Strats - anyone else not like them?

[AndyR]

I must admit, if I was offered Chuck Berry and Dave Gilmour in an either-or "Desert Island Discs" type of situation, personally I'd have to pick the Chuck Berry as well. More for the songs than the guitar playing I guess, but it would still be Chuck.

BTW it was Malcolm Young, in an interview back in the early 80s, who forced me to actually buy some Chuck Berry to check out what the fuss was about. Apparently he went to the "old guys" on Keef's recommendation, and same as me couldn't see hear it at first. MY's recommendation in the interview was listen real hard, it's where everything came from... and he was right!

[AndyR]

As you can see from the picture I hate strats.  In fact I hate them so much that since taking this I have bought 2 more!

I like that white one on the right, looks very cool.  :D

yeah, that is a nice one isn't it? was thinking the same.

My favourites are the two rosewood boards next to it. The brilliant white one is nice - the maple neck looks really nice - but I personally prefer the look of rosewoods and the three-ply scratch plate.

[Twinfan]

I must admit, if I was offered Chuck Berry and Dave Gilmour in an either-or "Desert Island Discs" type of situation, personally I'd have to pick the Chuck Berry as well. More for the songs than the guitar playing I guess, but it would still be Chuck.

BTW it was Malcolm Young, in an interview back in the early 80s, who forced me to actually buy some Chuck Berry to check out what the fuss was about. Apparently he went to the "old guys" on Keef's recommendation, and same as me couldn't see hear it at first. MY's recommendation in the interview was listen real hard, it's where everything came from... and he was right!

If you speed up Chuck's playing, you get Angus.  Like you say Andy, it's all there!

[Philly Q]

Is it???  Am I the only non-fan of Gilmour on the board then?  :lol:

It wasn't really the Gilmour bit, it was the Chuck Berry bit. 

I mean, I know Chuck was influential an' all, but (no offence intended to anyone) I can't imagine actually listening to him.  I just don't find his music entertaining at all.  I'm not sure why - I think maybe it sounds more dated than other music from the same time.

Each to their own I guess!  I love old skool rock n roll...

I suppose I think of it as stuff you hear on the radio and think "oh, I quite like this", rather than something I'd buy and really listen to.   I like Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, but the only really old rock'n'roll I actually own is some Link Wray.

I did know Angus and Malcolm had the Chuck influence, but I'll leave em 'to it.  Each to their own, as you say.   

[Roobubba]

FAO Andy:


http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/health/bra-research-must-go-on%2c-vows-scientist-20071210588/

:)

[ToneMonkey]

In that article, the other researchers that it refers to was one of my old lecturers.  His office was always a joy to sit in as it had pictures of tits everywhere.

Think I went into the worng industry  :(

[Ratrod]

I'm no Gilmour fan either. He's a great player but I don't like Pink Floyd. It's the antithesis of rock n' roll. But I'm no Hendrix fan either. I don't care how innovative he was. It was noisy and sloppy. I could stick my harmonica up my @ss, start farting and amplify it throuh a Jamaican sound machine. That would be innovative, loud and noisy too.

Man, this Strat heckling (and their players) is fun!

But don't take my words too seriously, OK.

I love Telecasters, though. And yes, three brass saddles is the way to go. They might be impossible to intonate but this hasn't hurt players of the fifties much. You can get compensated saddles these days.

I hope there will be more threads like this. It's like stand-up comedy for guitarists.

[AndyR]

FAO Andy:


http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/health/bra-research-must-go-on%2c-vows-scientist-20071210588/

:)

:lol:
Finally got a chance to read it - funnily enough your the 2nd person to send me a link to their site today, first one was the "Timemachine Would've Been Cheaper"

In that article, the other researchers that it refers to was one of my old lecturers.  His office was always a joy to sit in as it had pictures of tits everywhere.

Our hallway has tits everywhere as well :D.

