Legendary Instruments, Fender Stratocaster

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Fender Stratocaster

The Fender Stratocaster, or simply "Strat" is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top horn for balance while standing. 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 common and enduring 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.

In its original form, the Stratocaster was offered initially in a 2-color sunburst finish, together with a solid deeply contoured ash body, a one-piece maple neck with 21 frets, black dot inlays and Kluson machine heads until 1957, when Fender started making bodies made from solid alder. There was also a set of available custom colors that wasn't standardized until 1960. These custom colors were mostly automobile lacquer colors made by Dupont and could be had for an extra 5% cost. The single-ply, 8-screw hole white pick guard was a unique concept that allowed all of the guitar's electronic components - except the recessed jack plate - to be mounted on one easy-to-remove surface. Subsequent Stratocaster designs have ostensibly improved upon the original in usability and sound, but vintage Fender models are still often worth large amounts of money and some prefer the timbre of older models.

The Stratocaster's radically sleek, contoured body shape, the "Comfort Contour Body", was a marked difference to the flat, slab-like design of the Telecaster. The body features a unique curve on the upper back and a gradual curve at the front bottom, where the player's right arm rests. The one-piece maple neck's uniquely-shaped wide "dogleg"-style head stock again contrasted to the very narrow Fender Telecaster's head stock shape. The strings are anchored on a through-body pivot bridge attached with springs to a 'claw' in the bridge cavity on the back of the guitar. Original Stratocasters were shipped with five springs anchoring the bridge flat against the body. Players were able to remove the back plate covering the bridge, remove two of the springs and tighten the claw screws to allow the bridge to 'float,' with the pull of the strings in one direction countering the pull of the springs in the opposite direction. Once in the floating position, players can move the tremolo arm mounted on the bridge up or down to increase or decrease the pitch of the notes being played. Many players such as Eric Clapton, who dislike the tuning instability of floating bridge Stratocasters, usually block the tremolo bridge by inserting a small wedge of wood in against the inertia block (the gap towards the bottom of the guitar body) and placing excessive tension on the springs, pulling in the opposite direction, to lock the bridge in a fixed position. Some Strats have a fixed bridge in place of the tremolo assembly; these are colloquially called "hard-tails."

The Stratocaster features three single coil pickups, with the output originally selected by a 3-way switch. Guitarists soon discovered that by jamming the switch in between the 1st and 2nd position, both the bridge and middle pickups could be selected, and similarly, the middle and neck pickups could be selected between the 2nd and 3rd position. This trick became widespread and Fender responded with the 5-way pickup selector as standard since 1977 which allowed these tonal combinations and provided better switching stability. The tones of the middle and bridge pickups, popularized by players such as David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Robert Cray, can be obtained by using the pickup selector into positions 2 and 4. The neck and middle pickups are each wired to a tone adjustment knob, while the bridge pickup, which is slanted towards the high strings for a more trebly sound, has no tone control for maximum brightness. On many modern Stratocasters, the first tone affects the neck pickup; the second tone affects the middle and bridge pickups; on some Artist Series models (Eric Clapton and Buddy Guy signature guitars), the first tone is a presence circuit which cuts (or boosts) treble and bass frequencies, affecting all the pickups; the second tone is an active midrange booster which boosts the midrange frequencies up to 25dB (12dB on certain models) to produce a fatter humbucker-like sound.

All three pickups' volume level is controlled by a single volume knob. The placement of the knobs allowed for relatively easy manipulation of the sound with the right hand while playing. The three pickups were originally identical in their construction. With the rising popularity of using pickups in combination, Fender introduced a new feature in 1977 coinciding with the standard 5-position switch; a reverse-wound, reverse-polarity middle pickup. As the description implies, the magnetic polarity of this pickup is opposite the other two, as is the direction of the wire winding around the bobbin. This provides a hum-canceling effect (removing hum induced by poorly shielded, medium to high output AC devices) in positions 2 and 4 on the selector switch. This principle had been known for many years beforehand, being applied in the form of Gibson's humbucking pickup and Fender's own split-coil pickup used on the Precision Bass. Today, virtually all Fender instruments with more than one single-coil pickup (most notably the Stratocaster, Telecaster and Jazz Bass) are wired in such a manner as to provide a hum-canceling combination of pickups. The Stratocaster is noted for its bright, clean and 'twangy' sounds. The neck pickup has a mellower, fuller and louder sound compared to the brighter and sharper tone of the bridge pickup. The middle pickup provides a sound somewhere between the two. Typically, the neck pickup is used for rhythm playing, while the bridge pickup is used for lead work.

