what's the difference btw a Fender Stratocaster & Telecaster?

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Hello there,

The Tele is the older of the two. It has a single cut away body and two single coil pickups. The neck is the Fender 25 1/2 inch scale. But the profile is vintage V and the fretboard has a 7 1/4 inch radius. The two single coils are not like the single coils later designed for the Strat. The bridge pickup has a brass plate on the bottom that gives it the distinctive Tele sound. The bridge pickup is reverse wound with respect to the neck pickup. It has a 3 way selector switch and you get a humbucking pickup with both pickups are played. The Tele weights more because it has smaller cavities. It also has a string through fixed bridge which adds to its distinct sound and gives it better sustain than the Strat.

The Strat was desiged slightly after the Tele. It has a double cut away body. It also is the Fender scale of 25 1/2 inches. Originally it had the vintage V neck profile and the 7 1/4 inch fretboard radius. That changed within a few years. During the classic 60s Strats, the neck had a C profile and a 9 1/2 inch radius. That made the neck feel thinner than the neck of the Tele. Also the slightly flatter fretboard was better for lead work. The Strat has 3 single coils with the mid pickup reverse wound with respect to both the neck and the bridge pickup. So in position 2 and 4 of the selector switch, you are playing the mid pickup with either the bridge or neck pickup and have a humbucking tone. The Strat has a tremolo bridge. That allows the player to bend the pitch of all the strings. But the large cavity to accomodate the tremolo springs does reduce the guitar's sustain.

Of course there are so many variations over the years. Teles with 3 pickups. Teles with Strat profile and radius necks. Teles with Strat headstocks. Teles with a bigsby tremolo bridge. Strats with a Tele headstock. Strats with only 2 pickups. Either guitar may have a humbucker in either the bridge or the neck position in some models. So the lines have blurred over the years and now there is very little distinction.

The bit about George Harrison's Gretsch is a bit of a red herring. Nothing really to do with the question. Strange you prefer his Gretsch sound. He did not like it and made making comments about trying to play rock on a Gretsch. Those were negative by implication. He did not think that was a rock sound. In the early years he played more different guitars than either of the other two. He played a Rickenbacker a lot. He always wanted a Strat. He and John each got a sonic blue one in 1965. After a bit, he hand painted his Strat and it became known as Rocky. He played the Strat until Fender gave him a specially made rosewood Tele. He used the Tele on the roof top concert.

Later,...Show more

Why are you asking about a Stratocaster but then mention Harrison's Gretsch?!

Anyways, you can look at the two and see some obvious differences in design. These all lead to a difference in sound as well. The best way for you to familiarize yourself with these differences is to just play them each yourself. No matter how well I explained things, it probably wouldn't take hold in your head until you actually played each instrument.

Michael Brecker and David Sanborn are both credited on the Born To Run album. Brecker played tenor sax and Sanborn played baritone. That solo is all Clemons though, I don't know why anyone would question that. It's his style 100%

I've never seen the E Street Band live, always wanted to though, but with Clemons dead I'm not so eager anymore....Show more