Are strats harder to play?

[SF audio]

I've got left handed American standard strat - rosewood fretboard. Playing 10-46 strings, standard E tuning. I just had my Les Paul fret milled, and it's playing great. LP's are of course shorter scale length, and playablility has always been a little "easier" as far as string bending and flexibility compared to a strat.

 

But I still feel that I'm "fighting" the strat when playing. It was setup within the last 8 months or so, and the action is still very good. So is it just the longer scale length that befuddles me, or can I do any simple adjustments? Lighter strings? Or just get my lazy fingers stronger?

[James-Italy]

Originally posted by SF audio:

I've got left handed American standard strat - rosewood fretboard. Playing 10-46 strings, standard E tuning. I just had my Les Paul fret milled, and it's playing great. LP's are of course shorter scale length, and playablility has always been a little "easier" as far as string bending and flexibility compared to a strat.

 

But I still feel that I'm "fighting" the strat when playing. It was setup within the last 8 months or so, and the action is still very good. So is it just the longer scale length that befuddles me, or can I do any simple adjustments? Lighter strings? Or just get my lazy fingers stronger?

I have difficulty playing Strats. Like you I'm always "fighting" when I play them. For whatever reason they seem very difficult to me, while my LP's seem to play themselves. I've got friends who have just the opposite problem and as much as they try they just can't get confortable with LPs. Then there are others fortunate players that can change back and forth and find them equally "easy" or "difficult" depending on their view of the world (glass half-full/half-empty). Maybe we're not all cut out to be Strat players or LP players or whatever and some of us have a natural inclination towards one or the other. Lucky those of you who can play both well!

 

I string the Strat with 9's (instead of 10's) and it helps a little, but the problem is with me and not the guitar I think. Hopefully some of the guys here will have ideas to make your Strat "easier" to play. If not, my advice would be to keep trying and you may find it get's easier with time. If if doesn't, then maybe you'll find yourself like me, gravitating more towards the LP scale.

 

Good luck on your quest!

[coyote]

there are a number of things which make playing a Strat more difficult: scale length, fretboard radius, pickups, etc. Once you have the tremolo, action, intonation, and pickup height set properly there's little else you can do but PRACTICE. And you need to practice many things. Not only do you have to get simple facility, but you also need to get your fingers to produce great tone along the way. So you need to really articulate every note if you wanna sound good.

 

It's ultimately worth the effort; learning to really play a Strat will make you a better player. (And yeah, after a few years on a Strat it does become difficult to play a LesPaul - you feel like there's nothing under your fingers and it can be confusing.)

[strat0124]

no....but a Harmony Rocket might be.....

[Wes from Wpg]

Originally posted by coyote:

Once you have the tremolo, action, intonation, and pickup height set properly there's little else you can do but PRACTICE.

 

That's exactly right.

 

I posted this same question a couple of months ago. I had been playing an Epi LP, and bought a Standard strat. It seemed like I was back to square one. I couldn't get anything to sound good. The thing I found most difficult was that the nut width on the Strat was narrower than the LP, making the strings closer together.

 

After a couple of months playing mainly the Strat, I can now play it as good, if not better, than the LP. It just takes some getting used to.

[doc taz]

Strats are fun, man! Why do you think it's the instrument of choice for players like SRV, Hendirx, Jeff Beck, Ritchie Blackmore, etc.

 

Sure, the single coils might be a little weak, but the wang bar is loads o' fun! Which reminds me, I just bought Rhino's Deep Purple Greatest Hits, and Blackmore just goes INSANE on the Strat!He ran his Strats with an old Akai four track as a booster, and used 200 watt Marshall Major amps.

 

I have an Ibanez shred machine from the early 1990's, but I'd love to add a Strat someday to my arsenal. I need the locking tuners, though.

