"That's not a Strat; it's a Strat-shaped guitar."

[Empty Pockets]

I keep hearing phrases like this one getting tossed around message boards...people correcting other people that a Telecaster with a whammy bar and humbuckers isn't a Telecaster, or that a 'real' Les Paul can't have a Floyd Rose...I just don't get it...

So what's the deal? Is a Les Paul with a tune-o-matic bridge and humbuckers not a real Les Paul since they originally came with P90's and a trapeze bridge? Cuz I've always just called 'em by their looks reguardless of how far they are from the original design.

I mean if you ask me:

Strat

Tele

Les Paul

V

I mean if an SG had all Telecaster hardware -- bridge, pickups, chrome control knob, everything -- you'd still call it an SG, right?

[Imp]

usually the people that correct other people with that kind of crap don't tend to contribute much otherwise!

this isn't a forum! it's an internet based message board!

[Smilemon]

I would call the top a superstrat. I mean.... Thats sorta pushing it for a strat.

[ibanezrocks]

I would call the top a superstrat. I mean.... Thats sorta pushing it for a strat.

Absolutely, theres nothing wrong with giving it a name like that which recognizes its origins and the fact that it has evolved in to something different.

For example: Supertele, SuperLesPaul, SuperV

[JB_From_Hell]

I get what you're saying, and more or less agree. The only different phrase I'd use is superstrat for the Jackson. If it was a bolt-on model with single coils and a vintage style bridge, I'd just call it a strat, though.

[Kamanda~SD]

I personally call only Fenders Strats. Jacksons and ESP's are superstrats to me.

[Empty Pockets]

Alright well to add some flavor to the thread, why don't we try to find some guitars that push the boundaries? I've already heard that 72 Tele describes as "A Strat with a Tele body and Les Paul controls," which just befuddles me (why not a Tele with a Strat headstock?) but what about some other mutants?


A Stratogibson?

[millsart]

A name is just a name, but we do use names to describe things so can you really blame someone ?

I honestly wouldn't call a tele with a whammy bar and humbuckers a tele either.


Does Matt Bellamy from Muse play a tele ? No, he plays a Manson custom made guitar that uses a tele style body with hot humbuckers and a floyd rose. (and some other junk as well)

Cool guitars but they are pretty darn far and removed from the classic twang of a true telecaster you'd have to agree


Can you call any EL34 based amp a Marshall just because it may have alot in common with a Marshall ? No its its own thing.


A Jackson with reverse heardstock, sharkfine inlays, flamed top, humbuckers, floyd rose and neck through construction is not a strat is my book, its a Jackson.

Jimi played a strat, SRV played a strat, Gilmour plays a strat, clapton plays a strat. They are all Fender guitars in classic finish colors, 25.5" bolt on necks, vintage tremolo's, single coil pups etc.


Trust me, I've got a "strat" and I used to own a Jackson soloist with EMG's. They were NOT the bit similar guitars.


They had something of the same basic shape yes, but the tone, feel, look and sound was totally different.

I used to play Slayer on my Jackson. I couldn't play War Ensemble on a vintage strat very well

Therefore they are not the same guitar, and whats wrong with that ?


Why would we even want to lump every and all guitar bodies with two horns into a "strat" class ?

[Empty Pockets]

Why would we even want to lump every and all guitar bodies with two horns into a "strat" class ?

So that we can single them out and make up jokes about them...same as all other classes.

No i definitely see your point, was pretty much the counter-point i was looking for...

Anyway I guess I've always called all doublecuts Strats for simplicity's sake. Words are just symbols that we use to stand for deeper meanings so I'm tryin to find the simplest but most acceptable terminology for this stuff?

maybe i should just go back to the term "guitar" -- that's always had a nice ring to it.

[Rowan]

Yeah some people get nit picky or too proud of their fenders and gibsons to allow similar guitars such illustrious titles as 'strat' lol.

