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91-599: The Mustang Bass utilizes the same body as the Fender Mustang , its guitar counterpart. The body design has also been used on the Musicmaster guitar and basses, Duo-Sonic guitar, Fender Bronco guitar, and Squier Bronco basses. Based off of the earlier Musicmaster body, the Mustang body has a more notable offset. The Mustang Bass has a 30" scale length, with a shorter neck that typically has 19 frets. Relatively unique elements of

182-543: A 12" radius. Fender has produced various 'deluxe' modern American Stratocasters with special features. The Strat Plus was produced from 1987 to 1999 and was equipped with Lace Sensor pickups, a roller nut, locking tuners, a TBX tone control and a Hipshot tremsetter. The Strat Plus Deluxe was introduced in 1989 with pickup and tremolo variations. The Strat Ultra was introduced in 1990, again with pickup variations, and also with an ebony fingerboard. The Fender Custom Shop produced an entry level, team built Stratocaster that

273-435: A chambered ash body, custom pickups, modified hardtail bridge, and simplified controls. The Mustang has two angled single-coil pickups, each with an adjacent on-off-on switch, and a master tone and volume control. Many Mustangs have neither a pickup selector nor a circuit selector switch, instead just using the two pickup switches to allow the pickups to be used either singly or in parallel. The second on position reverses

364-511: A custom Fender Mustang Bass he performed with from 2011. It was finished in large flake silver sparkle, based on the Duo-Sonic finish, had a black competition stripe, a black painted headstock, and a single humbucking pickup. In 2019, Squier began offering the Classic Vibe '60s Mustang Bass. Finished in olympic white or surf green with an indian laurel fingerboard, the '60s Mustang Bass is based on

455-454: A distinctive headstock with six tuning pegs mounted inline along a single side; the fingerboard may be maple or another wood, e.g., rosewood , and has at least twenty-one frets . The Stratocaster's body is front- routed for electronics, which are mounted in a plastic pickguard . Most Stratocasters have three single-coil pickups , a pickup selector switch , one volume control and two tone controls. Bridges generally come in two designs:

546-456: A given pitch, making string bending easier. Its short scale, combined with a relatively low cost and extremely direct vibrato arm , made the Mustang a cult guitar in the 1990s. Before that, its low cost and marketing as a student guitar made it an obvious candidate for aftermarket upgrades, particularly pickup changes and also amateur finishes. Its wiring with the original pickups also lent itself to custom modifications. In 1966, Fender issued

637-479: A laurel fingerboard. Fender Mustang The Fender Mustang is a solid body electric guitar produced by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation . It was introduced in 1964 as the basis of a major redesign of Fender's student models, the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic . It was produced until 1982 and reissued in 1990. In the 1990s, the Mustang attained cult status largely as

728-578: A more conventional Adjusto-matic bridge and a fixed tailpiece. In 2016, Fender released two versions of the Mustang: the Mustang (with two single coil pickups in Olympic White, Black and Olive) and the Mustang 90 (with two MP90 pickups in Olympic White, Torino Red and Silver), both in a 24" scale. They have a string-through-body hardtail 'Strat' bridge (no vibrato system as was found on previous Mustangs), with vintage-like bent-steel saddles. These guitars, and

819-585: A new Mustang in the Vintage Modified series, with similar specifications to those of the original version, but using more modern materials. There was also a double-humbucker version introduced as a Bullet model. In 2013, Fender released the Modern Player Mustang, a newer take on the old student model. It featured two Fender MP-90 pickups, which are similar to the P-90 . It has a modern 9.5" neck radius, and

910-606: A normal Mustang single coil in the neck. It also had an angled Fender adjusto-matic bridge instead of the standard Mustang bridge. Originally, finish colors included Fiesta Red, Sonic Blue and Dark Lake Placid Blue with Competition Stripe, however, by 2015, the Kurt Cobain Mustang was produced only in Sonic Blue. It is the first Mustang model to be sold in Europe in both right-handed and left-handed versions. In 2012, Squier released

