Very nicely done! After considering myself a “Strat guy” since about the mid-eighties, it wasn’t until about five or six years ago that I discovered that the middle pickup by itself is actually a useable sound! I had been a 2 and 4 position player quite heavily. We live. We learn! Great sounds and advice in this vid! And seriously MONSTER playing! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much, I really appreciate it! Middle pickup is a surprisingly great sound, it took me a long time to get used to it! Thanks for sharing your insight 😀
your choice to keep the drive under control so the Strat characteristic could shine through was a good one! That's something I'm going to be thinking about from now on -- thanks!
Fantastic sound and language on a Strat. For me the most dangerous guitar in history in terms of personality. It’s difficult to get away from the the classic sounds, Hendrix, Gilmour, Knopfler, SRV just to name a few… Love your sound
It’s always refreshing to hear an accomplished player get the most out of a strat, and utilize all 5 pickup selector settings. I’ve gotten so tired of hearing strat players trying to sound only like SRV or John Mayer. (That big, swaggering Texas blues Stratocaster tone is, by now, such a cliche and is totally played out; I swear - probably 50% of strat players would never even notice if their pickup selector became permanently stuck on positions #1 & #2.). The strat is WAY more versatile than that!
I listened to your “Winter Song” this morning on my bike ride. It was the first tune on Spotify’s Jazz Mix. I liked it very much! Just thought I’d let you know; and your picture is on the Jazz Mix.
Fantastic playing and tones! Definitely love hearing this guitar on the channel! My favorites were definitely the neck and also the neck and middle positions! Both cleans and with overdrive sounded amazing!
Really tasty playing. I totally agree with your EQ suggestion to tame the treble spike and thicken up the midrange, though I go about it a little differently, by substantially cutting the bass on the amp, but not the treble. I usually use the tone knobs for that. One additional factor that might play into the dynamics might be the springs attached to the Tremolo bridge. I think that contributes to the openness of the sound; you can hear tonal differences if you play a hardtail version. A little less airy, but a little more sustain.
@@beneunson that would be great to see a similar video with a guitar with 2 P90s. Just finished a Squier project with a Fender Noventa design. I love those pups.
I really enjoyed your classic Strat tones here - do you have any video where you talk about pickup heights and balancing them to get those great 2 and 4 sounds? Sounds amazing
All great sounds, hard to pick one. It took me about 15 years of Strat playing to figure out on my own this very important tip about strats, which is to remove high end. For a long time I had this really thin, piercing sound. It's essential to tame that high end and push the mids a bit.
I use such a different setup I think it's worth mentioning. Back in the day a lot of people were using the DiMarzio FS-1 pickups (Gilmour, Knopfler etc.) Every time I would comment on someone's strat sound they would say "Oh, that's the pickups, they're DiMarzios." Even Joey Ramone used a FS-1 in the lead position of his Mosrite surf guitar(sacrilege.) And very often they used a trick Gilmour is famous for which is to have the middle pickup on it's own volume knob to bring it in wherever you want (or a switch to just turn it on) With the blend knob and just a three way switch you can get every combination of sounds and any balance of that middle pickup with the others. I also have this on a Nashville Telecaster so you have that Tele bridge but the middle strat FS-1 can be blended in as well. Strat's go out of tune faster than Tele's but unless you're good with a Bigsby (not cheap) or some stomp box tuning bender you won't have the whammy bar on the Tele. All this being said and I prefer my Rickenbacker to any other guitar. They are from outer space. With an Vox AC30 (or simulator) of course. They also have stock 3 pickup models. I pick a guitar sound based on the needs of the song. Nothing more. In the case of The Smiths the Strat and Tele sound good. The Rickenbacker sounds spectacular, but all will get the job done.
Thanks so much for sharing this! I love Rickenbackers as well, they are beautiful guitars. Very interesting to know about the DiMarzio FS-1 pickups too. Thanks for watching! 🎸
@@beneunson No problem. The FS-1 is a 70's designed pickup with more mids and gain than a typical stock strat pickup. No idea how they would sound next to a modern Seymour Duncan. For example if I was going for a Hendrix type sound I would not use the FS-1's. That being said I use an active EQ and I can pull some tricks with that.
strat neck and mid pickup is very difficult to get from humbuckers specially in clean tone.. so its imperative for anyone to own strats.. its the only reason i have a strat. otherwise i always preferred humbuckers..
