Poll: Strat or Tele

CiaranK

In general what do you prefer Fender; Strat or Tele and why?

Dord

Tele. It's just an honest workhorse of a guitar. Along the Tele lines I prefer the Esquire. Simple... single pickup guitar. Perfect.

No6

It has to be the strat!!! They Rock!!!:D

spoonbadger

Has to be the strat, it's just so elegant! Responsive, too. With a tele, you just set your amp, pick a pickup and hit it. It'll either sound twangy, mellow or chirpy and it isn't hard to get some pretty good sounds out of it.

With the strat, you have to be careful what you do with it. There's so many sounds you can get out of it, but if you hit the neck pickup at the wrong time, you're going to sound like bassy, musical pudding. Likewise, hit the bridge pickup with too much treble and everyone's ears will bleed. But find the perfect spot, and it's heaven ^_^

Tele is like the easy chick in a club. All you have to do is grab it, hit it and you're gauranteed results :pac:

Strat is like the hot girl with the glasses and the thousand yard stare, sitting at the bar, sipping on a martini. Gotta take your time, approach it slowly, and be genuine. If you make a mistake, it's not gonna go down well but if you do it right there's so much more to gain :P

Dord

spoonbadger wrote: »

<snip>

So, what you're saying is that the Tele is like quick shag but with the Strat you need to take your time and use some lube fast fret? :pac:

punchdrunk

spoonbadger wrote: »

Has to be the strat, it's just so elegant! Responsive, too. With a tele, you just set your amp, pick a pickup and hit it. It'll either sound twangy, mellow or chirpy and it isn't hard to get some pretty good sounds out of it.

With the strat, you have to be careful what you do with it. There's so many sounds you can get out of it, but if you hit the neck pickup at the wrong time, you're going to sound like bassy, musical pudding. Likewise, hit the bridge pickup with too much treble and everyone's ears will bleed. But find the perfect spot, and it's heaven ^_^

Tele is like the easy chick in a club. All you have to do is grab it, hit it and you're gauranteed results :pac:

Strat is like the hot girl with the glasses and the thousand yard stare, sitting at the bar, sipping on a martini. Gotta take your time, approach it slowly, and be genuine. If you make a mistake, it's not gonna go down well but if you do it right there's so much more to gain :P

totally disagree with you on that,the tele shows up all your flaws and is harder to be really creative with,but ultimately I prefer the rawness of the tele

i've got twice as many tele's as I do strats

spoonbadger

Dord wrote: »

So, what you're saying is that the Tele is like quick shag but with the Strat you need to take your time and use some lube fast fret? :pac:

Definitely take your time, wouldn't want blisters, eh? :pac:

punchdrunk wrote: »

totally disagree with you on that,the tele shows up all your flaws and is harder to be really creative with,but ultimately I prefer the rawness of the tele

i've got twice as many tele's as I do strats

So you have at least 3 fender. Either way, i approve

-Chris-

spoonbadger wrote: »

With a tele, you just set your amp, pick a pickup and hit it. It'll either sound twangy, mellow or chirpy and it isn't hard to get some pretty good sounds out of it.

That's why I like my Tele - there's not a hell of a lot of versatility to it, it does what it does - it's all in my hands. I find that pretty rewarding when things go well!

Beave

It has to be the Strat every time, it's the desert island guitar (as long as you have a desert island amp) it's the most beautiful sounding of the two (and of all time) It's been copied more times than the tele, it must have more endorsers.

A Strat in the hands of David Gilmour or Mark Knopfler, to name but two, is the zenith of tone. And that's what the Strat's about, tone. The Tele just doesn't have that versatility.

rcaz

Beave wrote: »

The Tele just doesn't have that versatility.

Lol.

Yeah, a Strat has a lot of options. But 90% of your tone is in your fingers. You can get everything you can out of a Strat with a Tele.

I like how Teles feel. The no-nonsense factor appeals to me - pick it up, put the bridge pickup on, leave the tone wide open, and do the rest with your hands - this approach hasn't failed me yet. I like the sharp edges and the skinny headstock. I've since put a hot rails in my Tele, and it's very different from the stock bridge pickup. I sorta miss all that bite, so I plan on having this one (a Mexican Tele) with a humbucker (might route it for a proper one sometime) and getting a better (American? Japanese? Vintage?) Tele and leaving it stock/modding it to a particular spec. With two Teles and a Jazzmaster, I reckon I'd be pretty happy.

Dord

El Pr0n wrote: »

Lol.

Yeah, a Strat has a lot of options. But 90% of your tone is in your fingers. You can get everything you can out of a Strat with a Tele.

I like how Teles feel. The no-nonsense factor appeals to me - pick it up, put the bridge pickup on, leave the tone wide open, and do the rest with your hands - this approach hasn't failed me yet. I like the sharp edges and the skinny headstock. I've since put a hot rails in my Tele, and it's very different from the stock bridge pickup. I sorta miss all that bite, so I plan on having this one (a Mexican Tele) with a humbucker (might route it for a proper one sometime) and getting a better (American? Japanese? Vintage?) Tele and leaving it stock/modding it to a particular spec. With two Teles and a Jazzmaster, I reckon I'd be pretty happy.

That's why I love my LP Junior. It's a simple no-nonsense guitar. Less distractions but you can coax different sounds out of it if you know how.

