Guitars: What you expected and what you got.

[Bombadil]

I'm unhappy with my Strat. It is MiM, plays well enough, but it was hard-tailed by my luthier, and I put in Jeff Beck Hot Noiseless pups, which I find takes away from the Strat signature sound.
When I unhardtailed it, any time I'd bend a note, the open A string would bend as well, sending everything out of tune. I know that is a common complaint, which is probably why he hardtailed it without my asking. So, I re-did the hardtail. I still don't like the pups. Maybe this Xmas I'll ask for a new, more traditional, set.
I love my MiM Tele, though I didn't at first. DiMarzio Twang Kings installed. It has 'the sound.'
All of my other guitars are as you describe. They're players with which I can get lost playing for hours.

[tapper mike]

To me (just me) A strat isn't a strat unless it's got spank. Spank is due to the pulling of the strings out of tune and snapping them back in. Without spank what you get is increased attack. What you are experiencing was quite common in the 60's. Look at any Jimi concert footage and you'll see him retuning the guitar all the time.

Two alternatives would be either a locking nut which some say chokes the tone(I don't) or a roller nut like LSR or Wilkinson. Yes because roller nuts are steel the open strings will sound different and actually closer to the sound of fretted ones.

Hot pups regardless of the brand never work for me. They sound bland when you try to clean them up. I love 60's moderate output tone (without the hum) Fender Vintage noiseless (stacks) SD Stacks, Lace Sensor gold and silver.

[stoopicus]

I love my MiM Tele, though I didn't at first. DiMarzio Twang Kings installed. It has 'the sound.'
All of my other guitars are as you describe. They're players with which I can get lost playing for hours.

Yeah stock Fender pickups, and especially the MIM's, are not great. Usually not bad but definitely not great. This is true across their entire model range until you get up to the CS pickups (which are great).

On my MIJ Tele, the bridge pickup was fine but the neck pickup was super meh (this is also a common Telecaster thing). I went full heretic and replaced the neck PU with a Seymour Duncan P90 and rewired the switch to add the series option too, and loved the resulting sound a lot - twang and oomf in the same guitar.

Took a minute to find a compatible pickguard though

[Uncle E]

I'm unhappy with my Strat. It is MiM, plays well enough, but it was hard-tailed by my luthier, and I put in Jeff Beck Hot Noiseless pups, which I find takes away from the Strat signature sound.
When I unhardtailed it, any time I'd bend a note, the open A string would bend as well, sending everything out of tune. I know that is a common complaint, which is probably why he hardtailed it without my asking. So, I re-did the hardtail. I still don't like the pups. Maybe this Xmas I'll ask for a new, more traditional, set.
I love my MiM Tele, though I didn't at first. DiMarzio Twang Kings installed. It has 'the sound.'
All of my other guitars are as you describe. They're players with which I can get lost playing for hours.

BladeRunner or Vega Trem would solve the tuning issue but they’re expensive. Yes, Fender noiseless pickups lose the twang and woodiness. Personally, I love that kind of humbucker-meets-single-coil sound in the bridge position but I hate it in the neck and middle. Dimarzio Airs are much better, though still not quite there.

[stoopicus]

I'm unhappy with my Strat. It is MiM, plays well enough, but it was hard-tailed by my luthier, and I put in Jeff Beck Hot Noiseless pups, which I find takes away from the Strat signature sound.
When I unhardtailed it, any time I'd bend a note, the open A string would bend as well, sending everything out of tune. I know that is a common complaint, which is probably why he hardtailed it without my asking. So, I re-did the hardtail. I still don't like the pups. Maybe this Xmas I'll ask for a new, more traditional, set.
I love my MiM Tele, though I didn't at first. DiMarzio Twang Kings installed. It has 'the sound.'
All of my other guitars are as you describe. They're players with which I can get lost playing for hours.

