Fender Telecaster vs Fender Strat

taylorman22 · #1 03-28-2008, 01:30 PM

I'm just starting to learn electric....been a keyboard and acoustic player for years. I don't know much about electric guitar tone though.

I know the technical differences between the two guitars (ie. pickups, switch, etc.), but what is the basic difference in tone between the two...if that can be described in words. As I said in another post, I'm looking at buying an electric to use for leading worship.....just to get away from always using a keyboard or acoustic. Is one particularly better for contemporary worship music, or is your pedal system ("rig") what makes the biggest difference?

I stopped by Guitar Center to play them today, but I only had 20 minutes or so, so I didn't get to really "play" them. They had an american deluxe tele there in the aged cherry finish. It was beautiful...much better than in the pictures I've seen. I really like the way it felt and played for clean tones, but I didn't get a chance to see if could really produce a solid overdrive tone. My concern is it only have 2 single coil pickups, where the american deluxe strat HSS has the two single coils and the fullsize humbucker.

jbryant · #2 03-28-2008, 02:13 PM

Tele's have always been on the treble side of tone Taylorman. The Strat has a much broader range of sounds IMO. I love the way either guitar plays but the Strat will be more of an all around guitar where as the Tele is a bit more specialized. If you're looking for a sharper, cutting sound then the Tele is your axe.

Jim B

Lewguitar · #3 03-28-2008, 02:20 PM

The Strat and Telecaster are my two favorite electric guitars.

The Strat has three pickups and 5 way switch that lets you get any of the three pickups alone or combine the neck and middle pickups and the bridge and middle pickups. That gives a very distinctive tone that cannot be had from a Telecaster. It's the Mark Knopfler Dire Straits Sultans of Swing tone...also Eric Clapton's Strat tone and Buddy Guy's.

Also, the Strat has a vibrato bar for doing dive bombs and vibrato efffects, and Teles don't.

The Tele has two pickups and you can combine them for a great rhythm tone. The strings pass through the body and not a vibrato mechanism so Teles seem to sustain better than Strats and are much twangier and steelier sounding. The classic lead guitar tone on I Walk the Line by Johnny Cash is Luther Perkins playing his Tele.

The bridge pickup on a Tele is better than the bridge pickup on a Strat but the neck pickup on a Strat is better than the neck pickup on a Tele.

Teles are very unforgiving of sloppy playing technique...they are very revealing and you really have to be able to shape the tone with your hands with a Tele.

Strats are more forgiving, but you need to shape the tone with your hands with a Strat too.

Gibsons with humbuckers get a warmer, more forgiving tone than Strats and Teles.

That said, I play only Strats and Teles when I plug in an electric guitar.

Most people like a Strat more than the Tele.

dahn8 · #4 03-28-2008, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbryant

I love the way either guitar plays but the Strat will be more of an all around guitar where as the Tele is a bit more specialized. If you're looking for a sharper, cutting sound then the Tele is your axe.

I have to disagree... i think the tele is a very versatile guitar. A lot of people look as it as a country chicken-pickin type guitar (which it does well), but it can go to all out modern rock too... and everything in between.

I'd pick up whatever guitar you like better. You cannot go wrong with both. I've used strats, teles, and les pauls for worship and they all did their own things well. currently though, i've been loving my G&L ASAT special, which is a modified tele style guitar.

I'd strongly suggest checking out G&L guitars... they are well priced and sound good. And they were Leo Fender's last guitar company...

taylorman22 · #5 03-28-2008, 06:16 PM

I'm actually looking at a barely used 2007 American Deluxe Tele in the aged cherry finish. It's gorgeous. The guy doesn't know what pickups it has thought. The new Teles comes with the Samarium Cobalt noiseless pickups. Does anyone know if the 2007 Deluxe Teles came with the same pickups?

wtmed · #6 03-28-2008, 08:29 PM

2007's come with the scn pick-up set. Also have the S1 switch with works in the first and third position. This allows for more of a fuller sound in the neck postion. Many tele traditionalist don't care for the more modern sound of the scn pick-ups. I think it is pretty versatile for the type of worship music you play. You might also want to check out a 52 hot rod deluxe with the mini-humbucker if you are interested in the tele. That even add's a little more beef to the tele.

