T or Strat Type Body

Things are quiet on the forum and that causes me to think about things. I have been a Strat type body guy since I got serious about this. I know that most of you are very definitive in your preference. I think that I have become a crossover. Jos is an ASAT guy (T type) and Boogie Bill is a hard core Legacy guy (Strat type). In 2006 I purchased a 2004 American Deluxe Strat (Fender} and started playing guitar again. Less than a year later I purchased an American Deluxe Tele and immediately installed a Bigsby. Now I had a pair and I thought I was set. Then I get another American Deluxe Strat and actually bought several Strats in a year. Then I picked up another American Tele used. It is at that point that I find out about G&L. I traded that used Tele for an American Legacy Hss in Transparent Red and a beauty it was. Now I start getting the G&L GAS. So I see this ASAT Z-3 Bigsby and it had a new home and I sold my American Deluxe Bigsby to buy that, something I never thought I would part with but the Z-3 was Transparent RED, big problem for me and a beautiful Samp Ash grain. So the Tele was down the road. .

To make a long story short, I now have 12 Strat/Legacy type guitars and 11 Tele/ASAT type. I like a trem and never thought further about it. I now find my self picking up the ASATs when I play and have discovered that they are my favorites, especially with the back contour (belly cut). The new blinger has the belly cut and it is sweet. So, are there any of you out there who have experienced this or are not sure which you prefer? I can't really explain why this has happened but as I become more diverse/proficient- never said great- I think that ASAT tone is part of the reason but I usually play them unplugged. I have recently rediscovered the ASAT Classic S and it is a winner. I had not picked it up more than a dozen times in two years. So the Legacys get looked at more and the ASATs are getting played. This is a mystery-- Darwin Keep in mind that I am also a mixed up lefty and play right handed.

Great story Darwin. I wasn't a T-type guy all my life. As a teenager I always thought I was an LP guy. Then I played my friends Strat for a while and was blown away by its sounds. But the first moment I picked up a T-type in a store, an ASAT Classic mind you, it was evident right away that this was a workhorse. About every style you can play with that thing and you'll sound good. Sure for creaminess an LP still sounds better and for some sounds, think surf or blues, the quack of the in-between pickup settings on a Strat are essential. And that is why these guitars get used in those situation and I still regularly play my Legacy models and PRS 245 Sunburst. But at least in my opinion, these models are slightly more restricted to particular sonic niches. Of course they can be modified to cover other areas but if one want to go that way, then an ASAT Deluxe or 25th Anniversary is good competition for an LP and for instance my pre-BBE ASAT III would give about any Strat a run for its money (at least if you can do without dive-bombing). And so it got to be ...

- Jos

I don't have a preference, but I don't like pointiness to my guitars typically. Stay tuned for a strat style guitar, probably Thursday, everything your caged trans white strat isn't I assure you. What matters to me is fret access and contouring. My ASAT has belly AND arm cuts on it, and it is comfy as a really comfy thing. The one thing I have never warmed up to is carved tops. I like flat tops. I like bridges that don't sit the strings off the body and aren't pointy on the hands (ToMS = out for either reason depending on the company). I do very much enjoy trems, but nothing wrong with hard tails either.

I like T-shapes and S-shapes, but T- shapes are far easier to play after a few beers. There's no annoying whammy bar to get in the way (unless you've dropped in a Bigsby), and there's fewer tone knobs and pickup combinations to worry about. That leaves you free to concentrate on playing and drinking your next beer.....

Maybe that's why you'r gravitating more to T- types these days Darwin?

Good points guys, The T type is simpler, strings are not raised and simple controls and no whammy in the way. Philby also makes a strong case!!-- Darwin

I started out with S shapes... and still love them, but a couple of years ago I bought a cheap T copy & It's become my most played practice guitar. Simpler design makes me concentrate on the playing more than fidding around with the extra pickups & trem.

Well, I've had them all, or most of them I guess. My first electric was a Fender Duo-Sonic, then I managed to pickup a few month-old Telecaster Thinline in late 1968. That guitar was stolen a few years later. I replaced it with a Univox LP copy, then I got my ES-150DCN and started building a collection. I found a ES-330TDC, and then a 1960 Strat, and then a Les Paul Special Re-issue in 1975. I finally found the Music Man Sabre in 1978-79; bought the second one in 1985 and promptly modified it with a third pickup for more strat-ish tones. I think I got my first G&L around 1993, an S-500--then a Legacy a few years later. Only the Sabres remain from the guitar collecting of the 70's.

Funny, I've never owned an SG or any pointy guitar of any kind. Never owned a Ric, but used a friend's Gretsch for a few months after my gear was stolen in 1972 (Great guitar, wish I'd bought it from him.) That's my only experience with anything resembling a jazz box.

Lately, I've gotten into Les Pauls again of the humbucking variety. I had a 335 clone since about 1995, and finally got a "real" one in 2005. But a Legacy-bodied (strat) is my Number One, and probably always will be. I love the ergonomics, the control layout, and how the guitar just fits me. I did have an ASAT Classic SH for a while, but couldn't handle the 7.5" radius anymore. I have my ASAt Deluxe with the DF Vibrato and a 12" radius neck; but I don't see myself acquiring any more T-bodies. I think about it from time to time, but a Legacy is what floats my boat. (And a Paul, and a 335.)

Bill