The BIG Problem All Strats Have.

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[@RobertBakerGuitar]

What do you think is the most Straty sounding riff of al time?

[@bazzer124]

The most Straty sounding riff? "Texas Flood" by SRV. Cheers....

[@seanzinger]

Where the streets have no name.

[@BoazWainscott]

Probably little wing, or cliffs of dover

[@harrisontownsend910]

Little Wing.

[@gkol69]

"Man on the silver mountain" by Richie Blackmore's Rainbow

[@alexander_winston]

The biggest problem my Stratocaster has is that I’m the one who’s playing it.

[@Anton_the_Vampire]

Same here.

[@jim_odd_io]

Yep, likewise.

[@timothyrock8390]

Know that feeling.

[@davegallagher7428]

Right there with ya

[@joeurbanowski321]

😂😂😂

[@grg-mpgmusic7247]

To me the biggest problem strats have is the position of the volume pot next to the bridge pickup. Always had issues with that.

[@flyonwall360]

Yes. This is just one of the reasons why my Stratocaster is a backup guitar. My Les Paul is my main guitar.

[@KevinNolin]

Totally agree. Yes you can get used to it eventually but I don't like them enough to do that.

[@soyborne.bornmadeandundone1342]

It's supposed to be close so that you can mess with the settings fast. And if it bugs you so much. Get some tape lol. No guitar is perfect but this complaint aint strong lol.

[@ryangunwitch-black]

Yeah that’s a feature. Not a bug.

[@StevenRoby]

My only electric guitar for over 20 years was a 1983 Westone Concord III. I had to learn to make it sound like whatever. It wasn't until I had a Strat, a Tele and a LP that I realized that I sounded like a Westone Concord III player. What a great guitar!

[@praketingrichraft6181]

Westones and Electras are some of the best guitars of their era and are a serious bargain. Just don't tell anyone!

[@vladimirpoutine7522]

@@praketingrichraft6181 It's odd because back then I viewed the Westone/Electra brands as cheap. 30 years later and my opinion has completely changed about these Japanese made models. Fantastic guitars that were underrated by folks like me. I guess that's what kept the price down..?

[@alexander_winston]

1983 Winston Concord III, tyvm. 😎

[@sgholt]

I had a Westone Bass for a while but it got sold...no matter, I didn't play bass. The bass was held for a debt by the owner, and he never came back, drugs are a harsh mistress.

[@caiusmadison2996]

The Japanese typically don't make super cheap terrible instruments. Even the really generic Silvertone lookalikes, where of the same or better quality(Tiesco types). I'd wager it has to do with their philosophy of your sould is represented in your work. Do poorly, you must have a troubled soul, do grand, and you have the soul of a leader/champion/legend. They echo this sentiment across many different business practices and traditions. It produces a generally high quality product regardless of pricepoint, because if everyone does generally great at what they do, when somebody doesnt do this, they are quickly found out to be inferior and chastised out of business... basically.

[@sydwynd]

I've been a humbucker person for decades. Had strats before but they always seemed to thin for me. Lately, I've been working with bands that require more clean tones and am gravitating to strats more. It's less about influential players and more about it gives me a different vibe which I need. I approach the guitar as what sound to I need for a particular song. One of my biggest influences is Brian May so I'm more about what you play than which guitar you play it on. As a side note, try playing AC/DC on a strat. Actually sounds really good, especially the earlier tunes. It's all rock and roll.

[@bigbasil1908]

Iv'e had a japanese squier strat since the early 90's that has a humbucker bridge pickup, so I'm not familiar with playing a strat with all single pickups.

[@Asheanae]

Maybe try out tri-sonics! They're the perfect halfway house between single coil and humbuckers, do great clean tone, but thicker and warmer than a single. And virtually no one uses them apart from Brian May for some reason! 🤷‍♀️🤦‍♀️

[@AndriiVozniak]

How about HSS strats

[@stratwrassler]

"As a side note, try playing AC/DC on a strat." It does work suprisingly well, especially if it has a good bridge pickup. I have an SG and a MIM Strat. If I dial in my Angus tone with the SG and play the intro and lead stuff from "You Shook Me All Night Long", and then plug in the Strat and play the same, it sounds really good with either guitar, and I can strategically do some slight vibrato with the whammy on the Strat when the chordal parts ring out an it sounds pretty darn cool...

[@sydwynd]

@@AndriiVozniak I've had those as well but I always had an issue with the volume drop between positions 1 and 2. I find it easier just to have single coil and humbucker guitars.

[@OniDasAlagoas]

This is so crazy, because when you hear hendrix playing gibsons, he plays it with double stops and everything else you would see on a strat (which were his signatures of course). The same applies to someone like Page; most of his mid-late albums with the zeppelin you can't tell what kind of guitar he is playing.

