Happy Birthday, Fender!
This year marks the 50th birthday of the ubiquitous Fender Stratocaster.
The Shreveport Times gives some history, some Strat lore, and some basic engineering concepts associated with solid-body electrics that aren't entirely wrong but will suffice to annoy Johno. It's kinda too bad that Fender isn't as interested in this event for its own sake, as opposed to being an event for selling you stuff with "Fender 50th" logos on it, but I do dig 'em.
I bought an American Classic Strat (as opposed to what NDR termed a "NAFTA-Strat") ca 1995 and have played it exclusively ever since. It doesn't have the ass or tone of a fat Gibson product (nor the price of a Les Paul, Strat's chubbier, warmer cousin), nor the scream of any of your pointy metal models. A Strat does alot of stuff pretty OK though, widely known for good reason as a dependable model. The Times article calls it a "workhorse". Sort of the Ford pick-up truck of guitars I guess.
Happy 50th.
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"NAFTA-caster"!
"NAFTA-caster"!
I used to call those "Mexi
I used to call those "Mexi-Casters."
Well, or "Jap-o-Strats".
Well, or "Jap-o-Strats". Trying to be a little genteel. But blew it.
See, the great thing about
See, the great thing about the Strat is that it's more versatile than the Les Paul. Whereas most of the Gibson models use the double-humbucker pickup set-up, which results in a more complex set of midrange overtones, the Strat's single-coil three-pickup arrangment allows for a broader palette of clearer tones.
Tone is just like painting. You can't take black off a canvas, and you can't take warmth out of a sound. The Gibson always sounds like a Gibson, but if you want to fatten up a Strat's sound, you can massage it with processors, or do what I did: buy one with a split-coil humbucker in the bridge position with a switch-- I can get the phat Gibson sound or two different thinner Strat sounds at the flick of a tiny switch.
Fender products in general are just incredibly versatile. Proof: Guess what Jimmy Page played in the studio most of the time? That's right. A Tele.
I also prefer the scale length of a Strat to Gibson's products, and I've always had trouble playing on Gibson necks. I'm getting over it as I get older, but so many Gibsons have narrow necks with a small radius.
Anyway, there's my wonky and overtechnical love letter to the guitar that made my teenage years bearable and fucked up my left shoulder (heavy!). I wish I had an amp to go home to; I feel like ripping out a window-rattling version of Dave Gilmour's Strat solo on "Comfortably Numb."