Tag Archives: stratocaster

Difference between Strats & Teles

Written by admin on January 17, 2012 — Leave a Comment

This is actually a reprint of one of the longest running and hottest topics in all of guitar playing.

Welcome to Questions Answered. Jim Miller also authors Tech Notes Online, a weekly Sweetwater column covering all aspects of today’s music, from stage to studio.

Q: “Is there a noticeable sonic difference between Strats & Teles?”

A: This is somewhat of a loaded question. Of course there are differences between any two guitars – sometimes even between the same model built different years.

Historically, the Telecaster (Tele) featured a solid ash body with single coil bridge and neck pickups along with a maple neck and fingerboard. The Stratocaster (Strat) was Fender’s “upscale” model, with a contoured body, three single coil pickups, a tremolo tailpiece and a maple neck and fingerboard. As you might expect, having three pickups offers more tones (particularly when you factor in the two “out-of-phase” positions available on models with a five-way switch).

Some Strats may have a rosewood fingerboard that will warm up the sound slightly. The same would be true for Teles. Both are legendary for their clean, bright tone (sometimes referred to as “spank”). Newer releases of either instrument have added various options such as maple tops, additional pickups (or different pickup types: humbuckers or active Lace Sensors with mid range boost for instance).

To a true guitar-a-holic, Teles and Strats are quite different instruments, normally used to achieve different sounds for different types of music. On a recording, most “normal” people would not hear a noticeable difference between a recording of a Strat or Tele using the bridge pickup. The main tonal differences would be most noticeable when a Strat is played using the “out-of-phase” pickup combinations, which produce a clear, glossy tone, perfect with a chorus effect. Most players actually choose a specific Fender model based on looks and feel as much as for their respective tones. Unquestionably, both are classics that have stood the test of time!

Check out the comparison between these two beauties recorded by Youtube user larsenpeople:

Posted by Dan Orr

Posted in art, blues, buying guitars, Electric Guitars, gear, Rock | Tagged Comparison, fender, telecaster

Perfect Waves – Amazing Guitar Song

Written by Moses on November 14, 2010 — 16 Comments

Well things are humming here at Jamorama HQ as we get closer to the end of the year and New Zealand is warming up as we approach summer. Festivities really start to kick off around this time of year and all of a sudden it seams every weekend is full up with gigs, parties or BBQs.

While it still may be a bit cold to hit the surf, the idea of the beach is steadily growing more and more appealing for those of us coming out of a pretty cold winter and the Stephen Shackinger track entitled Perfect Waves paints a picture for me of that exact feeling.

This is a fantastic piece of music. The Fender Stratocaster he plays provides a beautiful tone that is very reminiscent of that Dire Straits kind of guitar sound especially from about 4:17. He is using delay over the verse sections which create that echo you can hear. Also his backing track is laden with all sorts of nice embellishment’s and some duelling lines that seam to track the lead line or play up the octave.

His use of interesting licks woven in and around the main motif are very well crafted and while this man is clearly very proficient on the guitar he is also very disciplined with when, where and how he uses some of his more flashy techniques.

Check it out and let us know what you think:

Posted in Artists, Electric Guitars, Uncategorized | Tagged blues, effects, fender, music, tone

Relics

Written by Jamorama on November 2, 2009 — 1 Comment

Sheep3 Relics

It’s a funny old world that’s for sure. While some of the population seems hell bent on preserving their youthful good looks, brainwashed by the shallow whimsies of Hollywood`s plastic people, or even their own vanity; the world of the guitar is steadfastly running in the opposite direction. There is currently no botox available for guitar – but Keith Richard’s dermatologist is down at Gibson and Fender charging big bucks to mess up your axe with an old flask of tea, an ashtray of fag-ends, a rusty chisel and a dirty old palm sander!

keith.preview Relics

Let’s face it, guitar design remains predominantly trapped back in the 1950′s -and in this world change is a suspicious and malignant blight that the the guitar stoic must resist!

We’ve had a look at modern materials here, but accepted wisdom holds that concepts such as old, vintage, traditional and classic are the foundations upon which tone, sound and greatness are built.

Indeed, the Fender custom sheep, sorry shop, have taken it upon themselves to introduce the Road Worn(tm) series – guitars that come pre-loved, pre-stressed or what have you!

You can of course do it yourself, but in reality there is no substitute for time tested, genuine, cut your teeth, on the ciricuit wear and tear.

Some fellers on ebay have been pre-loving their guitars and putting them up for sale but the results are often a little over cooked. One guy even dragged his Strat’ body behind his I-roc – man he must just hate guitars.

These, on the other hand, are in fact rather tastefully replete with all the realistic accoutrements of a life spent gigging out on the road.

Gibson have also released a series of worn and aged pseudo-vintage guitars but at some seriously high price levels – you’ve got to ask yourself is it worth it when you could just wait 20 years, become a great player, save the money and gain your wear and tear the real and the hard way.

The interesting thing about the world of guitar is the way in which the old and the new harmonise, where difference and innovation fuse with tradition.

Cheers,

Jake Edwards

strat Relics

: Bloomfield Les Paul approx $14,100

Gibson citation custom approx $33,000

Gibson Jeff Beck `54 oxblood approx $8,200

Posted in gear | Tagged aged, antique, bastardised, Keith Richards, look, pre loved, road worn, used, wear and tear, worn out

USB Guitars Laptop Rock updated

Written by Jamorama on August 2, 2009 — 1 Comment

rx5 USB Guitars Laptop Rock updated Edit

Back in `81 Alvin Lee of the rock band Ten Years After released a studio solo album called RX5 featuring a gold robot playing an electric guitar in deep space. At the time album cover art was still hand painted and the notion of robots and guitars were simply an excerpt from the vivid imaginations of artists and science fiction afficionados. The hallowed album artist Roger Dean had created a trend of bio-cybernetics in his artwork fusing animal and machine in several of his pieces and perhaps this cover was an extension of this idea. If you want to hear some great Alvin Lee guitar playing it’s probably best to have a look at some of the Ten Years After material from the late 60`s.

