Fender Stratocaster

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Fender Stratocaster
ManufacturerFender
Period1954 — present
Construction
Body typeSolid
Neck jointBolt-on
Woods
BodyAlder or Ash
NeckMaple
FretboardMaple, Rosewood or Pau Ferro
Hardware
BridgeSynchronized tremolo
Pickup(s)3 single-coils
Colors available
Standard Series: Black, Chrome Red, Brown Sunburst, Electron Blue, Midnight Wine, Arctic White

American Series: Black, 3-Color Sunburst, Olympic White, Chrome Red, Shoreline Gold, Butterscotch Blonde, Charcoal Frost Metallic

Other colours may be available
"Stratocaster" redirects here. For other uses, see Stratocaster (disambiguation).

The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as a Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender and Freddie Tavares in the early 1950s, and manufactured continuously to the present. The Stratocaster has been used by many leading guitarists, and thus can be heard on many historic recordings. Along with the Gibson Les Paul, the Gibson SG, and the Stratocaster's sister model, the Fender Telecaster, it is one of the most enduring and common models of electric guitar in the world.

The Stratocaster has been widely copied, such that Stratocaster or Strat is often used when referring to any guitar that has the same general features as the original, regardless of manufacturer. Such a guitar not produced by Fender or Squier is hence called a strat copy. However, in many jurisdictions the word 'Stratocaster' is reserved solely for use by Fender and its subsidiary company, Squier.

Origins

The Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company (now known as Fender Musical Instruments Corporation) developed the first commercial solid-body 'Spanish' (as opposed to 'Hawaiian,' or lap steel) electric guitar in the Telecaster, a simple design whose earliest models were offered under various names like Broadcaster or its single pickup conterpart the Esquire, beginning in 1950. While the Telecaster and its variants were successful, many guitar players of the day used a Bigsby unit, a spring-loaded vibrato device with which players could bend notes up and down with their pick hand. Instead of adding a Bigsby, Fender decided to produce a new, more expensively-made ash or alder line of guitars with his own design of Tremolo (see tremolo arm for more on the evolution of such mechanisms). His decision was also influenced by guitarists Rex Gallion and Bill Carson, who requested a contoured body to temper the harsh edges of the slab-built Telecaster; the new ash body design was based on that of the 1951 Precision Bass.

The name, 'Stratocaster,' was intended to evoke images of new jet-aircraft technology (such as the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress), and to express Fender's modernistic design philosophy. In designing the Stratocaster's body, a significant area of the back of the guitar, and the area where the strumming arm rests, were beveled to accommodate the player's chest and arm. The upper bouts featured two cutaways, for easier access to the higher frets. The new 'Custom Contour Body' and 'Synchronized Tremolo' bridge made the Stratocaster a revolutionary design.

The headstock shape of the Stratocaster is trademarked.[1]

The guitar also featured more complex electronics than the Telecaster: three single coil pickups, each with staggered magnetic poles; a three-way selector switch (five-way since 1977); one volume knob, and two tone controls. A three single-coil pickup design was an innovation already in use by Gibson in their ES-5 model since 1949. However, Fender's pickups were much more compact.

Patents were applied for all these new designs, and production line Stratocasters reached the market in early 1954 for US$249.50 (approximately US$1,850 in 2007 currency[2]). The basic production model had a two-tone nitrocellulose 'sunburst' finish, one-piece maple neck, ash body, chrome hardware, and Bakelite-like thermoplastic parts. Other manufacturers began imitating these innovations immediately. [citation needed]

An early-model Stratocaster was a key component of Buddy Holly's signature look, along with his black-rimmed glasses, and he was among the first players to popularize the Stratocaster in rock music.[3] Both his gravestone and his walk-of-fame statue in Lubbock, Texas feature a Stratocaster.

