Anyone else play their Strats more than their Les Pauls?

[AwfulQuiet]

I have gone over to playing the new Framus I have... it is fantastic.... the build quality and incredible...

 

[Dad EO]

Got a hot rodded Firefly LP, modified G&L Keith Richard tele , and a Jeff Beck Strat son gave to me a couple Christmas’s ago. Always seems like I come back to the Strat. Ideas just seem to come out of nowhere when I play it.

 

[techrtr]

I've been playing my Strat a lot more lately. I still love Les Pauls but they are soooooo heavy. I have to admit, even though the sound of the Strat is a bit shrill for me, it is an amazingly versatile guitar. No wonder so many people use them exclusively.

 

[BigJim]

I have a Tyler Classic that I use for almost everything but my Southern Rock band. The Tyler is an SSH strat type, it just works with the music that my bands cover...

 

[Stealthracer]

Not me. I pick up one of the Les Pauls most days, but can go for weeks without touching any of the Strats.

 

[pmonk]

60% Gibson 40% Fenders

 

[crazytrain513]

In my case, definitely not. I can't say I hate strats but in five attempts at owning one, I never found happiness.

I'm a humbucker guy from head to toe. I'll take any Gibson or any PRS over any Fender.

That's how I was. I always hated the look of the HSS Strats - they just always looked a bit cockeyed to me. But one day I tried the EVH Striped and I realized they sound pretty good! Give one a go sometime.

Nothing wrong with Strats. If you play it more, rock on.

One thing I CAN tell you is that I have a personality type where I love to try different things. "different" and new are exciting to me. I love new foods, driving new cars, etc. I do get a "grass is greener" mentailty when playing guitars (exception is my marriage. One woman is plenty for me). "Wow, this Moderne (made that up) is the GREATEST guitar I have ever played, I am putting down my LP." Then when the new wears off I am right back to my old friend. I am a LP player who occasionally plays others (tools in a very big box in my case). I have a Strat. It is a fine guitar. I love it for one specific purpose. When I want to play, in my house, on my sofa, and I do not want to sit forward but lean back. Seems to "fit" better in that one spot. Other than that I don't really play it very much. Again though, nothing wrong with a Strat (or a Tele--I have one of those, too).

As far as EVH goes, strikes me that he did about everything he could to turn his Strat into a Gibson. Would have been shockingly more simple for him to have just played an SG? Jeff Beck and SD did the same thing with a Tele (called Tele-Gib. I have one of those, too). Even George Harrison and his Rosewood tele? Could have just played an SG. But, today we always forget that it was not that simple for those guys. Clapton went to 4 stores in Nashville and bought 5 guitars and a whole box of "parts" to assemble Blackie and Brownie. The Beatles had very little access to American Guitars while in England. We did not have Reverb and Ebay in the late 70s when EVH was tinkering. They had to invent their sounds. We can just easily find one that meets our needs! Anyone who has researched rock can tell you the stories. Guys like Clapton and EVH went to EVERY guitar store in every town where they stopped. They trolled endlessly for the sound...because they could not easily buy it.

Good post. I'm quite the personality for trying new things as well when its comes to food, cars, coffee, and travelling, to name a few. But for guitars, for the most part its always only been Les Pauls for me. Haven't gotten along with much else really. I've tried SGs, Explorers, Jaguars, various PRS's, Ibanez's, and ESP's...while many are nice, nothing really had done it for me but Les Pauls. But the HSS superstrat really turned me and even recently, since my original post, I've plugged my LP Custom in, swapped the pickups, changed string gauges, adjusted strap height, and all sorts of other things and I find myself gravitating back towards the playability, neck and higher gain punchy tones of my HSS Super Strats. Go figure!

EVH did play a white LPC for a time but he too did not like the weight, fatter neck, and lack of tremolo bar from my understanding. But you are absolutely correct - we are lucky these days!

 

[devontremolo]

I played a MIM HSS Strat for 18 years until I decided to experiment and try a Les Paul Studio. For sure, different tools for different songs. The Les Paul has far better construction, and I like the neck better than the Strat's. But musically, I keep returning to the Strat for cleaner tones with more bite. It sits in a mix well, particularly for rhythm playing. For slightly overdriven solos, either the Les Paul or the Strat are fine.

After this posting, I found myself returning to the LP and finding good tones I can't get with a Strat.

 

[The Golden Boy]

A few Strats have wandered through my stable- but I think I’ve determined it’s the Gibson style switching that I need given my amps and the way I’ve developed they way I’ve learned to make my stuff do what I want it to. I changed my Telecaster to an up/down toggle to sort of mimic a LP.

I guess I haven’t wanted to keep a Strat enough to mess with wiring solutions.

 

[truckermde]

I've been a one-guitar guy for a while now, I was just gifted a really sweet Strat from a friend whom I helped get that very guitar a couple months ago.

It is actually an older Squier Standard Strat, with the post-mounted two-point trem. It is routed to accommodate HSH configuration, so I have the ability to go SSS if I so desire, which I probably will. It is currently HH, and sounds really, really good. I'm blown away, actually.

So, now I have my LP GT Standard, and a Strat. We shall see which I spend more time beating on....

I'll shoot some pics, and do a NGD thread if I find the time...

 

[Stealthracer]

God no, I mean why would you?

 

[Village Idiot]

This site truly sucks ass for uploading pics Hence I’m hardly here

 

[Six6String6]

I must add, I just swapped my Fender Tone Master in for a Vox AC15. After having a Marshall for my LP’s and realizing how nice valves sound I now have an amp that gives me the sounds I was looking for from my Strat.
The SS Fender amp, as good as it was for cleans, just could not simulate the hair that valves give me and the Strat into the Vox it so much better. And the Vox is sweet even at really low volumes, much like my DSL20.
I still play my Gibsons more often but I think the Strat will see more action with the Vox now. That amp has rejuvenated my interest in the Fender.

 

[CB91710]

This site truly sucks ass for uploading pics Hence I’m hardly here

Really?

 

[truckermde]

This site truly sucks ass for uploading pics Hence I’m hardly here

Wow.

I thought I was the most technologically challenged person on the internet.

I guess not.

Resizing is really simple. Windows does it for you, if you ask nicely...

 

[truckermde]

Really?

View attachment 617006 View attachment 617007 View attachment 617008

Man, that R4 is just so dreamy...

 

[CB91710]

Wow.

I thought I was the most technologically challenged person on the internet.

I guess not.

Resizing is really simple. Windows does it for you, if you ask nicely...

There's a guy on Strat Talk who couldn't figure out how to get pics from his Android onto his PC.