[@MikeDCWeld]

That's because it doesn't matter what kind of guitar it is.

[@caiusmadison2996]

@@MikeDCWeld bingo, I can sound great on a Les Paul part, with a Jazzmaster or Tele, SG, Strat, its all the sane just adjust a bit and boom. Sound is back to that ring!

[@rocketpigrecords3719]

Partially because 67 Vs had T Top pickups, which sound closer to a single coil (brighter, lower output) than PAFs, which, depending on settings & style, can get quite single coil esque themselves. Greg Koch's Fluence Classic demo is him on a Les Paul, great example of this. Best "Tele" I ever heard was from Cracker, and that's a black LP Standard. While the PAF can cover Fender territory, you aren't getting the thick tones Gibson is known for from trad strat or tele pickups.

[@itslikethesamebutdifferent8020]

@@rocketpigrecords3719maybe the fenders can’t sound like Gibsons but the red special can sound like both a fender and a Gibson, most versatile guitar ever made.

[@rocketpigrecords3719]

@@itslikethesamebutdifferent8020 I'd have to try it, but I get where you're coming from. I oftentimes try to forget that Guitar Fetish has a drop in strat pickguard with their Burns approximations and on/off phase switches. I need a goofball Strat like I need a hole in the head! If you ever get to play with an EMG SA or T set with the SPC, do eet. It's a weird sort of thing depending how you set that knob, but in a less than metal situation it brings enough girth to pass as a humbucker. I own a Tele with SA-SA-T, really nice for leads & does the noiseless single bit well.

[@thomasrychlik8584]

I feel that a HSS Strat is the most versatile guitar you can have!

[@anonamos8129]

I had an hss strat and it did everything well. I just felt like I was being disloyal by having a humbucker bridge 🤷🏻‍♂️ but EVH thought differently!

[@Tini.F.]

I own an HM Strat from 89, and it solve all the problems 😅

[@spaceman8839]

real strats dont have humbuckers

[@allstopblue5717]

Every now and then I consider getting an HSS strat but I don’t like the way it looks. It’s almost blasphemous when I see one. Haha but sound wise I know it would be a really versatile guitar. One day I’ll get over the aesthetics and get it.

[@thomasrychlik8584]

@@spaceman8839 I feel you, I love a SSS!

[@perrymann6807]

Using different guitars to play differently isn’t a bad thing, just part of the experience on the road to discovery to what Jeff Beck figured out. Whether he played his Tely, LP, or Strat or even a Gretsch, he always managed to get a wide array of tones, sometimes difficult to figure out which one he was really playing in the studio, and yet always sounded like who else . . . Jeff Beck. TONE ultimately comes more from the hands than the instrument.

[@Frosenborg]

Same with Gilmour really, he is identified as a Strat player but he could be playing anything and he'd still sound like David Gilmour.

[@doknox]

Feel comes from the hands not tone.

[@TimHuff5]

Totally agree, I saw SRV playing many guitars when we would have Blues jams at the old Charley’s Guitar shop here in Dallas, well before he was famous, and it all sounded like Stevie! That is what separates these wonderful players. Me, no matter what I played, it all sounded like crap 😂

[@MichaelEMJAYARE]

I completely agree. When I pick up a strat (Ive avoided them for years, but recently got a 2019 MIM), I rarely pick up the pick and go straight into Knopfler-like stuff. The volume knob being where it is has always bothered me, palm muting is so strange on a strat. I LOVE the 9” radius of the neck, its so comfortable, it blew me away.

[@joermnyc]

There’s different tones from different years or decades of Strats too. If you watch channels that have access to vintage gear, a 57 strat sounds amazing, but if you go to 56 or 58 you’re like, “what happened that made 57 sound like THAT?!” There’s a busker in the NYC subway with what looks like a 70s Strat in natural. His tone sounds like bells, and in the big echo-y space you can hear him before you see him, and so “bells” tone “oh, it’s that guy again. Cool.”

[@Leftyguitars2a]

Since all is do anymore is bedroom playing, I take this approach to all my guitars. I’m playing other people’s songs so I grab a guitar that gives me that sound. I’ll be strat’ing it up and start to play a metal riff, then I set it down and grab my explorer. That said I do keep my strat in E flat so by default I use it for songs that require I do. Not always strat songs, but I can usually get what I want out of it.

[@chzzyg2698]

I play all my guitars the same. Occasionally I'll get a little spanky on my strat, but it's been so heavily customized it may as well be equipped with buckers.

[@michaelheller8841]

Very true, it seams we all have that approach to play a Strat like a Strat lol. I do try to play my Les Paul like a straty sound in the middle position at times lol. A lot of the songs from Jeff Becks album Blow by Blow was done on his Les Paul and it does sound like Fender. Just food for thought. Old PAF pickups can do that.