[baronedo]

Here are a few things that can make the Strat play easier:

 

String Height Adjustment:

Either get a small ruler or make one by squaring off the end of popsicle stick and mark a point 1/16 inche and 1/8 inch from the squared end respectively. Place the measuring tool on top of your highest Fret (21 or 22 depending on the model of your Strat) and measure the gap between the top of the fret and the bottom of the string. For your unwound strings (generally your Hi E, B, and G) adjust your string height via saddle screw adjustment to alittle over 1/16 inch. For the wound strings (D, A, and low E) adjust the string height about 2/32 inch - halfway between 1/16" and 1/8". What you are trying to get is a low action consistent across the strings but without undue string rattle or buzzing. If a string buzzes, gradually increase the string height until it's okay. After you have found an optimum string height, recheck your intonation - string length adjustment.

 

Tune Down 1/2 Step (Eb tuning):

This little trick will make your size 10 strings play more like 9's and has been used by many famous Strat artists (SRV and Hendrix to name a few). An added bonus is that it will make tunes with high vocal parts a little easier to sing and can improve the tone of your guitar. Most modern electronic keyboards have pitch adjustments so your keyboardist can tune down with you without physically having to play in a different key.

[revolead]

I've heard rumors and accounts of this. Being a long time fan of the flatter radius necks, I agree to an extent Strats are harder to play for lead work, but as far as rhythm goes I love 'em. The vintage and modern radii (7.25 and 9.5) are great for chords, because they allow you to curve your hand to form bars easier, which is one of the reasons they make great beginner as well as expert guitars, but in regards to lead, although we have been shown by SRV, Clapton, Hendrix, Beck, and others, they physically seem to offer more limits. The Les Paul necks (I think 10.75) are flatter, and thus yield far easier playability for lead, but they simply are more to struggle with for chords.

[strat0124]

I play 10's on all my electric guitars and they don't seem hard to play whatsoever. We never tune down, just all standard pitch. Of course if I wanted that low sound, I'd get a six string bass a la, Jerry Jones. Danelectro makes one too, and it sounds and plays really well.

[michael saulnier]

Jeff Beck was once asked about why he moved to strats after being "known" for playing a Les Paul... He said that after playing strats for a while, playing a Les Paul felt like "cheating" because it was so much "easier" to play.

 

I'm not sure if I agree with the "cheating" idea, I think whatever works... but it does confirm the idea that even top pro's view strats as "harder" to play than LP's.

 

I love both, and have both. It's a little wierd when you've been playing one for a couple of hours and then switch... but for me, in a few minutes I feel back at home.

 

Practice. Nothing beats time in...

 

guitplayer

[coyote]

I have one of those Marshall Majors. Loads of clean headroom; add tube overdrive and it rattles the walls. I now use it for my Hammond organ

 

Originally posted by tazzola:

He ran his Strats with an old Akai four track as a booster, and used 200 watt Marshall Major amps.

I have an Ibanez shred machine from the early 1990's, but I'd love to add a Strat someday to my arsenal. I need the locking tuners, though.

It's funny that people consider the Strat's single-coils 'weak' when guys like Hendrix & Blackmore, who are known for some of the heaviest riffs ever, used them. In fact, some folks also say keyboards make rock bands sound wimpy - those folks really need to have a listen to Made In Japan

[Blue Strat]

Originally posted by Geenard Skeenard:

no....but a Harmony Rocket might be.....

Mine wasn't!

[MarshallGibson_6]

After the adjustments, and after trying another string gauge you like, yeah, it's time to get your lazy fingers stronger and used to more stretching excersizes. Like ring and pinky hammer ons (with index root) all over the neck, while you chase scales and cliche's.

Are you fighting with chording, lead or both?

I'm like 5ft 4inches, don't have large hands and dont have a problem with either Gibson or Fender scale necks. Maybe because of when I started violin at the age of 7 and got used to all of those stretching excersizes. Especially with the wrist fully flexed (like you're thumbing for a ride) and not straight or extended(like you're holding a shovel) This is a very proper technique in violin as it seems to be with most of the hotter classical and flamenco acoustic shredders. It couldn't hurt for exploring this realm of holding the neck, wrist flexed a bit, thumb extended, touching the side or back of the neck rather than choking it like a baseball bat. A lot of people use their thumbs for pressing down on the big "E" string: you know it's incorrect technique but what the heck. Whatever works, usually bad habits, will do until you go to a longer scale.