Miklos

It's got to be a Tele for me. The bridge pickup is the best pickup ever designed! Pure raw grunt. I don't even own a Tele and they're my favourite guitars. Jesus, I'd better get one.

The Strat is too versatile. I hate that word really, especially when it comes to guitars. Plus I can't play them, the just disappear when I strap them on. Bloody contours.

eagle10

Strat so versatile great design..........

Junco Partner

spoonbadger wrote: »

Tele is like the easy chick in a club. All you have to do is grab it, hit it and you're gauranteed results :pac:

Strat is like the hot girl with the glasses and the thousand yard stare, sitting at the bar, sipping on a martini. Gotta take your time, approach it slowly, and be genuine. If you make a mistake, it's not gonna go down well but if you do it right there's so much more to gain :P

that has to be the best analogy ever used to explain the difference

PMI

Its only 1 of the 3....

In life as you get older you realise that a strat,tele and les paul is all you need

all the rest are toys for children

Junco Partner

the les paul has never impressed me that much

Savman

PMI wrote: »

Its only 1 of the 3....

In life as you get older you realise that a strat,tele and les paul is all you need

all the rest are toys for children

Paul Reed Smith makes toys?

OP, Strat takes the crown IMHO.

RICARDO1982

Strat all the way i have had both,
Lets just say the tele is long gone and the strat i have had 10 yrs. Its a much more comfortable versatile guitar a good all rounder. l suppose the strat was Leo Fender's more modern improved design electric solidbody after the tele....

boycey

I'm gonna go with the Tele on this one. Simple as a sledgehammer and twice as handy!!

Two little niggles with both: I wish every Tele had a P90 at the neck. That rocks. Secondly, every Strat should have a tone control for the bridge pickup. Then I'd own one of each!!

Fingers Mcginty

very different instruments. Get one of each...That's you're best bet

PeterIanStaker

If I'd the cash I'd get one each, a Strat with locking tuners and coil tapped humbucker/hot rail, and a thinline Tele.

Savman

Fingers Mcginty wrote: »

very different instruments. Get one of each...That's you're best bet

For sure!! More everything!

Miklos

boycey wrote: »

Two little niggles with both: I wish every Tele had a P90 at the neck. That rocks. Secondly, every Strat should have a tone control for the bridge pickup. Then I'd own one of each!!

I reckon a Strat should just have the two controls, having two tone pots is nonsense when you've got three pickups.

Ostrom

I like both. Is something wrong with me?

Quattroste

PMI wrote: »

Its only 1 of the 3....

In life as you get older you realise that a strat,tele and les paul is all you need

all the rest are toys for children

Gretsch? ES335? and even if you are getting older...... you're still a kid so enjoy the "toys".

Strat for me but I do get Tele Gas every now and then.... Haven't found one yet that I really like the feel of.

Sandvich

I love the sound of a good Tele. But a strat is more versatile. Hard to pick.

Strat for the neck pickup, Tele for the bridge pickup? The bridge pickup is more distinct, but that can be a bad thing if not playing a Tele friendly genre.

Alanstrainor

I'm a strat man. I have 3 of them. But i do love my Telecaster too. they are both different, just because one is more versatile doesn't make it "better". I just love the tones i can get out of a strat, the neck pickup is awesome for the blues, and the middle get's the sweat sharpness to it.
But it's not about what you play, it's how you play it!

PMI

haha, thought I might open a can of worms haha 335 nice yeah there are others but even a PRS is closer to a les paul than a tele or strat ie: its not really a totally different guitar....like the others.

Les paul isnt for impressing as mentioned above it has a certain sound for recording which it does better than the others.

in a studio I would only take in the 3 as all bases are covered with them.

I use strats live but would love to use tele as I think they are alot cooler but cant work in my current enviroment and a les paul 6 nights a week would break my back I dont like carrying trees ha

either way poster you heading in the right direction

Randy Shafter

Has to be the Tele. Its overall simplicity makes it stand out for some reason. IMO the two pick ups are more than enough to give you the tone and sound you're looking for.

rcaz

PMI wrote: »

in a studio I would only take in the 3 as all bases are covered with them.

All the tonal bases are covered by three solid body guitars?

-Chris-

Or one Parker Fly...

landsleaving

I've owned both now and liked the looks and style of the tele, loved the sound too, but it was a little too twangy for me. Still for the right song nothing beat it. Sadly it weighed a ton, as has any tele, besides thinlines, that I've tried, so I sold it.

I prefer the strat, looks wise it's my favourite, and I love the strat sound, which seems to get little praise thanks to the tele being so popular for its quack. It's comfortbale, the right weight and contours, and of the 2 I have, one has the best neck I've ever played (second best being the tele)

They're both great though, and I'll be getting a thinline in the future to complete my collection

Savman

PMI wrote: »

haha, thought I might open a can of worms haha 335 nice yeah there are others but even a PRS is closer to a les paul than a tele or strat ie: its not really a totally different guitar....like the others.

Sorry but PRS are no closer to LP's than Ibanez are to Strat's. Some PRS tones can be Gibson-like, but PRS can do clean's the LP's simply can't manage (and could actually be considered more Fender-like in this regard).

I'd have no issue with LP's, Strats or Teles, all three are mouthwatering in the right application, but I do not agree that these are the be all and end all, period. There are far too many variables to simply have a 'one size fits all' solution.