[@shootsnscores-cja]

I'm just a recreational player but the strat I bought is HSS, just to help with the versatility. Love having the humbucker on there.

[@SeasonedSalmon]

This holds true to most guitars that we pick up. More so with strat, teles, les pauls, and 335 style guitars. I don't think it's necessarily a strat problem as much as an influence problem lol

[@Nugmania1]

I never play those Hendrix Dounle Stop licks, just because when your at your local music store it’s all hear. Peter Townsend is one of the best at making sure you have no idea that must of the recordings by the Who are done on a Fiesta Red Strat ( all the later ones anyways, and all the one that count )

[@SteveHubbardGuitar]

This 100% resonates with me. I am inspired to play completely different ideas on a tele. A strat is my home base.. It's almost all muscle memory for me now.

[@peterschmidt9942]

The only problem strats have (and Jags) is that bloody volume knob in the way!

[@Cinegavo]

Lots of people start playing on a cheap strat style because it's common not because they choose single coils lol. When the player realizes the huge sound of high gain and humbuckers they then want an RG or Les Paul and then that is where this concept of different guitars notion of different tones started.

[@jimmpanik3402]

That sounds like it should be played with a firebird. It definitely has a Scott Holiday vibe about it

[@MrJingles021]

I had an American Deluxe HSS Strat when I was in high school. It was my dream guitar. I was so excited to take it home, and I just never bonded with it. I kept turning down the volume while playing, and turns out I would have preferred a hardtail strat. Some years later I got an Epiphone Les Paul that I liked far more and sold my strat.

[@Dudeitsmeee]

One thing I do is intentionally play riffs I would normally play another guitar. I'll play a high gain rhythm thing on a strat I would normally pick up an LP for. Not expecting anything good, but just to "see how it sounds" and many times I'm surprised because it breaks all the preconceived notions. "this sounds kinda cool" Or I'll try and play something clean and jangly on an LP, or I'll play something country-esque on a strat. I (try to) see the guitar a as tool, paintbrushes. Trying doing a whole painting with this brush, or this brush.

[@richard53100]

The problem I have with my Strat is everyone that plays it, wants it. I bought it in 1998. Had it set up by a good friend of mine who is a local blues guitarists. I don't gig with it anymore because of that problem.

[@niner8tangojuliet149]

My biggest problem with the strat is I don’t have one yet.

[@randrothify]

I could say the same thing about a Les Paul or an SG, perhaps even more so because of their association with southern and hard rock. If anything, a Strat‘s baseline clean tone makes it better as a pedal platform to modify its tone and therefore the way you approach playing it.

[@jan_07]

Where I grew up (far away from the west), strats were used by Nu-Metal, punk, and hardcore local bands. I only knew Hendrix because he was the poster guy of the instrument that I was saving up for to be like the local bands. When I got it, I even used it in Trivium cover songs after my punk and hardcore ventures. I didn’t even know you “had to” play strats like an old uncle till I moved to North America 😂

[@timkopp2268]

I agree that I play or at least approach playing differently on my strat compared to my les Paul or my Ibanez guitars but something I do is taking the strat for example and playing an Iron Maiden tune or some other tune that isn’t normally what I would play with THAT guitar. Spend a little time dialing in the amp to try to get the sound I want and then little by little the strat is working for something more than I normally use it for. Incidentally, I thought for sure the biggest problem you would say are the razor sharp saddle screws shredding the palm of your hand as you play. Lol

[@rikkousa]

The only problem that I have with the Strat is that the tone is in the fingers of Jimi, Eric, and you, just not me…

[@Ace8Three]

Ritchie Blackmore has hard riffs with Deep Purple and Rainbow. Usually strats don't sound good in heavy rock but his does.

[@flyonwall360]

I have my Stratocaster wired up with 3 single space humbuckers. I can have the finger board and bridge together and get that Blackmore tone.

[@ThatBaritoneGuitarGuy]

A buddy let me play his Stratocaster, and even my 5150 could NOT get it to distort at all. It was clearly a clean with distortion running on the side. It did not work for my metal playing. Later that day, I played with that buddy's reggae band, and that Stratocaster was PERFECT. It sounded like reggae. It played like reggae. It was a beautiful friendship.

[@antondiatonikk2256]

Great idea, thank you. And great riffs, great playing philosophy idea. I always try unsuccessfully to rip off Chris Buck when playing a strat. That man tears it up no matter what he plays though.

[@heycisco]

The big problem with Strats is the volume knob way too close to the strings.

[@magmarok8209]

Huge problem I have with strats is the volume knob placement.

[@jeremyklein9679]

Nice video! I like how you make any guitar you are talking about sound like a great guitar. It's funny how I think about the full rich tones of an LP as more of a lead guitar, and the more mellow tones of a strat as a rhythm guitar. Both ways are great, and there's no wrong answer!

