Talk:Fender Stratocaster/Archive 1

"Floating Bridge"
The word "floating bridge" (under the section Sound and Playability) is hyperlinked, but when you click on it, it sends you to a page featuring pontoon bridges. I assume this link was intended to direct someone towards an article on something like the F-R bridge?

A great misconception about the Stratocaster is that the Tremolo bridge is supposed to be a "floating bridge". As everyone who has owned a Strat knows, when you try to set it up as a "floating bridge", it will not hold tuning. I assumed that the engineers who designed this bridge were not morons and figured out the correct way to set up a tremolo bridge. It's simple - adjust the spring tension until the springs pull the bridge firmly against the body. The tremolo arm can then only be used to lower the tension of the strings (making all sorts of Jimi Hendrix types of sounds), but not raise it. However the strings will alway return back to the correct tuning. Note: If you put too much tension on the springs, you can break the tremolo arm when pushing too hard on it. Additionally, my guess is that the vibrations transmitted thru the springs also add a very unique type of resonance in the Stratocaster.

error
Bold text do not remove this ""Standard" Stratocasters are those made in Mexico but are still high quality and true Fenders. They generally retail for around $400 USD and upgrades to the 2006 model include larger block for better sustain, medium-jumbo frets, shielded pickguard and a gigbag." it is very relevant and factual. Bold text

The name "Stratocaster" was NOT intended to to recall Stradivarious. If whoever wrote this article had bothered to read nearly any book on the instrument, or any interview with Leo Fender, Bill Carson, or just about anyone else involved in its creation, they would see this is simply not the case.The fender stratocaster was invented in ..............!

instead of angrily denouncing the author for getting a fact wrong, take pride in making the article better.

Right handed
Jimi Hendrix played a right-handed guitar strung right-handed, but flipped upside-down.

Actually Hendrix played his strat strung normally - heavy-on-top/light-on-bottom: watch the Isle of Wight concert for a better look, or Woodstock. Albert King played his lefty guitar strung, from his perspective, upside down. There are many discussion about why he preferred a right-handed strat. I've heard two that are plausible: being heavy-handed, he preferred the greater string tension of the top E string being stretched over a longer distance (also clearer sounds and maybe even tuning stability); the controls and vibrato arm were closer and could be adjusted before a down stroke. Anyway, nice page and congrats to the author!

NO... Hendrix played a right handed guitar strung lefthanded...


 * Jimi Hendrix heavy handed? which Jimi Hendrix do you mean? surely not the guitar player......

Jan.8, 2010 from Bluesbeth in Gettysburg, PA

I LOVE this disussion! Let's see if I can simplify this (once & for all). Jimi Handrix was a left-handed guitar player who did not only flip his Strat backwards (upside down to us right-handed folks) but also strung his strings "upside down". In other words, instead of the strings being E A D G B E, they were E B G D A E. It also has to do with the fact that "left-handed guitars" were 3 or 4 times more expensive (& harder to find) in the mid-1960's. Back then, we made do with what we could find, afford & modify!! Play on... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Bluesbeth (talk • contribs) 15:36, 8 January 2010 (UTC)

Photo
I think that a photo of real Fender Stratocaster should be given instead of Squier Stratocaster's, because Squier looks slightly different.

This article mentions the Stratocaster body design being based on the design of the Precision Bass - the Precision Bass article mentions its body design being based on that of the Stratocaster - should one of these articles be changed? I'm unaware of which one, otherwise I'd do it myself. .j

The stratocaster came after the precision bass, thus the stratocaster style was based on the P-bass. The information regarding this does not need to be changed in this article. It came after the precision drums also.Jhayes94 21:51, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

That is actually incorrect. what happened was the p-bass was made and had one design, which was blocky. The the stratocaster came out and Fender changed the design of the p-bass to something very similar to the stratocaster.

To clarify this the answer is: you are both right. First of he played a rightie strung left then in recognition of him Fender began producing left handed strats and gave him a few —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.131.176.62 (talk) 15:08, 17 December 2007 (UTC)

Well, I like stratocasters. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.255.226.51 (talk) 01:49, 24 May 2009 (UTC)

Can we get a confirmation on this?
From the article: "Many now reside in Japan, cached away as collectible pieces of Americana.". Is there any other information on this? Sounds like a good place to link in some history article too, perhaps the economic decisions of Japan from the '70s, which I happen to know nothing about. -- 66.68.138.69 22:26, 2 January 2006 (UTC) http://www.strato-crazy.com/RDStratStockListForSale.htm --Jerry picker 17:09, 20 January 2006 (UTC) http://www.cumpiano.com/Home/Articles/Articles/tsumura.html --70.187.149.53 00:37, 21 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Here is one collector in Japan who shows many vintage USA Strats at his website:
 * One thing that really fueled this notion was a book published in 1987, from Japan, featuring the collection of Akira Tsumura. Mr. Tsumura, a multimillionaire from his herbal medicine empire, collected a vast assemblage of American vintage and other guitars and stringed instruments. This book also shows other smaller Japanese collections. Here is a review of the book:

Prices on 1950's Strats
New top prices on pre-CBS Strats are occurring. Confirmation of an Ebay auction sale of a stock 1955, original owner, impeccable provenance for $76,300, is found in the Lincoln Star (Nebraska) newspaper: http://www.journalstar.com/articles/2006/01/19/top_story/doc43cedbd93a4bc713422439.txt -- Jerry picker 15:05, 20 January 2006 (UTC)

Non-US Stratocasters
I think that more space should be devoted to the Japanese Fender phenomenon that started in the 1980s, and the various Mexican, Chinese & Korean Squiers. I'll knock something up later on. james gibbon 11:08, 3 January 2006 (UTC)

Notable Strat Players Photo
Of all the great stratocaster players, Billie Joe Armstrong is not nearly the best choice. While Green Day may be a famous, popular, and "good" band, he is not known for his technique, skill, innovation or virtuosity on guitar let alone fender stratocaster. I suggest a photo of a more deserving player.
 * We already have picture of Hendrix and Clapton in the article. What more could you want? Deltabeignet 00:14, 10 January 2006 (UTC)

Well, I say get a photo of David Gilmour in there. I can't think of a more famous and deserving Strat player. Bobhelpus 00:16, 13 October 2006 (EST)
 * I second that
 * I 'third' that... so it's said! There must be a Gilmour picture with him and his famous Black Strat.

Surely John Frusciante is the most relevant and influential strat player of this day and age?
 * Define "this day and age". Define relevance. Define influence... Jerry picker 14:21, 25 May 2006 (UTC)


 * I think Stevie Ray Vaughan would be a good choice.


 * I think Mick Mars was a terrible choice. He ain't that renouned as guitarists such as say, Hendrix or Vaughan. Also, he only recently switched from Les Pauls. Furthermore, his strat is a total freakazoid with modifications such as twin humbuckers and a Floyd Rose bridge which questions the fact that whether it has any Stratocaster vibe left at all or not. Props to the person who replaced it with SRV!

Billy Corgan from the Smashing Pumpkins! Look into it!
 * No offense, but Billy Corgan (and the Smashing Pumpkins in general) is/was not known for his technique, innovation, or skill, much like BJ Armstrong. The4sword
 * he is, however, known for his use of a stratocaster, which is the only salient point here —Preceding unsigned comment added by A plague of rainbows (talk • contribs) 20:59, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

I agree that Billie Joe should not be the frontman for Fender. Especially since he as abandonned the Fender for the Gibson nowdays. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.225.8.92 (talk) 15:43, 20 February 2008 (UTC)

Signature Models
"Fender also offers both Custom Shop and regular production Artist Series guitars, featuring replicas of the Stratocasters played by famous guitarists such as Mark Knopfler, Buddy Holly, Jimi Hendrix, Adrian Belew, etc." I am unable to find documentation of the Buddy Holly or the Adrian Belew Signature or Artist Series Stratocaster. Also, many of the models listed are not currently being made. -- Jerry picker 14:36, 24 January 2006 (UTC)

I am likewise unable to find documentation of Frank Zappa, Mike Rutherford signature or artist series Strats. Jerry picker 15:49, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Maple fretboard option
Ikkyu2 provided this source in the edit summary:. There it says the maple board was available via special order from 1960-1968. I've never known this to be the case. I have three reputable publications that say the maple board became an option in 1967 and do not mention anything about it being available via special order before then: The Fender Stratocaster by A.R. Duchossoir, Gruhn's Guide To Vintage Guitars by George Gruhn and Walter Carter, and The Official Vintage Guitar Magazine Price Guide 2005 by Alan Greenwood and Gil Hembree. So, I've reverted to the previous edit. If anyone can provide more sources to support the 1960-1968 claim, please do. Cheers. PJM 01:44, 29 January 2006 (UTC)
 * I'm glad to see this, PJM, because it confirms what I thought I was looking for when I went scouring the internet to find a reference. The information in the web page I cited came as a surprise to me; what you describe comes closer to my understanding of how things were.  For instance, I'm pretty sure that during the golden CBS years 1960-1965, you simply couldn't get a Strat without a rosewood board.  Thanks for following up -Ikkyu2 22:06, 29 January 2006 (UTC)
 * One can never say never when factoring in the possible VIP's custom order, but the glued-on maple board was apparently not an official option prior to 1967. Cheers. PJM 18:01, 31 January 2006 (UTC)

Copyrighted shape of Stratocaster headstock?
"The headstock shape of the Statocaster is actually copyrighted, the reason why strat copies cannot replicate its recognizable shape exactly." How can a shape be copyrighted? It's more likely to be patented AFAIK. --Blenda Lovelace 16:24, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

The headstock shape is a registered Trademark. The list of Fender trademarks is extensive: (partial list). Jerry picker 17:23, 24 February 2006 (UTC)

