Okay, y'all, Go!

Strat

Unless you get a Tele with a whammy

Totally different tones but I take a Strat everytime.

Nothing sold more Les Pauls than Jimmy Page's Telecaster

Esquire

The Tele is a genre guitar- twang country. The Strat is everything including twang country, blues, rock, country, jazz.

Philo B 93 said:

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The Tele is a genre guitar- twang country. The Strat is everything including twang country, blues, rock, country, jazz.

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Lifeson recorded a lot of Rush songs on a Tele and Jimmy Page recorded a lot of Zeppelin on one as well.

They aren't just country.

Don't forget George Harrison around Abbey road and let it be timeframe.

But still….. mostly twang.

Dan has the exact same bridge pickup that I have (CS HW '63), as well as steel bridges:

Telecasters are definitely great guitars. I guess my thoughts on them are from personal experience. I traded in a Strat for a Tele about 20 years ago because my favorite band at the time, a rockabilly-country band, played with a Tele. I thought it would be the greatest guitar I'd ever have. Turns out I've spent 20 years missing the Strat. I did buy a Strat several years ago, and I prefer it over the Tele by a mile.

Also the last few times I went to Nashville to bar-hop, it seemed like every band on Broadway had a Brad Paisley wannabe playing a Tele. The few bands I saw with Strats or Les Pauls were purely blues and rock bands.

Anyway, Telecasters are great guitars, and I know there are examples of great guitarists from every genre playing them (I love Ritchie Kotzen), but for those of us who aren't Kotzen, Richards or Springsteen, think of them as mostly country pickin' guitars.

I'm partial to Telecasters, I just love the look of them. And they're a lot more than just twang, John 5 plays Telecasters so they can be metal AF too.

I once traded in my standard strat, several years ago, and ended up completely missing it. I now have two. I definitely love playing strats, but my Tele is my #1 because of how punchy and amazing it sounds.

Before playing my tele, I thought all teles were bright, too twangy, and "ice picky". I think that's the case because it is the perception, and therefore you see/hear a lot that are designed to do that. The pickups used in many teles, the saddle material, maple necks, and body wood.

However, when it comes to guitars, my mantra has always been:

You aren't Kotzen? Probably think Smells Like Teen Spirit is tough too!!!

I keeeed I keeeed. Every time I see Kotzen live I tell my guitars before I leave "I love you all. Tonight might be the night I toss you on a bonfire".

Tele makes a better weapon against drunks on your stage; just ask Keef.

Step 1: buy a Tele
Step 2: learn how to solder
Step 3: install a 5-way switch and use the Jerry Donahue wiring scheme

You won't miss that Strat.
No one ever talks about how iconic the Strat bridge pickup sounds. The Tele bridge pickup is everything that the Strat aspires to be.

And furthermore, most Teles are now built with Alder bodies anyway, so the tonal gap between the two shrinks even more,

DallasTeleAg said:

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However, when it comes to guitars, my mantra has always been:

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This is the correct answer.

AggieTJ said:

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And furthermore, most Teles are now built with Alder bodies anyway, so the tonal gap between the two shrinks even more,

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Uh oh... you're starting to talk about what some consider voodoo!