The Fender Stratocaster, (often referred to as a Strat), is a model of
electric guitar designed by
George Fullerton,
Leo Fender and
Freddie Tavares in 1954, 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,
Gibson SG, and the
Fender Telecaster, it is one of the most enduring and common models of electric guitar in the world. The design of the Stratocaster has transcended the field of music to rank among the classic
industrial designs of all time; examples have been exhibited at major museums around the world.
[1]The Stratocaster has been widely
copied; as a result, the term "Strat" is often used generically when referring to any guitar that has the same general features as the original, regardless of manufacturer.
OriginsThe 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 beginning in
1948 - the
Telecaster, a simple design whose earliest models were offered under the name Broadcaster or the single pickup Esquire. While the Telecaster and its variants were successful, many guitar players of the day used a
Bigsby unit, a spring-loaded
vibrato device that players use to 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 vibrato, which Leo Fender incorrectly referred to as a "synchronized 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 shape 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 patented by Fender.
[1]
The guitar also featured more complex electronics than the Telecaster: three
single coil pickups, each with staggered magnetic poled
alnico magnets (a mix of Aluminum, Nickel and Cobalt, hence the name); a three-way selector switch (five-way since 1977); one volume knob, and two tone controls, one each for the neck and middle pickups. 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.
In the book "The Stratocaster Chronicles", page 33, Mr. Fender explains how the inspiration for the headstock came from his seeing instruments played by visiting Croatian musicians. "it was originally a Croatian design" Leo Fender said. He was speaking of the instrument called "
Tamburica".
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. 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.
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 is 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.
Eric Clapton plays his
signature model at the Tsunami Relief concert,
January 22,
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. The primary reason for the switch to rosewood was to meet increased demand; as one piece maple necks required more work to manufacture and more work to finish.
Since the introduction of the Ultra series in 1989, ebony was selected as a fretboard material. Guitar models with such fingerboards include the American Deluxe FMT/QMT Stratocasters and Telecasters, introduced in 2004, sporting a solid select alder body with quilted or flamed maple top, HSS (Strat) and HH (Tele) pickup configurations with S-1 switching.
Many artists (including
Buddy Guy,
Rory Gallagher,
Eric Clapton,
Jimi Hendrix, and
Mark Knopfler) discovered that the pick-up selector could be lodged in between the basic three settings (often using objects such as matchsticks to wedge it in position) 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
humbucking pickups, especially in the bridge position to create what became known as the
Superstrat. 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
Eddie Van Halen's home made guitar,
Frankenstrat, 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 in
1965. As a result, the late-'60s Stratocasters with 3 bolt neck joints (instead of the traditional 4) and the large "CBS" headstock fell out of fashion. 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. George Harrison used a Stratocaster in the 1971
Concert For Bangladesh, (though Eric Clapton had started using Stratocasters at this time, he used a Gibson during the concert) 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 perceived 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's sales for Fender), played vintage Strats till the end of the 80s, then turning on his own Signature Stratocaster model.
However, when the Fender company was bought from CBS by
William Schultz 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.
so thats it about the best guitar for blues i guess
source from wikipedia, check it out if you want to
