First thing to do on any Strat that isn't wired that way from the factory: move the bottom tone control from the middle pickup to the bridge pickup. Even at 10, you'll get just enough capacitance to get the most extreme presence out. I like the glassy tone of the middle pickup by itself with gain, especially with no tone control wired to it. My Suhr Classic S's only have one volume and one tone, with the tone wired to the bridge and neck pickups. Having two knobs also lets you relocate them slightly so the volume knob isn't in your way.
The 2024 Player Strat can do everything a Strat has to do with the characteristic sound: Glassy neck and middle cleans, overdriven neck bluesy soloing, brighter middle+bridge and it has the humbucker to remedy the overly bright/piercing bridge single coil of the original and do some hard rock. The winner! Next, I liked the Buddy Guy one, a little more "vintagey" sounding but punchy Strat sounds. The '70s one I thought it was less "stratty", it was darker but not in a way that a twin humbucker guitar would be or a superstrat. It's something different than all of them.
I avoided strat's my entire life, for 80's/90's super strat's, then I got hooked on you playing your 70's so I revisited them and found my green 2022 thin neck Strat, and everytime I'm in a clean yngwie classical mode I get my Strat out.🙏🤘🎸
Started with a Strat more years ago than I care to count, then fell in love with humbuckers. Even so, when I pick up my old Strat again, I feel like I've come home and there's family and friends to welcome me.
I've never liked Strats. When I pick one up, I immediately end up on the neck pickup with a little overdrive, play the typical iconic Strat riffs, and put it down. They sound so weak to me. In my opinion, a Telecaster neck pickup with the volume and tone rolled down a little is superior to the Strat neck pickup. Strats are very comfy to play though.
I like my Tom Anderson Classic; The natural finish on the neck feels great, the contoured neck joint feels great, and the stainless steel frets are a little slick under the fingers, and there's an adjustment to be made coming from nickel frets when bending (different feel/pressure needed), but the durability is a plus - and it never goes out of tune. Love it.
My first Strat and STILL my all-time favorite was a black Harmony HT80. That was 1986. By 1988 or 89 I had a Teal Strat Plus and a black HM Series Strat. Of the Three, the Harmony got the most stage time. After that a slew of Squier Strats which I REALLY loved all of them I have finally got a trio of new Strats, the Squier Debut Strats, to use live. I really had no idea how much fun THOSE guitars would be overall. As for YOUR trio the 70's Strat would be my pick.
I was a very late adopter to Strats despite wanting one for ages, but just never got around to it. It only took me 40 years after I started playing to get one. Thing is they are now what I play the most. I have two, a Rory and a Ritchie. The Rory sounds and plays phenomenally well, it's that Strat sound I've always had in my head. For mine, Rory's original Strat is the quintessential Strat, was glad to pick one up on a good deal. The Ritchie I got because I wanted a Strat which had something different and I'm a huge Blackmore/Purple/Rainbow fan. The scalloped fretboard was the thing I wasn't sure I would gel with, but I love the feel of it, string bends are ridiculously easy. It comes with the SD Quarter Pounders which are great for the harder rock sounds but it still retains the Strat qualities. The only thing it misses out on is the 2 & 4 in between sounds because it only has 2 pickups.
Good one Leon! You already know I'm a Strat guy, and my collection includes a couple of straightforward Strats, but I also have a couple of the tricked out ones. 1980 "STRAT," 1983 Elite Strat, 2007 VG Strat, and 2016 CG-1 Strat. They cover a lot of ground. I'm with you on the "vibe."
I was just listening to my phone while I was working. I had to pick it up to see what guitar you had when you were going through each one. While I noticed subtle differences between each one I heard them as basically the same in terms of a sonic profile. For you holding the guitar gives you a different feel and you might notice a bigger difference being in the room with them, so it just goes to show how much the choice of the guitar matters in the hands of the player over the ears of the listener At least that’s my perspective, they all look cool and sound great and even have their own little story each which gives them some character too.
The real value of Strats to me is what can be done to them: electronics replacement as a subassembly and neck swaps with scale-length conversion. I doubt that I would have developed my fondness for Strats prior to the early '80s (e.g. Warmoth, Schecter, and Mighty Mite parts).
You're making me miss my old Strat Plus Deluxe with Lace Sensors and weird Floyd Rose trem. Sold it to get the Hellraiser, which I sold to go back to a Strat style guitar. The circle of life. lol Here...overall...the 70's wins for me!
Had a Fender American Elite in 2018, played it a lot. Never was able to vibe with it. Sold it and bought a Music Man Cutlass instead. Love that guitar... But somehow people (yourself included) always make the strat sound awesome.