But also a lot of guitars with the same body shape will sound completely different from each other. For example, that Willie adler ESP you posted up there has a maple neck through construction. So thats one I'd definately call les paul shaped

[baritone]

The name primarily comes from the body shape, but the sound comes from the electronics. A Telecaster with Stratocaster pickups will not sound like a Telecaster just because the body is shaped like that; it will sound like a Stratocaster because it is a hunk of wood with Strat electronics. Man, I'm drunk and angry right now.

[JohnnyGuitar]

Empty, it's not only about the shape it's about the functionality too.

People ask, can I play metal with a Strat? and then get an answer "yes, Iron Maiden did"... while the Iron Maiden guitarists had used full sized humbuckers and a Floyd Rose... it might be a Strat shape but it doesn't function like a Strat anymore.

If we talk about the shapes only, then yeah, a PRS or a Jackson Soloist is still a Strat...

[Johtosotku]

Yes, I wonder if we as guitarists who seek the ultimate tone should categorize instruments more based on their sound than on their looks? Therefore you couldn't really call a superstrat a strat, for example. If one asked for guitar recommendations on "stratty tones", you wouldn't recommend your run-of-the-mill Jackson to him, would you? And "stratty" definitely has an exclusive meaning in our vocabulary, doesn't it?

[mrturtle_91]

I have to agree...my MIM Tele now has humbuckers in it, but it's still a Tele. It's not a les paul, and it's not a strat, it's a Tele. We still call HSS, or HH Strats, strats, even though strats are really SSS guitars, and to push it even more, originally SSS guitars with a 3-way switch, not a 5-way.

[Kostas]

WHO CARES?

Guitars are not sacred, do whatever modification you want on them without thinking what other people think. Guitars are for playing so whatever feels better for your hands and ears it's the best for you. Names don't mean anything.

[MikeS]

I've made comments like those the OP is commenting on. Most all the time my comment is accompanied by a smiley to suggest a jovial tone; a suggestion to the reader that I’m only partly serious. For me what it boils down to is looks, feel, and tone... all define the epitomic model. The Mick Mars "tele" for instance didn't share a single attribute with a Fender standard telecaster apart from a silhouette. Is that enough to make it a telecaster? Not for me, as it’s more like a superstrat than a telecaster.

The trademark names of the tele, strat, and Les Paul have been thrown around enough to make them more of a descriptor than an actual model name. I try not to do that with my own guitars... my Aria STG-004 is a strat for all practical purposes, but I always refer to it as my strat copy or simply as my Aria. Some of us use the model names as descriptors more than others, I suppose. If we wanted to get down to brass tacks I guess we could limit calling guitars "strats" and "teles" only to those bearing the Fender namesake. Anything else is a strat or tele copy.

[Empty Pockets]

hahaha this thread has created some interesting dialogue.

[Skarekrough]

To me a Tele has a distinct tonal quality to it that requires it to have a few things like an ash body, Tele single coils, an ashtray bridge with three saddles and a maple fretboard.

Once you move from there it ceases to be a Tele to me and becomes something that's influenced by a Tele.

I've played them long enough and listening to them long enough to be able to discern.

[Zhangliqun]

To me a Tele has a distinct tonal quality to it that requires it to have a few things like an ash body, Tele single coils, an ashtray bridge with three saddles and a maple fretboard.

Once you move from there it ceases to be a Tele to me and becomes something that's influenced by a Tele.

I've played them long enough and listening to them long enough to be able to discern.

Except for the ash body and maple board (I'll accept alder, rosewood a bit more reluctantly), I agree.

[WhoFan]

well... it's interesting.... Gibson and Epi offer a Les Paul among other designs.... they are the only real Les Pauls... Strats and Teles are Fenders... but a knock off will always be a knock off... other companies will make close copies of Fender and Gibson designs... I've made guitars in a wood shop myself and they have been knock off copies of other guitars out there... when it comes down to it each model's name belongs to the company that designed and released that product..

but i do think some people get carried away with correcting people that say a strat is only a strat if Fender makes it... and LP is only an LP if Gibson makes it... and so on....