The final word on Stratocaster vs. Telecaster

This is my take on the rather old argument of Stratocaster vs. Telecaster and which I personally think is the better guitar.

Back in my teens, I wouldn't think of even touching a Telecaster. I saw that guitar as something only country guys played, and at the time that was largely true. Music videos of the day on MTV almost never showed that guitar. In fact, one of the very few instances I can distinctly remember seeing a Telecaster just because it stuck out so much is one that Elliot Easton was playing in the video for the song Magic by The Cars. That is genuinely the only instance I can remember seeing a Telecaster on MTV. It stuck out, because seriously, how often do you see a hot pink Tele?

I'm telling you this so you know that it took me a very long time to come around to even thinking about trying a Telecaster guitar, much less actually buying one.

Now that I have a genuinely good Tele guitar I can finally talk about Strat vs. Tele and discuss the positives and negatives of each.

Output jack plate

Strat wins here.

Often overlooked but nonetheless a very cool thing is the top-mounted Stratocaster output jack plate. This is sometimes referred to as the "football" or "teardrop" plate. Much easier to get to compared to the side mount output jack of the Telecaster.

Volume knob

Tele wins here.

Arguably, the most annoying and most infuriating thing about a Strat is its volume knob position. It will get hit during play and the volume will get knocked down accidentally. This is the reason so many Strat owners purposely rewire the guitar so it is one-volume/one-tone for the two lower knobs and either take the top knob out completely or leave it there unwired as a dummy knob just for appearance.

The Tele volume knob position is exactly correct. You won't hit it. Maybe with super-aggressive play you'll hit the pickup selector blade, but not the knob.

Rear (bridge) pickup tone control

Tele wins here.

Traditional Stratocaster wiring has no tone control wired in when only the rear pickup is selected, and yes that is by design.

Telecaster wiring has always had tone control for the rear pickup.

Pickup selector blade

Strat wins here.

The 5-way Strat pickup selector is easier to use because it's smaller and angled towards the player. The 3-way Tele blade selector isn't angled at all and is 100% horizontal, proving to be slightly more difficult to get along with.

Playability ease from pickup configuration

Tele wins here.

With a Strat, it's very common that players will bash their picks into the middle and front (neck) pickups, which is why some Strat players will lower the top half of those two pickups almost flush to the pick guard just to get them the hell out of the way.

The Tele doesn't have a middle pickup, which for playability is a plus. And being the front pickup is a mini-single with a cover that has smoothed edges, even if you do whack that pickup from time to time, it's easier to recover since you're not hitting a sharp edge. And of course you can lower the top half of the pickup just like you would on a Strat.

String installation

Tele wins here.

The reason most Strat players leave the back cover removed is to make for easier string changes.

Even to this day, such as seen on the Fender American Professional Stratocaster, the rear cover somewhat blocks the 6 string hole.

Thousands of players over the years have tried to get along with installing strings through that plate, only to just remove the thing out of frustration and leave it off.

I've never quite understood why Fender doesn't just make the hole cutout slightly larger. Absolutely nobody would complain if they did that. Seriously, how difficult would it be to enlarge that plastic cutout by a few millimeters?

And if you think getting a more expensive Strat like the Elite Stratocaster gives you a better rear plate cutout, you'd be wrong. You get the same not-quite-big-enough cutout crapola whether it's a cheap Squier or top of the line Fender.

The Fender American Professional Telecaster, of course, has easy access to every string from the rear.

The majority of Telecasters made by Fender and Squier are thru-body where the strings are installed from the rear. My Squier Bullet Telecaster is a thru-body. However, the Affinity Tele is a top-loader, but that's really not an issue since the top-loader is by far the easiest of the easy where string changes are concerned.

Knob material

Tele wins here.

Tele knobs are metal and are easy to clean. Strat knobs are plastic, get stained easily and are never easy to clean.

Gig bag fit

Tele wins here.

How well a guitar fits in a gig bag is something a lot of guitarists don't take into consideration.

A Telecaster is one of the few guitars that I can say with absolute certainty will easily fit into any standard electric guitar gig bag.