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 Hank Marvin's sound that many musicians initially deliberately avoided the Stratocaster.

The one-piece maple neck was discontinued in 1959 and the following year the pick guard design changed to a 3-ply (4-ply on some colors) "multi-layer" with 11 screw holes. After purchasing Fender in 1965, CBS began to offer an optional maple neck with a separate glued-on laminated maple fretboard in 1967 (known as a "maple cap" neck), with the rosewood fretboard over maple neck remaining the other neck option. Two years later, the CBS-owned Fender companies re-introduced the 1-piece maple neck after a 10-year absence. 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 Fender Stratocaster Ultra series in 1989, ebony was officially selected as a fretboard material on some models (although several Elite Series Stratocasters manufactured in 1983/84 such as the Gold and Walnut were available with a stained ebony fretboard). In December 1965 the Stratocaster was given a broader headstock with altered decals to match the size of the Jazzmaster and Jaguar.

Since 1998, many high-end US-made Fender Stratocasters such as the American Deluxe, American, Hot Rodded American, American Special and American Standard series came with an HSH pickup rout instead of a "swimming pool" (or "bath tub") cavity to increase the total amount of wood that actually can resonate, producing a more complex tone. The HSH rout allows players to modify their pickups to the most often seen after-market configurations without re-routing or cutting into their guitar's body, while maintaining more wood than a "swimming pool" rout.

Players 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 the large "CBS" headstock and (from the mid 70s) the 3-bolt necked models (instead of the conventional 4 bolts) with the "Bullet" truss-rod and the MicroTilt adjustment system fell out of fashion (although some new models with 4-bolt necks retained the MicroTilt system that was native to the 3-bolt necks, like the Strat Plus, the flagship American Standard Stratocaster and, what's now known as the American Deluxe Stratocaster) and added a new BiFlex truss-rod system, which adjusts the neck curvature in two directions, convex and concave, as well as locking security StrapLock Ready strap buttons made by Schaller on guitars produced after 1982/83. However, many blues-influenced artists of the late '60s soon adopted the Stratocaster as their main instrument, reviving the guitar's popularity. Also, so-called 'pre-CBS' Stratocasters are, accordingly, extremely sought-after and expensive due to the huge difference in quality even compared 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.

After a peak in the 1970s, driven by the use of several high profile players, 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 Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Robert Cray and Buddy Guy in their choice of the Stratocaster as a primary blues-rock guitar.

When the Fender company was bought back from CBS by Bill 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. Dan Smith, with the help of John Page, proceeded to work on a reissue of the most popular guitars of Leo Fender's era. They decided to manufacture two Vintage reissue Stratocaster models, a maple-neck 1957 and a rosewood-neck 1962 along with the maple-neck 1952 Telecaster, the maple-neck 1957 and rosewood-neck 1962 Precision Basses, as well as the rosewood-neck "stacked knob" 1962 Jazz Bass. This project was very important and critical to the company's survival. These first few years (1982–1984) of reissues, known as American Vintage Reissues, are now high-priced collector's items and considered as some of the finest to ever leave Fender's Fullerton plant, which closed its doors in late 1984.

In 1985, Fender's US production of the Vintage reissues resumed into a new factory at Corona, located about 20 miles away from Fullerton. These three guitars form an important part of the American Vintage Series line since July 10, 1998.

The American Deluxe Series Stratocasters came with a variety of high-end options such as a Fender DH-1 humbucker in the bridge position and an American 2-point locking vibrato bridge (Fender/Floyd Rose assembly) with LSR Roller Nut, locking tuners on certain models and Samarium Cobalt Noiseless pickups with S-1 switching. Guitars produced before 2004 featured Vintage Noiseless pickups and 4-bolt neck fixing. The contoured neck heel feature on these Stratocasters was added in 2002. The American Deluxe Stratocaster HSS (also known as American Deluxe Fat Strat) is the same guitar except for the addition of a Fender DH-1 humbucker in the bridge position and two Hot SCN pickups for a proper balance with the humbucking pickup. The American Deluxe Strat HSS LT had the same specifications as the Stratocaster HSS, with an additional feature; the strings lock into the bridge, LSR roller nut and locking machine heads. Introduced in 1998 and upgraded in 2004, the American Deluxe Strat HSS LT has been discontinued as of 2007.

