Quote:
Originally Posted by FrankHudson
I'm already chimed in upthread about liking 3 pickup Teles, but let's assume we're talking about the "classic" designs. Even within the classic designs there are so many variables, that this will have to be a generalized response. Every one of the following statements is debatable and subject to "well, whatabout..." As I read your question you're not looking for a endless debate but more "what do those folks think?"
The case for the more/most versatile Tele than Strat:
The Tele bridge PU tone is hard to duplicate. It has a certain cutting power that you can approach with other guitars, but Tele fanciers often find is hard to get with the bridge pickup of its cousin the Strat. In some cases (not all, or to all tastes, or with all rigs) it can be "too bright" with the tone control all the way up, but the tone knob is there to be used.
Similarly, the neck pickup in the classic design is somewhat unique. Unlike the bridge PU, it can be a little darker than the Strat's neck PU, and with some Teles it takes on a nice kind of resonance in tone and envelope that sounds like a hollow-body archtop when plugged into a clean darker amp. Even without departing from the classic pickups, that means the Tele (more than the classic Strat) had not just two positions, but two differently voiced pickups, while the classic Strat (and most other classic guitar designs) instead just duplicates the pickups in all positions. A Tele is preferred for some who want a guitar can that get very bright without sounding brittle or thin and quite dark and mellow without sounding like mush. That's the core of the versatile Tele belief I think.
The neck + bridge sound of a Tele is not available on the classic Strat, just as the classic Strat quack isn't available on the Tele. If quack rules your world, the Strat's your choice between the two classic models, but if it doesn't you or others might miss that N+B switch position. Besides being a hum reducing position without the marked sonic quack, the Tele N+B is often my choice for acoustic style playing on an electric guitar. Picks up a nice range of string vibration and those two differing pickups adds something to the clean sound.
You can block or deck a Strat's floating bridge, but if you don't a Tele is easier to deal with it you change tunings. I find it easier to reach the Tele tone knob while playing with my RH little finger for faux wah-wah. Some folks find the Strat middle PU get in the way of their picking.
OK, now remember all of that is generalized, and an attempt at an honest summary of what some people think objectively about the choice of a Tele. Feel free to think completely differently, or to engage in one of those "whatabout" mods or custom configurations.
|
That's a much better explanation than I could give!
For me, it's probably subjective. With an electric guitar, you really enter an endless search for the tones that you hear in your head--even moreso than with an acoustic, at least for me.
A tele, for me, gets me closer to those tones than a Strat does. Yes, there are Strat tones that I love that a tele can't get, but overall, a tele punches more buttons for me than a Strat does and gives me a wider tonal palette that matches the one I hear in my head.
And that last part is critical--what's in your head may differ and the Strat (or Les Paul or ES....) may match much better.
We are fortunate to live in a time that has such a variety of guitars, pickups, and amps...or maybe not, given the money that we often pour into them!!