Before I got back into music, I spent a couple of years painting/drawing. We forget they're there, but it's fascinating watching people's reaction the first time they come round - the missus then goes "the more explicit ones are in here" and leads them into what we call the "porn room" (really it's her office, but it was my art room before we met).

[PhilKing]

Actually, having used the word "porn", I realised all this "like"/"don't like" of various guitars is much like a chap's taste in boobs - I do not like big boobs, for example, I find them a real turn off.

Strange that - I myself am a great believer in the adgage that anything more than a handful is a waste and probably of all the different guitars I have, Strats are my favourites.

[PhilKing]

I like that white one on the right, looks very cool.  :D

yeah, that is a nice one isn't it? was thinking the same.

My favourites are the two rosewood boards next to it. The brilliant white one is nice - the maple neck looks really nice - but I personally prefer the look of rosewoods and the three-ply scratch plate.

The white with the maple neck is a real 1957 Strat that I got off ebay a long time ago and it was missing most of the original parts other than the bridge and woodwork.  It had been resprayed white without a topcoat so long ago that the finish is cracking.  The scratchplate, knobs and pickups are aged BK products - it is an Apache set.  I had some original tuners (though I had to put in the Stewmac 'hole stuffer' ferrules [think what you want - looking at the rest of the thread I know you will!]), and I got an original neck plate.  The headstock has been relacquered over the replacement decal - but is crazed like mad!  It is the hardest V shape at the end tapering to more of a C shape by the 12th fret.  There is no lacquer on the fingerboard or the back of the neck - just ingrained sweat and dirt!  It sound phenominal and is great to play.

The white rosewood is a 61 slab board - pretty much all original other than a BK rewind on one pickup which had died, and a BK replacement for a custom SD antiquity (the original guitar came with an HSS set up, so one pickup was missing).  The new BK is an Apache with AV magnets.

The burgandy mist is a 63 and is all original other than the finish.  I bought it from Vintage & Rare when they operated out of a flat in 1982 for £500 or so.  The finish is so good of a respray that it fooled the dealers in NY in 1991, when I sold it to a friend.  Matt Unminov's valued it at $8,000 then!  When my friend passed away about 18 months ago, he had told his family to let me have it back for what he paid me for it ($1,900).  By now the finish has cracked totally and is chipping off in a few spots, the guitar needs a refret too.  Now I have it back I won't be selling it again.

[AndyR]

Lovely, lovely guitars - my leaning is towards the 63, especially with your description of its history. I do like the description of that 57 neck though - my new second hand Japanese 52 RI tele has a very similar profile, hard V at the nut end of the neck, tapering to a C. Compared to my Baja it is a very hard V, but I've played a harder V in Vintage and Rare recently (I think it was a McGuire).

[Crazy_Joe]

I want a strat :lol:

[tomjackson]

I like all guitars except RED ones :D

[mikeluke]

My 54-Reissue Jap Strat has what they called a 'soft V' profile neck (maple board) - must say that I find it quite chunky as I have quite small hands - on the other hand I have a 62 E Series Jap Squier which has a much slimmer C profile neck (rosewood board) which I find much easier - I'd recommend an E Series if you are on a budget and you can live with 21 vintage frets and a vintage trem - got mine from Evil Bay - 1986 in mint condition - £175 inc postage!

[ilÿti]

Are you saying anyone who uses a Strat is childish?  That's just silly, even if you are just being a WUM.

Or did you just go through some kind of not-really-Strat-related personal epiphany at 14 that we needn't concern ourselves with?

No. I just meant to say that the reason I don't like strats isn't that I never gave them a chance, like some people will say. I just came to the conclusion that they sound really weak and lame compared to Les Pauls, explorers and whathaveya and the only reason I liked them was that I saw many of my favorite players with them, which was indeed an immature reason. So if you like the thin spongy fender sound, go ahead, play strats, but "Hendrix played them, so they must be awesome" isn't a reason. At least in my book. (and yes the same thing counts for every piece of gear that any person ever played)