American Series Stratocasters come with alder or ash bodies, rolled fingerboard edges, three custom "modern" staggered single-coils and the DeltaTone system (which includes a high output bridge pickup and a reverse-wound single-coil in the middle position). Hardtail versions were discontinued in 2007. New for 2003 was the American Strat HSS which features a Diamondback humbucker (bridge), two Tex-Mex single-coils (neck/middle) and S-1 switching. An HH model with dual Sidewinder/Black Cobra humbuckers was offered until 2007. As of 2008, all American Standard Stratocasters come with a redesigned bridge with vintage-style bent steel saddles and the S-1 switching has been dropped.

The Highway-1 series, originally introduced in 2004 and re-designed in 2007, is a concept based around bridging the price points of the Standard and American Series instruments, and also offering an affordable "reissue" meant to resemble Strats from the 60's and 70's. The instruments are made in the U.S. and incorporate a hybrid of hardware; the tuners and string trees are similar in design and quality to those on American Series instruments, while the bridge hardware is largely similar to the Standard Series. The most striking difference to any other current mass-produced Strat is the body finish, which is a thin satin-finish nitrocellulose as opposed to the thick polyurethane coating used on both Standard and American series models. This coating provides a very vintage look, as nitrocellulose was the standard lacquer finish for vintage Strats. Highway 1 Strats use hotter Alnico III pickup pole pieces similar to those on American Series guitars, giving a very bright sound compared to cheaper "ceramic" pole piece elements, and also feature a tone circuit called the Greasebucket, first seen on the Custom Pro series guitars; functionally similar to a traditional tone control, it provides a more natural roll-off of high frequencies, without the bass frequencies becoming more present as can occur with traditional tone circuits. The first two years of Highway 1 instruments resembled "pre-CBS"-era instruments with the traditional headstock design, small frets and vintage color choices. Beginning in 2007, the line was redesigned to resemble 70's-era instruments with a large headstock, bigger frets, CBS-era color schemes and other visual cues.

The Vintage Hot-Rod Series has vintage looks and modern playability ignited together in these next-level guitars, which feature authentic ’50s and early ’60s designs paired with some hot-rod modifications, including flatter fretboards and larger frets to increase the playability of necks and modern pickups.

The American Special Series included Stratocasters with features that span the bridge between traditional and modern technology, either in specifications, design or both. Fender American Special series models were made in Corona, California (USA). The Floyd Rose Classic Stratocasters (made from 1992 to 2003) featured an original Floyd Rose locking tremolo bridge. They came in HSS (Fender DH-1 humbucker and 2 DeltaTone single-coils) and HH (dual Fender DH-1 humbuckers) configurations. Models manufactured before 1998 had DiMarzio PAF Pro humbucking pickups. The range also included the Honduran mahogany-bodied Strat-O-Sonic guitars with the choice of Black Dove P-90 soap-bars and Atomic II humbucking pick-ups, which lasted until 2007.

The VG Stratocaster (designed by Fender and Japanese synthesizer giant Roland) is an American Series virtual modeling guitar with a Roland VG pickup and two extra knobs for Tuning and Mode control. The tuning knob allows the player to switch between standard, Drop D, D Modal, open G, baritone, and twelve-string tunings. The Mode control knob allows the player to choose between Stratocaster, Telecaster, humbucking pickup, and acoustic guitar sounds. The VG Stratocaster was introduced in 2007 where it won "Best In Show" at the NAMM show, and has been endorsed by Fender guitar clinician Greg Koch. Fender discontinued this model as of April 1st, 2009.

Fender also supply a variety of Signature models, each with specifications similar to those used by a well-known performer. Custom Artist guitars are the Custom Shop versions of the Artist Series line, which significantly differ from the standard production models in terms of quality and construction, making these instruments much more expensive. As well as the other Custom Shop instruments, the Custom Artist guitars are available either as Team Built or Master Built items, some being exact replications of the specific artist's original instrument, better known as "Tribute" series.

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