Fender Stratocaster

Fender Stratocaster
	; Fender Highway 1 Stratocaster, color: Sunburst , manufactured in 2007
General
Type	Electric guitar
Manufacturer	Fender ; USA ( Japan , Mexico )
production	since 1954
Construction and materials
Scale length	25.5 inches (648 mm)
Body	Solid body made of alder or ash
neck	Screwed maple neck
Fingerboard	Maple or Rosewood , 21 or 22 frets
saddle	Synthetic bone , width 42.8 mm
Mechanics	6 × left; capsuled
Footbridge / bridge	Tremolo system with individual saddles
Pickups and Electronics
Pickups	3 × single coil (SSS); 1 × humbucker , 2 × single coil (HSS);
Tone control	passive 1 × volume ; 2 × height panels; 1 × 5-way pickup selection;
Audio sample
Audio file	Stratocaster sound with tremolo
	Unless otherwise stated, the data come from the manufacturer's website (as of December 14, 2013)

Headstock of a Stratocaster

The Stratocaster (often shortened to “Strat” ) is an electric guitar model that has been manufactured by the US company Fender since 1954 . The Stratocaster was revolutionary when it appeared and is still considered the most popular, best-selling and most copied electric guitar worldwide. In addition to the USA, the Stratocaster is also produced in Mexico , Japan , Korea and other countries.

history

After the company's first electric guitar, the Fender Telecaster, and the company's first electric bass, the Precision Bass, the inventor and company founder Leo Fender began developing a new electric guitar in 1952.

Leo Fender was heavily inspired in his ideas by the US automotive industry. Manufacturers such as Cadillac and Chevrolet brought new models onto the market almost every year in the 1950s to symbolize technical progress. Logically, Fender considered the development of the Telecaster to be complete after its appearance in 1950 and planned a completely new successor model. This new instrument should incorporate all the experiences and suggestions that were made with the Telecaster.

Dealers asked Fender for a higher quality, better equipped instrument to counter the expensive Gibson Les Paul . Musicians demanded a guitar with more tonal possibilities and vibrato . In addition, the instrument should be more comfortable to play than the angular, board-like Telecaster.

Together with the employees Freddie Tavares (production manager at Fender and amateur musician), George Fullerton (co-founder of Fender Musical Instruments) as well as the guitarists Bill Carson and Rex Gallion, the cornerstones of the new guitar were determined:

Back of the body with recess for the rib arch (right)

The body should be modeled on that of the Precision Bass . The Precision Bass had a body with a lower cutaway, which was already asymmetrical Telecaster, which was greatly lengthened on the upper side with a protruding "horn" in order to be able to place the front belt attachment point more favorably. According to form follows function, this was necessary in order to give the rather top-heavy instrument, with its longer neck and large headstock with heavy bass tuning mechanisms, better balance and playability while standing. In addition, the futuristic curved shapes corresponded to the kidney- shaped taste of the 1950s and were reminiscent of the tail fins of large sedans , among other things . Guitarist Rex Gallion also suggested that the body should also have recesses for the rib arch (today often jokingly called "beer belly milling" due to the generally lower playing position) and the right forearm. With the rather angular Telecaster, the body edges were annoying when playing for a long time; some guitarists had already rounded the rough edges of their guitars themselves with rasp and sandpaper. In addition, Leo Fender enlarged the headstock and made it even closer to the design of competitor Paul Bigsby .
The sound spectrum of the guitar should be expanded by installing a vibrato and adding additional pickups . Guitarist Bill Carson suggested a number of four to five pickups for the new guitar; Fender considered this to be superfluous ballast and insisted on one (Fender Esquire, Precision Bass), a maximum of two pickups (Telecaster), as with the previous instruments. After long discussions, they agreed on three pickups based on the Gibson ES-5 model. In the style of Bigsby vibrato, the vibrato should be a movable tailpiece separated from the bridge, which, however , should consist of stamped sheet metal parts in contrast to Bigsby's solid aluminum construction. The planned bridge construction was also a bent sheet metal with the strings running over small rollers to reduce friction.

Equipped in this way, the first prototypes were made in 1953 and loaned to various musicians for test purposes. The reactions were consistently disappointing or devastating: The sheet metal construction of the vibrato swallowed a large part of the string vibration , which is why the prototypes sounded very shrill and metallic. Guitarist Carson described the sound as "that of a cheap banjo in a tin barrel". However, Leo Fender was so convinced of its design that he had previously ordered around 5000 rolls for a planned series production of the sheet metal bridge. According to factory workers, the delivery rolls kept gathering dust in the company's warehouse for years. After a lot of persuasion by test guitarists and staff, Leo reluctantly constructed a new vibrato for the Stratocaster. Despite the bad experiences, Leo Fender used a revised version of the original vibrato in the following models, Jazzmaster and Jaguar .

Principle of the Fender Stratocaster tremolo

The redesign of the vibrato delayed the market launch of the Stratocaster by a whole year. Leo Fender was the first to construct a combined tailpiece / bridge structure that was made movable by a lever. This system was small, optically inconspicuous and, by tilting the bridge, allowed the strings to be tuned down to the point of complete slack. It also improved the sound of the instrument significantly compared to the prototypes. For reasons that are not clear, Fender applied for a patent for the system after the first positive feedback in April 1954, not using the correct term “vibrato”, but using the misleading name “tremolo”. This confusion has run through the company's entire program since then, as the Fender brand amplifiers, which actually have a “tremolo” (in the sense of possible continuous volume fluctuations), are labeled with the wrong addition “vibrato”.