Stratocasters do not fit all gig bags and I'll tell you exactly why. It's not the length of the guitar that's the problem. It's the top horn where the strap button is. On some gig bags, you will not be able to zip it up past that point. The Telecaster has a smoothed curve where the top strap button is while the Strat has a horn that sticks out.

Body contact

Strat wins here.

On the back of every Stratocaster guitar is a rear contour cut so the guitar feels more comfortable to play seated or standing. The Telecaster, traditionally, does not have a rear contour cut.

I say "traditionally" because some Teles do have the contour cut. The American Elite Telecaster does have the rear contour. The more affordable Fender Modern Player Telecaster Plus and Squier Deluxe Telecaster models also have the contour.

Many Tele players consider the contour cut heresy on the Telecaster guitar, saying that it makes it too Strat-like. I have to admit that yes, I consider Teles with the contour cut to feel weird just because I totally expect that plank-of-wood body style. So even though the Strat is the more comfortable body shape, I do agree with Tele purists that a rear contour cut breaks too far away from what a Telecaster is supposed to be.

Usable tone

Tele wins here.

The Telecaster has tone control when the rear pickup alone is selected. As said above, traditional Stratocaster wiring does not have this. Not having tone control on the rear-alone setting makes the Strat unusable for a lot of players.

Staying in tune

Tele wins here.

The Tele doesn't win by much here, but the fact it has no vibrato system is what makes it keep its tune better. Yes, you can "deck" or "block" a Strat vibrato system (which Fender calls a tremolo system), but unless you specifically know to do that, the guitar will lose its tuning fairly easily.

Least weird noises

Tele wins here.

A thing that happens on Strats is jokingly called "Stratocaster reverb". It's the unwanted noise heard when the rear springs ring on the back of the guitar. Telecasters don't do this because there are no rear springs to ring.

Cool factor

Strat wins here.

For most guitar players, one or more of their guitar heroes played a Strat so the star power of the instrument can't be denied. It is that star power that give a Strat its cool factor more than anything else.

At the time I write this, Fender has 15 different Artist series Strats with the Eric Clapton Stratocaster being the most recognized. The Telecaster only has 6, with the James Burton model arguably being the most popular.

Which is the better of the two guitars?

Telecaster.

The Stratocaster isn't a bad guitar by any means, but the modifications most players make to it is to specifically make it operate like a Telecaster more often than not.

What makes a Telecaster great is its simplicity. Two knobs and one switch is all you have to work with.

I've also owned a few Stratocaster guitars and still do, but the Telecaster is simply the better player's guitar. There's no worries about knocking the volume knob. Maintenance of a Telecaster is stupidly easy. And there's no need to rewire anything to get the control you want over the sound. Set it up, plug in and go. It pretty much doesn't get any better than that.

Yeah, I own Jazzmaster guitars which are very complicated, quirky instruments. But it is oh-so nice to put the Jazzmaster down and pick up a Telecaster sometimes. Telecasters don't get "moody". They just work.

Bullet Telecaster might be the best Tele for the money

Take the Squier Bullet Telecaster. You'd be hard pressed to find more value for the money where a Telecaster is concerned.

Before I get deeper into that, an update on the Squier Bullet Telecaster I own. I found that the neck had a high fret on it, so I took it in to a local Fender authorized service center (which in my area is a Sam Ash store) and dropped off the guitar. The next day I got a phone call saying yes, there was a high fret, it was repaired and that I could come pick it up, which I did. No charge. I was only without the guitar for a day, so it was no big deal.

The guitar is okay now and everything works as it should. I've not found anything else wrong with it.

So how does the Bullet Tele compare to more expensive models?

Let's talk about that.

Things the Bullet Telecaster has that are important to Tele players

Players of the Telecaster guitar look for certain construction features that deem some Teles "good" and others "bad".

There is only one thing Tele players would consider "bad" about the Bullet. The guitar has a rosewood fingerboard. Telecaster purists believe that a "true" Tele must have a one-piece maple neck. These same purists also consider any Telecaster model that uses any other species of wood for the neck or fingerboard to be heresy even if it's a Fender USA model. This means a Tele purist would consider the LPB American Special with rosewood board to not be a true Telecaster. I wish I was kidding.

