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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsStratocaster turns 60 but for its musician fans, it never gets old
Last edited Thu Feb 13, 2014, 10:32 PM - Edit history (1)
Stratocaster players such as Jeff Beck, Bonnie Raitt, Eric Clapton, the Edge and Buddy Guy sing praises for the electric guitar and its perfectly modern design, which turns 60 this year.
By Randy Lewis
February 13, 2014, 6:00 a.m.
Rock guitar hero Jeff Beck remembers falling in love for the first time.
"I'd only ever seen Spanish-style or jazz guitars, and then I saw a Stratocaster," said Beck, 69, of his schoolboy crush. "I was fascinated by the shape, the double cutaways; it was all too cool. It had all these pickups and knobs and controls it embodied all the excitement of modern living.
"A few years later I saw one in London hanging in a window, and the guy let me try it on," said the former member of the Yardbirds. "It fit me like it was made for me. That was it we were married. I thought 'This is it,' and I never forgot it."
Virtually all musicians have a similar story surrounding their first high-quality instrument, and for many guitarists, that tender memory revolves around the Stratocaster.
The Strat, which was created by electric guitar innovator Leo Fender in his Fullerton workshop, turns 60 this year.
..more..
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-stratocaster-60th-20140213,0,3072085.story#ixzz2tFfltZ90
Stars and their Stratocasters,
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-stratocaster-celebrities-photos,0,60116.photogallery#axzz2tFg7Ej6B
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dionysus
(26,467 posts)1000words
(7,051 posts)I like the heavy bottom SGs produce, but I am partial to the clear, bright tones from Strats and Teles.
G_j
(40,372 posts)a good hybrid style (Fender-Gibson) ala Garcia.
I'm a Strat player at this point.
johnp3907
(3,737 posts)But don't like the feel. They just don't "fit me," or something.
stevil
(1,537 posts)They have such a unique sound but can be a little more challenging to play.
dionysus
(26,467 posts)icymist
(15,888 posts)I grew up playing telecasters and stratocasters and then one day tried a Les Paul. Right off, I noticed that the neck is slimer and when I played it, it was as if it would be playing itself! I liked that for a little while when I was learning to play like Randi Roades, but eventually went back to the strat. Besides, a worn down maple neck on the old Fenders looks way cool!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fender-Road-Worn-50s-Telecaster-Electric-Guitar-Blonde-/300927721060
TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)Husband's and son's prized possessions, along with all their effects pedals and whatnot. Thank God for basements.
panader0
(25,816 posts)reddread
(6,896 posts)its horrible what became of such an American icon.
Past 1984 they were never the same, no matter how precisely duplicated.
Really fond of the Fender Leads they put out before the end.
four of those should be enough, but...
Quite a few Elites, and an 83 body to beat on.
They built some great necks back then.
wouldnt be caught dead with a 22 fret Strat.
Lizzie Poppet
(10,164 posts)The Legacy is where Leo wanted to take the design, and they're better Strats than, um...Strats. I've moved away from Strats (and to an ES-335 and a G&L SC2), but if I was going to get another of that iconic design, it'd be the Legacy.
That said, Fender's Custom Shop is making some very good instruments (and grossly overcharging for them). You can still get Strat and Tele pickups wound by Abigail Ybarra, although Abby retired last year, so they're starting to get rare (and crazy expensive).
reddread
(6,896 posts)but the Telecaster is the best of all guitars.
The last of the Lead III's are incredibly nice, utterly professional tools.
But something about the single pickup original Lead I's has a significant, gutsy edge.
Fender produced many incredible instruments.
Until Japan wiped them out, and now Bain has China and Indonesia grinding out mockeries with sticker finishes.
Fortunately, plenty of talented Americans are building great pieces, and if you want an American Strat or Tele,
those luthiers can do the job.
All those cheap overseas numbers are going to drive the real pieces out of reach, price wise.
Seriously recommend grabbing a nice Lead before the world catches on completely.
Scuba
(53,475 posts)... to play despite having arthritis in my left hand. I was 61 when I started lessons.
Mine's wine, and I'm very pleased with it ...
G_j
(40,372 posts)'92
panader0
(25,816 posts)Zorra
(27,670 posts)and a Delta Tone at the bridge. I love pure strat tone and use it on most of what I play. I just had it set up by Gene Matisko and it has never played better, he's really a genius at building and setting up guitars.
This is what it sounds like through a 40W Marshall Tube combo, almost clean.
L0oniX
(31,493 posts)calimary
(81,645 posts)mulsh
(2,959 posts)hardware and a very old very nice set of Joe Barden Strat pickups since it was the original owner's gigging guitar.
It doesn't take much to get it back to stock condition, but I hate knocking 3 position switched out of place. Its a pretty valuable instrument but since I will never sell it I tell people who ask that its worth about $1.00.
I got a Mexican made Strat made in '92. It has the most responsive pots and pick ups of any strat I've played.Believe it or not I can get great tone with all the nobs set around 1. I'll never sell that one either.
these days I mostly play a Les Paul but I'll always love my strats.
Brother Buzz
(36,523 posts)to hold up in a bar fight. - Charlie Deal
The Midway Rebel
(2,191 posts)Freddie Tavares was more responsible for the design of the Strat than Leo. Leo is a business man and designed the Telecaster. Freddie was an actual guitarist. When you hold a Tele and then a Strat, you can tell it who designed what.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Tavares
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NoGOPZone
(2,971 posts)His own playing is too often overlooked
Zorra
(27,670 posts)"Wait a minute something's wrong here,
Lord, have mercy, this key won't unlock this door,
something's goin' on here.
I have a bad bad feeling
that my baby don't live here no more.
That's all right, I still got my guitar"
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