This Strat vs Tele thing…

[phydaux]

The Tele is a toilet seat with a 2x4 bolted to it, and random hardware screwed in place so you can attach strings.

And that is what makes the Tele WONDERFUL. It is pure function, guitar boiled down to it's most raw & basic elements.

The Strat, with it's belly cut, arm cut, double cutaway, and trem bridge, is a much more refined product. More evolved.

If the Tele is a pickup truck then the Strat is a sports car.

[rmp]

Originally Posted by phydaux

The Tele is a toilet seat with a 2x4 bolted to it, and random hardware screwed in place so you can attach strings.

And that is what makes the Tele WONDERFUL. It is pure function, guitar boiled down to it's most raw & basic elements.

The Strat, with it's belly cut, arm cut, double cutaway, and trem bridge, is a much more refined product. More evolved.

If the Tele is a pickup truck then the Strat is a sports car.

actually, many the newer Fender Telecaster models have the belly bevel and a contoured heel. Quite nice actually.

but, everything you said,, yep.. pretty much.

[stevecuss]

Originally Posted by Ian111

“Leo Fender got it right the first time”. “The Strat is the most versatile guitar”

Well unless you have wooden blocks in your ear I think they are as different as they can be. As different to my ears as a hollow body is to a solid body. Ok maybe thats a stretch but I’m trying to make a point. Between the Les Paul vs SG with same pickups yeah, you don’t really need both.

I’m not for either side. I think both sides are just wrong. You need both a Tele and a Strat (with a tremolo).

I'm confused by the premise. Who is suggesting that Strats and Teles are the same or that having a Strat negates what a Tele offers?

I don't know any electric guitarist worth her or his salt who would say that. Yep, they're different, they each have a lane, there is some crossover, but not much.

I love them both, I can't justify owning both so I have a Strat, but my Strat ownership and enjoyment does not mean I think Teles are the same. Pickups, hard tail vs trem etc....

[Glennwillow]

For myself, I think the Tele and the Strat are quite different. I have both and I'm glad I do.

I also have both a Gibson ES-335 and a Les Paul Standard. To me, those two guitars are different.

- Glenn

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by Steel and wood

Great post.

Yep, the only guitarists playing Teles pretty much were the Country/Rockabilly guys (who I like) but somewhere/somehow they became cool. (Cooler than a Stratocaster some might argue).

I don't know I saw lots of guys playing Teles in the 80s.

Keith Richards, Joe Strummer, Bruce Springsteen, Jeff Buckley, Andy Summers, Chrissie Hynde, Tom Morello, Prince (hohner copy), Pete Townsend (schecter copy), Johnny Green, Tom Cochrane

[TiffanyGuitar]

Originally Posted by rockabilly69

I don't know I saw lots of guys playing Teles in the 80s.

Keith Richards, Joe Strummer, Bruce Springsteen, Jeff Buckley, Andy Summers, Chrissie Hynde, Tom Morello, Prince (hohner copy), Pete Townsend (schecter copy), Johnny Green, Tom Cochrane

This basically supports my prior post - when I was a teenager, the guitarists I hung out with all thought these guys were old farts and weren't cool. Country wasn't cool then either. Andy Summers would be a possible exception - but the way he played a tele - you did not think it was a tele. I have both and I like both - however my tele is a parts guitar. I like it better than my strat, which is an official Fender.

[Ian111]

Originally Posted by stevecuss

I'm confused by the premise. Who is suggesting that Strats and Teles are the same or that having a Strat negates what a Tele offers?

I don't know any electric guitarist worth her or his salt who would say that. Yep, they're different, they each have a lane, there is some crossover, but not much.

I love them both, I can't justify owning both so I have a Strat, but my Strat ownership and enjoyment does not mean I think Teles are the same. Pickups, hard tail vs trem etc....

I post a Tele vs Strat thread and I get lots of traffic and lots of strong opinions. I don’t think people are as open minded as you think on this issue.

[Ian111]

Originally Posted by rockabilly69

I don't know I saw lots of guys playing Teles in the 80s.

Keith Richards, Joe Strummer, Bruce Springsteen, Jeff Buckley, Andy Summers, Chrissie Hynde, Tom Morello, Prince (hohner copy), Pete Townsend (schecter copy), Johnny Green, Tom Cochrane

Compare that list to heavy weight guitar heroes like Beck, Clapton, Hendrix, Gilmour, Blackmore, SRV, Knopfler, Malmsteen, Frusciante who made the Strat their eventual weapon of choice. I can also take Andy Summers and Pete Townsend from that list over to Strats because thats what they play now. Not to mention all the Super Strats that dominated the 80’s. Then you’re left with a list that aren’t really known for their influence on guitar culture compared to the virtuousos on my list.

The only other guitar that can boast equally big guitar heroes is the Les Paul. Just because the Tele is popular now with gigging musicians and bedroom player now won’t change history. I agree the Tele was unfairly snubbed for a long time. But I’m not about to say Beck Clapton and Page were wrong to ditch their Tele’s and that’s all the guitar they needed.