Names mentioned multiple times
The Artist Sig list included names not currently matched with a sig model. The second "notable"(or POV) list contained names that have current "artist" models. I shuffled them around to try and match Sig vs Notable. As for the notables...several of these players are already mentioned earlier in the article. Hendrix is named numerous times throughout the article.(and if anyone is going to..he'd be the one I guess) Is it just me or is that a little overkill? Do the players that are already highlighted in the main article have to be duped in the notable list? Just a thought. Anger22 02:29, 3 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I think an additional mentioning in the signature model section is appropriate, but an additional mentioning in the notable section is redundant. I tried trimming it down in the past and the repeats just keep reappearing. Maybe you're the extra hand we need. PJM 11:41, 3 May 2006 (UTC)


 * It should be easy enough to keep under control. It's on my watchlist so it pops up fairly regularly. You can clean the dupes if you wish. I haven't time right now. I don't particularly care for "notable or famous" lists in Wiki as they're are just POV magnets.(especially the music articles) But if there is some sort of agreement on keeping the list from turning into an essay...at least it won't get too cluttered. Cheers! Anger22 11:47, 3 May 2006 (UTC)
 * I agree with you on the notable users section being vulnerable to POV. Should a famous player who had only been seen playing a Strat once during a trivial TV appearance be listed? Don't answer because it does not matter...he /she will be. Nonetheless, I do see the usefulness of this section, if properly maintained. Regards, PJM 18:24, 3 May 2006 (UTC)

plastic
"The basic production model had a two-tone nitrocellulose 'sunburst' finish, an all-maple neck, ash body (1956-later alder), chrome hardware, and Bakelite-like thermoplastic parts."

Bakelite is a thermoset, therefore either the parts are not "Bakelite-like" or they are not thermoplastic; they cannot be both.

baja??
Who's the smartass who put baja california? It's ENSENADA not baja

Well, Ensenada is a city in Baja California, which is a state in Mexico. So maybe nobody's a smartass.

Create a list of strat players
I'm getting qutie bothered by the edit wars on this page regarding the list of notable Stratocaster players. These edits come on an almost daily basis, and are making it harder to find other content-based edits. I'd advocate creating a completely separate article called List of Stratocaster players. Ariedartin JECJY Talk 03:45, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
 * It would be better to gather opinions from other editors, esp. from those who regularly maintain the article. I for one don't see a major problem with the section and I think "edit wars" is overstating it a bit. I'm reverting your change until more input is received. Cheers. PJM 05:40, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I'd say edit war is understatment. More than 75% of the edits here are regarding the list of Stratocaster players, which is quite annoying if you're trying to look out for vandals and bad content edits. And if we're going to wait for input, we may as well abort this altogether. Furthermore, I don't see the rationale behind reverting my edits. The idea is this: there is currently only one view on the current situation, and you aren't opposing it, yet you don't allow my changes. Ariedartin JECJY Talk


 * It's always been a popular section for people to edit and I don't see where it shrouds vandalism. There are many users and bots nipping vandalism in the bud these days and it almost never goes unnoticed. I think my position is very clear and reasonable: allow other editors to express their opinions before removing a chunk of content from a section.


 * There is more than one view here and they've been expressed...please don't ignore them. Allow a couple days for more input, if there's no additional insight after that, I do not object to removing the content once again and replacing it with a Wikilink to your list article. Thanks. PJM 14:31, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

I am going to lean towards PJM's view for now. I am not totally against having a "list of Stratocaster players", but I would only support it if it were setup similar to the List of Telecaster players article. For that article the rules are very strict. Players added to the list must have citations to show that their "notable use" is actually notable. It's very easy to maintain and is, in my opinion, worthy of "featured list" recognition. As it stands right now...the newly created Strat list says it's just a "list of notable Strat players"...and that's it. And on Wikipedia, a list of notable "anything" usually gets afd'd pretty quick as just another POV list. Anger22 11:38, 1 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I agree with you there. But there are already rules for artistes who qualify under Notability (music), and to back up their notable use of Stratocasters we'll put the list in the talk page here for users to verify their artiste's notable use of Stratocasters. Ariedartin JECJY Talk 12:14, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

Here it is:

Jeff "Skunk" Baxter,Tommy Bolin, Fast Eddie Clarke, Bob Dylan, John Frusciante, Janick Gers, Mick Green, Albert Hammond, Jr., George Harrison, Mary Kaye, Terry Kath, Ed King, Alex Lifeson, Nils Lofgren, Dave Murray, Mike Oldfield, Bonnie Raitt, Johnny Ramone, Uli Jon Roth, Steve Rothery, Mike Rutherford, Richie Sambora, Hillel Slovak, Adrian Smith, Richard Thompson, Pete Townshend, Henry Vestine, Joe Walsh and Frank Zappa.