Aside from that, the Bullet Tele ticks all the right boxes that Telecaster players look for.

• Thru-body string mount, as opposed to top-load.
• 21 frets, as opposed to 22.
• Round recessed "cup" output jack, as opposed to a squared-off flush mount jack.
• 3-ply pick guard, as opposed to single ply.
• Single string tree, as opposed to two.
• "Barrel" switch tip, as opposed to "top hat".

Imagine a Fender Standard Telecaster with a basswood body and a maple neck with a rosewood fingerboard instead of the 1-piece maple neck. That's the Squier Bullet Telecaster. Same thru-body string mount, same 21 frets, same cup output jack, same 3-ply guard, same single string guide, same barrel switch tip.

I would argue there are only three reasons to buy the Fender Standard Telecaster over the Bullet. Fender logo on the headstock, one-piece maple neck and slightly smoother operating tuning machines. You pay $450 more over the Bullet Tele just to get that stuff.

Comparing the Bullet Telecaster to other Tele models

When I went to Sam Ash to drop off my Bullet for repair, I decided to try out a few other Telecasters just to see how they compared to my $150 model.

Guitar #1: Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster Deluxe

It really isn't a fair comparison to compare a "normal" Telecaster to this one since the Deluxe is so different. But I'll talk about it anyway.

Neck felt great but the pickups were set really low to the guard from the factory for some odd reason. The guitar sounded good but nowhere near as bright as single-coil pickups do. Then again, the fact the pickups were set so low was a factor here. They probably would have sounded better at a proper height.

Guitar #2: Fender Classic Series '69 Telecaster Thinline

This is a great Tele for those concerned about guitar weight since this is a semi-hollow. However, I was unimpressed with the tone.

The '69 is a good model but it's got that oddball U-shape neck with the very round 7.25" fingerboard radius, meaning it will fret out easily with bent notes. I would argue that the Squier version of this guitar is superior simply for the fact it has a modernized C-shape neck with 9.5" fingerboard radius and medium jumbo frets. Same light weight, better neck.

Guitar #3: Fender American Vintage '52 Telecaster

This was, as crazy as this sounds, the worst of the Telecasters I tried out. I was expecting it to be a dreamy, perfect-playing Tele. It was anything but that. The action was set high and the feel of the nitro finish on the neck was terrible. This also has a U-shape neck along with the 7.25" radius fingerboard and period correct tiny frets.

Hanging on the wall, the guitar looked perfect. Butterscotch blonde looks best with a nitro finish over it. But that was the only good thing about the guitar.

Guitar #4: Fender Standard Telecaster

I noticed almost immediately that this guitar had a bad neck pickup, strongly indicating the guitar had been dropped on its butt at one point. I did tell one of the sales guys about it. Other than that, this was the best feeling, best playing Telecaster I tried out.

Bullet delivers

There's no question the Bullet Telecaster delivers. It's got everything that makes a Telecaster a Telecaster.

However, my Bullet is a special run model that may not be available where you are, and if you're looking to buy a Telecaster, this is what I recommend if staying within Fender brands:

Squier Standard Telecaster. This costs $50 more than the Affinity model but it's worth it because it has everything my Bullet does plus the addition of an alnico magnet pickup in the neck position.

Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster Thinline. The specific reason I recommend this one over the Classic Vibe Telecaster is weight. The regular CV for some reason is a physically heavy guitar while the CV Thinline is not because it has semi-hollow construction.

Fender Standard Telecaster. Even though the one I tried out had a bad neck pickup, I'm certain it was because some idiot dropped the guitar while trying it out in the store. Otherwise it is a genuinely good Telecaster, with its best feature being the neck.

What about more expensive models?

There are only two higher priced models I'd consider good purchases.

Fender Classic Player Baja Telecaster. This is a model that was originally only available from the Fender Custom Shop that worked its way into regular production as a Mexico build. It actually has a 4-way pickup switch instead of 3-way that allows for the addition of both pickups in series or parallel, and also has S-1 switching as well. It's a hot-rodded Tele that gives you genuinely good bang for the buck.