[Kbonger]

I couldn't decide when I got my 75ths, so I got one of each.

[Bob Womack]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

For myself, I think the Tele and the Strat are quite different. I have both and I'm glad I do. I also have both a Gibson ES-335 and a Les Paul Standard. To me, those two guitars are different.
- Glenn

Yup, and the ES and LP and SG are all different as well.

Bob

[SolidSpruceTop]

Originally Posted by Steel and wood

but at the end of the day, they're both Fenders with single coils and some of the differences can be sometimes overstated.

Exactly. It's like the same argument about "tonewoods" in electric guitars. Your pickups are going to be responsible for 99% of the sound

[The Growler]

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Why does it always have to be "this or that?" I need both.

Bob

^^^^ This!

[ataylor]

Originally Posted by Ian111

But why not during the golden years of guitar based popular music from the 50’s all the way up to the 90’s? It was pretty much Strats and Les Pauls all day. With Tele’s, SG’s 335’s and Gretsch a distant 2nd.

One has to wonder how many Les Pauls Jimmy Page’s Telecaster has sold.

[rockabilly69]

Originally Posted by Steel and wood

Great post.

Yep, the only guitarists playing Teles pretty much were the Country/Rockabilly guys (who I like) but somewhere/somehow they became cool. (Cooler than a Stratocaster some might argue).

Originally Posted by Ian111

Compare that list to heavy weight guitar heroes like Beck, Clapton, Hendrix, Gilmour, Blackmore, SRV, Knopfler, Malmsteen, Frusciante who made the Strat their eventual weapon of choice. I can also take Andy Summers and Pete Townsend from that list over to Strats because thats what they play now. Not to mention all the Super Strats that dominated the 80’s. Then you’re left with a list that aren’t really known for their influence on guitar culture compared to the virtuousos on my list.

The only other guitar that can boast equally big guitar heroes is the Les Paul. Just because the Tele is popular now with gigging musicians and bedroom player now won’t change history. I agree the Tele was unfairly snubbed for a long time. But I’m not about to say Beck Clapton and Page were wrong to ditch their Tele’s and that’s all the guitar they needed.

We couldn't disagree more, it doesn't count what they play now they all made great music on their Teles when using them, and that's history that counts.

Some of the most iconic rock and roll guitar solos ever were played on Teles, here's just a few...

Led Zeppelin Tele action all of LZ1 & and half of LZ2, enough said! And oh yeah the solo on Stairway to Heaven

Joe Walsh Funk 49, Tele through a champ, Solo on Hotel California Tele through a Tweed Deluxe

Billy Gibbons Jesus Just Left Chicago TELE

Jeff Beck's Cause We Ended As Lovers and Freeway Jam TELE!!!

Jimi Hendrix solos on Purple Haze and Fire TELE!

David Gilmour recorded Dogs And Sheep on Animals with his Tele (and many other songs!!!)

[TiffanyGuitar]

Originally Posted by rockabilly69

We couldn't disagree more, it doesn't count what they play now they all made great music on their Teles when using them, and that's history that counts.

Some of the most iconic rock and roll guitar solos ever were played on Teles, here's just a few...

Led Zeppelin Tele action all of LZ1 & and half of LZ2, enough said! And oh yeah the solo on Stairway to Heaven

Joe Walsh Funk 49, Tele through a champ, Solo on Hotel California Tele through a Tweed Deluxe

Billy Gibbons Jesus Just Left Chicago TELE

Jeff Beck's Cause We Ended As Lovers and Freeway Jam TELE!!!

Jimi Hendrix solos on Purple Haze and Fire TELE!

David Gilmour recorded Dogs And Sheep on Animals with his Tele (and many other songs!!!)

My, isn't this is a passionate discussion?! Again, for the record, I love teles, and I think they are slightly more versatile than strats, but I am not going to fall on my sword over it.

I think you might be slightly older than me. Although I like most of these tunes you listed, when I was a teenager, my friends and I were not listening to all of these tunes. We listened to Zeppelin but were too un-educated to know that many/most of those tunes were recorded with a tele, we thought he played a Les Paul. Same thing with Hendrix - we thought he only played Strats. We listened to the Eagles, but Joe Walsh has played many different kinds of guitars, so I don't remember paying a lot of attention to what he played. I am a fan, and still somewhat surprised just how many of his songs are recorded with teles and he plays them in concert today (along with everything else) These tunes were not new when I was a teen. We thought teles were ugly and for old people. My main teenage years were during the 80s hair bands, so take that opinion with huge grain of salt. And it certainly was not a deserved opinion of the tele.

Another case in point, I was carrying my parts caster tele in my office recently, and one of retired senior partners saw it, was admiring it, but also said, "a twangy tele. Only country guys play these things. Why do you like it?" He was a guitar player in the 1960s and does some acoustic stuff still today. So, that was his remembered, but IMO not deserved, impression of the tele.

When I re-discovered teles about 10 years ago, I immediately understood the reason why everyone loves them, although I have not found the Fender made version of it that seems to fit me for some reason. I think one of the light weight roasted pine professional IIs might do it. My strat is one of the roasted pine ones.