[@TimHuff5]

I totally agree, being the only guitarist in a cover band I have on stage my tele, strat, Les Paul, SG, 335, PRS… because I want to recreate the sound, tone, and look of the original artist. I am a Texas Guitarist and a Strat guy! And you totally hit it! I started to think about it, even when I am practicing at home, I will always jam and do my noodling on my strat, but oh we are adding The Rover by LZ, instead of just continuing with my strat, I will grab my LP, and my mental model of playing completely changes, that heavier feel, flatter fret board, I just attack it differently. Great observation, don’t know if this old dog can break this habit, but thank you for being insightful, I really enjoy your channel.

[@judequinnell3631]

i love metal so i would normally play with full gain, no middle, full treble, full bass and play metallica or something

[@giantcerealbowl2120]

I’ve always been a humbucker player. Started with a Epiphone LP, moved into some PRS SE 24s with coil splits. I found myself the last couple years chasing that “strat” tone due to the music I gravitate towards now. But I always held off because of the exact issue you brought out in this video, that this guitar only lends itself to that style of playing. After you do research about the styles of music the Strat, and the artists who used them you start to see the true versatility of it. I ordered my first Strat recently and am going to challenge myself to play everything with it. Great content, keep it up

[@nellayema2455]

That's a beauty! My first electric was a '73 or '74 Olympic white Strat with a maple fingerboard. It was well played when I got it. I had it refretted, and I put in a 5-way switch, installed new original Fender F-stamped tuners, and a stacked Dimarzio humbucker in the bridge position. I liked it, but ended up with a goldtop Les Paul and traded the Strat and a small Peavey amp to my brother for a beater '64 Chevelle Malibu SS convertible. I still have the Les Paul. I'd like to have both the Strat and that Malibu now! Call me greedy!

[@wasteland.wildfire]

Nah, don't agree. Yngwie Malmsteen plays a Stratocaster, so does like most of Iron Maiden. No typical sound for that instrument really.

[@crazyguitar777]

Can totally reate to what you describe. However, as a "bedroom/living room" player, I am perfectly happy with emulating my heroes. Richie Kotzen has inspired a set of new sounds from my Strat ;) away from SRV and Mayer. But for semi- or pros, who develop their own sound, I can clearly see this being a very important issue. But I think it is not so challenging for those privilege guys to do this. I have see many really great players live pulling fully out-of-the-box sounds from jaguars, jazzmasters, teles, etc... As you demonstrate Rob, it´s in the hands, the knowledge of your amps/equipment, and the interest to explore

[@toddhahn3690]

Strats are cool and I've always liked the sounds of them. I've owned a few, but always end up selling them because of the volume knob placement. I know it's a small thing that could be worked around, but I prefer my Charvel DK24 HSS. I can get strat tones out of it when I need to and it feels pretty close to a traditional strat. 🤷‍♂️

[@louderthangod]

The problem is the bridge pickup sounds terrible for most things except surf and the volume knob is waaaay too close unless you have baby hands. Thankfully there are mods and variants that have addressed this.

[@polarkgr1]

I somewhat agree with what Robert says in this video. I too play my strat (style guitar, Sterling Cutlass CTS50) differently than I do all my other guitars. With most of my guitars I pick them up and can play absolutely anything. With my strat style guitar, I feel a magnet like pull towards very specific types of music and it is not a conscious thing. It just feels and sounds right (even playing unplugged) to play bluesier stuff, the guitar has a certain sound and resonance that I can only describe as slinky. And playing that sort of stuff just naturally comes out of me from nowhere on this guitar. When I try to play other styles, they come out sounding and feeling forced and unnatural, some of it being material that I have played for 30 plus years that come out smoothly and without issues on most of my other guitars. I think much of it ultimately comes down to the specs, my guitars are all over the place with regards to scale length, fretboard radius, neck shape, pickup combination. What I am really trying to say is, I don’t think that playing this type of guitar differently than say an LP style guitar is always a conscious thing. I have owned many other S-style guitars, but all the others had some differences like super strat bodies or different styles of bridge (Floyd or Bigsby like) and never found this sort of thing with any of them. I honestly believe that guitars have personalities and want to be played in ways that bring out those personalities.

[@donkarnage6032]

I tend to not have this problem because all of the Strats(2) I currently own are HSS. I feel slapping a humbucker in the bridge solves the problem essentially. I can still get all my Strat sounds with the 5 way switch and then get the beefy growl from a humbucker when I need it.

[@28mmRPG]

No... but there are things each guitar does that others cannot. I'm not attempting to sound like any of my guitar favorites... and maybe thats where musicians should be doing as well. It's cool to collect riffs from famous guitarists but THOSE famous guitarists are famous because they sound like themselves, and perhaps thats what we all should be doing.

