Talk Tonight [Guitar] - The Fender Stratocaster.

Heres a new thought that I've been kicking around for ages, in these Talk Tonight posts I'm just gonna talk about something and my different experiences/opinions/memories with it. I think it could be quite a cool thing, and am going to look into getting other people to post alongside me as well (if you're interested, you know where I am, propose a topic top!)

So here goes... the Fender Stratocaster.

Probably the most famous electric guitar ever, it's terrifying to imagine how many have been built throughout the years, not to mention how many copies, replicas and assorted rip offs have also been made.

Since its birth in 1954, the Stratocaster hasn't gone through too many changes. Fender have made alternative models by using a variety of different timbre as well as pick up combinations; including humbuckers instead of the famous three single coil pick up configuration. The only major change has been the switch from a 3-way pick up selector to a 5-way pick up selector in the 70s, though the 5-way was an option that players could buy and install; just see Rory Gallaghers famous Stratocaster for that!

It was designed by Leo Fender alongside other musicians, most notably Freddie Tavares, a slide player who played the opening slide of the Looney Tunes theme song (you know the one!) It was built to be as cheap as possible, amazing to think when you see some of the prices for the top of the range. The theory was that it's construction made it easy to maintain and fix. Broken pick up? Unscrew the scratchplate, turn it over and it's there for you to see. Frets worn out? Go and buy a replacement enck.

The Fender Stratocaster was the first electric guitar I properly wanted, even before I could play! It was the first guitar to ever jump out of me, though it's quite easy for that to happen when Jimi Hendrix is one of your biggest influences. It looked like something out of space; something so cool, devilish and curvy around the neck of someone playing like they did.

Other notable players of the Fender Stratocaster include George Harrison, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton and Alex Turner. Turner was the second person I ever saw with one; white on white with a maple neck on the video for 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor', for a teenager into music and thinking about playing guitar, seeing Turner and Hendrix with these meteors from Galaxy Awesome ingrains the love you have of them forever.

My first ever electric guitar was one of them rip offs as mentioned earlier. It was a great little player, for about a year. I finally retired it last year after 5 years of taking it apart to put it back together again to make it work; but still, plugging it in and hearing that awesome jangley sound kept my love for that instrument even when learning to play was difficult.

Fast forward to 2013, I'm now sat here wanting a Fender Stratocaster and at the moment it's a feeling that doesn't change like the wind, much like my other week-long aspiration about a different electric guitar. I have a feeling that it won't be long until I have one, be it a Mexican, or a variety of Squier.

It is a guitar that can do everything, it's versatility is unprecedented. The Fender Stratocaster revolutionised guitar playing.

Muchos love.
SJ.

Findlay - Greasy Love.

So Findlay is back (a bit like me!) after a few months since the Off & On EP was released. This return has been entitled Greasy Love and it's a great tune; full of pure sexiness, awesome bass guitar work and Findlay's amazing voice.

I first head this song at the Dot to Dot Fest in May, Findlay was the last person I saw that day and she was her usual aggressive, strong, and in your face type of live act that I personally love her for, and it was about 11 o'clock! The song needed two mics, which explains the in and out phasing of the vocals in the song.

The video is top quality to. A lot of pink, featuring Findlay with her straightened hair and skin tight body suit struts around emitting pure beauty (okay, I probably sound creepy now, right?) allowing some of the lyrics of the song to pop around her in a white what-looks-to-be scribble.

The song goes quiet(that's silent)-loud-quiet-loud. The second quiet part is awesome, it's a slow almost dubstep like beat backing up Findlay's vocal as she builds to a drum beat which unleashes the last part of the song.

The start of the song is dictated by a drum beat in which Findlay raps lyrical about being misunderstood before going into a loud part of the song, namely the chorus! The chorus beats out the name of the song repetitively, drumming the lyrics into ones head.

It's a great tune. One that showcases everything that's good about Findlay. From the fun lyric to the sexy video it's nothing but Findlay in a nutshell. Everyone should get to see her as soon as possible, it's special being in her audience.

Muchos love.
SJ.