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.
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