The Origins of the Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster was born out of a desire to push the electric guitar further than it had ever gone before. In the early 1950s, Leo Fender had already turned the industry on its head with the advent of the Telecaster T-style guitar and Precision Bass. But despite the incredible impact these instruments made, musicians were asking for more comfort, more tone variety, and more expressive possibilities. In response, Fender’s team (including George Fullerton and Freddie Tavares) began sketching a new design that would become the Stratocaster.
Making its debut in 1954, the Strat built upon the impressive work of the Tele, but introduced several major innovations. Its sleek double-cutaway body was contoured for comfort, giving players much easier access to higher frets. The revolutionary tremolo system (technically a vibrato bridge) gave guitarists a whole new way to manipulate pitch. But perhaps most notably, it came equipped with a never-before-seen three single coil pickup configuration, providing a range of tones that set it apart from anything else on the market.
Why Did Stratocaster Specifications Change Over Time?
Following Fender’s introduction of the Stratocaster to the world, they didn’t stop to give each other a pat on the back and say job well done! Leo and his team continually worked to improve the sound, style and feel what would arguably become the most popular guitar ever.
The changes that they made to the Strat were heavily influenced by the day’s popular music. Additionally, the company looked to integrate new and desirable features, striving to stay one step ahead of an ever-evolving market of boundary-pushing guitars sold to moreish buyers. As a result, Leo Fender regularly made minor updates to the original Strat concept.
Of course, trying to do reissues of all these differently-specced models would be impossible to keep up with! So, rather than recreate a model for each year, Fender’s modern-day Vintera and American Original ranges aim to capture the essence of each unique decade. Offshoot Fender brand Squier also tailors their Strat guitars to the same key decades of guitar innovation. That’s why today, we talk about three key eras of Strat design: ’50s, ’60s and ’70s.
Let’s take a closer look at each range and see what makes them tick.
’50s Fender Stratocasters
The very first iteration of the Strat delivered a concoction of classy looks, groundbreaking tone, and trendsetting playability. Designed as an upgrade to the Telecaster, the Strat introduced a contoured body for comfort, a floating tremolo bridge for expressive pitch bends, and three single coil pickups, providing a level of tonal flexibility that was simply unheard of at the time. It was just the spark that many of the iconic ‘50s guitarists, such as Buddy Holly and Hank Marvin, needed.
Ash was the wood of choice for the body, and it was an all-maple affair for the neck and fingerboard. One of the early features unique to the ’50s Strat was its ‘V’ shaped neck, which had a deep middle section and narrow shoulders. It also had a curvy 7.25-inch fretboard radius, but Fender opted to build American Original guitars with a flatter 9.5-inch introduced later in the decade.
The trio of single coil pickups sounded feisty and dynamic, allowing guitarists to play thicker sounding chords with better handling of low levels of tube amp saturation. At the same time, dreamier cleans were just as achievable when using the tremolo bridge and just a smattering of echo.
Common ’50s Strat Features
- Body: Ash
- Neck: One-piece maple with a ‘soft V’ shape
- Fretboard Radius: 7.25″ (later modernised to 9.5″)
- Pickups: Lower output single-coils with scooped mids
- Finish: Nitrocellulose lacquer
Fender’s modern takes on the ’50s Strat include:
- Fender Vintera II ’50s Stratocaster
- Fender American Vintage II ’57 Stratocaster
- Squier Classic Vibe ’50s Stratocaster Hardtail