The 70s strat sounds the best overall. FANTASTIC TONE!!! But I prefer the bridge on the Lindy Fralin strat, that bridge absolutely SCREAMS!!! The Lindy Fralin strat sounds the most vintage and the Player 2 strat also sounds good, but it seems to have the lowest sounding output pickups. I’m still gonna buy one and if I need to, I’ll change to pickups if I need to.
Strats can be difficult to work with, but helvetigte, they are so rewarding to play if you can get it right. You have got it right! I have a ton of them, taming that beast is so rewarding. It's like playing though a Plexi, they will expose you for all the world to hear.
I enjoyed that, thought they all sounded good. I have one Strat, a USA Highway One from the early 2000s I think, it's not bad, not the greatest, not the worst. I also have an Iconic Solana which is an HSS Strat type. Now that is an incredible instrument.
The gained up solo at the end sounds a bit like EMG 80's tone (sorry it may be blasphemy). The difference is that passive pickups can do more authentic sounding low gain and crunch tones as well.
Didn't care for the new one much. The sunburst was vintage and the yellow colored one with the rosewood fretboard is the clear winner. Most versatile of the 3.
after being an LP boi and a Tele boi for life, i finally got my first ever strat style guitar. A levinson sceptre ventana (strat copy). I have been playing it exclusively since i got it. Its great. However, my main gripe with strats remains is that the middle pickup gets in the way of where I pick (even if just a mental thing), so I just lower it flush to pickguard and then lower the neck and bridge quite a bit too. Sounds and plays great. I think Eric Johnson lowers his middle pickup for same reason, but not flush.
@@LeonTodd its typical internet forum keyboard warrios stuff re EJ, but looked at some live footage etc he does pick at middle pickup and it is a bit lower than bridge and neck.
Just nabbed an NJ strat. Now I understand the true power of the SSS. (Those 80’s clean tones) That, and there are only so many HH guitars a man can own. 😂
Do you still have your Momose? Always thought it sounded excellent! Fantastic strat type, love the Deviser group. My favourite strats are my PGM Van Zandts, excellent guitars
I recently had a strat built for me by pjd guitars it’s fantastic best strat I’ve played after owning a couple of American pro 2 strats I’ve got a strat that suits me and i couldn’t be happier
Yep, I own a 2006 usa strat, with after market floyd installed. Great guitar , but it has limits. Not like a flat neck jackson.... so it is a different beast. Some what unforgiving to shred on at times. 😎
Love Strats. I often run 2 but recently picked up a 93 American Standard in Caribbean Mist and needed to part with my Fat Strats for budget and space. I also like to switch up my lineup often, catch and release 😂. I have a Charvel Pro Mod DK24 in layaway for the Super Strat itch and I'll probably pick up something else stratty in the near future, but a Prs CE24 might be first ❤
@@LeonTodd that's what I thought when I first played one. I have a SE Custom 24, but I need some extra cash for the time being and the neck makes all the difference. The bolt on, almost fender style neck of the CE24 really makes it for me. So I'm thinking in a little while I'll either get a SE CE24 and put Duncans in it, or hold off and look for a used American CE24.
Put a super vee bladerunner trem in your favorite one, deck it, and thank me later! So good 😆 makes a huge tonal difference. Sperzel tuners too! I have a Lil '59 in my bridge. I think it's a player series too. It's a rock and roll machine. Makes other guitars sound anemic. Every note is beefy.
My first electric was a squier strat. It was really bad and literally rotten. I never liked strats, neither the sound of them, nor the looks. But recently i started wanting a strat, but only one like the lead guitar player of Ghost has, which is just a hotrodded strat that doesn't sound like a strat anymore. I hate myself for wanting it, but i got the itch, so i will probably try to build one out of the Player II
The strat middle pickup doesnt get the attention it deserves. Yeah it gives positions 2 and 4 the "legendary tone" strats are known for but on its own it can really do a ton. Just try a riff you played on the bridge with the middle and see if the 'icepick' tone goes away without adding so much of the boomy/tubey sound the neck gives you. You'll be surprised
Ok Leon now 'strats' all well n' good... but the godawful maple fretboards on many strats, at least to this wizened curmudgeonly guitarcheologist of 4 decades are downright unplayable. Stratocasters MUST have a rosewood fretboard anything but maple... anyone else similarly OCD'd? Cheers Leon and keep kicking arse mate u rock.🤘
Can not agree more, but for me it is not the maple as much as that thick finish they put on the frets as well. It does not seem to slow Leon, though!!!
Yeah, Strats are cool
Yeah nah the Strats.