[@TheLadsBandLive]

When I first started playing guitar, all I had was a Strat, and for the first 5+ years I didn't realize you could even own more than one guitar (lol) and so I just played every type of music on that one Strat. It never crossed my mind that certain guitars were known for certain tones. I guess what I'm saying is you really only "need" one guitar... but that's crazy talk. 😜

[@raffaele.eleonorafrazzi6387]

You said a very wise idea: every guitar inspires the player to play differently. It is so true ! Sometimes just the neck or the colour lead me to different tones. However, I think it is good to experiment “unusual” tones with your Strat … This will lead to new inspiration for sure 👍🏻

[@Sean_Plays_Guitar]

When I plug in a strat, it’s cause I want to hear the strattiest strat tone I’ve ever stratted in my whole strattin life 😂😂🤘🏻

[@BAMozzy69]

Also works another way - people associating Single Coil tones to mean 'Strat/Tele' and any SC, especially split HB's in very different style guitars, different scale, bridge PUp positions etc, and then being 'disappointed' instead of 'embracing' that guitars versatility - it may sound 'weak' compared to its HB when played in isolation, but in a mix, with some distortion and/or FX, the SC options sometimes sound 'better', bigger, cut through better etc which is 'more' important to me than sounding like a 'Strat' when playing something 'different'

[@haroldbelfast]

I do the opposite; when I play my Les Paul, I make a conscious decision to play my strat licks, double stops, major 6ths etc, that I normally do on a strat. It's easier on the strat with its 7.25 radius, but it's fun to try to stratify the Gibson.

[@Anton_the_Vampire]

Thinking about this, I'm immediately reminded of Yngwie J. Malmsteen & Chris Impellitteri. I don't know if I'd describe either as sounding "Stratty" unless you consider wicked vibrato, lightning speed, & neo-classical chops "stratty"?

[@autk]

Have to agree that the "other" predominant style is largely accepted as conventional; I think of YJM and Gary Moore in his Rock era as Strat ...but the undisputed GOAT has to be Jeff Beck and he didn't double stop, lol, he took it to Alien Space.

[@mikemercer5808]

Don't forget Blackmore.

[@barbmelle3136]

From LeoM: I have Strats with HSS, HSH, HH, double P-90, double Z coils and double Filtertrons, in addition to my first SSS model. I just went through a lot of trouble to modify a strat to take a Charlie Christian pickup. If I am "sounding like a strat" , it is because I want to.

[@2550marshall]

When I play my strat, I play on the bridge pup and roll the tone knob and play mainly hard rock and metal riffs.

[@jimilee459]

I know what you’re saying. I feel like it’s because of the way it sits on your leg or hangs on the strap. With a Les Paul, the head stock is closer and a strat, it’s further away. I don’t play them different, but do associate a strat sound and a Les Paul sound. A Tele is the red headed step child, it doesn’t get preferential treatment. I prefer the neck pickup, so I can rock a Tele like a Les Paul.

[@jerbear1601]

The biggest problem with Strats is the horrible volume knob placement. Leo didn't think we would palm mute and use the different techniques that we use.

[@nzeches]

Not sure Jeff Beck would agree 😊

[@jerbear1601]

@@nzeches Yeah, he worked around it. I'm thinking of changing the placement on mine as it drives me crazy. I already put a hose washer under it so it won't turn down by mistake.

[@markbaum9615]

I figured it was going to be the volume knob....in the way.... I always max it out then bury it in the body...but your concept was better

[@augustocoelho7656]

Great! I haven't ever thought this way and totally agree with you.

[@1970Richiez]

I kinda agree.... yes I get all Jimmy on when playing my strat... but I usually kind play the way I feel more than the guitar no matter which one I am playing...

[@philbourgeois3990]

Yep. I find I play my tele, strat and Paul all differently.

[@Ottophil]

Its weird. I got a dozen guitars now. Strats, SG’s, les paul, 335, teles, ibanez RG’s. It doesnt matter what the guitar does or tones it makes. I play them all exactly the same. I stopped buying new guitars because i know I’m gonna sound like me even if i got a new shape

[@nicholasheinrich3843]

I think that’s what makes John Frusciante so unique. He doesn’t sound like that typical strat player. Widely underrated imo.

[@LP-123]

He's pretty freakin' beloved - a LOT of people think Frusciante is amazing. Not sure how you see him as underrated. He's readily recognized as one of the last remaining guitar heroes.

[@math001]

Tbf Eric Johnson sounds different from your usual strat player too. In time maybe Frusciante would be added to the strat definition

[@reverb508]

I love John Frusciante, but I think he fits right into that typical strat player mold. He sounds like a third generation Hendrix-inspired strat player (and I love it).

[@nicholasheinrich3843]

@@LP-123 I agree..but i feel there is a feelings with content creators. I guess you’re gonna get that with anyone.