As a final design feature , Fender moved the jack socket for the guitar cable from the body frame into an oval sheet metal on the guitar top. This measure seemed sensible to him, as many Telecasters came back to the workshop with torn jack sockets for repairs. Guitar stands were not yet invented and many guitarists simply leaned their instruments against the amplifiers or chairs standing around after the concert. If a guitar fell over due to carelessness, the input socket could be torn out of the frame due to the leverage of the guitar cable jack plug and repairs would be necessary.

In order to avoid another legal dispute with the name - the Telecaster, which appeared as a broadcaster, had to be quickly renamed because the Gretsch company already had a drum kit of the same name in its range - Leo Fender commissioned his lawyers to find the name and to review the law. Guitarist Bill Carson suggested naming the instrument based on the Gibson Les Paul "Fender Bill Carson Model". To the disappointment of the guitarist, Fender quickly refused and instead gave the model the futuristic-sounding name "Stratocaster". The made-up word is made up of the term stratosphere and the name of the previous model Telecaster. Fender's lawyers gave their approval to this made-up word and overlooked the fact that the manufacturer Harmony had already brought an electric guitar with the name "Stratotone" onto the market. Harmony didn't object, however, and the new guitar was able to appear as planned.

"40th Anniversary of the Stratocaster" anniversary model, headstock

Production began in 1954, and the first advertisement for the new guitar was printed in April 1954 in International Musician magazine. The initial sale price was $ 249.00 plus $ 39.00 for the instrument case. The Telecaster was $ 189.00 by comparison. Even if the Stratocaster caused a sensation in the professional world because of its futuristic appearance and the new vibrato, contrary to Leo Fender's expectations, it did not displace the Telecaster from the market. Despite a lot of advertising, the number of pieces of the Telecaster exceeded that of the Stratocaster for years, which is why both instruments are still produced in parallel to this day. Nevertheless, the Stratocaster developed over time to the world's most successful and most played electric guitar and became a model for an entire generation of guitars. According to official estimates by Fender, between 1 and 1.5 million Stratocasters were produced and sold by Fender alone up to its 40th birthday in 1994.

construction

Screw connection of the neck

The body of the Stratocaster usually consists of ash (light swamp ash "Swamp-Ash" ) or alder (American Red Alder) , more rarely of poplar wood (Poplar) . The neck is made of maple and, depending on the model, has a maple or rosewood fingerboard in which 21 or 22 frets are embedded. The scale length is 648 mm, the tuning machines are in a line on the upper side of the asymmetrical headstock . The fret markings are usually black points (on maple fingerboards) or light points made of different materials on the darker rosewood fingerboards. New on the Stratocaster were the so-called body shapings of the body: at the back in the upper frame and on the ceiling of the body is grooved ergonomic, or flattened diagonally to the player to offer higher comfort and control.

The electronic components, such as pickup , and potentiometer are, on an existing plastic dash board ( pick guard mounted), which is located under the strings in the corpus. The pickguard, which used to be fastened with eight screws, is now usually fastened with eleven screws, and is usually made of three-layer plastic, for example white-black-white, more rarely metal (brass, anodized aluminum). The loaded and wired pickguard (loaded pickguard) represents the electrical "central unit" of the Stratocaster and can be completely replaced without any problems.

The tremolo consists of a tailpiece where the strings are threaded into a steel block under the bridge from the back of the guitar. The strings run from the steel block directly over the bridge structure. The bridge is only held on one side by screws, so that it is possible to tilt it towards the neck using the tremolo lever. On the back of the body there are built-in springs that counteract the tension of the strings and pull the bridge into a horizontal position. This simple but effective construction has made a decisive contribution to the development of new playing techniques and new systems, but also to the confusion of the name “tremolo” with “vibrato” (see above).

There are three options for setting the tremolo. The most common is the standard setting, where the pitch can only be changed downwards. Depending on the string thickness used or the player's preference, the system can be equipped with 2 to 5 springs (Stevie Ray Vaughan, who often used extremely thick strings, needed 5 to generate the necessary counter-tension). The second is "crippling" the system. Here the retaining screws are completely tightened, the tailpiece block is fixed against the body with a suitable piece of wood. Players such as B. Eric Clapton, who proceed in this way, could theoretically also use a "hardtail" -strat (bridge with no tremolo or vibrato, strings fixed from behind like the Telecaster), but do not want to forego the sound-influencing effect of the resonating springs . The third and most difficult variant is the "floating" one. Here the system is set so that it allows deflection downwards AND upwards. This setting requires an extremely precise balance of spring tension and string thickness, because even small deviations in the string tension - e.g. B. bends or broken strings - bring the whole thing out of the mood. This is why this tricky variant is only used by a few players. The best known of them is Jeff Beck, who supports the high-grade vocal quality of his playing with this attitude. When you see him playing, it is easy to see how he is permanently holding his tremolo "in check" with the heel of his hand in order to prevent upset.

Pickups from a Stratocaster

The electronics consist of three single-coil pickups that can be selected using a toggle switch. The first Stratocaster had a three-way switch with which the pickups could be selected individually, the five-way switch was introduced in the 1970s. This can also be used to select the popular combinations of the neck or bridge pickup with the middle pickup or, by modifying the circuit, to generate an out-of-phase sound, i.e. a "hollow" sound in the combination positions caused by a phase shift. This tone - which Leo Fender found terrible - the musicians had to carefully "fumble" with the three-way switch, because it did not lock in the intermediate position, which was possible with the five-way switch. A volume control and two tone controls (one for the neck and one for the middle pickup) are also responsible for the sound. This circuit leaves a lot of scope for modifications and changes that have flowed into the production of series and special models over the years.