What are your amp settings for clean tones in this vid!? They sound absolutely amazing. Your previous review on this amp has convinced me to purchase it!
I love the Stratocaster. I love the beautiful sound of the Stratocaster. The Stratocaster is for me the Perfect Guitar Ben Eunson. I'm a fan of the Stratocaster and a fan of its sound, even more so of the beautiful Stratocaster sound you get. Thank you very much for this video. I just like hearing a Stratocaster sound with a little more gain. Perhaps a more classic distortion like the Sonic Distortion SD-9 or the RAT II by Pro Co. Sounds more based on Scott Henderson or Michael Landau. Thanks again for this beautiful video.
The old strats only had three select positions and five tremelo springs, my humble view is that the two extra positions were not needed and putting on three springs was a step backwards, id like to hear your comments on string thickness, e g a new guitat comes from the shop with thin strings, whatever i do, plugging into a vox with reverb and a digital delay i simply cannot obtain that belting, full kurt frohberg sound, old hank once said tje old strats had ,.cables,, on them, the secret it seems make sure your ,,g ,,string is wound.
Great tones and wonderful playing! 1. Your strat is totally gorgeous. What is it? I've just bought a fender MIM 50s roadworn in same color as yours. Love that look. 2. Have you removed the volume knob purpously? To avoid adjusting it unintentionally? First video I've watched of yours, subscribing and looking forward to diving in to your archive.
Thank you so much for watching and subscribing! I really appreciate it. This strat is a 57 reissue from 1982 and saw a few owners before me. Volume knob just needed to be replaced here, I've since replaced it. Thanks again!
All the channels focus on the Strat. settings! I've yet to see one where they show what the AMP is set at, for the different sounds on those settings!!
Thanks for this video. Beautiful sounds. One question, are we hearing a stereo sound or a mono? And what about the effects you're using? Reverb? Delay? Chorus? Many thanks? Naturally, if we connect a Strato directly to an amp the sound we get is much different from this one. Thanks
I’m a Gibson guy with a Telecaster. I need a strat it the volume nob always gets in the way of my right hand on a strat. I don’t like picking up that high towards the neck. I feel like the strings are more floppy there and more stiff by the bridge. Maybe I just need to play one more.
Strat can be a little different to get used to coming from a Gibson, both are great choices, but the Strat has some sounds that are fantastic to have at your disposal. Thanks for watching!
This time it´s the middle pickup for clean solo. The between sounds are too Knopfler-like, not my fav. The drivesounds between neck and middle are so scratching, also middle, nearly hurting. Middle and bridge is biting nicely, and the bridge only is mostly singin´.
I have a Strat and am just starting with overdrive. Using delay, I can get beautiful clean tones out of my Blackstar 15W amp. I'd like to get a nice smooth singing overdrive tone, as you do. Since I want to keep the volume down, I bought a Boss Blues Driver, hoping this would work. It gives distortion similar to what is already built into my amp. This sounds harsh and ugly to me, a heavy metal sound that I hate. Can you recommend a magic pedal that works with a small amp like mine that gives a smooth, singing tone at low volume? Is this possible? Or do I need a big amp like in your video with a fair amount of volume? (I will add some delay too.) Thanks
Great question! I actually have my amp head on very low volume (volume knob between 3 and 4). At this volume, it starts to break a up a little and I'm also running the Tech 21 Oxford pedal, a pre-amp pedal with a smooth overdrive - you can hear this pedal on the "Overdrive" examples. I hope that's helpful! 😀
Thanks.This helps a lot. I'll try to get the Tech 31 Oxford pedal. It might be hard in the USA. You didn't mention the model of the pre-amp, but I'll choose what seems like a good one, unless you feel like telling me that too!.@@beneunson
@@orion777ben No worries! The amp head is the Laney LA-Studio (I talk about it more here: ruclips.net/video/52sL9Z6z-Xs/видео.html) and the Tech 21 Oxford was made by Tech 21 in NYC, but I suspect they no longer make this pedal...it shows up on Reverb.com every now and again. They have some similar preamp-type pedals in their "SansAmp" range which might work as well.