Please remove the respective player's name from this block here once you have backed up their notable use of Stratocasters in List of Stratocaster players. Ariedartin JECJY Talk

Cobain the Guitar Smasher
I don't care if you think he was a bad player or not, but he was big. A VERY big rockstar. Very influential too. He also liked smashing guitars. So if you can have random crap like "As of 2000, there were "thirty-one distinct factory-made Stratocaster models available"" then I think you can talk about Cobain's choice of guitar to smash. So stop removing it! 211.31.30.11 09:28, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
 * It's removed because it is original research and needs a citation in order to remain. Anger22 10:12, 2 October 2006 (UTC)


 * I got it from another Wiki: List of musical equipment used by Kurt Cobain BurningZeppelin 10:39, 2 October 2006 (UTC)


 * I suppose we could quote it from the citation given on the list - if there's a citation, that is. Ariedartin JECJY Talk 14:53, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
 * The "list" has no citations for the Strat smashing comment. There is an FAQ listed as a source at the end. It mentions a few specific smashed guitars and has a few pics. It doesn't say that it was his "favourite" guitar to smash. But it does provide some evidence that he did destroy a small number of them. Perhaps with more specific wording, and the FAQ as a cite, it can be added back in. It is POV/NOR to assume "favourite" though. Maybe a link to an interview where he actually states that can be found? Anger22 16:53, 2 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Based on what has been provided, I don't see this "favorite" claim as being verifiable. If a reliable direct quote stating so can be found - that's different. However, since Japanese Strats are not quite alone on his supposed list of stagekill, I see it as triva more pertinent to Cobain than to the Fender Stratocaster. PJM 18:04, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

American Stratocaster
Shouldn't "American Stratocaster" automatically redirect to this page? EarthGuardian 22:12, 11 October 2006 (UTC)
 * There is no such thing as an "automatic" redirect. All redirect pages have to be done manually, as you cannot expect software to associate page names with other pages that simply. And I've made it a redirect, by the way. Ariedartin JECJY Talk 02:10, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

Sound and playability
Probably worth mentioning the characteristic Strat out-of-phase sound obtained from the intermediate pick-up selector position. Opinions? Recursion see recursion 21:54, 16 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Citations? Technical content is great but without decent refs it always ends up reading like original research. Anger22 22:01, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Agreed. I'll dig out a suitable reference. Recursion see recursion 22:15, 16 October 2006 (UTC)

Related articles
I've come to believe that it may be important to elaborate more on Squier's line of Stratocasters, since they are after all about as popular as its parent's yet should not be lumped together as a Fender Stratocaster, as it is always called and considered a Squier Stratocaster. Hence, before we are able to do so, there are two courses of action we can take:
 * 1) Rename the article from Fender Stratocaster to just Stratocaster. This makes the article open to both information of Fender and Squier, while retaining it within the Fender brand because a Stratocaster is after all a Fender brand name. And Strat copy can deal with Stratocaster-like guitars not made by Fender. The advantage is that it allows a long term consolidation of otherwise limited information into a suitably detailed article. However, there will be much time used up in modifying the information and also changing pages that redirect to Fender Stratocaster, but this is short term.
 * 2) Leave the current article as it is and create a second article called Squier Stratocaster. It takes up less short term effort as the information on the current article will not be touched, but due to the lack of unique information, we would be hard-pressed in the long run to find details about Squier's line of Stratocaster.

Go ahead, tell me what should be done. I don't mind the effort involved in either option. The only issue to me here is which is better. Ariedartin JECJY Talk 11:58, 17 October 2006 (UTC)
 * A separate article for Squier Stratocaster is the way to go. PJM 12:23, 17 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Right'o. I'll get to work on it straightaway. See you in a moment. Ariedartin JECJY Talk 09:24, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Squier Stratocaster is done. Let's do a little Review & Reflection now eh? Ariedartin JECJY Talk 14:11, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I like it. We just need to get some citations in there. PJM 20:20, 19 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I refrained from subjective statements, so I agree I did leave out a fair chunk of content that could be added. I'll start looking around for reviews and major occurances (if any) concerning Squier Stratocasters. Hmmm... Ariedartin JECJY Talk 17:10, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Main image
As much as I love the MiM Std (indeed, I own - amongst others - the very same model pictured), can't we have a better picture as the main image? Perhaps Gilmour's 0001? 86.17.247.135 01:21, 2 January 2007 (UTC)

That picture already is in the wiki, and I personally think that the sunburst strat is the most iconic strat color of all, and the main image of the main page should be a sunburst. 196.40.8.19 04:16, 9 February 2007 (UTC)


