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On GS, people often say they hate Strats because they're the one guitar that doesn't have sustain. But that's why even though it's the player not the instrument...

 

I'll say. Any player with any decent Strat with a comprehensive set-up that complains that their guitar doesn't have sufficient sustain, is a poor workman to blame their tools.

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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Actually my Strat lacks sustain but that's b/c I have a deliberately soft set-up (light strings & low action).

 

While those gtrs lack the inherent sustain of more trad constructions we live in a world where that's so easy to overcome via the wonders of modern tech-know-logicality.

 

The reality is that, despite even later wonderful designs, the Strat remains the best designed electric gtr.

d=halfnote
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The reality is that, despite even later wonderful designs, the Strat remains the best designed electric gtr.

 

I don't know, I have never understood Leo's choice to go with two tone controls, and one of them hooked up to the middle pickup, when the bridge p/up really needs one.

 

Always remember that you are unique. Just like everyone else.

 

 

 

 

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The reality is that, despite even later wonderful designs, the Strat remains the best designed electric gtr.

 

I don't know, I have never understood Leo's choice to go with two tone controls, and one of them hooked up to the middle pickup, when the bridge p/up really needs one.

 

I think that at the time, they were putting relatively heavy strings on them, and possibly even flat-wounds, at that? They- Leo and the players he worked closely with- wanted to be able to hit that switch and get a tone with a lot of presence that would project and cut through the band-mix and all noise in crowded clubs and bars, where the guitarist had only his amp, and no PA or monitors...

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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there's a video clip link I used to keep handy, of Buddy Guy onstage with a Strat and not a super high gain sound hitting a note and making it sustain for 2 minutes with finger vibrato and sheer Buddy Guy-ness... whenever someone said "Fenders don't sustain" I'd just post that... and some would claim he had a sustainiac or something "he doesn't)...

 

Now, "sustain" is an overrated quality in electric guitars, anyway. You can't hear it in a band setting unless it's a solo that's boosted which would artificially enhance it. I love my set neck, Gibson-scale guitars... and I'm finding they aren't necessarily a match for most of the gigs I do, that call more for single coil pickups and the extra punch that bolt on neck guitars have...

 

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there's a video clip link I used to keep handy, of Buddy Guy onstage with a Strat and not a super high gain sound hitting a note and making it sustain for 2 minutes with finger vibrato and sheer Buddy Guy-ness... whenever someone said "Fenders don't sustain" I'd just post that... and some would claim he had a sustainiac or something "he doesn't)...

 

Now, "sustain" is an overrated quality in electric guitars, anyway. You can't hear it in a band setting unless it's a solo that's boosted which would artificially enhance it. I love my set neck, Gibson-scale guitars... and I'm finding they aren't necessarily a match for most of the gigs I do, that call more for single coil pickups and the extra punch that bolt on neck guitars have...

 

A little assist from the amp and speakers can make marvels possible. Subtle use of feedback for sustain and enriching harmonic-overtone content seems to be becoming a vanishing art... I love and live by it.

 

If anybody plays an electric guitar and complains about a lack of sustain, they may want to consider playing checkers instead.

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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there's a video clip link I used to keep handy, of Buddy Guy onstage with a Strat and not a super high gain sound hitting a note and making it sustain for 2 minutes with finger vibrato and sheer Buddy Guy-ness... whenever someone said "Fenders don't sustain" I'd just post that... and some would claim he had a sustainiac or something

 

@P90:

 

I am certain that I posted this story several years ago on this forum. I saw Buddy Guy live in concert and he did that extended sustain of a single note "trick" and the audience exploded!!! I thought to myself "that's his amp doing that".

 

Some time later, I was playing a Blues gig in a club( At the time, I was trying to emulate the playing style of BG and Otis Rush). I took a solo and thought to myself, "Well, it worked for Buddy Guy". I turned up the distortion on my amp, hit a note, bent into it, added vibrato and the single note sustained forever. The audience exploded. I smiled and took a bow.

If you play cool, you are cool.
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there's a video clip link I used to keep handy, of Buddy Guy onstage with a Strat and not a super high gain sound hitting a note and making it sustain for 2 minutes with finger vibrato and sheer Buddy Guy-ness... whenever someone said "Fenders don't sustain" I'd just post that... and some would claim he had a sustainiac or something

 

@P90:

 

I am certain that I posted this story several years ago on this forum. I saw Buddy Guy live in concert and he did that extended sustain of a single note "trick" and the audience exploded!!! I thought to myself "that's his amp doing that".

 

Some time later, I was playing a Blues gig in a club( At the time, I was trying to emulate the playing style of BG and Otis Rush). I took a solo and thought to myself, "Well, it worked for Buddy Guy". I turned up the distortion on my amp, hit a note, bent into it, added vibrato and the single note sustained forever. The audience exploded. I smiled and took a bow.

 

:wave: THAT'S what I'm talkin' 'bout! It's not just a 'trick', that can sound really good. Plus, there's often some really sweet harmonic-overtone(s) added that enriches the note(s), effectively introduces harmony, and pleases the ear. People recognize the sounds from classic records from over the years, as well.

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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On GS, people often say they hate Strats because they're the one guitar that doesn't have sustain.

 

To which I would just reply, "Jeff Beck".

 

 

:wave: Jimi Hendrix. Eric Clapton. David Gilmour. Stevie Ray Vaughan. Eric Johnson. All known for their anemic, plinky, banjo-like lack of sustain.

Ask yourself- What Would Ren and Stimpy Do?

 

~ Caevan James-Michael Miller-O'Shite ~

_ ___ _ Leprechaun, Esquire _ ___ _

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+1 P90, Scott and Caevan...I'm in the Strat Cat Camp and would add a few more to the list like: Buddy Holly, Mark Knopfler, David Gilmour, Bonnie Raitt, Sonny Landreth, Steve Winwood, Robert Cray, Jimmie Vaughan, Ronnie Wood, Dick Dale, Henry Garza, The Shadows, The Ventures, The Beach Boys, etc...Many well known recorded artists have chosen the Strat for their main axe and I think they sustain just fine. Leo had a hit with that iconic guitar... :cool:
Take care, Larryz
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Sure, the Strat is an iconic design, but being iconic doesn't necessarily translate into a tone everybody likes. OR design either, as there is the "eye of the beholder" factor.

 

And Larry, didn't The Ventures, for years, play those complimentary eponymous MOSRITE guitars? ;)

Whitefang

 

I started out with NOTHING...and I still have most of it left!
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From 1958 through 1963 They played Fender guitars. In 1963 they signed a contract to use Mosrite guitars excusively. In 1968 their contract with Mosrite expired and they went back to their beloved Fender guitars.
Take care, Larryz
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