Fender Stratocaster

:Strat redirects here. For the drinking game see: Strat (drinking game).

Design and popularity changes

In 1959-1965, the Stratocaster was refitted with a thick 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 Ventures and the Beach Boys. After 1965, one could be purchased with either a maple or a rosewood fretboard. Other, often subtle changes were made to the guitars over the years, as though in the spirit of tinkering for which Leo Fender was famous, but the basic shape and features of the Strat remained unchanged.

Related Topics:
The Ventures - Beach Boys

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Players first perceived a loss of the initial high quality of Fender guitars after the CBS takeover in the early 1960s. So-called 'pre-CBS' Stratocasters are, accordingly, extremely sought-after and expensive. In recent times, original 1954 to 1958 Stratocasters have sold for as much as $20,000. Many now reside in Japan, cached away as collectible pieces of Americana.

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The Stratocaster fell out of fashion in the mid-sixties, to the point where the Fender company (Leo Fender had sold it to CBS for $13 million in January 1965) reduced its price and considered removing it from their production line. 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.

Related Topics:
CBS - Jimi Hendrix

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After a peak in the 1970s, driven by players such as David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, another lull occurred in the early '80s, during which the Fender company 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. However, once the company became independent of CBS, the trend abated with a rise in mainstream popularity for vintage (and vintage-style) instruments.

Related Topics:
1970s - David Gilmour - Pink Floyd - Stevie Ray Vaughan - Robert Cray - Buddy Guy

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