How about fooling around on a classical/nylon string thing with a wide but thin neck to wake up some lazy finger muscles, and force a new technique on yourself, just to reach the lower register?

[MarshallGibson_6]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. All the greats like Beck, Page, EVH, SRV, Satch, etc.;all have huge powerful hands. Beck & SRV use 11's & 12's!!! I Can't. It hurts. Makes me bleed.(And I've been a longshoreman for 24 yrs. w/callouses)

Both EVH & Satch have the stubbiest fingers I've seen. I don't have fingers like that but I manage.

[RangerJay]

For me, a Strat is a "pure" guitar experience. Hard to master, but the results can be gratifying.

 

I like LPs too, but for me, the Strat is the ultimate electric guitar. A slab of wood, some pickups, and a bare-bones neck, make up the whole deal. It's up to the player to make it work.

 

Ain't nothing like it in the world.

 

It's definitely one of those "love it or hate it" kind of things. I love my Strats, current and retired.

 

For the record, I bought one of the first American Standard strats in '84, and I wore it out. That's the only guitar that I played for 17 years, and I wore it down to the bone. The frets are shot. I decided to retire it rather than alter it.

 

I've since rethought my approach, and I may send it out and have a new neck/fret thing done on it. God, it's an awesome fucking guitar. I call it the "Dirty Blonde," 'cause it has the old Fender "TV White" finish. Off white. Dirty blonde, which is how I like my blondes, by the way...

[Caevan O’Shite]

Originally posted by revolead:

"The Les Paul necks (I think 10.75) are flatter, and thus yield far easier playability for lead, but they simply are more to struggle with for chords."

Actually, Les Paul fretboards (and bridges) generally come with a 12" radius. The Jimmy Page/Les Paul signature-version-of-a-signature-axe is the only Les Paul model I can think of that deviates from this, as it has a compound radius fretboard, where the fb radius becomes flatter as you go up the neck, to better fascilitate bends. I have a Warmoth-necked Strat-style axe with this design, and it rules!

 

On a more personal, subjective note, I don't have any trouble chording on either a Strat or a Les Paul; but, I can say that my picking hand wants a classical style, flat radius conforming the strings' "plane" (I play fingerstyle, no pick), while my fretting hand likes some radius there... only an extreme compound radius will please both!

[Fender Bender_dup1]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. All the greats like Beck, Page, EVH, SRV, Satch, etc.;all have huge powerful hands. Beck & SRV use 11's & 12's!!! I Can't. It hurts. Makes me bleed.(And I've been a longshoreman for 24 yrs. w/callouses)

Both EVH & Satch have the stubbiest fingers I've seen. I don't have fingers like that but I manage.

 

--------------------

 

I think thats ONE of the reasons woman

are useless at serious rock guitar ..

they dont have the hand strength

 

Look at the best strat players , SRV

Hendrix ....bone crushing hand shakes

 

Gary Moore has incredible strong mitts

His strat playing is still the best heavy

guitar I've heard..amazing one fingered

trills for example ..not east to do.

 

To generate really intense playing you

need strong hands period IMO.

[MarshallGibson_6]

Hey Fender Bender,

I gotta disagree. The right gauge is all you need. The tape never lies. There are .09's and 10's out there doing their thing too.

[Blue Strat]

My opinion (after playing a friends LP copy for more than a few minutes) is that LP's are harder to play. It's harder to bend the strings. As far as being easy to fret chords, the Strat rules for me. You can't get those cool Nirvana tones out of a LP either.

 

Krazy K! I didn't know you played fingerstyle. I can't do that, it's picks only for me.

[revolead]

Originally posted by CaevanO'Shite:

Originally posted by revolead:

"The Les Paul necks (I think 10.75) are flatter, and thus yield far easier playability for lead, but they simply are more to struggle with for chords."

