My Choice in Electric Guitars: Fender Standard Stratocaster
Written: Jun 18 '06 (Updated Jun 19 '06)
Product Rating:
Pros: Time tested and true, beautiful design, unique sound
Cons: There is really no downside to this guitar, but read the review
The Bottom Line: The Fender Standard Stratocaster is a time tested design that is still relevant today. Play a guitar you can grow into rather than one you will become disatisfied with.
George_Chabot's Full Review: Fender Standard Stratocaster Maple with Gigbag
Fender Standard Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, famous since its birth in 1954, needs no introduction, having been played by country, blues, and rock giants ever since its introduction.
The Stratocaster has many standard features that have become benchmarks for guitar players to judge instruments by.
First, the contour body is scalloped away at the top edge to allow you to set the guitar at a comfortable angle to your rib cage. This feature is more important than you would think but most other makers still build their guitars with a 90 degree corner at the top edge.
Second, the slim tapered neck is available with either a natural maple fret board or a rosewood fingerboard. The maple will give you a somewhat brighter sound, but my preference is for the rosewood, as it’s easier to check my position visually with the contrast between my white fingers and the dark neck in the less than perfect lighting I often find myself in. Either fingerboard is inlaid with dot markers at the normal positions, black on the maple and pearloid on the rosewood. Both types have an adjustable truss rod accessible in various ways with either an Allen wrench or screwdriver.
The double cutaway body joins the neck at the 17th fret, allowing easy access to all 22 frets on the guitar.
Another trademark feature are the three single coil pickups, lead, rhythm, and mid-range. The single coil pickups give the Strat the biting, snarling sound that is world renowned, but what makes them even more wonderful is the five position switch that allows selection of each pickup separately or a combination of lead and mid-range, or rhythm and mid-range. The two combination settings, positions two and four of the selector switch cause an out of phase sound to emanate from the guitar as certain frequencies of the combined pickups cancel each other out. This gives the Stratocaster its signature "hollow" sound and has been featured on countless hit records. Once you are familiar with this sound you will pick it out of a record whenever you hear it.
The asymmetrical headstock on the neck is arranged so all the machine heads or tuners are on the top side. The other end of the strings goes through the patented tremolo or “whang bar,” if you prefer. The tremolo consists of a heavy block through which the ball end of the strings pass before they go over the individually adjustable string saddles of the bridge. The bridge is attached to this block which is in a hollow of the body, with the pull of the strings counterbalanced with up to five springs. The tremolo arm also screws into this block and is used to physically manipulate the string tension during play. This is how guitarists like Hendrix, Van Halen, et al get their crowd pleasing dips and dives by manipulating the tremolo arm as they play.
The guitar has nice clean appearance factors with the body available in an array of colors - mine is jet black with rosewood fingerboard just like the picture above - with a contrasting pick guard the pickups and switches are set in.
The original Strats were made in Fullerton, California. When I began playing, I like to say there were two models of Strats - a playable one and an unplayable one. The quality control was such that there was quite a variation between the feel of guitars of the same model. You really had to play one to know if it was going to be good for you to take home. When CBS bought out Fender sometime in the 1970s, quality control really became spotty. The admonition to play before buying really is essential, particularly if you are looking at one from the CBS era. The CBS Strats usually have a larger “perch belly” headstock and are marked "CBS." The neck usually bolts on with three screws, as opposed to the original four screw plate.
Today the Stratocaster is made in factories all around the world. There are still the “American” models, which are the most expensive, however, good ones have been made in Japan, Korea, Mexico, and China. I’m sure I’ve missed some foreign production sites, but do not be scared of a foreign built Fender Stratocaster as the quality is often at a par with the domestic product. They are also marketed as “Squier by Fender.” These foreign Strats give a great bang for the buck and as long as they fit your hands you can play along with the best of them. Just play it first.
In guitar playing I’ve found the two most important things are (1) to get something that fits your hands so you can “grab” the chords and positions and; (2) to have something you like the sound of. Your, or at least my, playing is driven by the sound. The better the sound, the better my playing becomes. The highly variable sounds available from the Standard Stratocaster will also give you new musical ideas to feed off of.
The Standard Strat is available for as little as $199 on sale at the various guitar outlets. You will need to buy a case, which will set you back another ~ $100, but you will have a rig you will not outgrow as your playing progresses. If you ever desire to upgrade to get a "classic guitar" i.e., a vintage Fender Strat, the playing feel and sound will be the same as your budget model and you will have the snob appeal you desire.
I hope this overview has been helpful to you and urge you to enjoy your guitar in good health.
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