Construction phases, models and developments

Miller Anderson (including The Spencer Davis Group ) with a Stratocaster in the style of the early instruments

Although the basic construction remains unchanged, the Fender company has repeatedly made changes to details of the instrument over the years and decades. In addition, at the request of musicians, but also for production-related reasons, new models with different detailed solutions were and are constantly being offered. Since the 1980s, Fender has been offering replicas of old models in addition to modern instruments. As a result, well over 50 different variants are now available under the name Stratocaster . Some of these differ only in details or the production location. A consistent model policy is usually difficult to identify.

Construction phases

Start of production 1954–1958

At the beginning of production in April 1954, the body of the Stratocaster was made of two parts, mostly made of ash. From mid-1956, the lighter alder was also used for the body. The standard paintwork was "2-tone sunburst" (a light, almost transparent honey yellow, which turned into a dark, opaque brown-black towards the edges). Other colors or gold plating of the metal parts were only available on special request. The neck was made of maple in one piece, it did not have a separate fingerboard , the frets were inserted directly into the neck. The neck tie rod was inserted from behind and the groove was closed with walnut. Since the tensioning screw was attached to the base of the neck, the curvature of these guitars can only be adjusted when the neck is unscrewed. The toggle switch for the pickups only had three positions (neck, middle, bridge), combinations of the pickups were not provided.

Second phase 1958–1965

With the introduction of the Jazzmaster in 1958, the first major changes were made to the Stratocaster. On the one now possessed all the necks of the Stratocaster analogous to a Jazzmaster fretboard rosewood . Since the necks of the Stratocaster and Jazzmaster were identical, this saved the production effort for two different neck designs; the production of the one-piece maple necks was temporarily stopped in 1959. After initial problems with cracks in the rosewood, the thickness of the glued-on fingerboard varied over the years. Some collectors today claim to be able to tell the thickness of the fingerboard from the sound. This is supported by changes in the pickups, which had a slightly increased output power and a slightly warmer sound compared to the first models. The collaboration between Fender and the chemical company DuPont began with the introduction of the Jazzmaster . At the time, it was known, among other things, for its brightly colored car paints . The collaboration made it possible to paint instruments in all the other colors offered by Dupont in addition to the traditional wood colors. At the same time, the special paintwork has now been systematized and officially offered for selection as so-called “Custom Colors” in the brochure. Opaque paintwork such as “Fiesta Red” (a strong coral red, also used as the paint for the 1956 Ford Thunderbird ), “Lake Placid Blue” (a strong, metallic blue) or “Surf Green” (a bright, almost turquoise green, used for example at Chevrolet).

Fender and CBS 1965-1985

Squier version of the large CBS headstock

In 1965 Leo Fender sold the company to the Columbia Broadcasting System media group , or CBS for short. Since the Stratocaster was meanwhile the manufacturer's most successful model, the ideas of the new owners were most consistently implemented here.

Some of the innovations introduced represented long-awaited improvements that previously failed due to resistance from Leo Fender. This mainly concerned the series introduction of the new five-way pickup switch in 1977, which now also made it possible to combine the pickups safely. Musicians, who previously held the three-way switch in the intermediate positions with cardboard or adhesive tape, have long requested this modification. Leo Fender considered the bell-like tones that could be generated in this way to be "unclean" and rejected the modification until he left the company. Interestingly, here is an example of how plagiarism can also improve the original: First of all, the Ibanez company implemented the five-way switch in their Stratocaster replicas, which was only then built into the real Stratocaster. CBS also had the neck construction revised and now enabled access to the neck tensioning rod for adjusting the neck curvature from the head plate. In the original design, the adjustment rod was only accessible from the body, which is why the strings first had to be removed and the neck unscrewed for the otherwise simple adjustment of the neck curvature. From 1969 necks made entirely of maple were optionally available again, but no longer in one piece, but made with a glued-on maple fingerboard.

Since the new managers at CBS also tried, especially with the popular Stratocaster, to make the production process more cost-effective and efficient, many of the changes, some of which were drastic, led to significant sound and quality fluctuations in the instruments. Manufacturing tolerances were increased, the purchase of materials was geared more towards cost aspects and the quality control took place under greater time pressure.

One cost-saving idea was to use a new coil wire to wind the pickups. The insulation on the cheaper wire, however, melted in the hot wax bath that the pickups were immersed in after winding. This wax bath usually strengthens the wire winding and prevents feedback and noise from loose wires. CBS did without the wax bath, which resulted in loudly whistling pickups prone to feedback. CBS reduced the neck mount from four to three screws. This idea came from Leo Fender himself, but it required a precisely executed milling for the neck attachment in the body. Since CBS allowed larger manufacturing tolerances after Leo's departure and extended the maintenance intervals of the machines, the millings were not always sufficiently precise. In the period that followed, many instruments were produced in which the neck slid back and forth on the body when subjected to heavy loads. The problem was supported by the enlargement of the headstock requested by CBS. A larger Fender lettering could be affixed to this for advertising purposes, but at the same time it made the neck heavier.

The production defects were revealed, for example, in a guitar that was sold with a translucent sunburst finish, where a pencil message from quality control with the message “Warning! Knothole! ”And a circle around the unsightly spot. This is considered to be the climax of the gradual loss of quality. It was not until the late 1970s that CBS tried to counteract the bad image. In order to continue old traditions, a guitar appeared with the concise name The Strat , which had the old four-point screw connection of the neck and a reduced headstock. Since the old, worn shapes from the 1950s were used to mill the head plate, the head plate was now too small rather than too big. Even the newly constructed vibrato for the guitar did not meet the expectations of the musicians. Attempts to gain additional market shares with high-quality new designs such as the Elite Stratocaster , an instrument with active electronics and a solid brass tremolo , also had only moderate success.

Stratocaster 1982 redesign

Dan Smith, as director of quality control and marketing, should improve the quality of the instruments; he came from Yamaha .

