Hardtail hard sale?

[Cogswell]

When a guy is buying a Hardtail, it's all "Yeah, there's not a lot of 'em because everybody wants a trem model! ...I can't GIVE those away."
But when he are selling one, it's all "Tone for DAYS, baby! Listen to it ring! That's the tone right there! ...you know there are fewer Hardtails than trem models, right? That makes it rare..."
LOL

 

[Stoj]

My favorite Strat ... 62 Dakota Red hardtail:

Tom this DR HT is a beauty :XRE :XRE :dude: :salude

 

[buckaroo]

With the floating bridge set up for tremolo action, if you break a string the whole guitar goes out of tune. :ganz

I prefer hardtails, otherwise, I tighten down the trem.

I agree with this.

 

[roadrunner]

Great, we're having a love-in. Wonderful, I get to be the naysayer, haha.

No love for hardtail's here. To me, a big part of the sound of a good Strat is the springs in the back of it. I've played quite a few ht's, found a few from original owners and couldn't sell 'em fast enough, they always reminded me of a kind of lame sounding Tele. I just love the sound that the springs give, it's like having built in reverb in the guitar, can't get that with a ht.

And they were a bit of a hard sell back in the day, like Esquires vis a vis Teles.
I never understood the thing with Teles and Esquires either, the Esquire's such a better guitar.

 

[frankjohnson]

I love a good hardtail - one day I will have one too! For now, I have a EC with blocked trem - not the same - but I like it!

 

[Big Al]

If I want a hard tail tone I use a Tele. I want a Strat to be a Strat. For me it is with whambulations and single coils. There is a difference in sound. I have a couple of Strats that are "Hardtails" because I have all 5 springs in it and the bridge sits flush to the body. I rarely break strings, but I do this on those Strats because it still has that airy, spring tone. The tremolo Block that the strings go through also have an effect on tone.

I have played a lot of hard tail Strats and they play and sound OK, I just like the tone with the Whammy on. My friend Tommy Bianchi had a killer '55 hard tail. He loved it and I could see why. They do offer a different tone option, and the sleek comfort of the Strat body. But, IMO and just for me, I value them less than a comparable Whammy equipped Strat.

It was always a hard sell for me.

 

[Wilko]

Big Al is the man.

That's it in a nutsack. la:hee

 

[sikoniko]

Ive never played a hard tail strat, but I can't imagine playing one and not have the bar either.

Btw, walked by Joes bus today. Couldn't make out what music was playing but someone was rockin out inside. Hope you had a good night and enjoyed your stay in Jacksonville, fl Joe.

 

[CDaughtry]

I live in the "in between" position on a Strat, and on a good hardtail, that sound is glorious.:jim

 

[Xpensive Wino]

Btw, walked by Joes bus today. Couldn't make out what music was playing but someone was rockin out inside. Hope you had a good night and enjoyed your stay in Jacksonville, fl Joe.

Jacksonville, Fl certainly enjoyed Joe, as I will attest.

 

[yeti]

I live in the "in between" position on a Strat, and on a good hardtail, that sound is glorious.:jim

Just thought I should ad yet another 180 degree out opinion in this great thread. Not trying to antagonize, just adding flavor...
I despise the in-between positions on any strat, the so-called lisp, it's such an overused and boring cliche sound and I can get a better lisp with my ES-5 any day. The true beauty of a strat is in the original 3 positions , well, I should say 2 out of three, the bridge PU is pretty much worthless UNLESS it's a hardtail.:salude

 

[JBLPplayer]

Yeti, how can you compare a ES-5 ( killer guitar) to a Stratocaster? It's like comparing a Volkswagen bus to Ferrari California. Different guitars entirely. And by the way I can listen to that solo on After Midnight all day long. Last time I plugged up my ES-5 it sounded like Stormy Monday which I can also listen to all day long ...it's just a very different flavor. All good...:dude:
Joe B

But just because they have three pickups doesn't mean anything.

 

[yeti]

Yeti, how can you compare a ES-5 ( killer guitar) to a Stratocaster? It's like comparing a Volkswagen bus to Ferrari California. Different guitars entirely. And by the way I can listen to that solo on After Midnight all day long. Last time I plugged up my ES-5 it sounded like Stormy Monday which I can also listen to all day long ...it's just a very different flavor. All good...:dude:
Joe B

But just because they have three pickups doesn't mean anything.