The Stratocaster met its fate in December 2005, when Montreal-based guitarist Charlie Prince picked it up. He claimed that " the guitar pissed the shit out of me", he got upset, and then "raped" it. The term was coined by Seugmond Freud during his writings on psycho-sexual stages of life. Justin Sane, Prince's band mate, said that he was afraid of Charlie when he played the stratocaster, and since that day, Sane prohibits Prince from playing any of Justin's guitars, in fear of destruction, genocide or global warming.

Sound and playability

Much of the popularity of the Stratocaster can be attributed to its versatility. The neck, middle, and bridge (termed "rhythm", "normal tone" and "lead", respectively) pickups provide a wide range of tones. The standard single-coil pickups often found in Stratocasters produce a trebly sound with a high top end and bell-like harmonics.

The Fender synchronized tremolo tremolo arm mechanism, introduced with the Stratocaster, has become the most copied design of all, eclipsing all other designs including the later floating bridge designs by Leo Fender himself.

The Telecaster also remained in production, and both the Stratocaster and the Telecaster flourished into diverse families of guitars, with many variants. Each continues to enjoy its own following among guitarists.

Design and popularity changes

From 1959 to 1967, the Stratocaster was refitted with a rosewood fretboard, as well as color choices other than sunburst, including a variety of colorful car-like paint jobs that appealed to the nascent surfer and hot-rod culture, pioneered by such bands as the Surfaris, the Ventures and the Beach Boys. Dick Dale was a prominent Stratocaster player who also collaborated with Leo Fender in developing the Fender Showman amplifier. In the early 1960s, the instrument was also championed by Hank Marvin - guitarist of the Shadows, a band which originally backed Cliff Richard and then produced instrumentals of its own. So distinctive was the Hank Marvin sound that many musicians - including the Beatles - initially deliberately avoided the Stratocaster and chose other marques. However, by 1965, George Harrison and John Lennon of the Beatles both acquired Stratocasters at about the time of the Rubber Soul recording sessions. Fender had planned to stop production of the Stratocaster before Jimi Hendrix popularized the guitar in the late 60s.[citation needed]

Eric Clapton plays his signature model at the Tsunami Relief concert, January 22nd 2005

The one-piece maple neck was discontinued in 1959. However, a maple neck with a glued-on maple fretboard was offered as an option in 1967. The rosewood fretboard over maple neck remained as the other neck option. In 1969, after a ten year absence, the one-piece maple neck was again made available as an option.

Many artists (including Buddy Guy, Rory Gallagher, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, and Mark Knopfler) discovered that the pickup selector could be lodged in between the basic three settings for further tonal variety. Since 1977, Stratocasters have been fitted with a five-way switch to make such switching more stable. Other subtle changes were also made to the guitars over the years, but the basic shape and features of the Strat have remained unchanged. In the 1970s and 1980s, some guitarists began modifying their Stratocasters with humbucker pickups, especially in the bridge position. This was intended to provide a thicker tone preferred in the heavier styles of hard rock and heavy metal. Notable early examples of this are Allan Holdsworth and Iron Maiden's Dave Murray (also Edward Van Halen's homemade guitar was essentially a single-humbucker Strat). The popularity of this modification grew and eventually, Fender began manufacturing models with a bridge humbucker option, denoted and separated from the original triple single coil by the title of "Fat Strat", as a reference to the humbucker's distinct sound.

Players first perceived a loss of the initial high quality of Fender guitars after the company was taken over by CBS. As a result, the Stratocaster fell out of fashion in the mid-sixties, to the point where the Fender company (owned by CBS) reduced its price and considered removing it from their production line completely. However, Jimi Hendrix and many other blues-influenced artists of the late '60s soon adopted the Stratocaster as their main instrument, reviving the guitar's popularity. Both George Harrison and Eric Clapton used Stratocasters in the 1971 Concert For Bangladesh, giving the Strat additional high visibility in rock circles. Also, so-called 'pre-CBS' Stratocasters are, accordingly, extremely sought-after and expensive due to the huge difference of quality even with contemporary post-CBS models. In recent times, some Stratocasters manufactured from 1954 to 1958 have sold for more than US$175,000. Many now reside in Japan, cached away as collectible pieces of Americana. [citation needed]

