Can you hear a song and immediately tell if someone is playing a Strat, Jazz or Jag? Especially when drenched in reverb and tremolo?

I myself cannot , but that’s probably because im only an intermediate player at best (3-4 years with serious prac)

How much of deciding which of those 3 guitars comes down to sound , playability and just plain looks?

Could someone please define the sonic characteristics of each and how they’re different from each other?

Also, why didn’t Teles become more popular in the Surf scene? Was it considered uncool to be seen with one?

I’d image it would have been more popular because of how twangy it is…

Thanks!

Last edited: Jul 15, 2023 23:00:11

synchro wrote:

Interesting question.

I would say that of the three guitars you mention, the Jazzmaster would be the one I would be most likely to be able to identify, because, at least to my ear, there’s a little less focus to the notes. That’s not a criticism, in any form, but just how I differentiate the sound. Jaguars are very focused and the highs are intense. Strats, to my ear, have a different attack and sustain due to the bridge design. But any of the three are easily capable of a great Surf sound, and if I tried to pick out which was used on a given Surf recording, I wouldn’t wager much money on my picks.

I’ve wondered the same thing about Teles, until recently, when I tried using a Tele on a Surf recording and found that I didn’t particularly care for how it turned out. Teles did show up on some instrumentals, such as Hawaii 5-0, but when I was experimenting on my recording, the Jaguar just seemed the better choice. The trem’ was part of it, but there was something intangible, as well. I wouldn’t hesitate to play a Tele on a Surf gig, but I’d probably play a Gretsch, or my Jaguar.

Interestingly, if I invert the question, I find that my Jaguar does great for Country leads. I love Telecasters, and have three of them, but the Jaguar really handles Country leads, very well.

thanks for the response!

good summary of each guitar…

i did not know that Hawaii 5O was played with a Tele?!

There was a big discussion with sound samples for blind comparison made by one of the members.
The answer is - no, you mostly can not.

Forum is really full of these wonders with Search feature used)

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin

weird_oh84 wrote:

Samurai wrote:

There was a big discussion with sound samples for blind comparison made by one of the members.
The answer is - no, you mostly can not.

Forum is really full of these wonders with Search feature used)

thanks for the reply!

I’ve been looking for such discussions for a bit now but can’t seem to find them….

that’s interesting about the blind testing… almost how some YouTube channels will blind test a 400 dollar Squier against a 3000k Custom Shop and they sound identical lol

https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/29801/

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin

weird_oh84 wrote:

Samurai wrote:

weird_oh84 wrote:

Samurai wrote:

There was a big discussion with sound samples for blind comparison made by one of the members.
The answer is - no, you mostly can not.

Forum is really full of these wonders with Search feature used)

thanks for the reply!

I’ve been looking for such discussions for a bit now but can’t seem to find them….

that’s interesting about the blind testing… almost how some YouTube channels will blind test a 400 dollar Squier against a 3000k Custom Shop and they sound identical lol

https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/29801/

Hey thanks for that!

man, it’s shocking how similar that all sound!

there are subtle differences to be sure , but they all sound great and get the job done…. None is “better” sounding than the other….

Thanks again!

Exactly. In the band mix the difference may be even more obscure. It makes difference for player, not for listener mostly)

Waikiki Makaki surf-rock band from Ukraine

https://linktr.ee/waikikimakaki

Lost Diver

https://lostdiver.bandcamp.com
https://soundcloud.com/vitaly-yakushin

Thanks for posting the test, Vitaly. I got ZERO right, including having been certain that #2 was Jazzmaster, when in fact, it was a Strat.

I think this well illustrates just how close to impossible it is to nail down a sound like that. I thought that all of the guitars sounded great, there wasn’t one that didn’t deliver a great Surf sound. This also, IMHO, serves to illustrate how much influence the player has on the sound. One player, means that the same technique will be employed, from guitar to guitar.

weird_oh84 wrote:

synchro wrote:

Interesting question.

I would say that of the three guitars you mention, the Jazzmaster would be the one I would be most likely to be able to identify, because, at least to my ear, there’s a little less focus to the notes. That’s not a criticism, in any form, but just how I differentiate the sound. Jaguars are very focused and the highs are intense. Strats, to my ear, have a different attack and sustain due to the bridge design. But any of the three are easily capable of a great Surf sound, and if I tried to pick out which was used on a given Surf recording, I wouldn’t wager much money on my picks.

I’ve wondered the same thing about Teles, until recently, when I tried using a Tele on a Surf recording and found that I didn’t particularly care for how it turned out. Teles did show up on some instrumentals, such as Hawaii 5-0, but when I was experimenting on my recording, the Jaguar just seemed the better choice. The trem’ was part of it, but there was something intangible, as well. I wouldn’t hesitate to play a Tele on a Surf gig, but I’d probably play a Gretsch, or my Jaguar.

Interestingly, if I invert the question, I find that my Jaguar does great for Country leads. I love Telecasters, and have three of them, but the Jaguar really handles Country leads, very well.

Interestingly enough, my favorite guitar to use is a G&L Comanche which is basically a Strat with Precision Bass style pickups , leaning toward a trebly , crisp sound.

I had a MIM Strat that was ok but muddy as hell…maybe I would have kept it had I swapped the pups.

What Gretschs do you like for Instro Surf ? I’ve been considering getting one but am afraid of the pups being too dark & muddy

I use either a G6122-1959 Country Gentleman with a Supertron in the bridge position, a G6119-1959 with a DuoTron in the bridge position or a G6119-62T with a Supertron in the bridge position. The Filtertron/Supertron pickup family has a tight, focused sound and can give some strong highs. The Blacktop Filtertrons have a bi more midrange, and the Broadtrons will be pretty dark.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

I have an AV65 strat with that mod and it's really jaguar/jm-ey. It kind of sits in between the two, in barely noticeable ways. And I can only tell when I hear them right next to each other. The strat is a little warmer and more full, but also brighter than the JM. The body shape however continues to fight me so I never play it. I guess I just have it because I feel like everyone should have a strat.

Daniel Deathtide

Samurai wrote:

DeathTide wrote:

Samurai wrote:

https://surfguitar101.com/forums/topic/29801/

This was before my time here and I am really thankful that you reposted it! I got the Jag and JM switched around, but I got the other two. If the Strat had the mod where you could only have the bridge and neck pickups, I bet I would have not been able to distinguish that from an offset.

In my opinion, jazzmastera sound like ancient wood, jaguars sound like bright new wood, stratocasters sound like bright maple syrup, and teles are twang city. The Moserite is a bold iron clean tone.

Yep, my American Pro II strat has stock neck bridge mod and it’s really Jaguar like

From what I understand, Strat pickups and Jaguar pickups are fairly similar. The metal claws on Jaguar pickups may have an effect, but there’s a lot of similarity.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

edwardsand wrote:

One of these days, I'm going to do a direct comparison of Jag and Strat pickups on my 2x6 plank tester guitar to see just how different/similar they are and whether the claw has a big effect. But I'll have to acquire a couple of pickups that are suitable in terms of having vintage specs and similar resistance. Like I need another project...

I would suspect that the claw slightly increases inductive reactance, but I doubt that it’s a huge factor.

The artist formerly known as: Synchro

When Surf Guitar is outlawed only outlaws will play Surf Guitar.

I'm mainly a Strat guy, but do own other models... however, even within the Strat Universe, you can get a difference in tone (more than subtle) depending on the pickups.