I too like to listen to old recordings with the in-between sounds, Clapton and Blackie, Rory, Mark, etc. My favorite in that department is actually Little Steven, circa 1982 with his Disciples of Soul, that's the sound that made me go out and buy a Strat and it's mostly bridge&middle-position. But that was 30 some years ago and by now I'm just tired of listening to anybody up and coming who uses that sound, it's a cliche IMO, but the guys who made it popular are still great. Sorry for the misunderstanding but when I plug in a Strat I use the middle PU and the neck because it sounds more pure, one PU, no phase cancelation. I saw this fantastic player in Nashville a while ago (Carco Clave, steel player by trade) and his '58 Strat in the middle position was just the best tone I've ever heard from a stratocaster.
Regarding the ES-5, mine really does a great Strat-like lisp but with more beef. Middle and bridge (OOP) up full and then add the neck (also OOP with the bridge) to right where it starts thinning out. But my favorite "Strat" these days is my $39.95 '61 Silvertone U1 (got to get in my plug for cheap guitars:hee) That's just the way I think about guitars, so yes, I have no problem comparing an ES-5 to a Strat....or a Silvertone. All good indeed...:dude:

 

[chuckNC]

Put me down for liking strats. With trems, even though I stick a couple extra springs in there and leave the whammy bar in the case. And put me down for actually liking the bridge pickup sound. Doesn't sound anything like a Lester, but sometimes that's a good thing. Variety is the spice of life. Too thin? Sometimes. But don't we all have a magic box we can stomp on to fix that? (Mine says "HIT IT!" right under the switch.)

As for the "quack" sounds, I liked 'em back in the '70's. I modded my first strat with 3 on/off switches so I could get them. Buddy Guy sounded great with Junior Wells on the Hoodoo Man Blues LP. EC made the sound popular with the rock crowd. And it was still novel....for a while.By the 80's Fender was putting 5-pos switches on their strats and everybody was getting that sound. All the time.

 

[Kim R]

There are many wonderful voices available from positions 2,4 on a Strat -all uncovered with twists of the tone and volume controls, changes in the rig, etc. (just like other electrics). Everything doesn't have to sound like quacking chihuahuas. The knobs.... Try the knobs :hank

Yeti... Voodoo Chile on a Switchmaster :hmm

 

[sikoniko]

Jacksonville, Fl certainly enjoyed Joe, as I will attest.

I know this is off topic.... Was it a good show? I called up Chip to see if he stopped in again. didn't happen this time. Last time Joe was in town, he stopped by Chips shop and they talked old guitars. Chip gave me one of Joe's picks.

I just can't justify paying that much for concert prices these days. I must have seen a couple hundred bands play/perform in my teens/early twenties when it was usually under $25 a ticket. It is my understanding that touring is the only way artists make any money so I can't fault them I guess. It just minimizes the live shows I see.

 

[sikoniko]

back on topic. I've heard/read different comments from people when comparing a hard tail strat to a trem version. I've read that clapton blocks his and never uses it, but prefers the trem over a hard-tail... and I've heard it does change the tone.

Can someone describe the differences and similarities?

I love a strat because it is so versatile. It sounds great straight into the amp and it takes pedals well. I hope to have a '55 one day to complement my '60. The neck shape on all of the '55s I have played have been perfect! A nice U shape all the way up the neck vs. The '54s I have played had a U shape at the 12th fret and a V at the first... The '56s I've played have been a hard V. I've only played a couple and I understand they vary, but the ones I have played have been pretty consistent.

 

[CDaughtry]

Just thought I should ad yet another 180 degree out opinion in this great thread. Not trying to antagonize, just adding flavor...

I would have been disappointed if you offered anything other than a diametrically opposed opinion to mine!:hee

 

[yeti]

Yeti... Voodoo Chile on a Switchmaster :hmm

Nah, too conventional...

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BTW, I wasn't talking switchmaster but the early ES-5, not sure how the switchmaster is wired.

 

[Texas Blues]

I reckon it was back in '94 that I saw Robert Cray @UM in Missoula. He was using 2 Matchless Combos back then, Chieftains I think. To me his sound is THE hardtail strat sound.

Wang bar? He don't need no stinkin' wang bar. Not with a monster vibrato like this!!

Have mercy Mr. Cray can play that 'thang!

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