Sounds more like a banjo than an electric guitar. Chicken pickin sounds or ice pick sounds.. I really hate that bridge pick up setting. However, each to his own. It's a great platform for pedals. Also, might be better to play it through a Fender amp, like the little twin reverbs, always tube amps......better decay on the notes.
You didn't adjust your volume or tone knobs once and your saying all of the big terms like dynamic ect. ect. Not saying anything about how to integrate even more "range"from use of differing settings w/ volume and tone knobs not to mention no talk of pickup height was really upsetting. Put a f'n volume knob back on.
Get ALL 11 Masterclasses in THE BGC BUNDLE: www.bensguitarclub.com/p/the-bgc-bundle
Tip Jar: paypal.me/bensguitarclub
All of those clean tones are absolute magic, perfect clarity while still not at all sounding thin. Great video!
Thanks so much, Jack!
100% Chilled after this. Musical therapy courtesy of some beautiful tones and playing. THANK YOU! (and subbed)
Thanks so much for joining me!
Very nicely done! After considering myself a “Strat guy” since about the mid-eighties, it wasn’t until about five or six years ago that I discovered that the middle pickup by itself is actually a useable sound! I had been a 2 and 4 position player quite heavily. We live. We learn!
Great sounds and advice in this vid! And seriously MONSTER playing!
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks so much, I really appreciate it! Middle pickup is a surprisingly great sound, it took me a long time to get used to it! Thanks for sharing your insight 😀
Very nice playing and tones! Each note has that certain juicy attack
I really appreciate it! Can't go wrong with a classic strat for juicy attack/tones 😀
Lovely. Just lovely. Thanks for sending me here!
That middle pickup with a little bit of drive is fantastic! Enough for lead tones, but doesn't lose any clearity
I agree! Thanks for watching!
your choice to keep the drive under control so the Strat characteristic could shine through was a good one! That's something I'm going to be thinking about from now on -- thanks!
Thanks so much for checking it out!
Fantastic sound and language on a Strat. For me the most dangerous guitar in history in terms of personality. It’s difficult to get away from the the classic sounds, Hendrix, Gilmour, Knopfler, SRV just to name a few…
Love your sound
Thanks so much for listening, I really appreciate it! And yes, so many legends have played this guitar!
Strat talk. Forever burning topic. Thanks. Beautiful maple tones. Middle with OD is surprisingly interesting.
Thanks again, Michael. You're right - this is a forever burning topic!
It’s always refreshing to hear an accomplished player get the most out of a strat, and utilize all 5 pickup selector settings. I’ve gotten so tired of hearing strat players trying to sound only like SRV or John Mayer. (That big, swaggering Texas blues Stratocaster tone is, by now, such a cliche and is totally played out; I swear - probably 50% of strat players would never even notice if their pickup selector became permanently stuck on positions #1 & #2.). The strat is WAY more versatile than that!
I agree, it is way more versatile! Thanks for watching!
All of them, that's why I have three Strats...(and a Tele or two) Nice harmonies there!
Thanks for watching!
I listened to your “Winter Song” this morning on my bike ride. It was the first tune on Spotify’s Jazz Mix. I liked it very much! Just thought I’d let you know; and your picture is on the Jazz Mix.
That's fantastic! Thanks so much for letting me know, and thank you for listening! 😀
Wow what a tone!
Great playing!
Thanks so much for listening!
For me, the middle pickup with a Klon type pedal gives me a great tone. Your playing is fantastic!
Thank you so much!
Your playing is so good to be true... I wish I could learn fr you 1 day..
Thanks so much for your kind words, and thanks for watching!
Fantastic playing and tones! Definitely love hearing this guitar on the channel! My favorites were definitely the neck and also the neck and middle positions! Both cleans and with overdrive sounded amazing!
