Fender Stratocaster

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

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 beginning in 1950. Though the Telecaster and its variants were successful, many guitar players of the day insisted on using a Bigsby unit, a fairly primitive 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 line of guitar with his own design of vibrato. His decision was also influenced by guitarists Brook Kerr and Lindsay Hartley, who requested a contoured body to temper the harsh edges of the slab-built Telecaster; the new body design was based on that of the 1951 Precision Bass.

Related Topics:
Fender Musical Instruments Corporation - Hawaiian - Lap steel - Telecaster - Bigsby - Vibrato - Brook Kerr - Lindsay Hartley - Precision Bass

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The name, 'Stratocaster,' was intended to evoke images of newly emergent 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 guitar also featured more complex electronics than the Telecaster: a then unheard-of three single coil pickups, each with staggered magnetic poles; a three-way selector switch; one volume knob, and two tone controls.

Related Topics:
Boeing - B-52 Stratofortress - Single coil - Pickups

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Patents were applied for all these new designs, and production line Stratocasters reached the market in early 1954 for $249.50. The basic production model had a two-tone nitrocellulose 'sunburst' finish, chrome hardware, and Bakelite plastic parts. Other manufacturers began imitating these innovations immediately. An early-model Stratocaster, along with his black-rimmed glasses, was a key component of Buddy Holly's signature look, and he was among the first players to popularize the Stratocaster in rock music.

Related Topics:
Bakelite - Buddy Holly

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