I concur.
But Teles are cooler ;)
First thing to do on any Strat that isn't wired that way from the factory: move the bottom tone control from the middle pickup to the bridge pickup. Even at 10, you'll get just enough capacitance to get the most extreme presence out.
I like the glassy tone of the middle pickup by itself with gain, especially with no tone control wired to it. My Suhr Classic S's only have one volume and one tone, with the tone wired to the bridge and neck pickups. Having two knobs also lets you relocate them slightly so the volume knob isn't in your way.
Need that tone control on the bridge!
Try a single volume, single no-load tone control with blender pot on the neck and bridge sometime. Not on your Suhr of course but it's great.
The 2024 Player Strat can do everything a Strat has to do with the characteristic sound: Glassy neck and middle cleans, overdriven neck bluesy soloing, brighter middle+bridge and it has the humbucker to remedy the overly bright/piercing bridge single coil of the original and do some hard rock. The winner! Next, I liked the Buddy Guy one, a little more "vintagey" sounding but punchy Strat sounds. The '70s one I thought it was less "stratty", it was darker but not in a way that a twin humbucker guitar would be or a superstrat. It's something different than all of them.
They nailed it with the player series hey. Great tones, great specs, great price.
Forever a prog/techmetal guy, but I'll never deny classic strat tones
77 strat clearly stand upon the other strats. But I have to admit that all sounds very good!
Dark sounding Strat is never a bad thing
I avoided strat's my entire life, for 80's/90's super strat's, then I got hooked on you playing your 70's so I revisited them and found my green 2022 thin neck Strat, and everytime I'm in a clean yngwie classical mode I get my Strat out.🙏🤘🎸
That's awesome! It looks great too
Started with a Strat more years ago than I care to count, then fell in love with humbuckers. Even so, when I pick up my old Strat again, I feel like I've come home and there's family and friends to welcome me.
I've never liked Strats. When I pick one up, I immediately end up on the neck pickup with a little overdrive, play the typical iconic Strat riffs, and put it down. They sound so weak to me. In my opinion, a Telecaster neck pickup with the volume and tone rolled down a little is superior to the Strat neck pickup. Strats are very comfy to play though.
I like my Tom Anderson Classic; The natural finish on the neck feels great, the contoured neck joint feels great, and the stainless steel frets are a little slick under the fingers, and there's an adjustment to be made coming from nickel frets when bending (different feel/pressure needed), but the durability is a plus - and it never goes out of tune. Love it.
Stainless steel frets for the win!
That big headstock is the best. The only thing that can make it better is if it has the curved script lettering on it.
You're playing is "over my head"! Love it.
Amazing playing, amazing sound.
Strats are my go to when I get in the chair!
And the winner is the...1977! Hell the Mike Landau pickups even compete with the humbucker, come on.
Love my Strats, i have 2, they both feel and sound different and make me play a certain way. Btw, killer tones from you as usual, cheers Leon.
They're glorious machines!
@@LeonTodd its a cliche but Leo got it right so many times..
I feel that the white&black 77's strat is your partner. When I think of you, I think of this guitar 🙂
Definitely a lifelong companion
Love the sound of the 70’s the best, it has a unique depth on the bridge pickup. Fralin’s sound great in the Buddy Guy!
Meaty innit!
Yellow strat is where it's at for me... more range clearer crisper .. it's got the look plus the right on vibe .. nice guitars Leon
The title got me. Strat's my jam :D
My first Strat and STILL my all-time favorite was a black Harmony HT80. That was 1986. By 1988 or 89 I had a Teal Strat Plus and a black HM Series Strat. Of the Three, the Harmony got the most stage time.
After that a slew of Squier Strats which I REALLY loved all of them I have finally got a trio of new Strats, the Squier Debut Strats, to use live.
I really had no idea how much fun THOSE guitars would be overall.
As for YOUR trio the 70's Strat would be my pick.
big headstock and rosewood board for the win !
I was a very late adopter to Strats despite wanting one for ages, but just never got around to it. It only took me 40 years after I started playing to get one. Thing is they are now what I play the most. I have two, a Rory and a Ritchie. The Rory sounds and plays phenomenally well, it's that Strat sound I've always had in my head. For mine, Rory's original Strat is the quintessential Strat, was glad to pick one up on a good deal.
The Ritchie I got because I wanted a Strat which had something different and I'm a huge Blackmore/Purple/Rainbow fan. The scalloped fretboard was the thing I wasn't sure I would gel with, but I love the feel of it, string bends are ridiculously easy. It comes with the SD Quarter Pounders which are great for the harder rock sounds but it still retains the Strat qualities. The only thing it misses out on is the 2 & 4 in between sounds because it only has 2 pickups.