 * The picture has actually changed: still a sunburst, but now a modern American standard with two-point tremelo. -- Delsource (talk) 18:34, 11 February 2007 (UTC)
 * PS - Agree main image should be a sunburst, but it should also be a maple fretboard. It's how Leo designed it. So how 'bout getting a '54 or '57 up there? -- Delsource (talk) 22:24, 15 February 2007 (UTC)

fools quit changing the pic to that ugly strat
please leave it on the way nicer strat pic that i put on. also leave david gilmours strat 0001 pic that i much higher quality on there. seriously, mine is a way higher quality pic. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Imtrogdor (talk • contribs) 02:29, 4 February 2007 (UTC).
 * It is also unsourced, incorrectly tagged and in violation of Wikipedia's WP:FAIR policy. Repeated uploading of images with false or dishonest sources can result in the uploader being blocked from editing Wikipedia. 216.21.150.44 02:34, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * "Higher quality" is probably the wrong word to use. As the uploader of this picture, I vouch for the fact that it definitely looks bad on the article, but this is due to the fact that its quality is too high, and hence looks blur when compressed to that visual size. I would sincerely appreciate any efforts to obtain a better-looking picture, but it must be legal, of course. Ariedartin JECJY Talk 03:06, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * No images should be added that are in clear violation of Wikipedia's WP:FAIR policy as is the case with User:Imtrogdor's images. In fact has been caught uploading images(twice) and then lying about the images true source. With that kind of track record all images must be suspect. Adding dishonest image tags is a quick way to getting blocked. The users activities have been reported to the Wikipedia Administrators Noticeboard with the likelyhood that all the users uploads will be deleted with the user possibly blocked from editing as well. 216.21.150.44 03:30, 4 February 2007 (UTC)
 * The user was blocked and his last upload speedy deleted. All editors be wary of any future image additions to make sure they don't compromise the article. 216.21.150.44 03:34, 4 February 2007 (UTC)

For Christ's sake get rid of that hideous white thing with pearloid 'plate and get a '54 with maple and 'burst up there. 86.17.211.191 01:06, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
 * No free-use image of a 1954 sunburst Stratocaster is available on Wikipedia. Many Strat images have been uploaded in the past but they've been stolen or unlicensed images. The white strat is a free-use image. It can't be replaced by a fair-use one. Only by a better quality free-use pic. 156.34.210.255 01:20, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I'd better take a photo of my '54 maple and 'burst Strat then..... -- 86.17.211.191 11:58, 4 July 2007 (UTC)

I made a new svg one and released it but someone deleted it saying something mean. If you think it sucks you can say that in a nice way? Foreeye 12:40, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

Making drawings of guitars is what I do on wikipedia, an though you think they are ugly you dont need to pick on them. You did actually ask for a new one, so I made one and it took me several hours. But Ill stop contributing right now if this is the response Im getting for it. Do they really look that bad? Foreeye 12:45, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
 * They look accurate, but cartoonish and unprofessional. It's supposed to be an encyclopaedia, not an elementary school book report. 156.34.223.236 08:00, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

I get your point but an actual picture of a musical instrument in an actual encyclopedia is something I have never seen. And when did you last bother to make an illustration yourself for your school report? Try looking for "guitar" in some dictionary and see how many photos there are. Besides, some manners are always for the better. And you did actually ask for a new picture. Foreeye 14:09, 28 October 2007 (UTC)

Overall sales figures
I recently saw an unsourced claim on the internet that Fender has sold over 6m Strats since '54. Does someone have any evidence for this or an accurate, sourced figure? -- Delsource (talk) 18:37, 11 February 2007 (UTC)

The New Fender VG Strat
I've been to the Fender website for the past two, three months drulling over Fender's new VG Stratocaster. I'm wondering why this particular guitar hasn't been mentioned on here. This guitar, Fender claims, is the "altimate guitar" with several tuning and pickup selections on board the guitar itself with no Midi Out. This is truely an amazing guitar and I think it's worth mentioning.

Having tried one, I can say that it is quite exciting, but for encyclopedic purposes I think we should wait to see whether it's a blip in Fender history or whether it sticks around. I think a separate article on the VG Strat might be more appropriate, as this article is quite long enough! Happydog 04:19, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

Stratocaster Imitation(s)
I've seen plenty of Stratocaster imitations, many of them made by Fender. I can't find any of them on the official Fender site. So I'm suggesting that a seperate page might be helpful, especially how I was confused about the Starcaster. I saw a guitar labelled as a Starcaster, but turned out to be a cheap version of the Strat. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.58.105.30 (talk) 20:39, 27 March 2007 (UTC).

Fender doesn't make "many" Stratocaster "imitations." The only "imitation" currently being marketed by Fender is the Starcaster, which was designed for the Wal-Mart/Sam's Club/Target market. The Squier Stratocasters are considered part of the Fender family and are not imitations per se. Most Strat copies aren't made or approved of by Fender. This would include the Rondo Music/Agile copies, as well as every other cheap Strat knockoff hawked on Ebay by hillbillies with an empty garage who want to set up a mail-order business. I have no idea why Fender decided to use the "Starcaster" name to market a cheesy Chinese guitar to people who would buy a guitar as an afterthought with their year's supply of Kraft Cheese 'N' Macaroni and a crate of Hostess Twinkies, but I hope they come to their senses soon and knock it off. Most of the Strat copies out there now are made in China by a variety of companies but they aren't authorized by Fender in any way, and cataloguing all those knockoffs would be outside the scope of this entry. The interesting Strat copies were made in Japan in the 1970s. Those were not authorized by Fender in any way, but a number of them were at least as good, if not better, than the guitars Fender was producing in the 1970s under CBS management (sad days). Those might be worth mentioning in a separate entry. The reason you don't find the imitations on the Fender site is that they aren't Fender guitars; they're not authorized, distributed, or made by Fender. It would make no more sense for Fender to list those on their site than it would for them to list Gibson guitars on their site. You don't promote the competition!Happydog 04:32, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