Thanks so much for checking it out! Those are favorites of mine as well 😀
Really tasty playing. I totally agree with your EQ suggestion to tame the treble spike and thicken up the midrange, though I go about it a little differently, by substantially cutting the bass on the amp, but not the treble. I usually use the tone knobs for that.
One additional factor that might play into the dynamics might be the springs attached to the Tremolo bridge. I think that contributes to the openness of the sound; you can hear tonal differences if you play a hardtail version. A little less airy, but a little more sustain.
Great suggestions! Thank you so much for sharing!
It's a very diverse guitar. I feel like it's actually one of the best for prog.
I have a Strat and a Super Strat, just for good measure.
Great to have two choices of Strat!
I recently grabbed a Tech 21 Oxford and have to say, it's probably my best overdrive pedal - so gritty and sparkly...!
That's fantastic, Matthias! So glad you picked one up!
beautiful m8, this is great. Love the neck + middle
My favorite! 😀
Amp settings colour the first tones so as I don't have the same amp zand we don't know what the settings are I found this frustrating.
I could play and listen position 2 and 4 day and night, very addictive.
I agree! My favorite sounds from the Strat!
@@beneunson that would be great to see a similar video with a guitar with 2 P90s. Just finished a Squier project with a Fender Noventa design. I love those pups.
Strat is the only guitar I find tones I absolutely hate but then can love with a few turned nobs .
Yes I know what you mean 😂
Beautiful playing, and beautiful guitar. I hope to hear you playing it more again. I probably prefer the Neck & Middle both with clean and overdrive.
Great choices! Thanks for watching
I really enjoyed your classic Strat tones here - do you have any video where you talk about pickup heights and balancing them to get those great 2 and 4 sounds?
Sounds amazing
Thanks for watching! I don't have a video discussing pickup height, but that is a great idea! Maybe I'll discuss that in a future video 😀
All great sounds, hard to pick one. It took me about 15 years of Strat playing to figure out on my own this very important tip about strats, which is to remove high end. For a long time I had this really thin, piercing sound. It's essential to tame that high end and push the mids a bit.
I think you can get to some really beautiful sounds when you tame the high end and boost the mids! 😀 Thanks so much for watching
I use such a different setup I think it's worth mentioning. Back in the day a lot of people were using the DiMarzio FS-1 pickups (Gilmour, Knopfler etc.) Every time I would comment on someone's strat sound they would say "Oh, that's the pickups, they're DiMarzios." Even Joey Ramone used a FS-1 in the lead position of his Mosrite surf guitar(sacrilege.) And very often they used a trick Gilmour is famous for which is to have the middle pickup on it's own volume knob to bring it in wherever you want (or a switch to just turn it on) With the blend knob and just a three way switch you can get every combination of sounds and any balance of that middle pickup with the others. I also have this on a Nashville Telecaster so you have that Tele bridge but the middle strat FS-1 can be blended in as well. Strat's go out of tune faster than Tele's but unless you're good with a Bigsby (not cheap) or some stomp box tuning bender you won't have the whammy bar on the Tele. All this being said and I prefer my Rickenbacker to any other guitar. They are from outer space. With an Vox AC30 (or simulator) of course. They also have stock 3 pickup models. I pick a guitar sound based on the needs of the song. Nothing more. In the case of The Smiths the Strat and Tele sound good. The Rickenbacker sounds spectacular, but all will get the job done.
Thanks so much for sharing this! I love Rickenbackers as well, they are beautiful guitars. Very interesting to know about the DiMarzio FS-1 pickups too. Thanks for watching! 🎸
@@beneunson No problem. The FS-1 is a 70's designed pickup with more mids and gain than a typical stock strat pickup. No idea how they would sound next to a modern Seymour Duncan. For example if I was going for a Hendrix type sound I would not use the FS-1's. That being said I use an active EQ and I can pull some tricks with that.
Curious…are you missing a volume knob? How are you doing the volume swells? Great playing and tone!!
Yes, volume knob is not on here - any volume swells are coming from my volume pedal. Thanks so much for watching!
strat neck and mid pickup is very difficult to get from humbuckers specially in clean tone.. so its imperative for anyone to own strats.. its the only reason i have a strat. otherwise i always preferred humbuckers..