The two R's - immaculate taste!
Good one Leon!
You already know I'm a Strat guy, and my collection includes a couple of straightforward Strats, but I also have a couple of the tricked out ones.
1980 "STRAT," 1983 Elite Strat, 2007 VG Strat, and 2016 CG-1 Strat. They cover a lot of ground.
I'm with you on the "vibe."
VG strat is such a handy weapon!
@@LeonTodd That's true, but the CG-1 together with the Boss GP-10, or the GR-55, will do all the same things and more.
Strats' with a humbucker er' even a mini humbucker, maple finger board, standard style trem', my favorite thing!
Firebird pickup in a strat neck position is a vibe hey
Yep i need a strat in my life
I always come back to Strats or derivatives. Currently rocking a pair of Charvels and snuck in a Tele too. 😂
I was just listening to my phone while I was working. I had to pick it up to see what guitar you had when you were going through each one. While I noticed subtle differences between each one I heard them as basically the same in terms of a sonic profile.
For you holding the guitar gives you a different feel and you might notice a bigger difference being in the room with them, so it just goes to show how much the choice of the guitar matters in the hands of the player over the ears of the listener
At least that’s my perspective, they all look cool and sound great and even have their own little story each which gives them some character too.
This is a great point. The differences are there but they share way more in common
Played my first custom shop lefty Strat last week. Been beaming every since.
😍
Strats!
The real value of Strats to me is what can be done to them: electronics replacement as a subassembly and neck swaps with scale-length conversion. I doubt that I would have developed my fondness for Strats prior to the early '80s (e.g. Warmoth, Schecter, and Mighty Mite parts).
The Strat. My go to since 1988.
Ahh yes hss. My freaking favorite
The ultimate *Strat*egy
The Buddy Guy strat seems most fun to play - lots of crispy stuff and dynamics. And it's more fat than 2024 probably since it has 6screw bridge
Nice job Chuck Kulick 🤘
🤙
You're making me miss my old Strat Plus Deluxe with Lace Sensors and weird Floyd Rose trem. Sold it to get the Hellraiser, which I sold to go back to a Strat style guitar. The circle of life. lol Here...overall...the 70's wins for me!
Had a Fender American Elite in 2018, played it a lot. Never was able to vibe with it. Sold it and bought a Music Man Cutlass instead. Love that guitar... But somehow people (yourself included) always make the strat sound awesome.
Musicman necks in particular are always divine
Strat and a Vox. That’s the ticket
If you ever get a chance, play a strat with a Seymour Duncan Duckbucker in the middle. That's a vibe all to itself.
The are all great but that yellow one just growls 👌
That player though, for a completely stock guitar it really kicks butt
The 70s strat sounds the best overall. FANTASTIC TONE!!! But I prefer the bridge on the Lindy Fralin strat, that bridge absolutely SCREAMS!!! The Lindy Fralin strat sounds the most vintage and the Player 2 strat also sounds good, but it seems to have the lowest sounding output pickups. I’m still gonna buy one and if I need to, I’ll change to pickups if I need to.
Lindy knows his Strats!
I avoided strat / s-style guitars forever. But I recently decided to jump head first in with a HSS Kiesel Delos. Loving it so far
Man... This Buddy Guy was sound amazing before with the Lace Sensors, and now sounds amazing again with this Fralins. Which Fralin's model are these?
Strats can be difficult to work with, but helvetigte, they are so rewarding to play if you can get it right. You have got it right! I have a ton of them, taming that beast is so rewarding. It's like playing though a Plexi, they will expose you for all the world to hear.
I enjoyed that, thought they all sounded good. I have one Strat, a USA Highway One from the early 2000s I think, it's not bad, not the greatest, not the worst. I also have an Iconic Solana which is an HSS Strat type. Now that is an incredible instrument.
I remember when the H1's came out, they made "real Fender's" a lot more accessible at the time
The gained up solo at the end sounds a bit like EMG 80's tone (sorry it may be blasphemy). The difference is that passive pickups can do more authentic sounding low gain and crunch tones as well.
Didn't care for the new one much. The sunburst was vintage and the yellow colored one with the rosewood fretboard is the clear winner. Most versatile of the 3.
I liked the Lace pickups more.😔
Gave it a softer, smoother, more mellow vibe. RIP💔 Lace pickups.
after being an LP boi and a Tele boi for life, i finally got my first ever strat style guitar. A levinson sceptre ventana (strat copy). I have been playing it exclusively since i got it. Its great. However, my main gripe with strats remains is that the middle pickup gets in the way of where I pick (even if just a mental thing), so I just lower it flush to pickguard and then lower the neck and bridge quite a bit too. Sounds and plays great. I think Eric Johnson lowers his middle pickup for same reason, but not flush.