1001-464: A plastic covering with no exposed pole pieces. Mustang basses originally came with the standard "Pull-bar" on the treble side of the strings of the early Fender era, though later models may not include them, or may include the bar installed as a thumb rest on the bass side of the strings. Introduced in 1966 as a companion to Fender's shorter-scaled, two-pickup Fender Mustang guitars, the Mustang Bass

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1092-553: A purple burst around the guitar's outline. As observed on some vintage examples, this is due to heavier build up on the body and headstock edges of clear coat and the subsequent yellowing of this clear finish coat over many decades. This differential yellow over blue effect presents as a purple hue over these areas of the body and headstock. When new, these guitars simply did not exhibit this "faux" sunburst effect. Competition Red (essentially Candy Apple Red) with white stripes, and; Competition Orange with red-orange stripes. These were

1183-511: A re-introduced Duo-Sonic range, form the 'Offset Series' and are made in Mexico. The bodies are alder while the necks are maple, with maple or rosewood fretboards. The rosewood fretboards were replaced by pau ferro in 2017, in response to new CITES restrictions on the trading of rosewood. Two colors were also introduced: Shell Pink for the Mustang and 2-Color Sunburst for the Mustang 90. In 2018, Fender introduced an American Performer variant of

1274-438: A result of its use by a number of alternative rock bands, in particular grunge bands, most notably played by Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain . The Mustang features two single-coil pickups , an unusual pickup switching configuration, and a unique vibrato system . It was originally available in two short scale lengths : 24 inches (609.6 mm) and 22.5 inches (571.5 mm). The Mustang has an offset waist, reminiscent of

1365-520: A rosewood fretboard, and maple fretboards would not be re-introduced in large numbers until 1970. In 1960, the available custom colors were standardized with a paint chip chart, many of which were Duco automobile lacquer colors from DuPont available at an additional 5% cost. Inter-departmental DuPont support research provided a flexible basecoat for their wood applications. A single-ply, eight-screw hole white pickguard (changed to an 11-hole three-ply in late 1959) held all electronic components except

1456-533: A signature model of the Mustang Bass for Justin Meldal-Johnsen , based on his 1966 daphne blue Mustang Bass. The reliced finish is also offered in black. It has lollipop hipshot tuning machines. Fender announced the American Performer Mustang Bass in 2018, releasing in 2019 with a Mustang split coil pickup and an added Jazz pickup at the bridge, both by Yosemite. This configuration is similar to

1547-545: A spaced humbucking pair, which significantly reduces 50/60 cycle hum. Fender introduced a five-way selector in 1977, making such pickup combinations more stable. The "quacky" or "doinky" tone of the bridge and middle pickups in parallel, popularized by players such as Jimi Hendrix , Eric Clapton , Stevie Ray Vaughan , David Gilmour , Rory Gallagher , Mark Knopfler , Bob Dylan , Eric Johnson , Nile Rodgers , George Harrison , Scott Thurston , Ronnie Wood , John Mayer , Ed King , Robert Cray , can be obtained by using

1638-406: A tone control that incorporates a single, shared tone capacitor, whereas the bridge pickup, which is slanted towards the high strings for a more trebly sound, has no tone control for maximum brightness. On many modern Stratocasters, the first tone control affects the neck pickup; the second tone control affects the middle and bridge pickups; on some Artist Series models Buddy Guy signature guitar),

1729-963: A wide variety of color schemes, many with matching headstocks or in variations never seen in the US. These include competition Mustangs in Vintage White (with dark blue stripe), Capri Orange (with Fiesta Red stripe), and Ocean Turquoise Metallic (with light blue stripe), and non-stripe matching headstock Mustangs in Dakota Red, Fiesta Red and Old Lake Placid Blue. The 2012 Fender Mustang (Kurt Cobain Artist Edition) comes in Fiesta Red, Sonic Blue and Dark Lake Placid Blue with competition stripes. The 2016 Offset Series instruments come in Black, Olive, Olympic White, Torino Red and Silver, with Shell Pink and 2-Color Sunburst being released

