A sunburst finish was the norm right from the start in 1954, with a small handful of guitars made for specific artists in specific colors around that timeâa gold one for Texas Playboys guitarist Eldon Shamblin; solid red models (later referred to as âDakota redâ) for Bill Carson and Pee Wee Crayton. Other than a few cosmetic changes, the ‘55 model remained pretty much unchanged other than some improvements to build quality. To compete with more high-end instruments from other manufacturersâparticularly Gibsonâs Les Paul, introduced in 1952 in response to what Randall once called the âplain Janeâ Telecasterâthe Stratocaster was a marked step up in design and innovation for Fender. Fender couldn't break into the jazz market, and breaking into markets is a brand's favorite thing to do. Players quickly found, however, that they could get two combinations of pickupsâthe neck and middle pickups together and the bridge and middle pickups togetherâby carefully balancing the switch in the two points between the three notched positions. The Invention of the Fender Stratocaster. Many purists hate the large headstock, but in actual fact, the larger look was designed by Leo Fender just before he passed away. Finally, the Stratocaster was introduced in spring 1954 as Fenderâs new top-line guitar, in tremolo and non-tremolo versions. From surf to psychedelia, the sixties were the decade that changed everything. Stratocaster History & chronology. This consisted of two then-common paint colorsâa brownish-black outer hue called dark Salem, which graduated to a golden inner hue called canary yellow. Maybe thatâs because it was so well designed to start with that it has existed largely unchanged for 60 years now, allowing it to become an ingrained form in the minds of successive generations. Fender was small in the early 1950s, but clearly going places, and itâs possible that Leo Fender turned his attention in earnest to a new electric guitar model to succeed the Telecaster and compete with more upscale competitors as early as 1951. Also, the original Stratocaster necks had a rounded âCâ-shaped profile (also described as âDâ- and âUâ-shaped) that was changed to sharper âVâ and âmedium Vâ profiles from 1955 to 1957 before returning to rounded profiles as the decade closed. It was the first year that modern features, such as rosewood fingerboards and the now-iconic 3-Color Sunburst finish made their initial appearance. Here’s a cool video showing you the process of building one. The Supro was no Stratocaster. It wasn't perfect though ⦠The three control knobs placed near the bridge were within easy reach of the strumming/picking handâa master volume and two tone controls for the neck and middle pickups. The guitarâs distinctively shaped headstockâmore fully curvaceous than that of the Telecaster and Precision Bassâwas undoubtedly influenced by instruments built by Paul Bigsby and, like the Telecaster and Precision Bass before it, had all the tuners within easy reach on one side. In mid 1959, Stratocasters were given multi-ply celluloid pickguards with more screw holes (11) and a notable greenish tint (although some were given faux-tortoiseshell nitrocellulose pickguards). Besides vintage reissues, modern Strats offer a variety of different features and tonewoods and most have a thinner C neck for improved playability. In the United States in late 1959, a flamboyantly talented 23-year-old Louisiana guitarist named George âBuddyâ Guy had just got his first record contract the year before, and 22-year-old Californian Richard Monsour, who went by the stage name Dick Dale, had just released his first two singles on the tiny Deltone label. Getting hold of one will be out of most people’s budgets. Unfortunately, this led to a period of cheapening the materials, including: Most notoriously, they introduced a large headstock design which allowed for a larger logo text (to make the Fender brand was more prominent on TV promotional campaigns and billboards). In the compartment routed into the back of the guitar, the whole assemble was anchored by springs (three at first but soon five) that attached to the inertia block at one end and an adjustable anchor plate screwed to the forward wall of the cavity at the other end. 1956 - Below is a patent poster for the Stratocaster used to advertise the new features. Toward the end of 1959, with the 1960s fast approaching, a bright future for both rock ânâ roll and the Fender Stratocaster seemed far from assured. The first known ad for it appeared in that Aprilâs issue of International Musician magazine, and a small pre-production run began that month. Ready for a trip down memory lane? Fender founder and engineer Leo Fender (famously not a guitarist) set out to change that with the Jazzmaster. To get to the electronics for these pots you need to remove the pickguard. It took quite a while, in fact, because if itâs true that the guitar was so well designed from the start that it has basically remained the same for six decades, itâs also true that it was so well designed that it was ahead of its time by at