Steev · #7 03-28-2008, 09:07 PM

You can play any style on any guitar.
If it feels good for you and plays in tune, it's good.
Teles are great with 3 pickups.
Joe Pass used to play a Tele.
Steve Cropper said something about the Tele being the only guitar that you can play whilst eating fried chicken (or something to that effect)

jdimitri · #8 03-28-2008, 09:30 PM

You have to try both..

Personally I'm a big tele fan, all 3 pickup positions are very usable whereas i can only see myself using 2 or 3 of strat's pickup positions

The dude above said that strat's tele neck p/u is worse than strat's, but i personally think tele's neck pickup is the best thing about it. It gives out a really smooth bluesy tone.. For example check out Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah

Plus, the best thing you can buy right now is a Baja telecaster, which comes with custom shop pickups, 4 way pickup switching (regular 3+ humbucker like sound) as well as an S1 Switching for 2 extra strat-like tones.
It also comes with a very nice soft V shaped neck, I got mine for $700 shipped!

I got one of these a week ago and i couldn't be happier!

taylorman22 · #9 03-28-2008, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdimitri

You have to try both..

Personally I'm a big tele fan, all 3 pickup positions are very usable whereas i can only see myself using 2 or 3 of strat's pickup positions

The dude above said that strat's tele neck p/u is worse than strat's, but i personally think tele's neck pickup is the best thing about it. It gives out a really smooth bluesy tone.. For example check out Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah

Plus, the best thing you can buy right now is a Baja telecaster, which comes with custom shop pickups, 4 way pickup switching (regular 3+ humbucker like sound) as well as an S1 Switching for 2 extra strat-like tones.
It also comes with a very nice soft V shaped neck, I got mine for $700 shipped!

I got one of these a week ago and i couldn't be happier!

How does the sound compare to an American Deluxe Tele? Also, how do the custom shop pickups compare to the SCN's?

jdimitri · #10 03-28-2008, 11:41 PM

I personally don't like how noiseless single coils sound, i would've picked the am standard over deluxe

My baja is one of the best playing guitars i've ever played, the neck pickup is standard-tele sounding but does well with distortion and the bridge pickup isn't as ice-picky as normal tele's

taylorman22 · #11 03-28-2008, 11:47 PM

A friend of mine has a Koren made Tele that has the Alnico II Pro pickups. I don't much about them, but after reading about them tonight, it sounds like they basically give a Tele a beefier sound.

Crowder · #12 03-29-2008, 04:23 PM

Tele's are great and having one of each is perfect. OTOH if you can only afford one, get a Strat. More versatile and easier to play (bending strings on a non-trem guitar is harder). The body is much more comfortable to sit and play for hours---the hard edge of the Tele body under your picking forearm gets old quickly.

franchelB · #13 03-29-2008, 05:39 PM

I THINK that the American Deluxe does have the contoured back.

I have both Tele and a Strat. My Strat is a 2 pickup Stratocaster. I chose it because the middle pickup on a 3 pickup Strat gets "in the way" of my playing. IMHO, neither one is better than the other...it's just a matter of which guitar one prefers....

Dancing Bear · #14 03-29-2008, 11:04 PM

Strat Lonestar limited that is out right now is very nice and versatile. It is HSS. Teles are fine just not my choice between the two. You might want to look at a PRS when you are at guitar center also. They are excellent quality and very versatile. The new Mirra is a tone beast and priced about the same a a new American deluxe.
I would find my amp of choice then play the guitars you are interested in through it. I would also look at the import versions of all these guitars if price is at issue. One thing to remember just like acoustics tone will vary from guitar to guitar. I would also consider a Les Paul; Epi or Gibson, just check the quality close.
Don't rush yourself make sure you are getting what you want the 1st time
Good Luck

Doubleneck · #15 03-30-2008, 12:06 PM

Our praise band has gone electric and I an using a old 70's les paul custom. I think it is just a more pleasing sound. There is a reason Fender put a gibson humbucker pickup in the bridge position. I believe Clapton has special pickups in his Fender to give him more of a bite. I could never understand Fender over a les paul but I guess that is a timeless debate.
Steve