Although a formidable live presence (see their legendary performance at Woodstock here) Ten Years After began as a jazz & blues, rock and roll fusion band that really made the most of Alvin Lee`s talented, energetic and idiosyncratic guitar style. I recommend the 1967 eponymous album Ten Years After, and Ssssh – if you can get the live at Steve Paul`s scene gig then even better.

What’s great about Alvin Lee is his swinging fusion of jazz and blues. I saw Lee live in London in the early 90`s and he was smoking. He played a scorching slide piece using a harmonica as a slide and he also used a drumstick in place of his right hand whilst burning through some ultra fast licks.

Anyway, the meeting of modern digital technology and the tradition of guitar manufacturing is continuing to blossom with plenty of new products that bring the two together and one of these is the inclusion of USB connectivity into guitars. IN SHORT what this means is that you can plug your guitar straight into your computer without the need for any interface. This allows you to jam directly alongside you Tube videos, or any other music source on your computer.

Hell, why would anyone wanna play through an ear bleedingly huge stack anyway?

OF course, this probably wont give you the ear splitting god like ultra-harmonics of Jeff Beck or Joe Satriani
but if you`re a composer on the move or you are a parent sick of listening to Johnny`s atonal guitar noodling then have a look at the JAM MATE UG1 because it`ll certainly take the headache out of the learning curve for everyone.

The Jam Mate has a discretely placed USB socket on the back, enabling a digital connection to the USB port of virtually any modern computer. The supplied software gives access to a huge range of presets so you can create huge sounds without resorting to a stadium sized guitar rig. HOwever, if you still like the idea ofan interface have alook at the Line 6 Guitar Port.

start USB Guitars Laptop Rock updated

If you happen to be the sickly offspring of an oil millionaire there`s no need to worry either – that 1954 Stratocaster isn`t going to waste either – there are plenty of other USB adapters that you can beg for to plug into your shiny new platinum laptop or home studio. Have alook at the LEXICON OMEGA studio or the DIGIDESIGN Mbox2 mini. I use an mbox mini myself and its a great interface for cleanly capturing song ideas quickly and what your microphones and instruments really sound like.

Next year I`ll be looking at robot guitars that completely remove the need for any player at all. BRILLIANT!
No bad haircut required.

Cheers,

Jake Edwards

Posted in amplifiers / pickups, gear, guitar effects / pedals, recording | Tagged alvin lee, guitar, headache, home studio, jammate ug1, Joe Satriani, learning curve, robot, technology, ten years after, usb guitar

Money and Cigarettes

Written by Jamorama on June 2, 2009 — 1 Comment

stax 1010 300x297 Money and Cigarettes

Are you feeling the fluidity inherent in a particular view of the universe? Or the united states of consciousness? I am.

Back in 1983 Eric Clapton released the Album Money and Cigarettes supported by the stellar backing band of Ry Cooder, Albert Lee, Donald Duck Dunn, and Roger Hawkins. Duck Dunn`s contribution to popular music beginning with Booker T and M.G`s and the Stax label in around 1965 is absolutely phenomenal and he must be one of the greatest unsung heroes of the popular music cannon. Here is his discography.

Anyway I digress, it`s a great record, and I managed to get my hands on an A1 hardboard copy of the cover album art which features a very heavily modded stratocaster appearing to melt in Dali-esque fashion from a table.

clapton 300x298 Money and Cigarettes

What a fantastic guitar to own – a bit of a dog to play unless you`re built like a paralellogram though - Salvador Dali meets Eric Clapton for a cup of rhythm and blues. It`s a tight band- no shadow of a doubt – on this album, but, Clapton`s efforts songwriting in the Stax genre just don`t compare to his earlier 461 Ocean Boulevard efforts or the subsequent Behind The Sun album where the guitar playing re-enters the limelight and Clapton`s songwriting takes a backseat. It`s interesting to note that the absolutely stellar drumming of Jamie Oldaker appears on both 461 and Behind The Sun.

It might even be pertinent to suggest that Clapton`s career fluctuates heavily between his role as songwriter and all round musical explorer and that of guitar hero and blues pioneer. What you like about E.C. will determine exactly where on this spectrum your favour will fall, but it is perhaps healthier to consider the length of Clapton`s career and the broad depth of his contributions to music.

clapton2 295x300 Money and Cigarettes

From the groundbreaking sounds of the Bluesbreakers, Cream, and The Dominos together with prescient cover choices such as JJ Cale and Bob Marley , Dylan and Martyn etcetera through to his highly emotional songwriting capabilities evidenced on such great songs as Layla, Bell Bottom Blues, Let it Rain, Easy Now, Presence of the Lord together with tour de force guitar pieces such as Blues Power, Double Trouble, Slunky, Crossroads….and the rest Clapton proves again and again that he`s got the mettle, the daring and the skills to pay the bills on all fronts.

Anyway the fact of the matter is YOU CAN own a dali stratocaster courtesy of the wild mind of Brian Eastwood guitars. Brian makes a series of highly unique and visually surreal but playable guitars in the form of his Bender series. Check them out here.