Fender The STRAT | |
---|---|
Manufacturer | Fender |
Period | 1980-1983 |
Construction | |
Body type | Solid, double cut |
Neck joint | Bolt-on |
Scale | 25.5" |
Woods | |
Body | Alder, Ash. Walnut |
Neck | Maple |
Fretboard | Rosewood, Maple |
Hardware | |
Bridge | unique brass synchronized tremolo |
Pickup(s) | 3 single coil pickups, Fender X-1 in Bridge position |
Colors available | |
Stratoburst, Blue Stratoburst, Placid Blue, Walnut, Aztec Gold, Candy Apple Green, Black, Natural, Arctic White, Candy Apple Red, Sapphire Blue, Ruby Red, Sienna, Olympic White Sunburst |
The STRAT (rendered in all caps) was a version of the Stratocaster electric guitar which was manufactured and marketed by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation from 1980 until 1983. [1]
Fender produced its first limited run Strat model in 1979 with the 25th Anniversary Stratocaster. This limited run model was sold concurrently with the normal Stratocaster. The next year, the product line was expanded, having previously offered only one model since the guitar's inception (with possible exception of the Walnut Strats produced in the 1970s).
This new model, simply named The STRAT, was an upgrade to the normal trim, as indicated by its $250 list premium.
Some construction features returned to pre-CBS specs, including the four bolt neck joint, smaller headstock, and removal of the bullet-style truss rod adjustment. [2]
Many new features also debuted with this model. An added two-way rotary selector replaced the lower tone control (mid pickup) and was wired for more pickup switching combinations, 9 in total. The 4 additional tones were 1. neck and middle pickups in series 2. middle and bridge pickups in series 3. neck and bridge pickups in parallel 4. neck and bridge pickups in parallel with middle pickup in series [3] The STRAT featured a hotter bridge pickup, marketed by Fender as the X-1. The controls and hardware were gold plated and included a uniquely massive synchronized tremolo.
There was no standard neck for The STRAT, but three shapes were available: C, D, and U. Some colors featured matched headstock painting.
The high production costs of "The STRAT" led to it being discontinued in the course of 1983.
The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously manufactured the Stratocaster from 1954 to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top "horn" shape for balance. Along with the Gibson Les Paul, Gibson SG and Fender Telecaster, it is one of the most-often emulated electric guitar shapes. "Stratocaster" and "Strat" are trademark terms belonging to Fender. Guitars that duplicate the Stratocaster by other manufacturers are sometimes called S-Type or ST-type guitars.
The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in the early 1960s. Its appearance is similar to the Jaguar, though it is tonally and physically different in many technical ways, including pickup design, scale length and controls.
The Fender Showmaster is a discontinued model of electric guitar made by Fender, and is characteristic of a superstrat. Also see the badge change of Stagemaster due to legal reasons.
The Fender Jaguar is an electric guitar by Fender Musical Instruments characterized by an offset-waist body, a relatively unusual switching system with two separate circuits for lead and rhythm, and a short-scale 24" neck. Owing some roots to the Jazzmaster, it was introduced in 1962 as Fender's feature-laden top-of-the-line model, designed to lure players from Gibson. During its initial 13-year production run, the Jaguar did not sell as well as the less expensive Stratocaster and Telecaster, and achieved its most noticeable popularity in the surf music scene. After the Jaguar was taken out of production in 1975, vintage Jaguars became popular first with American punk rock players, and then more so during the alternative rock, shoegazing and indie rock movements of the 1980s and 1990s. Fender began making a version in Japan in the mid-1980s, and then introduced a USA-made reissue in 1999. Since then, Fender has made a variety of Jaguars in America, Mexico, Indonesia and China under both the Fender and Squier labels. Original vintage Jaguars sell for many times their original price.
The Fender Precision Bass is a model of electric bass manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. In its standard, post-1957 configuration, the Precision Bass is a solid body, four-stringed instrument equipped with a single split-coil humbucking pickup and a one-piece, 20-fret maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard.
