Who Built the First Electric Rock 'N' Roll Guitar? (2019)
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The common wisdom is the Stratocaster was the successor to the Telecaster - but in my opinion, I think the Telecaster is the superior guitar. The simplicity makes it indestructible, the string through fixed bridge makes more stable in tuning. It allows one to easily use alternate tunings as the Stratocaster whammy would be complete useless in this scenario.
Just take a look at all of the guitars players over the last 15 years or so have re-discovered the Telecaster. Not to mention punk, heavy metal and even thrash meal guitarists are picking them up. The running joke is that Jimmy Page sold more Les Pauls then anyone else playing Telecasters :)
Check out this video that compares the tone of Telecaster vs Les Paul:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sjAiCRemyw
Leo Fender got it right the first time.
On the contrary, the lack of a floating bridge on the telecaster makes it utterly useless for playing a lot of songs and styles of playing that require it. Floating bridges have huge drawbacks to be sure (maintenance, tuning stability), but they aren't there for nothing.
Telecaster flaws:
1. Ashtray bridge is uncomfortable for muting due to the sharp edge.
2. Setting intonation is a pain because each brass saddle covers two strings.
3. The lack of smooth comfort curves (and even modern teles that have curves are not as comfortable as a strat).
4. The body design adds a lot of unnecessary weight.
5. Standard pickup set is tonally limited.
6. Lack of a trem eliminates several playing styles.
Strats have their flaws too, but no where near as many as the tele IMO.
>Just take a look at all of the guitars players over the last 15 years or so have re-discovered the Telecaster.
The paths of nostalgia don't indicate technical superiority.
Unfortunately, it seems that all attempts at significantly improving on these nostalgia laden designs are doomed to be relegated to an "uncool" fringe.
As guitar oriented music seems to be sunsetting, I assume that these tired old designs will continue their dominance. As a guitar player who cares much more about ergonomic design and technical innovation than the trapped imagination of nostalgia, I hope for a new wave of guitar music and a guitar technology renaissance, but I doubt it.
What do you mean? That guitar music isn't "charting" is not an indicator of anything, especially with streaming. It's not the 90s anymore. Rock isn't the music of youth since 20 years ago, but guitars still sell extremely well.
Where do you get your data?
Polyphia is one of the big bands that are fully instrumental and also maintain the spirit of virtuosity (more aligned with metal than rock, but the guitar-centric piece is there). There are other amazing guitarists and artists in a fairly interconnected community such as Jason Richardson, Plini, ichika, covet, etc.
I would likely agree overall interest has waned as it's not as mainstream as it used to be. But I'm more inclined to say guitar-centric music seems to be going through more of a transformation to fit the mainstream or certain niches than sunsetting as GP said.