Fender American Special Telecaster. This is the only USA model worth buying at the moment. Instead of the fancy electronics of the Baja you get standard electronics, Texas Special pickups, vintage style bridge with saddles, and it's a good all-around "workhorse" guitar. Everything you need and nothing you don't. If you absolutely gotta have an American Telecaster, this is the best of the lot.

Yes, a Tele can surf

Lastly, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that yes, I can wrangle a good surf tone out of a Telecaster. It took some tweaking but I made it work.

This is good since I like to play surf guitar.

An argument for the Les Paul over the Stratocaster

I don't speak about the positives of the Les Paul guitar, so I figured it was time to do it.

When I say "Les Paul", this can mean something like the Gibson Les Paul Standard Faded T, or the Epiphone Custom PRO, the cheap Epiphone Les Paul 100, or the original, the Gibson USA Les Paul Standard. I'm referring to any Les Paul guitar that follows the traditional Gibson design.

I am not a fan of Les Paul guitars for a variety of reasons, but there are three things that make it a guitar worth owning. And those three things are a 24.75" scale length, a D shape neck and a 12" fretboard radius.

The #1 thing that makes a guitar good or not is its neck. If the neck is crap, the guitar is crap. And where comfort and feel are concerned, there are many guitar players who stick with Gibson specifically because of how the neck plays.

A Fender Stratocaster 25.5" scale is generally better where tuning stability is concerned, but the tradeoff to that is that the length can make the strings feel too tight in standard tuning (if you ever wanted to know why there are so many Strat players that tune to E flat, there's your reason.) But even if you tune down, there's still the fret spacing to deal with. Many players consider the frets are spaced too widely apart on the Strat, whereas on the Les Paul you have closer spacing. It's only by a little, but it counts.

The Gibson D shape to many feels better than Fender's C, and I'm referring to one-shape necks here, meaning not a neck that was carved to change shape as you go up the fretboard. Whether the neck is thick or thin, the more pronounced shoulders of D is something many find to fit the fret hand palm better.

A modern Fender Strat has a 9.5" fretboard radius while the Gibson has 12". And like the shape I just spoke of above, I'm referring to single radius necks and not compound radius. If you like to bend strings as many guitarists do, a flatter fingerboard is what you want. But there's also another advantage with the Gibson. The shorter scale length also makes string bending easier, so the combination of shorter scale + flatter fingerboard is a good one.

Does anyone build a Strat with a Gibson style neck?

Fender actually does build a Strat with the D shape neck, the American Vintage '59 Stratocaster. Not cheap, but they do make it. However, the scale is still 25.5" and the fingerboard radius is the vintage spec 7.25" which is as round as it gets and not flat at all.

Fender also builds the Eric Johnson Stratocaster which features a 12" fingerboard radius. But again, the scale is still 25.5".

I personally do not know of any guitar maker that make a Strat style guitar that specifically has a 24.75" scale length, a D shape neck and has a 12" fingerboard radius. In fact, the only way I know to get that kind of neck on a full size Strat body is to have Warmoth make one for you with their "conversion" neck. And that's only if you think it's worth it.

So in other words, no, nobody builds a Strat with a Gibson style neck.

The Epiphone Wilshire Phant-O-Matic is pretty much the closest you can get to a Strat-style body with Gibson style electronics and neck.

You get the double-cutaway shape like a Strat but everything else on this Wilshire is Gibson style electronics, which on this one includes a cool 6-position Vari-Tone switch.

Where Strat-like body shape + Gibson electronics and neck is concerned, the Wilshire is the guitar you want. Otherwise, just get yourself a regular Les Paul guitar to get that Gibson 24.75" scale neck with D shape and 12" fingerboard radius.

Irma

Well. This was an adventure.

I live in Tampa Bay Florida in Hillsborough County, which is part of where Hurricane Irma passed through with Category 2 wind strength.

Yes, I am okay. None of my stuff was damaged. The only damage outside that happened was that a part of a wooden fence I have on the property got ripped apart a bit, but it's nothing that can't be repaired.