At the end of 1981 the new Stratocaster was brought out in pre-CBS styling and presented at the NAMM Show in January 1982. Her neck was now fastened again with 4 screws, the head plate was reduced and the truss-rod adjustment was made on the body side. Paintwork, finish, chrome and the entire workmanship have been significantly improved. This model is unofficially known today as the "Dan Smith" Stratocaster ". You can recognize it by the classic tremolo design and the chrome-plated jack socket on the top of the body. In the following year 1983, precisely these elements were dropped again for cost reasons. They now corresponded less to Dan's original intention Smith's, though it falls into his era.

The so-called "Smith-Era-Strat" of the early 80s marks a low point in the history of the Strat. Fender manager Dan Smith tried to save manufacturing costs by dispensing with the characteristic separate chrome housing for the jack socket (it was moved to the pickguard instead of the third controller) and an obscure top-loading tremolo. Today these instruments enjoy a certain cult status due to their rarity - hardly anyone wanted such a "Spar-Strat" back then.

Change and reorganization in 1985

In 1985, CBS sold Fender to a group of investors around Managing Director William Schultz. However, the sale only included the name and the remaining stocks, the factory buildings of the Stratocaster in Fullerton ( California ) were sold elsewhere. Inevitably, guitar production in the USA came to a standstill for a short time, Stratocasters were only manufactured by external companies in Japan from remnants of the USA production. The situation only improved noticeably when we moved into the new factory in Corona (California). The new factory rooms now also include a “Custom Shop”, in which high-quality small series and special customer orders can be carried out.

Present (from 1985)

Today, the Stratocaster represents the financial mainstay of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The selection of Stratocaster instruments is correspondingly diverse: in addition to replicas of almost every production phase, newly developed models and numerous custom-made products have been added. In addition to equipment features, the model range is also determined by the production sites in the USA, Mexico and Japan, which also produce differentiated types of instruments.

Current models

Today's model range of instruments of the "Stratocaster" type is almost unmanageable. Models that have gained greater importance due to their popularity or special features are u. a .:

Close up of an American Standard Stratocaster in the color Pewter

American Standard Stratocaster: American Standard Stratocaster is one of the most successful models in recent history. The instrument has many features of the sought-after pre-CBS instruments (small headstock, four-point neck screw connection), but has been modernized in key points: The tremolo is a free-floating new construction and the sound and output power of the pickups have been adapted to modern needs. The model "American Deluxe Series" has a circuit concept called "S-1 switching system", which u. a. enables parallel (" humbucker ") circuits of two single coils each, and provides access to the neck-bridge combination (Telecaster-like sound).
Classic Stratocaster: The Classic Stratocaster series comprises three models that reflect representative features of specific construction phases. The Classic 50s Stratocaster has a maple neck with 21 frets inserted directly into the wood in the style of the first instruments and the headstock, which is significantly larger than the other models. In addition, this model is only available in brightly colored "custom colors". In addition to an expanded color palette, the Classic 60s Stratocaster has the rosewood fingerboard introduced in 1958. The Classic 70s Stratocaster is finally equipped with the great CBS headstock and u. a. in the color "Natural" (body with clear lacquer ), which was very popular in the 1970s.
Deluxe: The Deluxe Strat , which appeared in various models, has a humbucker in the bridge position , while the usual single coil pickups are used in the neck and middle position (HSS). The humbucker produces warmer, more powerful sounds than the traditional single coil and is therefore often used by rock musicians for distorted sounds. The models are: Deluxe Fat Strat, Deluxe Players Strat, Deluxe Lone Star Strat, Deluxe Road House Strat and Deluxe Power Strat.
American Special: The American Special Stratocaster are manufactured in Corona, California and have been available in stores since March 2010. They are currently the cheapest variant of a Fender Stratocaster built in the USA. An alder body glued together from three parts and a maple neck with 22 frets as well as a body ( polyurethane ) lacquered to a high gloss largely correspond to the specifications of the American Standard series. The pickups are originally reserved for the custom shop Texas special. A variant with an Atomic humbucker in the bridge position with a rosewood fingerboard is also available. The middle pickup is wound and polarized in the opposite direction to the others in order to minimize noise in the intermediate positions. The tax expression was adopted almost unchanged; a volume control and two tone screens. Only the unregulated pickup is no longer the bridge pickup, but the middle one. The five-way switch used since 1977 is unchanged. The guitars have a vibrato fixed with six screws and a neck tensioning rod that is only accessible from the head. Although the instruments have a large headstock with two string hold-downs, as they were built in after the takeover by CBS, at second glance you can see that these guitars do not come from this time, as they are attached to the body with four (instead of three) screws are. You don't have an additional screw to fine-tune the neck angle. The neck and headstock are matt lacquered. The choice of colors is limited to a few classic colors. Depending on the configuration of the pickups, two colors are available: Candy Apple Red and Two-tone Sunburst for each with three Texas Special, maple fingerboard and white pickguard or black or three-tone Sunburst with two Texas Special and Atomic humbuckers on the bridge, Rosewood fingerboard and black pickguard-equipped instruments.
Big Block Stratocaster: In addition to the humbucker in the bridge position, the Big Block Stratocaster is particularly striking due to the optical modifications: The instrument including the headstock is painted in opaque black, all metal parts and the pickguard are chrome-plated. In the fingerboard, large rectangular inlays made of shimmering mother-of-pearl imitation provide orientation for the positions.