least a decade. During the CBS era, Fender guitars and amps saw a lot of change. For most vintage guitar collectors, 1965 stands as the single most important year in the history of Fender. The beginning of the road for the Stratocaster was 1954, when Leo Fender along with George Fullerton and Freddie Tavere, after many iterations settled on the now-familiar Strat design with its double-cutaway body. He's also got an unhealthy obsession with vintage VW Campervans. Since 1946, Fender's iconic Stratocasters, Telecasters and Precision & Jazz bass guitars have transformed nearly every music genre. As sleek and innovative as it was, the Stratocasterâs future was by no means guaranteed in late 1959. So Leo set out to design a fancier guitar perfect for jazz. The neck was also thinned out. READ MORE: C-V-U? READ MORE: A Guide to Fender Single-Coil Stratocaster Pickups. This sparked a rise in mainstream popularity for vintage (and vintage-style) instruments. Been that way for quite a while now. They decided to manufacture two Vintage reissue Stratocaster models, a maple-fretboard 1957 and a rosewood-fretboa⦠The Main Reasons Explained, How Many Frets on a Guitar? The most popular guitar ever made and copied. The full story on the Strat's initial groundbreaking years. The employees at Fender, led by Fender President William C. Schultz, purchased the company back from CBS. This is where Leo first saw the potential in designing and selling custom audio equ⦠(RIGHT) A custom-order â61 Stratocaster in Sherwood Green, a 1957 Ford color that was used by Fender until â65. We’re so used to ‘far out’ guitar designs that the Strat looks, by today’s standards, pretty conservative by comparison – but back in the day it was a real head-turner. READ MORE: The Difference Between Strat and Tele Bridge Pickups History. In August, 1954, Fender unveiled the Stratocaster ("Strat") guitar. The development of the Stratocaster also saw a notably elegant touch in Fenderâs first use of a sunburst finish, which was included at Randallâs insistence to give the guitar a more high-end look. Three years after its introduction, many still hadnât seen one, but that changed when a Texas rock ânâ roll trio called the Crickets appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show on Sunday, Dec. 1, 1957. As you can see the world of the Stratocaster is pretty vast, which can make it hard to decide which is best one for you. Others embraced the Stratocaster later in the decade, too. Changes to the body and headstock shape (contours), The materials used (down to the control knobs), Electronics and tremolo bridge alterations, The fret markers (the dots) were changed to Pearloid (cheap plastic that looks like pearl), The celluloid pickguard was switched out for one made of cheap ABS plastic, If you’re interested in finding out more, we wrote a guide to finding the. Itâs not like Leo Fender was trying to be radical and revolutionary. He and his closest staff spent long hours developing and perfecting the new model, which quickly shaped up to be its own instrument rather than an improved version of the Telecaster. Leo ran a small electronics repair shop. Other more minor changes took place (thinner aluminum shielding, thinner neck shape, a metal spacer added below the string tree, etc. Finally, the Stratocaster was introduced in spring 1954 as Fenderâs new top-line guitar, in tremolo and non-tremolo versions. Inspired by a gram scale, he hurriedly completed an entirely new design in late 1953 in which the whole bridge assembly moved with the strings rather than having the strings move over rollers with the bridge remaining stationary. In addition, two of Fender’s other guitars (the Jazzmaster and Jaguar) both shipped with the larger variety, so it appeared to be the direction of travel in Fender at the time. READ MORE: How the Stratocaster Came to Have Two Headstocks, The Stratocasterâs electronics were mounted to the single-ply white plastic pickguard (anodized aluminum on some early models) rather than to the body, enabling an entire pickguard/pickups/controls assembly to be dropped in place and screwed on (using eight screws) and only requiring connection to the output jack. The biggest bit of innovation, however, was the guitar’s vibrato bridge (which Fender erroneously called a ‘Tremolo’ bridge). Embedded content: https://www.youtube.com/embed/dJXjV6UY9lc?rel=0. Best Online Guitar Lessons in 2020 – Reviewed & Ranked, Fender Serial Number Lookup – Find When & Where Your Guitar Was Made, Why are Some Guitar Pickups Angled? The rear of the bridge plate was unanchored and bent slightly upward; the front was fixed to the guitar body with six screws, one in front of each bridge saddle. Before we look at its major developments, what was so special about this design? Three years after its 1954 introduction, as Tom Wheeler notes in his introduction to The Stratocaster Chronicles, it was still ânot particularly well known,â and appeared to be âas far removed from conventional guitars as, say, a baritone ukulele or even a banjo.