Fender Stratocaster
Leo Fender was not one to let any grass grow under his feet.
He also had the sense to listen to feedback from is customers. The Telecaster had been a huge success but it could benefit from refinement. Wile the size and weight were just about perfect the edges of the guitar were fairly sharp and as most Tele players will tell you comfort could become an issue. Enlisting help from player and friend Bill Carson, Leo began to develop a new model, an evolutionary step for "the Fender guitar". It is believed that he saw his as an evolution of the Telecaster more of a replacement than an additional model.
One thing that was added was a pitch varying device which allowed the player to simulate a steel guitar. While such a device is properly called a vibrato Mr. Fender chose to call it a tremolo. Fender settled on a unique device that combined the bridge and tailpiece into one unit with a metal block to help preserve sustain. Fender's "synchronized tremolo" was a technical tour de force in its own right. Often cussed, discussed, modified and tweaked the Fender trem has survived since 1954 and outlived many of its critics.
The
rest of the guitar was interesting as well. The edges of the body
were routed and contours were added to make it more comfortable to play.
A third, center position pickup was added and the entire wiring assembly
was mounted on the pickguard save for the output jack. The third
pickup added an unintended, and very popular feature. Players soon
discovered that by placing the 3-position switch in-between the bridge
and the center pickups produced a very unique sound.
Buddy Holly was an early Strat user and The Shadows brought it to Great Britain. Eric Clapton has used a Strat almost exclusively since about 1970 and the instrument has been a favorite among players for years and years.
In the meantime, out Brooklyn way, there was an effort to modernize the archtop and bring it to new levels of functionality.