Great point! Thanks for watching!
What are your amp settings for clean tones in this vid!? They sound absolutely amazing. Your previous review on this amp has convinced me to purchase it!
2:01 Absolute liquid... this is my favorite!
So glad you like it, Andreas!
Are you using a pedal for the shimmering sound, or is that a keyboard sound that you play on top of?
I love the Stratocaster. I love the beautiful sound of the Stratocaster. The Stratocaster is for me the Perfect Guitar Ben Eunson. I'm a fan of the Stratocaster and a fan of its sound, even more so of the beautiful Stratocaster sound you get. Thank you very much for this video. I just like hearing a Stratocaster sound with a little more gain. Perhaps a more classic distortion like the Sonic Distortion SD-9 or the RAT II by Pro Co. Sounds more based on Scott Henderson or Michael Landau. Thanks again for this beautiful video.
I think you like the strats
thanks so much for watching! I really appreciate it! 😀
The first thing I do when I try a strat is to go straight to the neck pickup. It's such a satisfying sound.
I agree Mats, you can't go wrong with the Neck Pickup.
The old strats only had three select positions and five tremelo springs, my humble view is that the two extra positions were not needed and putting on three springs was a step backwards, id like to hear your comments on string thickness, e g a new guitat comes from the shop with thin strings, whatever i do, plugging into a vox with reverb and a digital delay i simply cannot obtain that belting, full kurt frohberg sound, old hank once said tje old strats had ,.cables,, on them, the secret it seems make sure your ,,g ,,string is wound.
Thanks so much for sharing!
I was waiting when you explain about tone knobs and how are you using them
Tone and volume knobs are all open, set to 10. All EQ-ing is done on my amp.
Great tones and wonderful playing!
1. Your strat is totally gorgeous. What is it? I've just bought a fender MIM 50s roadworn in same color as yours. Love that look.
2. Have you removed the volume knob purpously? To avoid adjusting it unintentionally?
First video I've watched of yours, subscribing and looking forward to diving in to your archive.
Thank you so much for watching and subscribing! I really appreciate it. This strat is a 57 reissue from 1982 and saw a few owners before me. Volume knob just needed to be replaced here, I've since replaced it. Thanks again!
All the channels focus on the Strat. settings! I've yet to see one where they show what the AMP is set at, for the different sounds on those settings!!
Thanks for watching! Perhaps there are some more amp-focused videos that might help? Hope you enjoyed this discussion 😀
Thanks!
Thanks for watching!
Thanks for this video. Beautiful sounds. One question, are we hearing a stereo sound or a mono? And what about the effects you're using? Reverb? Delay? Chorus? Many thanks? Naturally, if we connect a Strato directly to an amp the sound we get is much different from this one. Thanks
Thanks so much! Mono guitar signal with stereo delay 😀
What gauge are your strings ?
9-46 in this instance
I’m a Gibson guy with a Telecaster. I need a strat it the volume nob always gets in the way of my right hand on a strat. I don’t like picking up that high towards the neck. I feel like the strings are more floppy there and more stiff by the bridge. Maybe I just need to play one more.
Strat can be a little different to get used to coming from a Gibson, both are great choices, but the Strat has some sounds that are fantastic to have at your disposal. Thanks for watching!
Hi! What strings gauge use on stratocaster? Thanks
9-42 here! thanks for watching!
Such beautiful playing and tone. Would you mind sharing what backing track you're playing along to?
Thanks so much for watching! The backing track is just a track I created for the video 😀
Must admit when I overdrive a strat i prefer to dial out those spikey highs and get it singing. The strat is capable of anything of course!
Absolutely, I know what you mean!
Dear Ben, how do you generate your Background Sounds for your Improvisation?
Thank you so much - I play it on keyboards
Beaultifull!!!! Bravo!!!!!
Thanks so much!
Amzing bro....
Thanks Ricky!