I used to hate that middle pickup position but now it feels pretty normal. Didn't know that about EJ though
@@LeonTodd its typical internet forum keyboard warrios stuff re EJ, but looked at some live footage etc he does pick at middle pickup and it is a bit lower than bridge and neck.
Just nabbed an NJ strat. Now I understand the true power of the SSS. (Those 80’s clean tones) That, and there are only so many HH guitars a man can own. 😂
🤣
Do you still have your Momose? Always thought it sounded excellent! Fantastic strat type, love the Deviser group. My favourite strats are my PGM Van Zandts, excellent guitars
That belonged to a friend, wish I had bought it from them. One of the best 50s style Strats I've ever played
3:27 Did someone say Ty Tabor? 😍
Preferred the Buddy Guy strat, but all of them will do.
5:28 yuum
I recently had a strat built for me by pjd guitars it’s fantastic best strat I’ve played after owning a couple of American pro 2 strats I’ve got a strat that suits me and i couldn’t be happier
Dammm you make those strats dance. I hate the trem on my YJM strat. I’m going to put locking tuners on. Other than that love the Strats.
Yep, I own a 2006 usa strat, with after market floyd installed. Great guitar , but it has limits. Not like a flat neck jackson.... so it is a different beast. Some what unforgiving to shred on at times. 😎
Love Strats. I often run 2 but recently picked up a 93 American Standard in Caribbean Mist and needed to part with my Fat Strats for budget and space. I also like to switch up my lineup often, catch and release 😂. I have a Charvel Pro Mod DK24 in layaway for the Super Strat itch and I'll probably pick up something else stratty in the near future, but a Prs CE24 might be first ❤
CE24 is a strat on steroids!
@@LeonTodd that's what I thought when I first played one. I have a SE Custom 24, but I need some extra cash for the time being and the neck makes all the difference. The bolt on, almost fender style neck of the CE24 really makes it for me. So I'm thinking in a little while I'll either get a SE CE24 and put Duncans in it, or hold off and look for a used American CE24.
Put a super vee bladerunner trem in your favorite one, deck it, and thank me later! So good 😆 makes a huge tonal difference. Sperzel tuners too!
I have a Lil '59 in my bridge. I think it's a player series too. It's a rock and roll machine. Makes other guitars sound anemic. Every note is beefy.
Is that a headlessguitar in the right corner or am i just seeing things ?
More about that soon
Dude,…. The tone you’re getting on the outro is “IT”!!!!
Next time, start with RHAT!!!!
Choice!!!!
Have you checked out a silver sky yet?
Very briefly. Big L series strat vibes from it
Does the 70s strat weigh the most?
Yeah by a long way
@@LeonTodd It definitely sounds the biggest. Everyone wants a light guitar now- but it really depends on the music you play.
My first electric was a squier strat. It was really bad and literally rotten. I never liked strats, neither the sound of them, nor the looks. But recently i started wanting a strat, but only one like the lead guitar player of Ghost has, which is just a hotrodded strat that doesn't sound like a strat anymore. I hate myself for wanting it, but i got the itch, so i will probably try to build one out of the Player II
Player II is a fantastic modding platform
The strat middle pickup doesnt get the attention it deserves. Yeah it gives positions 2 and 4 the "legendary tone" strats are known for but on its own it can really do a ton. Just try a riff you played on the bridge with the middle and see if the 'icepick' tone goes away without adding so much of the boomy/tubey sound the neck gives you. You'll be surprised
Robin Trower approved
What a fantastic video have a wonderful day leon a😅 also I am a fan of the fender stratocaster ❤😊 to be honest
I'm not a Strat guy at all, but damn they're sexy beasts
Cool video. Watched twice.
And the winner is.....
The Fender Stratocaster.
😁
And the winner is 2024 Strat)))
Ok Leon now 'strats' all well n' good... but the godawful maple fretboards on many strats, at least to this wizened curmudgeonly guitarcheologist of 4 decades are downright unplayable. Stratocasters MUST have a rosewood fretboard anything but maple... anyone else similarly OCD'd? Cheers Leon and keep kicking arse mate u rock.🤘
Can not agree more, but for me it is not the maple as much as that thick finish they put on the frets as well. It does not seem to slow Leon, though!!!
I'm a rosewood board man too
Hello L.T
Have you ever broke a sting during band rehearsals / live gig ?
Plenty of times!
I meant string.😅