Actually, Les Paul fretboards (and bridges) generally come with a 12" radius. The Jimmy Page/Les Paul signature-version-of-a-signature-axe is the only Les Paul model I can think of that deviates from this, as it has a compound radius fretboard, where the fb radius becomes flatter as you go up the neck, to better fascilitate bends. I have a Warmoth-necked Strat-style axe with this design, and it rules!

 

On a more personal, subjective note, I don't have any trouble chording on either a Strat or a Les Paul; but, I can say that my picking hand wants a classical style, flat radius conforming the strings' "plane" (I play fingerstyle, no pick), while my fretting hand likes some radius there... only an extreme compound radius will please both!

Thanks for the info Kev. I wasn't sure what radius they were. I just know from my experience its easier to play lead on an LP and easier to play rhthym on a Strat.

[Hound Dog]

Go ahead and fight it! Hopefully you will be able to hear the struggle in your playing. That is what will make you sound distinct, to hear that struggle in your playing. If it plays too easy, it sounds like a midi piano. I read where EVH said he liked to fight with his guitar a little.

[please-drive-faster]

Just another note:

 

When you bend strings on a strat, you're also pulling on the bridge which adds more tension; thus, it seems harder to bend. If you don't use the trem, try blocking it and it might seem a little easier to play.

[Reece]

Dude a Strat is different to a gibson. I feel when i play with a gibson, it seems so much easier to get the sound i want/need. And my strat always went out of tune without useing the wamy bar. But if you dont find playing a Strat comfortable, it's not a guitar for you.

[MarshallGibson_6]

Reece, That's right. I do feel more comfy on my Gibson's and to make my Strat's more comfy and less botheration with going out of tune and breaking all strings every night, I did the Kahler/Locking Nut thing and have been happy for @ the last couple decades. I'm only talking 'bout Strats 'n' Kahler's though.

[MarshallGibson_6]

Hey Fenderbender,

What do you think of Jennifer Batten, Nancy Wilson, Bonny Raitt, and from a long time ago, Eva Laughton. I think they could cook on the guitar.

[KHAN]

Originally posted by Fender Bender:

I think thats ONE of the reasons woman

are useless at serious rock guitar ..

they dont have the hand strength

Yoo Hoo. Lee????

[Jim Soloway]

Hm...I'm not sure what to say after reading this thread. I play 11's on a 7 string with a 27 inch scale length and I play a lot of comlex chords. I guess my hands are fairly strong after playing for 41 years, but they're not especially big. It's hard for me to understand someone having trouble with 10's on a Strat. I wonder about their hand position and technique.

[doc taz]

I use .010-.046 on my shred machine. I'd use thicker strings, but it causes the neck to warp too much for my tastes, even after a truss rod adjustment.

 

I've also played on Strats with .011's and .012's. No problems there. It must be due to the fact that I do some weightlifting as part of my exercise routine, and that I also play bass.

[Teahead]

I got myself a Strat about three years ago, I'd had one as my first electric, and then since played Les Pauls for five years. The gulf of difference in the guitars scared the shit out of me! As people have mentioned, it's like you're fighting with the guitar.

Well I finally gave in and traded it for a Tele. I string it with 11's, same as my LP, and whilst it gave the same initial shock to my system as the Strat, I kept at it.

 

Eventually I learnt that certain songs suited one guitar or the other, I still test myself and use a single guitar for a full set, just to make sure I can! But ultimately, you should be able to find niches in your playing style that suit one guitar better than the other, and apply them to what songs or performances you give.

 

This gives you the opportunity to get comfortable with your new guitar. As has been mentioned, the single coil/Fender design gives tones that the Gibson can not match, and vice a versa. Focus on which tone suits best, and use this as the motivation and inspiration to master that plank!

 

Remember, if the Strat continues to be elusive, chicken out and go for a Tele, the modern US Standards sound better than they have in years. You get that same single coil snarl and snap, of course it depends how much you need that vibrato arm. Whatever you do, Good Luck, T.