LEGAL ISSUES WITH STRAT COPIES: while on copies, is there a brief summary somewhere of the Stratocaster trademark dispute between Fender and copycat companies? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 109.123.86.204 (talk) 10:52, 19 September 2010 (UTC)

Squire?
What about Squire? Do they not count because they are owned by Fender? My Strat says that it was made by Squire, near the knobs. Should something be done on the article? Wiki zilla ( Signme! )Talk 19:40, 31 March 2007 (UTC)


 * The Squier situation is covered appropriately here. I am not sure what you are getting at. &mdash;ptk✰fgs 23:51, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Fender Japan
The Fender Japan info is out of date and the MIJ/CIJ info isn't the best. For instance FujiGen stopped producing Fenders in 1997 and ever since it's been Tokai and Dyna doing the Fenders and the difference between MIJ/CIJ is to do with what was happening with the different guitar factories like when Tokai and Dyna take over from FujiGen in 1997 the Fenders go to CIJ rather than MIJ which is FugiGen made Fenders only. See the Fender Japan wiki page. Guitarspecs 10:13, 15 April 2007 (UTC)

The current models section sounds a lot more like an ad than a neutral listing of different Stratocaster models. Why should this be!

Trademark
The headstock is "patented" by Fender, not trademarked. Names are trademarked, actual things are patented.

Hmm you could actually patent a shape? what about all the strat clones I have seen in my life? Foreeye 12:38, 23 October 2007 (UTC)
 * had a different headstock shape, almost certainly —Preceding unsigned comment added by A plague of rainbows (talk • contribs) 21:03, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

Trivia - Eddie Van Halen - "Tapping"
Great page! One thing though, I was reading the trivia section and noticed you describe Eddie Van Halen as popularising the Strat through things like his "unique tapping style." I'm not really an expert, but a freind of mine always goes on about how Steve Hackett was using this technique long before Van Halen. I have no citations or anything just thought I would draw it to attention so that somone could look into it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Special:Contributions/ (talk) Just as a point of reference, Steve Hackett was using this technique before EVH. It can be heard on Genesis' "Dancing Out With The Moonlit Night" and "Return of the Giant Hogweed." There are also videos on You Tube of both these songs that show Hackett using this technique long before EVH adopted it. This of course is no reflection on EVH, who is a very good guitarist. The "tapping" technique was also used by John Mayall guitarist Harvey Mandel on his albums "Shangrenade" and "Cristo Redentor." One of the first modern practitioners, if not the first, was Roy Smeck, who used the tapping technique on guitar, banjo, and even ukulele back in the 1910's and 1920s. He was a consummate showman and a forgotten influence on many players. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Happydog (talk • contribs) 18:48, 9 January 2008 (UTC)


 * The Eddie Van Halen article describes his use of tapping in detail. This Strat article makes no claims that Eddie was the original; only that he popularized it. Mike 20:43, 24 August 2007 (UTC)
 * "Unique tapping style." To me this is saying that no one else was using this particular method other than him at that time. Perhaps simply removing the unique and, instead, saying that Van Halen popularised it.--Tocheb73 21:24, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

We should obviously work on purging the trivia section. &mdash;ptk✰fgs 22:48, 24 August 2007 (UTC)
 * I have gone ahead and edited the Eddie Van Halen section of the Trivia. Only minor stuff, I added links to both his page and the page on tapping. Also, I have changed the wording of the "unique tapping style" section, to make it seem less like this technique was used soley by him. It now reads "tapping style, which he popularized." I feel this is better, anyone dissagree?

Also I feel that the Trivia section as a whole needs to be looked at, a lot of it seems to detailed, i think points should be kept short and interesting, after all this isn't a main section of the article.--Tocheb73 23:26, 24 August 2007 (UTC)

Fender Wikiproject Proposal
I have proposed a Wikiproject for articles relating to Fender. If you are interested, please add you name here. Izzy007 Talk 21:21, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

floating bridge going out of tune
I have a recent model Fender Strat American Deluxe and when a string breaks all the others go out of tune and is unplayable.

