Tele versus Strat

I've been shopping for a new electric guitar for months. There are so many options that it's confusing. I love my Fender Strat. I've played it so much that the frets are now worn out. I play in a band so I have to address the issue very soon. It's affecting the sound & my normal cravings to play.

First, both guitars made by Fender are huge icons of the music industry. I'm a little irritated that I have to shop for a Mexican made one versus USA made. The pricing difference is, well, ridiculous. Fender needs to do something about this (and I don't mean disadvantage the USA versions). When I stood up & played for 4000 GM employees last summer I strongly felt the need to have an affordable American made Fender in my hands. By the way, the Mexican made versions are identical as far as I can tell from playing them. If I'm going to pay $5-600 more for American, I'd like to know why. That's not all labor cost differences.

Pros: I feel that the Strat has a better overall appearance, but the Tele has a distinctive tone that I love when playing blues music. Both have lots of versatility when hooked to a good system. A lot of guys trade out the pickups, but I'm very happy with my original ones.

Cons: Mainstream / 50's image by both, but the Tele has an even older look to it. I guess that's part of the appeal, but hardware updates would be a nice improvement without degrading the image. Out maneuvered by other companies on contemporary design to some degree. Hey it's 2009 guys! What's new? Not much bravery in the design studio. I think Fender would be surprised at how strongly people feel about them.

In summary, I would probably buy the Telecaster if I were making the decision today. It captures a sound quality & feel that's just hard to match in other guitars, but ask me tomorrow about my Strat. The romance is alive & kick'n!

Try the MIM Deluxe Players Strat The pickup switch options con give you a Tele sound as well as Strat I own one and love it It has a 12" neck radius. I can switch back and forth with my LP no problem.

I think your last statement about how strongly people feel about the brand probably explains why they haven't changed the designs.

Coke tried it and remember how well that worked out. Don't underestimate the power of familiarity in a brand. I for one would not like them to change a thing on the Strat or Tele. Classic is classic.

Good luck finding what you're looking for.

Originally Posted by: MCBluesman

Cons: Mainstream / 50's image by both, but the Tele has an even older look to it. I guess that's part of the appeal, but hardware updates would be a nice improvement without degrading the image. Out maneuvered by other companies on contemporary design to some degree. Hey it's 2009 guys! What's new? Not much bravery in the design studio. I think Fender would be surprised at how strongly people feel about them.

I have 3 American standard teles, and another one that Forrest lee built for me with one of his b benders in it. I also have 2 strats, but I play the teles more. They're such versatile guitars, and you never know what you'll need to play at a gig. If I were doing a blues gig, I would want the strat there too. The cut aways let you go a little further than a tele, you can even get a screaming lead down in the 22nd fret. I can also do this on a tele, but it is harder to reach it.

No matter which one you get, play it first. I've known some guys that buy a guitar because of how it looks, get it home, and two days later they hate it. Play it first, check out the action, the feel of the neck, and of course the intonation at the 12th fret. If you go with anything other than a USA, you may also want to check all the strings one fret at a time, especially past the 12th fret. You may not find any problems at all, hopefully all the notes will be clean. Listen for the notes to buzz, and listen for the pitch to go up.

If the notes don't buzz, and the pitch is going up with each note, you may have found the guitar for you. If you really want a guitar that has some of these problems, talk to a salesperson about throwing in a setup if you buy it. Make sure you tell them of anything you found that was wrong with it, that way they can check to make sure it's fixed. Make sure you're satisfied, before you take it out of the store. Let us know which one you get, and if we can do anything to help you.

JD

Both the Strats and Teles come in several flavors, such as the Vintage, Deluxe and Artist Series (Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malmsteen etc). You need to weigh the pros and cons of owning a Tele because there are only so many styles you can play with it. The Strat on the other hand is a Jack-of-all-trades. The Tele may be specialized for certain types of tones, but the Strat can do everything. I can name you a thousand death metal guitarists, as well as bluesmen who swear by the Strat. The Lone Star is possibly one of the finest guitars Fender ever made.

Why not just replace the neck or get it refretted?

leo fender designed the fender tele, but he was an engineer and not very arty, thats why the tele is flat and plain looking
When the stratocaster was designed leo brought some artistic bods in and thats why it has it's gracefull curves