What effect pedal are you using for the background pad sound ? (not delay)
It's a synth string pad I programmed 😀
This time it´s the middle pickup for clean solo. The between sounds are too Knopfler-like, not my fav. The drivesounds between neck and middle are so scratching, also middle, nearly hurting. Middle and bridge is biting nicely, and the bridge only is mostly singin´.
Thanks so much for checking it out!
what fender is that??mexican or US?
US Strat from 1982
I have a Strat and am just starting with overdrive. Using delay, I can get beautiful clean tones out of my Blackstar 15W amp. I'd like to get a nice smooth singing overdrive tone, as you do. Since I want to keep the volume down, I bought a Boss Blues Driver, hoping this would work. It gives distortion similar to what is already built into my amp. This sounds harsh and ugly to me, a heavy metal sound that I hate. Can you recommend a magic pedal that works with a small amp like mine that gives a smooth, singing tone at low volume? Is this possible? Or do I need a big amp like in your video with a fair amount of volume? (I will add some delay too.) Thanks
Great question! I actually have my amp head on very low volume (volume knob between 3 and 4). At this volume, it starts to break a up a little and I'm also running the Tech 21 Oxford pedal, a pre-amp pedal with a smooth overdrive - you can hear this pedal on the "Overdrive" examples. I hope that's helpful! 😀
Thanks.This helps a lot. I'll try to get the Tech 31 Oxford pedal. It might be hard in the USA. You didn't mention the model of the pre-amp, but I'll choose what seems like a good one, unless you feel like telling me that too!.@@beneunson
@@orion777ben No worries! The amp head is the Laney LA-Studio (I talk about it more here: ruclips.net/video/52sL9Z6z-Xs/видео.html) and the Tech 21 Oxford was made by Tech 21 in NYC, but I suspect they no longer make this pedal...it shows up on Reverb.com every now and again. They have some similar preamp-type pedals in their "SansAmp" range which might work as well.
Thanks Ben. You've been more than helpful!@@beneunson
I thought your Strat was out of service for a bit... is it fully back in use?
Still a bit out of service... but I really felt like playing it again!
Still a bit of Strat spank, nice. I wish it would cut through like a Tele in a combo situation.
Sounds like the Alnico II pro pickups?
Seymour Duncan Antiquity II Pickups 🎸
Your guitar is well tuned
Thanks for listening!
How do you get the background sound?
It's a synth sound I programmed
What effects are you using ?
Just a bit of drive coming from my Tech 21 Oxford pedal, plus some delay and reverb
The real truth is in the pickups. There are all sorts of pickups available and each set has its own tone and voicing.
Great point!
How low have you set your action? Sound really low....
Yes, fairly low. Thanks for watching!
Great instrument. Is it a custom shop?
Thanks so much! It's a '57 reissue from 1982
@@beneunson love the '57 contours. Will be looking for one. Cheers!
🔥🔥🔥🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷
Thanks for listening!
Sounds more like a banjo than an electric guitar. Chicken pickin sounds or ice pick sounds.. I really hate that bridge pick up setting. However, each to his own. It's a great platform for pedals. Also, might be better to play it through a Fender amp, like the little twin reverbs, always tube amps......better decay on the notes.
❤
Please put the volume knob back on, how can you adjust on the fly and it looks annoying.
It looks like he is doing just fine without it - he has monster chops and is still getting really classic tones that would cut through an actual mix.
10:46 stretch out of nowhere.
Haha yes indeed 😎
I have more respect for a professional who can use his tool/ instrument in a diverse manner vs buying a ton of guitars. Thanks.
Thanks for watching!
S.R.V
No VOLUME control....? Obviously you have a volume pedal .
Volume control works just fine, knob was not on at this time. And yes, you're right - I'm using a volume pedal here.
Love Strats, but way too noisy…
They can definitely be noisy! But that's part of the fun, isn't it? 😂
Guitars only 10 years old? Man you need to look after it better.
This guitar is from 1982
You didn't adjust your volume or tone knobs once and your saying all of the big terms like dynamic ect. ect. Not saying anything about how to integrate even more "range"from use of differing settings w/ volume and tone knobs not to mention no talk of pickup height was really upsetting. Put a f'n volume knob back on.
Go clean your room, Junior...