[Stratrat]

I have both Strats and Teles. Both are versatile and can give you different sounds. The "signature" Strat sound is the out-of-phase "quack" in positions 2 and 4 on the pickup switch, while the signature Tele sound runs more toward the "twang" on the bridge pickup - although Joe Strummer of The Clash played a Tele throughout his career and was ANYTHING but twangy!

Both come in various configurations for different sounds - Teles with humbuckers or "hotter" single-coils for a fatter sound; the 3-pickup "Nashville" tele with a Strat pickup in the middle and 5-way switching for more versatility; Strats with HB's at the bridge, with or without trem, etc. Between guitar mods and effects, you can get just about any sound you want out of either of them.

Shredding/soloing.....there have been a lot of guys who make pretty passable noise with a Strat - Eddie Van Halen, SRV, etc. Give Brad Paisley a listen on the Tele - he's a country player, not a "shredder" per se, but he tears it up pretty well. Johnny Hiland can make his Tele sing too, although he's recently switched to PRS guitars. Like Rockerbob, I'll qualify my opinion by saying I don't shred - and have no interest whatsoever in doing so.

Maintenance issues - it's pretty hard to beat the absolute simplicity of a Tele.....electric guitars don't get much simpler than this. Two pickups, a volume knob, a tone knob and a 3-way switch.

It all comes down to personal preference, and the only way to tell is to go play a few of them. The Tele is my #1 about 95% of the time, but it's nice to have the Strat around when I get the urge too!