Superstrat is a name for an electric guitar design that resembles a Fender Stratocaster but with differences that clearly distinguish it from a standard Stratocaster, usually to cater to a different playing style. Differences typically include more pointed, aggressive-looking body and neck shapes, different woods, increased cutaways to facilitate access to the higher frets, increased number of frets, contoured heel facilitating easier higher fret access, usage of humbucking pickups and locking vibrato systems, most commonly the Floyd Rose.
The Fender Telecaster Deluxe is a solid-body electric guitar originally produced from 1972 to 1981, and re-issued by Fender multiple times starting in 2004.
The Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster is the signature model electric guitar of English guitarist Eric Clapton. It was the first signature model guitar released by Fender.
The Fender Lead Series was produced by the Fender/Rogers/Rhodes Division of CBS Musical Instruments. The series comprised Lead I, Lead II, Lead III and Lead Bass models.
The Squier '51 is an electric guitar made by Squier, a subsidiary of Fender. The '51 is notable for being one of the few original designs made by Squier, which normally manufactures less expensive authorized copies of Fender's popular guitars and bass guitars.
Fender Contemporary Stratocaster electric guitars were produced by Fender Japan in the 1980s.
The Fender HM Strat was an electric guitar produced by Fender Musical Instruments from 1988 until 1992. A relatively radical departure from Leo Fender's classic Stratocaster design, it was Fender's answer to Superstrats produced by manufacturers such as Jackson Guitars and Ibanez. The HM in the guitars name stands for heavy metal.
The Fender Bullet was an electric guitar originally designed by John Page and manufactured and marketed by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. It was first introduced as a line of "student" guitars to replace the outgoing Mustang and Musicmaster models.
Fender California Series electric guitars were produced by Fender in 1997 and 1998. The guitars were carved in California, shipped to Baja California Norte, Ensenada, Mexico for painting, then assembled in California.
The Fender Noiseless series is a line of electric guitar pickups made by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. Introduced in 1998, they feature a row of six dual stacked-coil pole pieces, designed to cancel hum noise. This single coil sized stack consists of a row of paired single coils stacked one on top of the other, compacted so as to fit (incognito) into the same size width space as a regular single coil pickup. This is to be contrasted with the original humbucking pickup design, which is a row of paired single coils double wide.
The Fender Prodigy is a discontinued model of electric guitar produced by Fender from 1991 to 1993. It is one of Fender's attempts to compete with the superstrat-style guitars produced by Ibanez, Jackson/Charvel, Carvin Corporation and Yamaha. Since the Prodigy series was discontinued after about two and half years of production without a clear reason, it is considered one of Fender's rare models because of its limited production. Fender also produced a Prodigy Bass based on the Precision Bass Plus Deluxe featuring a P/J pickup layout, 2-band active circuitry and a "fine-tuner" Schaller Elite bridge assembly.
Starcaster by Fender' is a range of instruments and accessories aimed at students and beginners, marketed by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation from the early 2000s until at least 2011. As of April 2018, no products were being marketed under this brand.
The Squier Stagemaster (discontinued) is a guitar made by Squier, which normally manufactures less expensive authorized copies of Fender's more popular guitars and bass guitars. The Stagemaster is similar in appearance to a Stratocaster with a few cosmetic and functional differences, and is typically classified as a Superstrat. Generally, these differences are:
The Yamaha Corporation is a multinational corporation and conglomerate based in Japan with a wide range of products and services, predominantly musical instruments, motorcycles, power sports equipment and electronics.
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele, is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful solid-body electric guitar. Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music. Introduced for national distribution as the Broadcaster in the autumn of 1950 as a two-pickup version of its sister model, the single-pickup Esquire, the pair were the first guitars of their kind manufactured on a substantial scale. A trademark conflict with a rival manufacturer's led to the guitar being renamed in 1951. Initially, the Broadcaster name was simply cut off of the labels placed on the guitars and later in 1951, the final name of Telecaster was applied to the guitar to take advantage of the advent of television. The Telecaster quickly became a popular model, and has remained in continuous production since its first incarnation.