The worst part of the storm wasn't the storm itself but the 37 hours I was without power after it. More on that in a moment.

You're not a true Floridian until you've lived through a real deal Florida hurricane, and I did it. Was it a smart move to stay here and wait out the storm? No, absolutely not. It was stupid to stay. I should have just packed a bag, hopped in the car and drove north - but - I might have ended up in a worse situation compared to actually staying. I'll talk about that more in a moment too.

Something I learned first hand is that weather predicting technology totally failed. And I mean crash-and-burn failed. Irma was first supposed to land on the eastern side of the state (Miami.) Then it was supposed to enter the southern side of the state which it sorta/kinda did but not really. The Irma made landfall on Marco Island, very much on the east side of the state and started making a path northward.

Reports of Irma's strength shifted constantly. It was CAT5 before Florida, then it was supposed to be CAT3 when it hit Florida but bounced around between CAT3 and CAT4. Then it was predicted Hillsborough County was to get hit with CAT3. Then that was downgraded to CAT1.

What really happened? CAT2 wind strength over Hillsborough. And I was so close to the eye wall of Irma that it wasn't even funny. Polk County actually got the worst of it when it blew through here, but on my side of Hillsborough it was dangerously close to being just as bad.

How can I describe experiencing a CAT2 hurricane at midnight? I can't. There is no way I can describe what that feels like, but that's when the worst of Irma happened here.

On September 10, 2017 at about 10:30pm my power went out, so all I had was this little radio to tell me what was going on. The station I had tuned in was simultaneously broadcasting what was on television, and the meteorologist said the worst of it was coming soon.

Before the power went out, I brought up an animated map of Hurricane Irma as it closed in on Hillsborough County, looked at the speed of storm travel, and thought to myself, "I'm pretty sure this thing is going to pass over me between midnight and 1am."

I was right, and that's exactly what happened. Midnight came and the wind picked up big time. I then thought, "I think if I make it to 1am, things should get really calm after that." I was mostly right there. The worst was over, but there were still some big gusts of wind flying around. But it was nowhere near as bad as when the eye wall was close.

Things didn't calm down until next morning the 11th, but I was still without power and wouldn't get it back until the 12th at around noon.

Prepared but miserable

I was prepared. Water was bought, food was stocked, flashlights were readied, clothes were all washed and so on before Irma came...

...but those 37 hours without power were totally miserable. The longest I can usually stand going without electricity before it becomes decidedly frustrating is about 6 hours, so to go through 37 was maddening.

I don't own a smartphone so all I had to keep me company was that dinky little radio while I laid on my bed, totally in the dark, waiting for the power to come back on.

This made me realize that yeah, I really need to get a smartphone. It would have made things slightly better.

What kept me from going nuts is knowing that millions of Floridians were going through the exact same thing at the exact same time I was, so there was no reason to get angry about it. Frustrated, yes, but not angry. There's a difference.

Two things sucked more than anything else. Humidity and not being able to shower.

Florida's summer weather doesn't end until around October, so it's still humid. While true everyone got a break from the heat for the fact that Irma really cooled down the air, the humidity was still there. With no A/C or even fans to cool me down, I had a slightly sticky sweat for almost the entire duration of the power outage.

Yes, I had water to wash with and did use it (I used a spray bottle for those interested,) but that's obviously not the same as a good shower. It's the kind of washing that's just adequate at best.

Had I fled, I would have had to drive at least 300 miles north to stay out of harm's way

If I had packed a bag and gone north, the first closest safest territory would have been Alabama...

...but given how wildly Irma was swinging around according to the reports, there was no way to tell where to go that was truly safe. There was even one point where meteorologists were saying that Charlotte NC was going to get hit.

And even if I had gone to Alabama, I still would have had to deal with Irma.

Again, there was no way to truly tell where the safe place was short of driving 500+ miles away.

Things I learned from Irma

The current state of major hurricane weather prediction is absolutely awful.

While I understand Irma was a monster, not being able to accurately track something that large just doesn't make sense. I don't blame the meteorologists. I blame the systems they use. I'm certain they're already aware that something needs to change where these computerized prediction technologies are concerned.