I don't use the tremelo bar and keep it off. what can I do or am I not doing to prevent this from happening? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.37.34.176 (talk) 19:29, 20 October 2007 (UTC)

I use a floyd rose licensed bridge, and this is a problem that I think all floating bridges has. There is really no good way to replace string except one by one. I did change strings yesterday and it took me at least one hour. You could try to use thinner strings, but then you would also have to adjust springs. Wikipedia isnt a good place for this kind of discussion, try googling it. If you dont ever use your trem you might want to fix it, by adding extra strings or whatever, butr then you would need to go to a guitar shop Foreeye 12:37, 23 October 2007 (UTC)


 * you can block the trem by putting a piece of wood behind the trem block where the strings go through. you'll get more sustain too —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.193.194.181 (talk) 21:55, 11 March 2008 (UTC)
 * There must be about a dozen Fender discussion boards on the internet. Go there to discuss your guitar problems, not Wikipedia. Buster (talk) 03:51, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one WikiProject had rated the article as start, and the rating on other projects was brought up to start class. BetacommandBot 16:36, 9 November 2007 (UTC)

Rock Band
Im kinda a noob with wikipedia and im sure none here cares but uummm yea the guitar that come with the rockband video game is a Fender Stratocaster complete with keys farther down the neck for tapping, iv never edited wikipedia so if anyone finds this maybee just like a fun fact and could put this in that would be cool. If its already been disscussed sorry i brought it up. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.86.248.3 (talk) 02:24, 21 May 2008 (UTC)
 * you can add it to the article on video game controllers. this is about a guitar.

Removing the bad fuzzy picture of the bedsheet strat
An overwhelming consensus has arisen that no one wants to see the funny picture of a strat laying on a bed. Pretty obvious why. Bad picture. Taken on a bed?? Please do Wikipedia a favour and have a better picture of your guitar taken before you try and add it to the project. Thanks. Libs (talk) 13:49, 30 June 2008 (UTC)
 * The poor quality photo appeared again. If it was a better quality image taken anywhere but a bed it might be acceptable. I don't particularly care for the Fender model with the pearloid pickguard but its still a better picture than the fuzzy image (which when clicked is way over 2 MB in size and should be deleted anyway) shot on someones old blanket. Anger22 (Talk 2 22) 23:28, 7 July 2008 (UTC)


 * I removed the name of the photographer from the post above. He's made it pretty clear he doesn't want it visible and it's not necessary to have it for this discussion. Theresa Knott | The otter sank 20:20, 9 July 2008 (UTC)

Run on sentence
I don't know much about guitars so I'm not going to try and fix this:

As a result, the late-'60s Stratocasters with the large "CBS" headstock and (from the mid 70s) the 3-bolt necked models (instead of the conventional 4 bolts) with the "Bullet" truss-rod and the MicroTilt adjustment system fell out of fashion (although some new models with 4-bolt necks retained the MicroTilt system that was native to the 3-bolt necks, like the Strat Plus, the flagship American Standard Stratocaster and, what's now known as the American Deluxe Stratocaster) and added a new BiFlex truss-rod system, which adjusts the neck curvature in two directions, convex and concave, as well as locking security StrapLock Ready strap buttons made by Schaller on guitars produced after 1982/83. Miken32 (talk) 03:33, 3 August 2008 (UTC)

Croatian influence
Why is there no notion under "Design" about the fact that Fender found inspiration for the headstock on Fender from the croatian instrument Tamburiza? It is mention in an official Fender history book that I have (quotation from Leo Fender) which makes it pretty obvious. It is a significant fact that has been left out. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 147.186.254.98 (talk) 08:01, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Image change
An editor made an attempt to add yet another grainy picture of a low budget Mexican made Strat in place of the current American Deluxe image. I don't support this change. Anyone else may add thought so that a consensus can be reached before any more picture swap attempts are made. Wether B (talk) 17:49, 18 May 2009 (UTC)
 * Agreed. The white one is a better image over the Mexi. GripTheHusk (talk) 19:10, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

The edit history of the disruptive IP shows a previous history of similar changes. The consensus for the box image has always been to use the picture of the white guitar. Some administrative assistance will have to be requested. Peter Fleet (talk) 19:45, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

Neck/bridge, rhythm/lead
"Typically, the neck pickup is used for rhythm playing, while the bridge pickup is used for lead work." -- This is one of those old chestnuts, written in the 50s or something, and endlessly repeated. Seems to me Hendrix and Clapton made this statement obsolete about 40 years ago. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 142.58.248.194 (talk) 20:36, 25 May 2009 (UTC)

Neck Joint: Set-Neck In Certain Models
In the specs for the Stratocaster this page lists the neck joint as "Bolt-on (set-in neck on certain models)". This seems a little confusing as one of the distingushing features of a Strat is it's bolt-on neck - "set-neck" strats seem to be limited to Custom Shop and The Blackmoor Signature models. That's a tiny percentage of Strats that have a glued in neck. --Mhtaylor (talk) 17:05, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

bridge lead; neck rhythm?
"Typically, the neck pickup is used for rhythm playing, while the bridge pickup is used for lead work." Dunno who put that, but not only is it unsourced and speculative, what's more it's plain wrong: just ask Stevie Ray Vaughan. ElectricRay (talk) 20:47, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

