How do you like your strats?

[LoganD89]

looking to get a strat soon, never had one and would like some opinions. What pup configuration do you like better s-s-s or h-s-s and why? as far as music i play a little bit of everything from blues to metal.

 

[nickname009]

go HSS. You'll cover any style of music with that setup, I made my first mistake buying a strat copy with SSS when I first started out and regretting it. Ended up down the road spending more money, modding, then getting a new guitar etc.

It's much better to get a guitar that's ready to go, you don't want a fixer-upper from the start unless you're wanting to experiment.

 

[Dingleberries]

SSS for me, I only put humbuckers in super strat guitars. Humbuckers in a strat or tele are pointless for my tastes.

 

[neilli]

I need a bridge humbucker, so it's h/s/s all the way for me. I've had stacked and hotrail types and they just don't cut it for me..

 

[lespaul6]

HSS for me.. and I like to mod e.g. I like 12" radius necks and locking tuners, trem stopper on the bridge

 

[Dimebag11]

If you're gonna get a strat I'd go SSS.

 

[shane159]

SSS in a Strat for me.

 

[Anonymous]

Depends what you want to do with it
I need a tone pot for the bridge pickup if I go SSS

 

[mniel8195]

i like hss or hsh. It can be hard not having a humbucker in the neck and you can split them and get pretty good results.

 

[cardinal]

I really like S-S-S Strats, but if you're looking for a jack-of-all trades guitar, I don't think it gets much better than an H-S-S or H-S-H Strat with coil taps and the like. If I could have only one, I'd opt for H-S-H and some fancy wiring scheme to access various coil taps and pickup combos.

 

[kasperjensen]

In a case, in the shed.

I don't know why, but I have been trying to get away from it for ages. Got loads of other guitars, yet I just keep coming back to it.

Specifically, it's my FMT 60th Anni. Strat with the HSS configuration. I have almost reached the point of just admitting to myself that I am a Strat-Guy. I give it 24 months before I buy a TS and a Fender Twin.

 

[sandman]

only one solution...get a sss strat and an hss strat !

 

[rlord1974]

It's not really a Strat unless it is S-S-S.

 

[mrZen]

I make them look like this...

I like IT!!
For me HSS all the way

 

[barnesjd]

(...) i play a little bit of everything from blues to metal.

This to me suggests you want HSS or even HSH. I've always been a Gibson guy, and I bought a sweet American SSS. I felt like some of the folks here in that only proper Strats are SSS. Well, in that case I hate Strats. I kept it only a few months before I sold it and bought my Taylor. I hope to get an HSH hardtail in the near future. Maybe it's not a proper Strat, but at least it'll have balls I need.

 

[carlygtr]

A Strat, IMO, is sss. That said I hate when the bridge pu is weak and anemic, which most stock Strats are. I like the bridge PU hotter than the other two.

 

[peterc52]

 

[Rdodson]

The Eric Johnson Strat has a hotter, yet still Strat-sounding, bridge pickup that holds up well to higher gain. Plus, it has a Gibson radius and frets. Still very much a Strat, but very versatile and easy-playing. You can find them used for $1200-$1400 and they hold their value there. While the looks of the rosewood version bother some, the tone and feel on those is even better IMHO than the original maple neck version.

 

[Anonymous]

The Eric Johnson Strat has a hotter, yet still Strat-sounding, bridge pickup that holds up well to higher gain. Plus, it has a Gibson radius and frets. Still very much a Strat, but very versatile and easy-playing. You can find them used for $1200-$1400 and they hold their value there. While the looks of the rosewood version bother some, the tone and feel on those is even better IMHO than the original maple neck version.

Damn, I really need to try mine out. Got it in a trade and haven't opened the case yet

See the tonewood thread for dicussion on rosewood vs maple

 

[se7en]

The Eric Johnson Strat has a hotter, yet still Strat-sounding, bridge pickup that holds up well to higher gain. Plus, it has a Gibson radius and frets. Still very much a Strat, but very versatile and easy-playing. You can find them used for $1200-$1400 and they hold their value there. While the looks of the rosewood version bother some, the tone and feel on those is even better IMHO than the original maple neck version.

I have the maple EJ strat and the bridge pickup really isn't that hot. 6.4K