Governor Rick Scott was totally correct to have Florida take all the preparations it did.

Florida was not overprepared

I honestly thought too much preparation was taking place for Irma. I was wrong. All the preparation was necessary.

When traffic lights are out, havoc happens

Imagine a 4-way stop intersection. Now imagine that 4-way stop being 500% larger. Tampa Bay has a lot of those controlled by traffic lights. Those lights weren't working after the power got knocked out. What you're supposed to do when the traffic lights are out is to treat those gigantic intersections like 4-way stops. And that means "first car that arrives is first to leave." Whoever stopped before you goes first.

There were (and will continue to be until all power is restored) more than a few jackasses out there just blowing right through intersections, not stopping at all and doing it without giving a second thought that someone might be coming the other way.

I should own solar charging equipment (especially considering it's cheap)

I should own a solar generator and/or solar bank to power at least one fan and charge my phone. This is something I didn't think about until after Irma. For extended power outages in Florida, it makes total sense to charge battery powered stuff using the sun.

Irma was the worst storm I've ever experienced but didn't feel like it

Hurricane Irma was huge. Colossal. Gigantic. But it's very different compared to other types of storms.

Storms I've been through where they were horrible and I very much knew it were Nor'Easters. Those are large New England snowstorms and I've experienced several of them. They are always destructive, always terrible and take a good long time to clear out well after the storm has passed.

Irma, this giant hurricane, only pounded my area of Hillsborough for 1 hour. It came, blew everything around and moved on. What it left behind was a bunch of felled trees, tree debris everywhere and a damaged power grid. And again, it was the aftermath that was worse than the actual storm.

Granted, that 1 hour was scary. Seeing wind like I did for what I could see of it was intense. But the intensity was short and I suppose that's why Irma didn't feel as big as it actually was.

Still, it was a crazy experience.

If I were only allowed one emergency watch...

The one watch I would grab in an emergency situation would not be a G-SHOCK...

...it would be the AE1000W.

At the time I write this, it's a couple of days before Hurricane Irma gets here (I live in Tampa Bay Florida,) and right now I have my AE1000W strapped to my wrist. And yes I would sincerely take it over the G-SHOCK DW-9052 I have.

The G-SHOCK is more water resistant and built tougher. It's also more than twice the price of the AE1000W. So why go with the cheaper timepiece?

Practically speaking, the AE1000W is better than the DW-9052 in several ways. It's lighter, thinner, side buttons are easier to use, beep tone is louder, battery life is much longer (by several years,) face is easier to read, and it has 5 alarms instead of just 1.

It's not that the DW-9052 is bad. Not at all. But if I had to choose just one out of the collection of Casio digitals I have and leave the rest behind, all of the AE1000W's advantages over the G-SHOCK make it the one to go with.

Everyone should have a "bug out" watch

"Bug out" is a dopey "prepper" way of saying "emergency." I've watched a few videos made by preppers concerning bug out timepieces, and of course they always go with big, bulky mechanical watches. Usually a field or diver watch.

All mechanical timepieces are horrible choices as a bug out watch for one simple reason. Notoriously inaccurate. Every single mechanical watch gains or loses 15 to 30 seconds daily. That may not sound like much, but it adds up quick. And this is especially true if you can't get to a reliable time source to synchronize your watch at least once a week.

Any Casio digital quartz watch will only gain or lose 1 to 2 seconds daily. Over a month's time, that means the watch will only be off by 30 seconds to 1 minute. And that's a worst case scenario.

I think it's absolutely necessary that everyone have a good, cheap digital quartz watch because if the wireless network is out and the phone doesn't work, you need something that will accurately and reliably tell you what the time and date is.

For me, the Casio AE1000W does the job in fine style. A similar watch with the exact same feature set in a case that's more squared off and a little smaller is the AE1200, which I also own.

Whatever you choose to go with for your bug out watch, get a Casio digital with all the features you want and don't spend a bundle on it. Get what you like and let it be your reliable time and date source. Yes, a Casio digital is good enough to rely on, which I think is the whole point of why it's so good to own one.