Fender Telecaster or Tele has the de facto country guitar sound
Tele has more tone and nice cleans compared to a Strat. But for distortion, I I personally think the Strat makes for a better Rock guitar where-as the Tele is nice for blues, funk, country, ect.
I like both Teles and Strats, but only when they have hotter bridge pickups. I love single coils, but I need something with more mid-range and output in the bridge. I'd probably end up going with a Strat and installing a humbucker or a hotter single coil, but I could live with a Tele as well. A custom guitar I have in mind is similar to a Telecaster Plus, which consists of a hard-tail bridge, bridge humbucker with mounting ring, and a Strat-style headstock.
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