The Best Stratocaster for a Rock Guitarist

With the many stock and custom varieties of Stratocaster guitars on the market, which one is right for you? This guide explains the stock model and custom mods best suited for a rock and roll guitarist. The stock model is ideal somebody without electrical or woodworking experience, do not attempt custom mods by yourself without proper experience, tools, and instructions.

Stock Model: When choosing a Strat guitar, pickup arrangement is the most important element to consider. The guitar's pickups have the power to drastically influence tone and output. Not surprisingly, the best stock Strat for a rocker is the traditional SSS style. The rocking SSS arrangement consists of three single coil pickups: one at the bridge, one in the middle, and one at the neck. This is the most common type of Strat out there; it is easy to find and relatively easy to customize.

Customizations: The stock model is a standard among rock musicians, but it is not without room for improvement. The first thing a rock and roll guitarist will want to do is get a roller nut installed. This is a difficult mod but well worth it. Some roller nuts are designed to fit into the pre-defined nut slot, and others rest against the fingerboard and are screwed in-the latter is the most difficult for a Strat, because some of the neck will need to be shaved down. Either way, do not attempt this mod yourself unless you are experienced with customizing electric guitars. The roller nut's function is to allow for the strings to more easily slide across the nut when using the Strat's tremolo arm. Rock guitars regularly use the tremolo arm, also known as a "whammy bar," to create a unique effect during solos; unfortunately, without a roller nut, the guitar typically goes out of tune when the whammy bar is used. Even with the special nut, some strings may go slightly out of tune, but overall this will happen less often and be less noticeable. Secondly, a rock guitarist will want to add a high output base plate on the middle pickup. The base plate will provide a little bit extra output without drowning out the bridge or neck pickups. This extra midrange output is ideal for most rock riffs, while still retaining the higher tones associated with the bridge for solos and the lower neck tones for more simplistic verse fills. I'd also recommend installing an on-board distortion circuit to add extra distortion effects with easy adjustability. The beauty of most on-board circuits is that they are typically activated with a push/pull pot. The push/pull pot turns a standard tone knob into the activation mechanism, allowing the guitarist to retain the traditional Strat look.

With these extra mods, your standard SSS Strat will have a slightly tweaked sound ready for the stage. Whether playing backup or lead, you'll have access to the tones you need.