Relic Stratocaster: The term Relic stands as a collective term for a number of instruments and describes a state of artificial aging with which the instruments should look like an old collector's model from the factory. The three age groups are described as New Old Stock , Closet Classic and Relic . With New Old Stock (= "old stock") or "NOS" for short, the instruments should appear as if they were forgotten in the warehouse for decades and have only just been discovered. The guitars appear unplayed, only optical signs of aging such as yellowed plastic, faded colors or metal parts that have become matt. With Closet Classic (meaning “classics from the closet ”) an instrument is to be simulated that was played by the previous owner, but then stored in the closet or in the attic and forgotten. Artificial traces of play such as scratches and quirks as well as rust film on the metal parts are present, otherwise the instruments are undamaged. With Relic (= " relic ") Finally, those instruments are referred to having externally the traces years of harsh live insert: The paint is scratched and partially scraped or even exfoliated, the fingerboard shows strong traces, the metal parts are rusted, the head plate has artificial burns of "forgotten" cigarettes. Allegedly, the idea of offering artificially aged instruments stems from a special order from the Rolling Stones group : the band ordered exact copies of their old original instruments for the world tour of their 1994 album Voodoo Lounge . Since the replicas initially looked too “new”, they were artificially aged in order to match the originals optically.
Roland Ready Stratocaster

The Highway One series, which was introduced in 2002 and revised in 2006, was the cheapest entry into the US-made Stratocaster. The series was produced until March 2011. Delivered with the same guitar body as the American Standard, the Highway One was treated with a matt nitrocellulose lacquer. The pickups were wound more tightly and therefore more powerful than standard pickups. The middle pickup was polarized and wound in opposite directions in order to minimize interference. From 2002 to 2006 the Highway One was built with a traditional guitar head and thin frets and a limited color palette of the oldest series. From 2006 the guitars were equipped with a large headstock and thicker frets as well as a "greasebucket" tone screen.

Signature models

Since the 1950s, Fender has attached great importance to seeing well-known artists on stage with Fender instruments. While in Leo Fender's time only series models were lent or given away to artists, Stratocasters have been increasingly modified for artists according to their ideas, especially since the 1980s. These models are marketed as so-called signature models . Notable instruments included a .:

Eric Clapton in 2005 with Signature Strat

Eric Clapton: → More about this: Eric Clapton Stratocaster

Eric Clapton , who has mainly been using Stratocasters since the 1970s, received one of the most successful signature models from Fender. It was visually and structurally based on the early models of the 1950s, but Clapton demanded two decisive changes: On the one hand, the guitar's electronics were radically renewed (hum-free pickups and a battery-operated, adjustable mid-range boost for dense, distorted sounds); on the other hand, according to an old habit of Clapton, vibrato was overridden with a simple block of wood. The numerous buyers of the guitar now include not only Clapton fans, but also professional guitarists such as Daryl Stuermer , Pete Townshend and Andy Fairweather-Low . Special editions are the Eric Clapton Gold Leaf Stratocaster , Eric Clapton Smoker's Guitar and the Eric Clapton Crashocaster .

Jeff Beck: In contrast to Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck does not use active electronics in his instruments. It has similar pickups as Clapton, but without active electronics. In contrast to Clapton, however, the function of the vibrato is very important to Beck, which is why the Jeff Beck Signature also has a modern tremolo with roller-mounted string guides on the saddle
Richie Sambora: The instrument of Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora was modified for the needs of melodic hard rock : In addition to the humbucker in the bridge position for the dense, warm sound and the Floyd Rose tremolo for extreme effects, Sambora asked for his guitar - tastefully not entirely undisputed - Mother-of-pearl colored stars as fretboard inlays.
Matthias Jabs: Scorpions guitarist Matthias Jabs was one of the few German musicians to receive his own model of the Stratocaster. The jokingly called "Jabocaster" guitar, like the Richie Sambora model, has a humbucker in the bridge position and no less subtle fretboard inlays in the shape of Saturn . The guitar was only offered in red.
Jimi Hendrix Stratocaster: The Jimi-Hendrix-Stratocaster, presented in 1997, was not a signature instrument in the true sense of the word, as it did not go on sale until 27 years after the artist's death. What was remarkable about Jimi Hendrix and his Stratocasters was the fact that the left-handed Hendrix played almost exclusively upside-down right-handed instruments. Left-handed instruments were difficult to obtain in the 1960s and correspondingly expensive. In order to give the musician's numerous fans an instrument with which they can also come close to their idol, the 1997 Jimi-Hendrix-Stratocaster was delivered exclusively for right-handers as an upside-down left-hander instrument; even the Fender lettering on the headstock was mirrored .
Ritchie Blackmore: Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore received two signature instruments from Fender: The early model looks like a cream-white 1970s CBS model with a large headstock, 3-point neck screw connection and rosewood fingerboard. In contrast to the series models, the fingerboard is hollowed out between the frets (so-called "scalloping"), which is supposed to make certain playing techniques such as stringing ( bending ) easier. Since Blackmore only uses the neck or bridge pickup, the middle pickup on the first model was a dummy , the other two were Seymour Duncan SSL-4 Quarter Pounders. In the following model, now equipped with Lace Sensors Gold, only two pickups were installed from the start, the middle position remained empty, similar to a Telecaster. The second model was also available as a custom shop special edition with a glued-in neck, the others were made (or crafted) in Japan.
Yngwie Malmsteen: The instrument of the Swedish guitarist Yngwie Malmsteen is a replica of his 1972 Stratocaster called Play Loud or The Duck and also has a hollowed out fingerboard. For the dense, distorted sounds preferred by Malmsteen, the instruments are equipped with DiMarzio humbuckers in single coil form.
Tom DeLonge: The Blink182 guitarist Tom DeLonge also played a Stratocaster signature for a long time, which only had a passive, very powerful humbucker in the bridge position. The signature guitar was not only sold by Fender, but also in a cheaper version under the Squier brand.
Rory Gallagher: In 1997, Donal Gallagher, brother of blues guitarist Rory Gallagher , who died in 1995 , and the Fender company met at Los Angeles International Airport , where Gallagher presented a 1961 Stratocaster that his brother played. The guitar manufacturer built this in a first edition of 40 pieces for the European market. The three-tone guitar has 21 jumbo frets, three single coil pickups, an alder body and a maple neck .

