Guitar: Is a Stratocaster Good for a Beginner?

What can we say about this incredible guitar that has not been already said? 

This piece of wood has set the roots of vintage sound and is pretty desired by loads of musicians. 

Today we will be breaking up some relevant aspects of Stratocaster guitars, are they as versatile as thought? 

Could be a good electric guitar for beginners? 

Here you have the answer.

Stratocasters are a very good option for novice players, they provide a comfortable experience while playing due to their design. Their body-contoured shape plus their thin neck and their light weight make this instrument a nice choice for beginners.

You may think that you already know everything related to this guitar but let me tell you that you will be surprised about how much you can do with a strat. 

Through this article, I will try to explain every aspect that makes a Stratocaster perfect for first learners, if you feel curious about it, continue reading and in the end, it will be your new expertise area.

What makes a good beginner guitar?

When thinking of a good beginner instrument people usually focus on price and although it is a relevant issue, not everything has to do with how much you will spend. 

Actually, comfort, playability, and fun are three of the main aspects to bear in mind in this particular situation. 

It is important to feel comfortable while playing, if the opposite happens, you will feel easily frustrated and that is the beginner’s worst enemy. 

Therefore, in short, a perfect first-learner guitar should fit the player’s comfort and be simple to understand (no coil-splitting, phase shifting, or complicated mods).

Are Stratocasters good for beginners?

Up to this point, every guitar player knows the Stratocaster, a legend among electric guitars and known for its broad versatility. 

Because of their config, Stratocasters offer a wide variety of tones, the combination of three single-coil pickups along with the body makes this interesting feature possible.

Despite presenting such a great number of tonal options, strats could be a bit tricky for inexperienced guitarists. 

Although they have a bright clean sound, the interference common in these sorts of pickups may be a pain in the neck if you don’t know how to deal with them.

In addition, the five-position pickup selector tends to trip beginners up plus the tone pots could be confusing as well. 

Strats present a master volume knob but two-tone potentiometers, generally, a one-pot tone controls the neck pickup whereas the other one is in charge of the middle or the bridge pickup, one or the other.

Furthermore, strats come in a wide variety of costs, their options start at a really low price. Therefore, you could get an electric guitar without spending a great amount of money.

Due to those settings, I would say that Stratocasters are really good for starters, and maybe the best option. Therefore, if you put in the hours and get to know your instrument, it could be a great guitar for beginners.

Are Stratocasters easy to play?

This famous Fender model is not hard to play with at all, the shape of its body makes playing it quite comfortable, it doesn’t matter if you are standing or sitting down. 

Strats present a solid thin body with a contoured shape in the upper section of the back, they are not too heavy to lift and have a thin neck which provides certain freedom along the fretboard.

Although the double-cutaway body could be kind of uncomfortable for some players, this characteristic design allows the guitarist to have free access to the higher frets. 

Having said that, I’d like to point out that playing a Stratocaster will be easy, it doesn’t take long to get accustomed and for sure you will get the hang of it.

What music genres are Stratocasters good for?

Stratocasters have been chosen a lot by most guitar players, is an amazing instrument that continues to evolve as the years pass by. 

Nowadays is still one of the preferred models and that may be thanks to its versatility, as mentioned earlier, Stratocasters are very malleable in terms of tone and they suit great to extended music genres.

Styles like Blues usually present crispy, overdriven tones plus slow rhythmic jams, playing emotive licks. 

Strats are perfect for that, what is more, they provide the option to customize your tone by using the diverse pickup positions and the tone controls. 

In the case of “brighter” genres like indie or dream-pop, the Stratocaster will also be very useful, as these kinds of guitars provide a bright presence in the high frequencies, they are pretty desired by indie players. 

That’s because of the single-coil pickups, they are wonderful for shimmering, ambient guitar tones.

Strat clean tones are warm as hell, they produce a sweet, powerful output that makes pop players choose it. 

Bruno Mars is the perfect example, he has been seen playing strats in many of his songs.

If we are talking about this gorgeous guitar, we cannot omit the punchy, quacky output that is a must for great funky tones.

Although is something that most players know, I won’t take it for granted, strats are perfect to play funk, and their attack and popping sound are excellent to achieve that sweet groove while strumming the strings.

In addition, we have seen many eminences who selected this guitar as their number one, for instance, that left-handed guy from the sixties called Jimi Hendrix, the amazing Eric Clapton, Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits, or even the legend David Gilmore.

As you may notice, strat is intended to be adapted to almost every music genre, you could see this electric guitar in jazz, reggae, or even punk. 

With the proper settings, a strat could fit nearly all styles, its design offers extended tonal flexibility.

Does it matter what brand of Stratocaster or model you choose?

Fender is the brand that created and popularized the Stratocasters back in the 60s, due to its fame, many other companies designed their own strat models, that’s why nowadays we can find a lot of different types of Stratocasters in the market. 

Currently, Fender is a renowned company so their instruments are usually high-ended pieces and that is reflected in their cost.

Fortunately, there exists a brand called Squier which Fender owns; Squier instruments are the same as Fender’s but of a lower quality, which makes them cheaper. 

Many other brands also produce their models and are quite faithful as well.

However, it doesn’t matter what brand or model you choose, of course, there must be variations from model to model and company to company but, in the end, the designs are very similar. 

The rule of thumb is that the config must be three single-coil pickups which is the standard for a strat.