â In the context of the times, Wheeler continues, âPlenty of professional musicians saw the new Fender as unworthy of serious considerationâmerely a tool, a gimmicky contraption, even a joke.â. Despite what people say about the CBS era ones, they’re still amazing guitars which fetch a hefty price tag because of their age, even if Strat purists turn their nose up to them. The Fender brand began with the work of an inventor named Leo Fender. “This is an opportunity to keep a very viable and legendary name alive in the industry” Shultz said. Not happy with letters the right way round? The two-color sunburst finish became a three-color sunburst finish in the first half of 1958 with the addition of an âin betweenâ red hue. Fender literally wrote the book on electric basses, laying the foundation for musical innovation and evolution. A scrappy little post-war West Coast upstart that was only seven years old and led by a taciturn self-taught electronics tinkerer, Fender had already introduced two revolutionary instrumentsâthe Telecaster and Precision Bass guitarsâplus a full line of well-regarded steel guitars and a small handful of loud, rugged and stylish amps that were the best available. In fact, the Stratocasterâs second vibrato system was so effectively âover designedâ that it proved capable of far more than its designer intended or imagined. And utterly unbeknownst to Fender, players had other plans entirely for the Jazzmaster. We hope you’ve enjoyed this little romp through the history of the Strat. And so the Stratocaster bided its time during its first few yearsâa period during which the saxophone and the piano slowly ceded their lead roles to electric guitar, which could with rapidly increasing prevalence be heard louder and clearer than ever before. The first full-scale production run began in October 1954, with the vibrato model priced at $249.50 and the non-vibrato model at $229.50. The Fender Stratocaster (and Telecaster) from the 1950's put the solidbody electric guitar on the map. T he Stratocaster was first introduced in spring 1954, it may well be the most popular and copied guitar design ever. Marvin had seen Buddy Holly holding a Stratocaster on the cover of 1957 album The âChirpingâ Crickets, and he mistakenly thought it was the same model that James Burton played on Ricky Nelson records. READ MORE: Fender Stratocaster Buying Guide: 7 Strat Models Compared. By 1957, the Stratocaster was basically perfected into the form that has remained largely unchanged ever since. Add to that 3 hand-wound single-coil pickups, connected to a 3-way switch (using Stackpole 250k ohms pots). Leo and guitarist/advisor Bill Carson apparently thought prototype units sounded fine at the factory, but Leoâs right-hand man in the factory, George Fullerton, said they âsounded terrible.â, Even Carson subsequently noted that when he tried the instrument with the original vibrato system out at a gig, as noted in Smithâs book, it âsounded like an amplified banjo with no sustain.â. If you missed that post, click here to read Part I in our Brief History of the Stratocaster. Wide Panel 1953 - 1955 A 1953 Deluxe Telecaster Chronology. Depending on body wood and other variables, various preparations, color coats, clear coats, etc., were used. The round string tree was also replaced with a butterfly style string tree. The Fender Stratocaster is the quintessential electric guitarâa worldwide archetype; the basic form that leaps to mind at the very mention of the phrase electric guitar even among those who donât play. They were bought out by CBS. He's a multi-instrumentalist and loves researching, writing, and geeking out about music. It wasn’t always plain sailing for the Strat, however, and it certainly had its fair shares of ups and downs along the way. Leo invested a great deal of time and money into trying to perfect the system well into 1953 before scrapping the entire design and starting over. Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. Real Deal Sound. But who knew where the Stratocaster was destined to fit in? The Telecaster sounded great but wasnât especially comfortable to play because its squared-off body dug into the playerâs body and picking-hand forearm. The tension of the springs on the back and the guitar strings on the top held the whole system âfloatingâ in balance and enabled shimmering vibrato, uncompromised tone and, crucially, stable intonation. In 1958, they went back to the U-shaped neck and they slightly tweaked the sunburst finish (from two to three colors). Photo by John Peden. Learn more about Fender electric basses. Leaving aside black, Fenderâs 1960 color chart reflects a strong bias toward GM, with 10 colors out of 13, and in particular toward Cadillac, with five colors. But then again James would be no ordinary guitar player, and a new decade was about to start. Embedded content: https://www.youtube.com/embed/g6-n4V_l3jI?rel=0. Fender sold sheet music, phonograph records and home public address systems, in addition to building custom amplifiers and guitars for local musicians. 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