[@nekkon1989]

He plays totally different music genre to the other players too. He should sound different

[@michaelcottle6270]

Do what I did. Repurpose one of the tone pots as a middle pickup volume. On my Bitsocaster, 0 is full volume out of phase & 10 is full volume in phase. so I can make a humbucking pair with either neck or bridge. 5 is off at which point I have a Tele. In-between sounds can even edge towards Gretch territory and of coursre I can have all 3 pickups on at once. Much more versatile, with every classic strat sound available except middle only - and I could probably make that happen by using one of the unused settings on the 5 way switch; currently 1 = Bridge, 2-4 = Both & 5 = Neck

[@joederosas5654]

Good point Robert. I'm a Tele & Les Paul guy. I have a strat, but before playing it I listen to players such as Richard Lloyd, Robert Quine, Vernon Reid & Ivan Julian to get out of that expected "strat tone" mindset. The mentioned New York players style was unconventional, unpredictable & cutting edge. Hope this is a good option-think outside the Strat to stay "fresh..." Thank you...

[@64RRussell]

It is good to explore new uses for a familiar tool, and to not fall into ruts. That said, a hammer isn’t a screwdriver. If what you are looking for is something to spin a screw into a board, reach for the screwdriver.

[@narbonneguitars8590]

Yesss...when I play a strat I have clean tones in my head (stratty sounds)...I have the same problem with telecasters.(an single cut guitars ...humbucker guitars for riffs an singles coils for solo an vocal lines ...but strat like guitars for me always leave me listening for treble an plunky vowel sounds...

[@che2335]

I tried to play metal on a Hondo strat just starting out in 1982. Did that for a year until i could trade it for a humbucker guitar next birthday. I have 1 p90 les paul bc Iommi but they put out 7k like a paf, and still no singles to this day.

[@guitarman430]

All you need to make a Strat more versatile guitar is to put a humbucker in the bridge position and a blender knob. You now can sound like a Gibson, a Tele or a Strat!

[@surfdigby]

I totally get what you mean. I have a James Tyler Variax that is built similar to a Les Paul, and whenever I have it emulating the sound of a Strat or Tele, it feels very odd because my hands can tell they aren't playing a Fender style neck.

[@al271987]

When I play my strat, most of the time it’s because I’m playing surf music. I don’t usually use a strat for non-surf purposes, but I need that trem and the bright bridge sound for the surfy stuff.

[@Gitfiddle]

I think EJ and Ritchie Blackmore took a very unique way of playing and sounding different on a Strat. Upon the first time hearing Eric Johnson play I didn’t know he was playing a strat. It sounded like a humbucker guitar to me. He completely redefined the Stratocaster. Same thing for Ritchie. He made the Strat sound big and fat.

[@tommycato6368]

You can do very much with the tone knobs on a strat, the problem for me is volume knob and pinky related.

[@SebA-qh4rd]

Good video Robert. I only have a strat copy and use it for fun by learning jazz and fingerstyle music. I should be more of a semi hollow/humbucker but like the comfort of the strat

[@hhattingh]

Very well put "The word stat is an adjective to describe a sound".

[@buddylobos5277]

The only extended Les Paul sound I can get out of my strat is because it's an Eric Clapton strat with a built in Tube Screamer ( 26db boost ). It can give you all the Cream tones. Otherwise no matter where I start distortion wise with my other strats I eventually end up back to the strat sound. Same for Les Pauls. No matter how light I play I end up back to a heavier sound.

[@willemmoller6736]

I know exactly what you're talking about - going for the typical strat sound makes you sound like every other strat player out there and it's boring. I was always impressed by how the blues greats have their own unique tone - BB sounds like uniquely like BB, not like every other 335 (or 345/355) player. All the strats I've ever owned - and there have been many, I got my first one in 1975 - have been customised in some way - the wiring to give me other pickup combinations, the controls so I can blend pickups together, changing the pickups - to allow to get my own non-stratty sounds. Whatever it takes to have my own sound

[@ryanpullin]

Growing up and starting guitar, I remember always thinking a strat was a “lead” guitar and a Les Paul was a “rhythm” guitar. That’s interesting that you thought that too lol

[@back2thetrail]

Lol I always thought the opposite growing up

[@thrashmarky]

@@back2thetrail I 100% thought the opposite too. LP was slash, and strat was every indie kid

[@CharlesWillisBonsai]

Yngwie Malmsteen has said something similar. He's used Les Pauls for rhythm guitar tones on his albums, but the lead is always a strat.

