious" guitar is was a Les Paul.

When I eventually got a Strat, as a hard-up student, Tokai were making better Strats for a lot less money than Fender, so I got one of those.

Once I was in a position to buy something more upscale I ABd Custom Shop Strats against Suhr, Tom Anderson and Tyler and thought they suffered by comparison.  I bought a Suhr (then another Suhr).

Now I have a touch of arthritis in my fretting hand I have a strong preference for shorter scale.  I doubt I'll every buy another 25.5" scale guitar.

Since I play a partscaster (strat) through a Carr Impala (blackface bassman), I can relate to this!

RandallFlagg

Gratuitous, self indulgent opportunity to display my new Strat. I think Strats are the most comfortable guitars to play:

dindude

Agree, still in awe of Leo and teams designs all these years later, I'm very much a Fender man if you have to put me in one camp. The Strat is surely one of the 20th century design icons, along wit the VW Beetle, Concord, the Coke Bottle etc etc.

I love the bespoke nature of each of Leo's designs too. Common design principles for sure but pickups / bridge etc. very specific to the guitar.

And not to turn this into a one vs the other debate, but I always thought that in comparison to the sleekness of Fenders modernism, Gibsons attempts at futiristsic deisgn (the V and the Explorer) where very much thinking inside the box, take a wacky slab (and ergonomic disaster) shape and strap humbuckers and a ToM to it. As a response to Fender they completely missed the point, although they're are still classics in their own right of course.

@sassafras sorry but you're very wrong, humbuckers (and P90's) strapped to a bit of fender inspired alder, maple and rosewood is a thing of sonic beauty.