A quarter of a century on from Winter NAMM 1995, when Fender first introduced Relic guitars to the world, factory ageing is still the topic most likely to set guitar forums and social media ablaze.ДЄlthough Relics have been both a huge Fender success story and enormously influential in the wider industry вЂ“ everything from effects pedals to capos can now be purchased with a distressed finish вЂ“ thereвЂ™s no doubt that a vocal minority in the guitar community prefers its wear and tear to be the result of years of hard gigging. You can't really go wrong and I would suggest you re-phrase the question to 'which of the two should i get first?' because some day you will probably have both.Forget Trump, Brexit and COVID-19. for some folks those quack positions are a corner stone of their sound, for others that tele bridge sound. So which is right for you? well, go play them and decide which 'trick' you can't live without.

but to be honest i've seen both necks on both bodies, so thats pretty much 'get the neck you want' on either side. Necks! i want to say that strats are usually 'faster' necks, and tele's are nice big chording planks. This allows you to get the middle/bridge and middle/neck (or so called 'quack') positions and REALLY dial the tone in for each pickup. The strats big trick is the middle pickup and the two tone knobs. it certainly gets the job done, but there are better tools. The strats bridge pickup doesn't sound quite as big when used as an overdriven rhythm pickup. There are some GREAT rock tones that are basically a tele bridge pickup into an overdriven amp. The strat bridge pickup sounds thinner by comparison. It's 'twangy' but it's also got a fuller sound, with a bit more mid response than the strat. But the tele's real 'trick' is it's bridge pickup. Not Les Paul thick, but something between a strat and an SG. The Tele is a physically beefier instrument, and to me, sounds a little chunkier than the strat, a little thicker. When you hear a single instrument on neck pickup in a song, most can't tell which it is and assume it's a strat. Most people prefer the strats, but it doesn't seem like such a huge factor to me.

The neck pickup sound between the two can be difficult to tell apart, even when you are hearing them side by side.

Tele's and Strats have some shared territory, and then they each have their own 'thing'. its ugly and cheap as fuck looking though Srsly though go out and play some guitars dont limit yourself to a strat or a tele either theres tons ive even got an old ventura hollow body just because it sounds cool. you can get lots of different tones out of it at least after 24 years of owning it i can. I use a 10 band eq quite a bit along with a compressor then a few different amps but my old peavey bandit 112 from like 94 with the extension cabinet is my go to. Honestly i think your best bet is to go to a guitar store or pawn shop and play some guitars shape doesnt matter to me the sound does and youll find something that sounds right to you or end up like me and have a lot of guitars that sound right to you or just have something special about them. Ive got an esp mh-400 that sounds and plays wonderfully too its active dual humbuckers but you can get lots of tones out of it. Ive also got a franken tele with active pickups and a washburn wonder bar itll do the more aggressive stuff a bit easier and honestly you can shape the sound a bit easier with active pickups imho but both are very versatile instruments.ДЄs for HSS strats i dont own any i do have a westone with that configuration and their old bendmaster tremolo system (better than the FR imho) its a fairly versatile guitar too can definitely get the strat tone out of it using the singles then very nice clear tones too without that 'strat' sound the humbucker seems to have lots of output i like it. im not sure if its the particular type of tone circuit in this tele or what but with that and the basic eq on an amp i can get whatever tone im looking for with it.

ive played an early 80s mij for years in a number of bands and played many styles including death metal teles can do it all. I personally think teles are more versatile than strats.

Don rich telecaster pickups