[@pageveazey9874]

I get what you are getting at because do have a basic tonal quality that is easy to recognize, BUT, I don't have any problem playing Rock, Jazz, Funk, or even Country on a Strat. I'm one of those "Just keep it simple " kind of players. I dial in my amp for a robust sound and use just enough reverb to know that its there. Echo drives me nuts. Also, People who use Stereo Chorus get carried away and use too much of it. Yes, I like a little stereo chorus when I'm playing pretty Chord Solos. Now, switch position 2 and 4 give that "Strat Quack" that makes for some killer FUNK. If I want bright Funk I use switch position 2 and if I want a more mellow Funk, I use switch position 4. If I want some Country "Chicken Pickin'" then I use switch position 1. If I'm playing Jazz or Chord Solos, I use the Neck only pickup. The one thing that I learned a long time ago was "HEADROOM". If your amp isn't powerful enough to play at high volume without breaking up, you need a bigger amp.

[@nicholasnelson4971]

I’m having the opposite problem. I pick my Les Paul and automatically start playing songs from Deep purple, Guns and roses, Led Zeppelin, Cream, Zach Wylde etc etc etc. so I now play all of that stuff with my strat. And my Lp now plays Jimi Hendrix, SRV and Eric Johnson stuff😊 A complete roll reversal😮

[@Tonetwisters]

My first guitar was a 1954 Stratocaster, but I had been playing my brother's 1960 new Jazzmaster and before that, an electric Harmony archtop before I got the '54. Try using an AB switcher and changing to a different and bassier amp or channel so that the tone is different to begin with.

[@charlieharper886]

I think Mark Knopfler actually said something like this once. Something about how he originally came up with Sultans of Swing on an acoustic guitar. Later when he started playing it on that red Strat it turned into the version we all know and was completely different from when he originally wrote it just by switching instruments. He said it was a good example of how the music you write is shaped by what you play it on.

[@soofitnsexy]

u are hilarious. the ending was fun...and sounded...yes like a strat..u cannot escape it from Beck to Marvin....they all knew it is a PROBLEM:))

[@ravenbom]

I went to High School in the 90's when no one used that "classic" strat tone so I don't feel tied to that playing style. Also different pickups make me play a little differently. So my American Elite has the noiseless pickups that are pretty high output, more gain-y, and it seems to want to rock. While my MIM Road Worn with Pure Vintage 59s seems to want to be clean, or clean with a little dirt, more of that "Classic" strat sound.

[@carlmeiner]

Recommend listening to some Dizzy Mizz Lizzy - Great guitarist Tim Christensen has played strats on all the stuff (as far as I know). Setup as follows: Fender Stratocaster, in D standard or drop C - through a Marshall JCM 800 high gain tone. If you are into rock/heavy rock it will blow your mind (no less). Really shows of how versatile this instrument can be.

[@stevegadberry4768]

I can see what you are saying Robert. So many times we relate the instrument with the artist mainly and with the genre we are watching and listening to. Stratocaster to Eric Clapton, Les Paul to Gary Rossington. But a telecaster is a different story. You see so many different genres played with it. Blues, rock, country. Just my take on it. 🙂

[@erickleefeld4883]

There are different kinds of “Stratty”! There’s the bluesy neck pickup, or the funky sound combining the middle and bridge pickups, and various others. When a person says the word “Stratty,” they also need to be specific which one they mean.

[@rocketpigrecords3719]

That trem route & springs is a very defining characteristic. So much so, that I had tried a Hamer USA double cut with their "vintage" type trem, basically an Archtop otherwise (LP DC). That reverby thing it does, very noticeable, and as a guy very into Gibsons, it wasn't worth the several hundred I'd have saved vs keeping the LP Studio I bought. Just didn't feel right for what I wanted. As far as the whole package, it's very distinctive - so much so that there's basically an entire subindustry dedicated to getting strats to sound like anything else!

[@arthurgonzales4949]

I LOVE a Strat neck clean. I get that sound now from my Les Paul & Knaggs. It was hard at first because a Strat tone invokes on vision & seeing something completely different throws you off. I had to “look” with my ears instead of my eyes.

[@Fugettaboutit]

I used to experience the same thing...play a Strat 'like' a Strat. But then two things kind of 'expanded' what I thought was...I don't want to say possible, but worth pursuing. Unfortunately, they were two things that were a little hard to simulate because they were on vintage instruments. One was a 1954 hardtail, and the other was on a 1964 Rosewood board. Both guitars had this fullness and warmth the middle and bridge position pickups that I just didn't find in all the newer Strats I had, and I had some nice ones...US Vintage Reissues and ones that I played/worn in a lot. These original vintages and their original pickups just sang and resonated, I could take a different attack that I might normally take with a Les Paul and just let the notes bloom. It's almost like I wasn't playing a Strat but I was playing like quintessential examples of Stratocasters. Like you mentioned, part of it might be getting out of the mindset of 'this is how it's played' and automatically channeling like SRV. But I would also challenge myself on some gigs by purposely not going to the neck pickup and forcing myself to get sounds by adjusting my tone and other settings to better suit things. I was SUCH a Strat player that when I would play Gibsons, sometimes I'd do the same things/same attack etc. and some of it would just sound terrible. I also got inspiration from some really good players. know who were legitimate, 6 days/wk gigging musicians who would just show up with their guitar, an EQ and Tube-screamer pedal and be able to plug into any backline and sound great....and if they had Strats they didn't necessarily go for the 'Strat sound', but more an overall good tone and technique tat would work for any venue or amp. That emphasized that it's in you, and if you concentrate on playing good notes, it won't matter if you're not getting your SRV Strat tone. And frankly, when I look back on the gigs where I played my best, it didn't really matter as much if I was getting the best Strat or Gibson tone in my head, the show was just sounding good and I wasn't fighting anything.