Other artists with signature models include David Gilmour , The Edge , Eric Johnson , Stevie Ray Vaughan , Robin Trower , Buddy Guy , John Mayer , Dave Murray , Adrian Smith , Robert Cray , Chris Rea , Mark Knopfler , Hank Marvin (on 40 pieces limited worldwide) and as the only woman Bonnie Raitt .

Famous single instruments

Through the use of famous musicians, some Stratocaster instruments have themselves gained fame.

Eric Clapton 1977 with " Blackie "

FENDER Hank-Marvin-Signature Stratocaster in fiesta red

Mark Knopfler with a red Stratocaster

Dave Murray and Adrian Smith with Stratocaster in Sunburst

Jimi Hendrix Woodstock Stratocaster

Instruments from other manufacturers

Squier Stratocaster

The Stratocaster is the most copied electric guitar, as can be seen from plagiarism such as the so-called Hertiecaster electric guitar . Almost every manufacturer had Stratocaster-inspired instruments in their range, at least at times. Although Fender tries to prevent the overly exact copies and plagiarism with legal help, the Stratocaster is still being imitated.

While some manufacturers have specialized in making inexpensive entry-level instruments on the basis of the Stratocaster under different names, others are using the so-called "customizing" method. The focus is usually on refining the original construction in order to strip off the high-volume image of the instrument. As a result, great emphasis is placed on details such as high-quality wood selection, elaborate electronics, glued necks and a noble look with these instruments. Well-known manufacturers of these instruments are u. a. Sadowsky and Valley Arts . All replicas have in common that they have slight changes in the design (different shape of the headstock, slightly modified body, etc.). This is to avoid having to face allegations of plagiarism from Fender's lawyers.

Stratocaster from the manufacturer Nermin

In order to counter the flood of copies and plagiarism, since the 1980s Fender has had its own copies of the Stratocaster made under the then new brand name: " Squier " in addition to the "Fender" brand . The product range produced in Asia ranges from inexpensive entry-level instruments to copies of certain instruments from Fender's history. In-house developments that are only based on certain fender models appear occasionally.

Leo Fenders founded G&L Musical Instruments together with George Fullerton in 1980 and also makes Stratocaster-like electric guitars. The first guitars from Leo's company were initially only roughly based on the Stratocaster, as Leo thought the Strat was overrated throughout his life and worked tirelessly on supposedly better instruments. The shape and features of the G&L Comanche were quite reminiscent of the Stratocaster, but Leo had further developed many points. The three pickups had so-called split coils (single coils divided in the middle according to the principle of the Precision Bass ), which effectively suppressed hum and interference. The vibrato was further developed and many small switches made it possible to massively influence the sound of the guitar. Unfortunately, many of the sounds that could be generated were very shrill and harsh, as Leo Fender relied on his deteriorating hearing when designing the prototypes, even in old age. Only after Leo received a hearing aid did the sound of the instruments change back to their usual warm tones. In order to alleviate the pressure of the music market on the small manufacturer, G&L employees constructed the G&L Legacy (German "Erbe") past Leo , which, apart from the improved tremolo, was a Stratocaster of the conventional design. Leo tolerated this instrument, which today is one of the pillars of the company alongside the ASAT (version of the Telecaster from G&L).

The Stratocaster in music

The characteristic sound of the Stratocaster is characterized by a glassy, transparent to sharp tone that asserts itself well in the band structure. The cause of this tone are often single-coil - pickups in conjunction with the selected woods, the tremolo design and the comparatively long scale length called mm of 648th Some players also claim that the springs of the tremolo built into the body create a kind of mechanical reverb effect through unintentional resonance . In contrast to the Telecaster, the Strat largely lacks the shrill highs, compared to the Gibson Les Paul, the Stratocaster sounds rather bright with less sustain .

While the first Stratocaster players were country guitarists from the immediate vicinity of the local Californian country scene such as Bill Carson, Rex Gallion or Eldon Shamblin, the "Strat" was particularly appreciated by surf and rock 'n' roll musicians in the course of the 1950s . Buddy Holly used the Stratocaster for his recordings and live performances; the bright, wiry sound of his instrument can be clearly heard in the song “That'll be the day”. Surf rocker Dick Dale took a different approach, using the Stratocaster and the reverb effect introduced by the Fender amplifiers to create a pulsating, thunderous sound. The song “ Misirlou ”, which gained renewed popularity through the film “ Pulp Fiction ” , exemplifies Dale's technique on the Stratocaster. Inspired by the clear twang of surf music, the band " The Shadows " with their lead guitarist Hank Marvin achieved chart successes both as a backing band for Cliff Richard and with their own instrumentals . Marvin's clear tone, shaped by the tremolo of the Strat, can be heard clearly in the songs "FBI" or "Apache".

In the course of the 1960s, the Stratocaster was temporarily out of fashion: The Beatles played Epiphone , Gretsch and Rickenbacker , blues musicians preferred the sound of the Gibson Les Paul . The guitar experienced a comeback in 1967 when Jimi Hendrix coaxed new and unfamiliar sounds from the guitar: Hendrix played the Stratocaster at high volume over fully cranked Marshall amplifiers and also alienated the sound of the Stratocaster with various effect devices such as wah-wah , fuzz or phaser . Due to the high volume, screeching feedback set in , which Hendrix integrated into the game. Hendrix also used the tremolo, which was previously only used for a slight "shimmer" of notes, for booming, motor-like sounds up to the complete slackening of the strings. Many of these eccentric playing techniques can be heard in Hendrix's version of " The Star-Spangled Banner " at the Woodstock Festival , where he woven the sound of attacking planes and exploding bombs into the US national anthem. At the latest with the characteristic intro of the 1972 track " Smoke on the Water " by the band Deep Purple , the Stratocaster-Marshall combination is considered the standard in rock music.