After a peak in the 1970s, driven by players such as David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, Ritchie Blackmore of Deep Purple, Eric Clapton, and Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits, another lull occurred in the early 1980s. During that time, CBS-Fender cut costs by deleting features from the standard Stratocaster line, despite a blues revival that featured Strat players such as Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robert Cray, and Buddy Guy (a Stratocaster player since the mid-1960s, sometimes credited with influencing Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, and Stevie Ray Vaughan in their choice of the Stratocaster as a primary blues-rock guitar). [citation needed]

In England, The Shadows' lead guitarist Hank Marvin who got the very first Stratocaster to be exported to Europe (a '58 Fiesta Red model that started the huge success for this color sales for Fender), played vintage Strats till the end of the 80's, then turning on his own Signature Stratocaster model.

However, when Fender was bought by William Schultz from CBS in 1985, manufacturing resumed its former high quality, and Fender was able to regain market share and brand reputation. This sparked a rise in mainstream popularity for vintage (and vintage-style) instruments.

Current models

Fender now offers an extensive line of contemporary cutting-edge Stratocaster models alongside vintage Stratocaster reissues, as well as maintaining a Custom Shop service that builds guitars to order. Those who wish period-accurate replicas can request Stratocasters with original-style cloth-coated wiring, pickup and electronics designs, wood routing patterns, and even artificial aging and oxidizing of components using the Custom Shop "relic" process.

Fender Stratocasters are built in the United States, Mexico, Japan, and Korea.

  • American, American Deluxe and Highway One series Stratocasters are made in a Fender factory in Corona, California, United States of America and are commonly called Made In America (MIA) Stratocasters. There is also a Fender Museum there open to the public.
  • Most other Stratocaster series models are made in a Fender factory in Ensenada, Mexico and are often labelled as Made In Mexico (MIM). Guitar necks are still manufactured in the Corona factory and sent to the Ensenada factory to be mounted onto guitars.
  • The Fuji Gen Gakki factory in Matsumoto, Japan, is also licensed to manufacture Fender Stratocasters, but exclusively for the domestic market. However, second-hand or earlier Made In Japan (MIJ) or Crafted In Japan (CIJ) Stratocasters can be found in foreign markets. Fender Japan had previously used the MIJ label, but switched to CIJ shortly after it limited guitar production to the domestic market.

There is also a budget-minded Squier brand of Stratocasters by Fender, and is popular among novice guitarists. Squier Stratocasters are produced in Indonesia and India at lower cost than Fender Stratocasters, but are otherwise similar in concept and maintain similar respective quality standards. While Squier Stratocasters are predominantly inexpensive versions of Fender Stratocasters, some models are also unique to the Squier brand, such as the OBEY Graphic series or Hello Kitty series. A 12-string version, known as the Stratocaster XII, is also available.

Fender has also offered both Custom Shop and regular production Artist Series guitars, featuring replicas of the Stratocasters played by famous guitarists such as: Ritchie Blackmore (see Ritchie Blackmore Stratocaster), Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton (see Eric Clapton Stratocaster), Mark Knopfler (see Mark Knopfler Stratocaster), Robert Cray, Dick Dale, Rory Gallagher, Buddy Guy, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Johnson, Yngwie J. Malmsteen (see Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster), John Mayer, Robin Trower, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan and others. (see Fender Signature Artists).

Notable Stratocaster players

Main article: List of Stratocaster players

Trivia

References

  1. ^ Trademark of headstock
  2. ^ Modern equivalent of 1954 Stratocaster pricing.
  3. ^ Restoration of Buddy Holly's Stratocaster
  • Bacon, Tony (2000). 50 Years of Fender: Half a Century of the Greatest Electric Guitars. London: Balafon. ISBN 0-87930-621-1. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Wheeler, Tom (2004). The Stratocaster chronicles: Fender: celebrating 50 years of the Fender Strat. Milwaukee, WI: H. Leonard. ISBN 0-634-05678-6.
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See also

External links

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