[@microglyphics8076]

I don't see this as a problem. You just need to know your instrument. A craftsman doesn't own just one tool. Sometimes you need a screwdriver, and sometimes you need a hammer. When I was more active in playing, I had 10 different electric guitars-including a Strat-and some acoustics. Besides the natural tones, they had different neck and pickup configurations, each giving me a vibe. I'd use a Strat for Stratty stuff, but I had an ES for Blues-Jazz, had a Kramer with a neck as thick as a Louisville Slugger for some Jazz stuff and another with a toothpick-thin neck for shreddy stuff, and some alternate-tuned guitars for that stuff cuz I was too lazy to setup and re-tune all the time.

[@frAgileCS]

I have a little over 20 guitars at my disposal, thanks to my father having been collecting guitars here and there for the 30+ years he's been playing. Despite this, i've pretty much exclusively played on an old Lawsuit guitar, a metallic white Lotus strat i've fallen in love with and modded pretty extensively I've never approached this strat with any specific mindset, or even thought about doing so. (to be fair the only other strat i played a bunch was my dad's big apple strat, stock with 2 seymour duncan humbuckers, so it just sounds like a Les Paul) I'll play pretty much whatever on it, from Melvins and Nirvana to Hendrix and Stevie, and it sounds killer with all of it. I've written a few dozen metal riffs on it, and a few melodic, more stratty songs as well. I feel like this uncaged approach to my guitar has made me in some sort of sense a better player, at the very least i'm not afraid to just play whatever's on my mind, regardless of the guitar.

[@shane1472]

Love that opening little riff

[@theelderskatesman4417]

I didn't play my vintage strat fir 20 years because I needed to escape that tine. Now I love it again

[@dannyllerenatv8635]

Stratocasters have always felt "natural" to me. Not only because of my influences, but I always find myself going back to an S-style guitar. I currently have a Suhr Classic S HSS that I ordered from Humbuckermusic last year that I adore enough to sell every other guitar I owned. Listening to guys like Jeff Beck(his influence will never be forgotten) and Nick Johnston from time to time can also help you break out of the whole "strattiness" mindset. It also sometimes helps to play the guitar through different styles of amplifiers outside of your Fender, Vox, and Marshall style amps. If you can afford to drop that type of money, do not be afraid to run your strat through some amplifiers that are known as "modern high gain monsters" such as an ENGL, Diezel, Revv, Mesa, EVH, Friedman, Rivera, Fryette, etc. You'd be AMAZED at just how good a strat sounds through some of those amplifiers, even if you're not a metal player.

[@Addahasan]

on an HSS Strat (Hum, Single Single) changes the way to play a strat. Its much more a versatile guitar after HSS (Specially split coils) not all single coils . Which in my opinion that is how it should be. The best pickup combination. So your approach to HSS strart becomes versatile.

[@dimiaraujo90]

1) Not having a tone control for the bridge pickup 2) Intonation and tuning with a whammy bar bridge 3) The bridge usually hurts my picking hand 4) The longer scale makes the bends and vibratos a lot harder These problems are what I usually call Stratytis syndrome

[@bazzer124]

I get the idea of "Straty" sound but with today's electronics one can make an ukulele sound like a Strat. That said, I do really like and appreciate the inherent sound of those bright single coil pick-ups Fender uses. Cheers....

[@dominikj.6963]

You're absolutely right, and it's exactly the reason why I tend not to use strats for my original music. Even though I love the sound of my two strats, I find that using a guitar that just sounds "different" is best if you don't want to sound too derivative soundwise. Finding my own sound was part of the journey.

[@joracer1]

I play a strat like a 78 les Paul custom. And that last about 5 mins. But I never could play it like a 83 gibson es347 natural blonde. Not even for 1 min. I do have a aria pro 2 that I can can play anyway I want, and it never disappoints.

[@sjeverett75]

I get what you are saying, and sometimes you just need a certain sound and reach for a Strat or LP however in general I will play a given set list on any given guitar.

[@strings53notlob50]

My biggest problem with any guitar is just trying to play anything!

[@lordimpaler3899]

My biggest issue with Strats is the location of the first volume control. The way I pick, i keep gradually reducing my volume by accident