In contrast to the heavy tones of rock music, the Stratocaster became popular in funk and disco music of the 1970s for an extremely bright, glassy sound: With the targeted filtering out of certain frequencies by effect devices, equalizers and the direct connection of the guitar to the mixer without an amplifier produces a high-pitched, thin, clean sound that can be heard on many productions of the time. The guitarist Nile Rodgers of the group Chic use this sound u. a. on the hit single " Le Freak ".

The sparkling, bell-like sound of the so-called "intermediate positions", in which the bridge or neck pickup is combined with the middle one, is often used for undistorted sounds. Examples can be found both at Lynyrd Skynyrd (" Sweet Home Alabama ") or at Dire Straits , where guitarist Mark Knopfler the sound of titles such as "Sultans of Swing" through his characteristic finger-picking (striking the strings with the fingers instead of one Pick ) reinforced.

David Gilmour with Stratocaster (2006)

Guitarist David Gilmour cuts through the keyboard-heavy arrangements of Pink Floyd on recordings like “ Shine On You Crazy Diamond ” with the bright, assertive sound of the Stratocaster ; Yngwie Malmsteen uses the Stratocaster in his hard rock inspired by classical music . Well-known guitarists such as Jeff Beck (including Yardbirds ), Eric Clapton , Richie Sambora ( Bon Jovi ), Chris Rea , John Frusciante ( Red Hot Chili Peppers ) mainly use Stratocasters, but also blues guitarists such as Stevie Ray Vaughan , Buddy Guy and Rory Gallagher .

On the occasion of a Europe-wide competition for the 50th birthday of the Fender Stratocaster in 2004, the German guitarist Thomas Blug won the title "Stratking of Europe" awarded by the British Fender distributor.

The Stratocaster in design and art

Yamaha Superstrat

The radically new design of the Stratocaster was considered to be groundbreaking when it appeared in 1954 and was not only decisive for the appearance of electric guitars, but also in other design areas.

In instrument making, the Stratocaster finally made it clear that an electric guitar can take any shape that is stable and reasonably comfortable to play on. Since the body is no longer responsible for the sound of the instrument to the same extent as with acoustic guitars, designers were now almost free to decide how an electric guitar could look. While early electric guitars such as the Paul Bigsby instruments, the Fender Telecaster or the Gibson Les Paul were roughly based on the contours of a conventional acoustic guitar, the Stratocaster focused on ergonomics and modern design. This was supported by the opaque “Custom Colors” in the form of brightly colored car paints, which, thanks to their smooth, plastic-like surfaces, broke with the wood look of traditional instruments. With the Stratocaster, the still young industry of electric guitar construction experienced a design boom: Competitor Gibson experimented with new shapes such as the jagged Explorer or the arrow-shaped Flying V and hired the automobile designer Ray Dietrich to shape the Firebird . In the 1960s, the National company experimented with corpora made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic , which roughly resembled the map of the USA in outline. In Germany, companies like Höfner , Hoyer and Framus were strongly influenced by Fender's new guitar, without neglecting their own ideas such as unusual electronics and the characteristic laminated wood necks made from local woods. The construction and shape of the Stratocaster became a standard for electric guitars; the term Strat became colloquially the generic term for all Stratocaster-like instruments.

Larger than life Stratocasters in front of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

With the beginning of hard rock , many manufacturers also began to adapt the basic idea of the Stratocaster to the new playing styles in the late 1970s. The body shapes became more pointed, the fingerboards were lengthened to 24 frets, the tremolo was replaced by stable Floyd Rose systems and powerful humbuckers or active electronics were used as pickups . These upgraded instruments from manufacturers such as Ibanez , Jackson , ESP or Kramer are often referred to by musicians as "superstrats".

The Stratocaster also found its way into art and design as a symbol of rock 'n' roll. While the Stratocaster, with its organically flowing shapes, matched design styles from the 1950s, such as the tail fins in automobiles or googie in architecture, the shape remained timelessly futuristic thanks to rock music, which is regarded as rebellious . The basic form of the Stratocaster is therefore often used to this day as an optical expression of rock 'n' roll and can be found - more or less stylized - on countless record covers , advertising signs, concert posters, patches, in the decoration of discos and restaurants to comics and children's toys again.

literature

Tom Wheeler: The Great Stratocaster Chronicle. 50 years of the Fender Stratocaster . PPV, Bergkirchen 2004, ISBN 3-932275-96-9
Richard R. Smith: Fender - A sound makes history. Nikol-Verl.-Ges., Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-937872-18-3
Peter Bertges: The Fender Reference Bomots, Saarbrücken 2007, ISBN 978-3-939316-38-1
Tony Bacon: Guitars - All models and manufacturers. Zsolnay, London / Vienna 1991, ISBN 3-552-05073-6
George Gruhn, Walter Carter: Electric Guitars & Basses - The History of Electric Guitars and Basses. PPV, Bergkirchen 1999, ISBN 3-932275-04-7
Tony Bacon, Dave Hunter: Totally Guitar — The Definitive Guide . Backbeat Books, London 2004; Two thousand and one, Frankfurt M 2005, ISBN 3-86150-732-3
Guitar & bass . Special edition fender. Various authors. Musik Media, Cologne / Ulm 2001, ISSN 0934-7674
Heinz Rebellius : Why is the Strat the Strat? In: guitar and bass. Musik Media, Cologne / Ulm 2004, 10 (Oct), pp. 98-102, ISSN 0934-7674
Hilary Kay: Rock 'n' Roll Souvenirs . Battenberg Verlag, Augsburg 1994, ISBN 3-89441-179-1
Paul Balmer: Fender Stratocaster - Myth & Technology. PPVMEDIEN, Bergkirchen 2011, ISBN 978-3-941531-57-4 .