historical/factual corrections
(a good reference is "the stratocaster book" published by mel bay, i forget the authors, and it even has references). while it is has been difficult to get a concensus on who designed the stratocaster, most agree that bill carson deserves credit for his input. the prototype was even nicknamed "the carson guitar". bill carson was hired by leo fender to be a consultant for his products, and according to carson, made the suggestion for the contours that first appeared on the strat (the reliefs cut into the front and back). while leo fenders's, goerge fullerton's, freddy taveras's and bill carson's recollection all are incomplete and/or differ, all acknowledge leo fender's relience on musicians input for his products and especially, bill carson's, and perticularly for the strat. another point that i think needs correction is the rosewood fretbaord. according to at least both fullerton and taveras, it was by request from the sales department that all fender models have one, this was in '59, well before cbs took over. the change in construction from flat to curved was made to achieve more of a brighter sound-and definitely NOT for cost purposes-and the eventual thinning of this fretbaord occured by '64. so in fact, rosewood fretbaord choice had nothing to do with the cbs takeover. neither the dot materiel('65). jumping ahead to '69, ironically, while in '59 that rosewood was preferred and asked for by players, in '69 the demand was for the one-piece maple neck of the origionals-and by '70 the construction of the truss rod to the rear was done to the rosewood models as well to standardize manufacture. on the subject of availability: maple-capped fenders have been seen at least as early as '65-and indeed, wether it was "offered" in the catalog or not, fender was always happy to honor any order which they could easily build. there are many variations of fender guitars that did not appear in the catalog as "options". color was one-fender was at the forefront with doing request for different colors, (at first by musicians) and was at first a very rare and unusual thing, and the idea of offering custom colors in a catalog was a novelty at the time. the custom color option did not really gain popularity until at least the mid-sixties-and these guitars from the sixties, and especially the 50's, are EXTREMELY rare. is it accurate to say fender is responsible for guitars being available in different colors? i think so. back to the wood-the strat was 1st made in ash-but only the 1st 1/2 year, then alder was standard, with ash for the blond ones. ash was made standard in the 70's for all fenders, but was a heavier ash than the "fender" fenders. it is unuiversally accepted that fenders built during the leo fender/george fullerton era differ greatly from the cbs era guitars, both in stigma and quality and method of construction. upon taking over operations of the company starting in '65, cbs made drastic changes to the way the company was run and the way the guitars were built, and many employees left during this transition. when cbs sold fender in 84, and fender became fmi, production was actually stopped in order to "relearn" how to build fender guitars. the fender custom shop, in part, was initially started as a vehicle for producing guitars the "old" way-and a vehicle for research and to take advantage of the knowledge gained from it. (this is in the above mentioned book as well, with statements from the founders of fmi). one last thing-reverse would pickups in the middle for hum-cancelling purposes did not come about until the "american standard"-well after the 70's (fmi fender). i hope this helps for a more accurate article on this guitar-not just for accuracy, but for its place of historical significance. the strat and its history is significant not only in it's popularity, but as an example of manufacturing, the effect of business and corperations, the impact on collectability of musical instruments, and is easily the most researched instrument in history. Sfsteiner (talk) 01:52, 14 December 2009 (UTC)sfsteiner

Amazingly bad article...
It's not surprising that one of the most important guitars in history gets one of the most poorly written articles on Wikipedia. No pertinent references, hearsay and opinion scattered through out. Much of the article reads like the the best bits overheard in an internet Stratocater forum. Very typical of fan-boy guitarists; you buy the instrument, fall in love with it and and become a self-styled "expert" and never feel compelled to back up what you say about it.

Anyone down for helping cleaning it up using real Wiki standards? It will be an uphill slog. Resistance will more than likely be intense. Buster (talk) 05:48, 27 December 2009 (UTC)

Dude, where's my Hendrix?
An entire article devoted to the Strat without a single mention of Jimi? Shureshummhitake? Fergananim (talk) 02:18, 19 March 2010 (UTC)

Signature models, Rory Gallagher
I don't know how complete the "Signature models" section is supposed to be, but it's missing the Rory Gallagher signature Strat, which is about the most modified (different pups, 1x Gotoh & 5x Sperzel machine heads, 1x plastic dot inlay, the rest are original) and the most distressed (it has virtually none of the original finish left on it) Strats made.

I think the Rory Gallagher signature Strat should be in the list, purely as a demonstration of the extremeness of customisation that Fender are prepared to go to. I'd do it but I don't know how to do the links, yet. --Theresonator (talk) 21:19, 19 October 2010 (UTC)


 * From your description of the model it sounds like it definitely should be mentioned, please do add it! I wouldn't worry too much about links and such, that's something that me and others are able to help with.  The main issue with adding info like this is finding reliable sources you can use.  If you need a playground to figure out how things work, there's always the sandbox where you can test all you want.  The sandbox is reset regularly, should you desire a more permanent playground you can create sub-pages underneath your user page or this article and then transfer the content when it's ready.  Let me know if you need a hand with that and I'll help you out.


 * I did notice that the "Signature models" section does look a lot like a technical manual given all the specifications and such, and takes up a fair amount of space. It might be desirable to change it at some point in the future, but please don't let that idea stop you from contributing good content!  Cheers, Nettrom (talk) 13:30, 20 October 2010 (UTC)