The dreaded Fender Strat knob inadvertently moving.....

Riffjack846 said:
I've read on a few forums people having an issue with the Strat's volume knob being too close and hitting it at inopportune times so I figured I'd share my solution. If you are one of the people playing for 150 years and never had a problem...well good for you, but for me and apparently a lot of players it's a nuisance. Please note it only happens when I play my Fender Strat, and only when I'm quacking out double stop rhythms ala Jimi, Meyer, SRV, whatever. To remedy the problem I took some double sided carpet tape cut it in a circle a tad bit smaller diameter of my knob and wah lah. I had to stack a few pieces under the knob and no more volume knob moving and can't even tell when looking at the guitar. Peace-gigging forever.
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And Volume Swells?
 
Robert Herndon said:
Fenders are far easier to setup as they lack a truss rod cover. I like that.

I always add a bridge tone control and a treble bleed on Stratocasters. I feel as though they really benefit from these modifications.

I've played plenty of guitars in sessions over the years, but I just really could never warm up to the tone and feel of the 25.5" scale. The feel of the string tension and the sharp attack caused me to get rid of all my 25.5" guitars except YelloStrat.

Because my Stratocaster has a 1-3/4" neck, I typically use it only on studio recordings where lots of open chords are used, because it has much more room for my fingers. (Think of a 12 string strung with only 6)

Beyond that, I'm generally playing 24.75" guitars.

I think it's preference in many respects...and perhaps a bit of history too.

I tend to favor "big" sounds and Gibsons with Humbuckers have always appealed to me for those reasons. Listen to the difference between Randy Rhoads and when Bernie Torme took over for him in April, 1982 with a single-coil Stratocaster. The difference in tone is really something, and it wasnt a favorable thing either.

Some play the guitar made famous by a performer they admire or because it looks cool and even that's OK, but to me, it's the sound.

I recall what Angus Young said in a 1980's interview, “I liked the SGs because they were light. I tried Fenders but they were too heavy and they just didn’t have the balls. And I didn’t want to put on them DiMarzios because then everyone sounds the same. It’s like you’re listening to the guy down the street. And I liked the hard sound of the Gibson.”
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Angus also played a LP in the past and determined it was too big and heavy for him.
I can't imagine him using all that energy and lugging a 10+ lb LP around the stage for 2 hours.
 
Robert Herndon said:
I hate narrow, thin necks and necks with a radically curved radius...that's typical of early Fenders.

I really dislike the noise and twang from the single coils and the unnatural "bright snap" of the 25.5" scale.

While I can play on them, I don't play real confidently and I struggle with open chords on those narrow necks.
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If I recall, somewhere in the 60's to 70's Gibsons, like say Alex Lifeson's ES 335 type and as I can attest, my '76 SG, 1 9/16 Nut widths became prevalent. Much like you, @Robert Herndon, I like my necks wide and thick. If I can find Strats or Gib and even PRS style guitars with 1 5/8 to 1 11/16 and wider, I am happy.

Now back on track of the Strat controls,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, How hard is it to strum slightly elsewhere?
 
chilipeppermaniac said:
If I recall, somewhere in the 60's to 70's Gibsons, like say Alex Lifeson's ES 335 type and as I can attest, my '76 SG, 1 9/16 Nut widths became prevalent. Much like you, @Robert Herndon, I like my necks wide and thick. If I can find Strats or Gib and even PRS style guitars with 1 5/8 to 1 11/16 and wider, I am happy.

Now back on track of the Strat controls,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, How hard is it to strum slightly elsewhere?
Click to expand...

I don't have any problems with a thin neck but if they are too narrow I can't play them at all.

As for the Strat, I figure If I have to adapt to a less-than-well-thought-out control layout in order to play it then its really not going to be a long-term solution for me. And I've owned a ton of Strats over the years, even played the exclusively for a while when they were the only thing that would fit for a project I was doing.
 
gball said:
I don't have any problems with a thin neck but if they are too narrow I can't play them at all.

As for the Strat, I figure If I have to adapt to a less-than-well-thought-out control layout in order to play it then its really not going to be a long-term solution for me. And I've owned a ton of Strats over the years, even played the exclusively for a while when they were the only thing that would fit for a project I was doing.
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Bro gball, I was kind of lucky even in my unlucky ( selling my 1st guitar LP)

When I wound up with my first " replacement guitar" it was a 1991 Am Std Gun Metal Blue Strat. My next few guitars were a Black Strat and a Sunburst. So, in some respects, I almost started from scratch as a Strat man. Then as time passed, I got a Green LP Studio but sold it not long after as I hoped to find another LP Std instead. As fate would have it, I'd get a zillion other guitars that came and went until I wound up with my Epiphone LP Std which I'd play for 10 years before finding another 1979 LP STD (The KM in my Avatar)

From ES 335 ( EPI DOT versions) to ES 135 Memphis version, to 3 of my 4 SG's, I have the Gib 4 knob layout in my muscle memory again.
However, a 3 knob layout is also in muscle memory with my 2 Black Strats and even my 3 knob SG ( first SG I ever got)

I wonder how many Strat players would fuss about the layout on my Black SG?

https://imgur.com/kzURwk3
 
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