Comment by frankfrank13

5 hours ago

Because strats sell. Oddly shaped guitars don't, or at least not for a long time, and would never break into the top 10 best selling guitar shapes.

17 comments

frankfrank13

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codedokode  5 hours ago

To be fair there is nothing in the shape that makes it sound better than other guitars; so it is not like those modem chip makers or video codec developers that patent the only optimal way to achieve the goal and prevent anybody from competing. Fender does not prevent anyone from making a better guitar. So I do not like copying. It would be better if everyone used their own unique shape rather than something from 50s.

  • duped  4 hours ago

    The argument has nothing to do with the sound. A strat style guitar is characterized by:

    - Flat top

    - Solid body, typically softer/lighter woods

    - Bolt-on neck (as opposed to set or through-body)

    - Double cutout (as opposed to single/no cutout, V, or other irregular shaped necks) with a longer cutout on top compared to the bottom

    - Carved cavity in the top of the body

    - "Loaded" pickguard (electronics mounted to it, instead of the body)

    - Straight jack mounted into the pickguard

    - "Tummy tuck" carved in the back

    - Fat/flat shaped bottom of the body like a tele, as opposed to rounded like an LP.

    All of these are functional properties of the guitar that have tradeoffs and benefits compared to other designs.

    You can have two strats sound completely different but look identical to the untrained eye and the reason for preferring the style has a lot to do with the weight of the instrument and how that weight is distributed when playing standing, and how the body fits in your hands/arms and against your body. There's an argument to be made that the strat is near optimal for comfort in playing.

    If you look at competing designs that (PRS McCarty, Ibanez, Schecter, Gretsch - basically anyone) the specific curves may be different but they all look like a Strat because it's genuinely hard to design a different body that feels the same.

    The St Vincent signature is one style that I think needs to get more popular but it's not for everyone.

codedokode  5 hours ago

But I think people who want to buy a strat, would prefer to buy a Fender strat and not a cheaper copy that has the same shape but might sound worse?

I personally do not like the price though.

  • _kblcuk_  5 hours ago

    OTH people who want to buy strat would prefer to buy "strat with all inherited problems already fixed", be it PRS silver sky, or any boutique brand like LSL / Sandberg / Suhr / Tom Anderson.

    • dofm  4 hours ago

      I don't play electric guitar (fretted, anyway) at the moment, and I think John Mayer is very beige, but the Silver Sky SE is a really good guitar. They fixed a lot of stuff, and the lower cutaway is really nicely done.

  • ingvay7  1 hour ago

    A lot of it is also the history associated with all the strat cats from the 1950s onwards and really good marketing by fender, you're buying a real strat because you want to be in that company (Buddy Holly to Gilmour etc). I recall only wanting a strat when i was in my wannabe-yngwie phase. nothing else would fit.

  • BigTTYGothGF  4 hours ago

    > would prefer to buy a Fender strat

    I don't think that's true at all. A strat ("strat style" or "s-style") is a shape and configuration. Many of the non-Fender strats are perfectly fine guitars (I have one) from major manufacturers like Ibanez, ESR, Jackson, and others. See forex: https://www.sweetwater.com/c589--S_style--Electric_Guitars

    • codedokode  4 hours ago

      Those mostly do not look like copies; they have slightly different shape, the jack is located in a different place, Ibanez has shaper horns, the pickups are different, many do not have a pickguard. However, PRS Silver Sky looks somewhat close to the original to me, although it has a different headstock.

      What I meant by "copy" is when it looks exactly the same.

      1 reply →

  • wavesplash  5 hours ago

    Fender makes a whole series of Strats at different price points. The challenge is even at the high end Fender has inconsistent QA, so the 'knockoffs' are sometimes way better quality/consistency. See this video for more info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU7RUpkXsV0

    • LocalH  4 hours ago

      Can't compete on quality, so compete by attempting to use the courts to bludgeon your competitors. A tale as old as capitalism

  • mirsadm  4 hours ago

    I'm looking at buying one now and as far as I can tell Fender seems to make shoddy quality instruments these days. I see a lot of recommendations for PRS and others.