BladeRunner or Vega Trem would solve the tuning issue but they’re expensive. Yes, Fender noiseless pickups lose the twang and woodiness. Personally, I love that kind of humbucker-meets-single-coil sound in the bridge position but I hate it in the neck and middle. Dimarzio Airs are much better, though still not quite there.

I haven't used DiMarzio in a guitar yet but they are consistently in my favorite bass pickups, especially the ceramic ones. The DiMarzio Model P is my second favorite bass pickup, just stellar.

[tapper mike]

My MIM HH telecaster is "okay" but It's not the sound I'm looking for. I need a single coil (not p90) that will fit in the space of a humbucker. Does anyone make such a thing?

Not coil tap.

[Uncle E]

EMG, Dimarzio and Lindy Fralin all make that, and they’re all hum canceling. Dimarzio Bluesbucker and Seymour Duncan Stag Mag are literally single coils when split, but I know you don’t want that. Of course, you could always just mount a single coil in an adapter.

[Magic Russ]

Seek out artist you love to listen to them, Try to emulate them through technique first. Then seek out the best guitar/amp which reflects the tone you want to embrace and finally pour yourself into what you have.

Good advice that is at odds with way too many people on guitar forums. "Emulate them through technique first" - what's next, expecting people to learn how to drive before buying a car?

[stoopicus]

Seek out artist you love to listen to them, Try to emulate them through technique first. Then seek out the best guitar/amp which reflects the tone you want to embrace and finally pour yourself into what you have.

Good advice that is at odds with way too many people on guitar forums. "Emulate them through technique first" - what's next, expecting people to learn how to drive before buying a car?

Yup agreed, technique first always.

Guitar hero GAS is nice for the 5150 used market though

[Uncle E]

When I was a 16 year old aspiring blues player, my two heroes were Albert King (played a solid state Acoustic amp that you can probably buy for $200 now) and SRV (played Dumble’s). Anything goes!

[Jimmy34742]

Maybe that's it: I need a Strat guru to accompany me to a store as a sanity check. I mean, I like so much Strat sounds and performances recorded over the past 70 years that it doesn't make sense to conclude "great, but just not for me."

There are many Strat-shaped guitars that address your needs, just not from Fender. You can get all the things you're looking for from Suhr, Musicman, PRS, Ibanez, or a custom Warmoth build.

I admit it's the Strat-y essence thing for me at this point. I've had a few Schecter production guitars, and quite frankly, I thought they sounded and played like everything I'd want from a guitar, just without the fetish-y mojo of a Strat.

The best guitar I've ever owned was an Alembic Tribute. It played like butter and looked like a piece of jewelry---which made me so fearful of dinging it, I was relieved to let it go. Also, no upper horn, so it was an ergonomic non-starter for me. I went so far as to contact Alembic about a custom-shaped Tribute, which they were happy to do, but the price my god

[Uncle E]

No mojo from Leo's other companies, Music Man and G&L? Also, FWIW, John Suhr was the Fender Custom Shop Senior Master Builder. The best strat I've owned was a Suhr.

[stoopicus]

No mojo from Leo's other companies, Music Man and G&L? Also, FWIW, John Suhr was the Fender Custom Shop Senior Master Builder. The best strat I've owned was a Suhr.

Leo’s companies definitely got better over time. Car analogies are silly but I actually like the Ford analogy I have heard here:

Fender is the Ford Mustang of guitars
MusicMan is the Shelby Cobra of guitars
G&L is the Ford GT40 of guitars (in, of course, Gulf Racing livery )

All cool for their own reasons but with a definite progression

[tapper mike]

No mojo from Leo's other companies, Music Man and G&L? Also, FWIW, John Suhr was the Fender Custom Shop Senior Master Builder. The best strat I've owned was a Suhr.

Suhr's always seem to have an air of sophistication to my ears. G&L's seemed to have more gutsy punch.

The only MusicMan/Ernie Ball that rocked my world was Alvin Lee's
That guitar shot my dog, called me late for super and I still can't say a bad thing about it.

[Uncle E]

How can he shred like that without neck tats?