swell

^ ^A ^b Tony Bacon, Dave Hunter: Totally Guitar . London 2004, p. 355.
↑ Richard R. Smith: Fender - A sound makes history . 12, 2005, p. 12.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Heinz Rebellius : Why is the Strat the Strat? In: Guitar and Bass , issue 10/2004, p. 99 ff.
↑ Richard R. Smith: Fender - A sound makes history . Hamburg 2005, pp. 129, 130.
^ Tony Bacon, Paul Day: The Ultimate Guitar Book. Edited by Nigel Osborne, Dorling Kindersley. London / New York / Stuttgart 1991; Reprint 1993, ISBN 0-86318-640-8 , pp. 72-75, here: p. 72.
↑ Richard R. Smith: Fender - A sound makes history . Hamburg 2005, p. 138.
↑ Richard R. Smith: Fender - A sound makes history . Hamburg 2005, p. 144.
↑ Richard R. Smith: Fender - A sound makes history . Hamburg 2005, p. 136.
^ Electric guitars, Helmuth Lemme. 4th ext. Stuttgart 1982, p. 131f
↑ Richard R. Smith: Fender - A sound makes history . Hamburg 2005, p. 254.
↑ Richard R. Smith: Fender - A sound makes history . Hamburg 2005, p. 259.
↑ VIP instruments , guitar and bass, special edition Fender, p. 44 f.
↑ Torched Hendrix guitar to be sold . BBC News
↑ £ 280,000 for burnt Hendrix guitar . BBC News
↑ Stringbound: Rory Gallagher , Tom Riepel in: Guitar und Bass, Edition 11/2005, p. 96 ff.
↑ Rock 'n' Roll souvenirs . Hilary Kay, Augsburg 1994, p. 24
↑ David Gilmour's legendary 'Black Strat' breaks world record . NME New Musical Express
^ Guitars - All Models and Manufacturers , Tony Bacon, London 1991 p. 96.

Web links

Commons : Fender Stratocaster - Collection of Images

Commons : Stratocaster - Collection of Images

Official Website of Fender United States (English)
Official website of Fender Germany
Official website of G&L (English)
Patent specification of the tremolo. United States Patent and Trademark Office (English)
Fan page for collectors - details of former Stratocasters
VintageStrats.de Detailed listing of all Stratocaster models. Representation of all years of construction from 1954 to 1985 (German)

This article was added to the list of excellent articles on October 26, 2006 in this version .

[Totally_Guitar-1] A ^b Tony Bacon, Dave Hunter: Totally Guitar . London 2004, p. 355.

[2] Richard R. Smith: Fender - A sound makes history . 12, 2005, p. 12.

[Warum_ist_die_Strat_die_Strat?-3] Heinz Rebellius : Why is the Strat the Strat? In: Guitar and Bass , issue 10/2004, p. 99 ff.

[4] Richard R. Smith: Fender - A sound makes history . Hamburg 2005, pp. 129, 130.

[5] Tony Bacon, Paul Day: The Ultimate Guitar Book. Edited by Nigel Osborne, Dorling Kindersley. London / New York / Stuttgart 1991; Reprint 1993, ISBN 0-86318-640-8 , pp. 72-75, here: p. 72.

[6] Richard R. Smith: Fender - A sound makes history . Hamburg 2005, p. 138.

[7] Richard R. Smith: Fender - A sound makes history . Hamburg 2005, p. 144.

[8] Richard R. Smith: Fender - A sound makes history . Hamburg 2005, p. 136.

[9] Electric guitars, Helmuth Lemme. 4th ext. Stuttgart 1982, p. 131f

[10] Richard R. Smith: Fender - A sound makes history . Hamburg 2005, p. 254.

[11] Richard R. Smith: Fender - A sound makes history . Hamburg 2005, p. 259.

[12] VIP instruments , guitar and bass, special edition Fender, p. 44 f.

[13] Torched Hendrix guitar to be sold . BBC News

[14] £ 280,000 for burnt Hendrix guitar . BBC News

[15] Stringbound: Rory Gallagher , Tom Riepel in: Guitar und Bass, Edition 11/2005, p. 96 ff.

[16] Rock 'n' Roll souvenirs . Hilary Kay, Augsburg 1994, p. 24

[17] David Gilmour's legendary 'Black Strat' breaks world record . NME New Musical Express

[18] Guitars - All Models and Manufacturers , Tony Bacon, London 1991 p. 96.

Fender Stratocaster
Fender Highway 1 Stratocaster, color: Sunburst , manufactured in 2007
General
Type	Electric guitar
Manufacturer	Fender ; USA ( Japan , Mexico )
production	since 1954
Construction and materials
Scale length	25.5 inches (648 mm)
Body	Solid body made of alder or ash
neck	Screwed maple neck
Fingerboard	Maple or Rosewood , 21 or 22 frets
saddle	Synthetic bone , width 42.8 mm
Mechanics	6 × left; capsuled
Footbridge / bridge	Tremolo system with individual saddles
Pickups and Electronics
Pickups	3 × single coil (SSS) 1 × humbucker , 2 × single coil (HSS)
Tone control	passive 1 × volume 2 × height panels 1 × 5-way pickup selection
Audio sample
Audio file	Stratocaster sound with tremolo
Unless otherwise stated, the data come from the manufacturer's website (as of December 14, 2013)