1820-447: Is considerable debate about the effects on tone and sustain of the material used in the vibrato system's 'inertia bar' and many aftermarket versions are available. The Stratocaster features three single coil pickups , with the output originally selected by a 3-way switch. Guitarists soon discovered that by positioning the switch in between the first and second position, both the bridge and middle pickups could be selected, and similarly,

1911-526: Is made in Japan and available in only the 24-inch scale. While the original Mustangs used mostly poplar wood for the body (with some rarely documented cases of mahogany ), MG-72 Mustang reissues are made of the similar basswood , and the newer MG-65 reissues revert to the original poplar. The natural-finished MG-77 reissue is made of ash . In 2011, Fender released a new Mustang model in the Pawn Shop series, called

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2002-599: Is more similar to the Musicmaster Bass and the Fender Bronco guitar, with a single six-pole Stratocaster pickup under a solid plastic cover. The pickup is placed in the middle Mustang position, rather than in the bridge position of the Bronco guitars. The pickguard is a single piece, and the bridge is a string through style, rather than the Mustang's through body design. The bridge also has two saddles, each one supporting half of

2093-564: The Fender Dynamic Vibrato tailpiece , which together with a floating bridge forms the Mustang vibrato system. The floating bridge concept is common to the Fender floating vibrato developed for the Jazzmaster , but on the Mustang the saddles have only a single string slot, while on other Fender guitars there are multiple slots to allow limited adjustment of the string spacing. The tailpiece

2184-533: The Fender Mustang Bass . A new bass body was designed with a offset body style similar to that of the Mustang guitar, and a short (30-inch) scale was used. In 1969, Fender released the "Competition" Mustang with a "racing stripe" paint job and painted headstocks . Body contours were also added at this time. The Competition Mustangs came in Competition Red, Competition Blue (known as Competition Burgundy in

2275-574: The Fender Showman amplifier . In the early 1960s, the instrument was also championed by Hank Marvin , guitarist for the Shadows , a band that originally backed Cliff Richard and then produced instrumentals of its own. In December 1964, George Harrison and John Lennon acquired Stratocasters and used them for " Help! ", and onwards. The double unison guitar solo on " Nowhere Man ", was played by Harrison and Lennon on their new Stratocasters. After

2366-688: The Gibson Les Paul , Gibson SG , and Fender Telecaster , it is one of the most-often emulated electric guitar shapes. The guitar introduced into the popular market several features that were innovative for electric guitars in the mid-1950s. The distinctive body shape, which has become commonplace among electric guitars, was revolutionary for the time period, and for the first time a mass-market electric guitar did not significantly resemble earlier acoustic models. The double cutaway, elongated horns, and heavily contoured back were all designed for better balance and comfort to play while standing up and slung off

2457-525: The Jaguar . During the CBS era, particularly the 1970s, the perceived quality of Fender instruments fell. During this time, vintage instruments from the pre-CBS era became popular. When the Fender company was bought from CBS by a group of investors and employees headed by Bill Schultz in 1985, manufacturing resumed its former high quality, and Fender was able to regain market share and brand reputation. Dan Smith, with

2548-591: The Jazzmaster , but its overall styling closely followed the existing student models the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic , the slight waist offset being the main change. After the release of the Mustang, the Musicmaster and Duo-Sonic were redesigned using the Mustang body. The new versions were branded the Musicmaster II and Duo-Sonic II, but the decals were not consistently applied. All three Mustang-bodied models (Mustang, Musicmaster II and Duo-Sonic II) were offered with

2639-486: The "Original Contour Body" ) differed from the flat, squared edge design of the Telecaster . The Stratocaster's double cutaways allowed players easier access to higher positions on the neck. The first model offered for sale was the 1954 Fender Stratocaster. The design featured a solid, deeply contoured ash body, a 21-fret one-piece maple neck with black dot inlays, and Kluson SafeTi String post tuning machines. The color

2730-449: The "competition burgundy" itself. Fender currently sells Vintera II Competition Mustangs with the competition burgundy finish as a blue finish with light blue racing stripes. The burgundy has been attributed to misprints, a short-lived burgundy sunburst around the edges of the finish, or discoloration of the competition burgundy from a blue to a burgundy. Fender Japan reissued the Mustang Bass in 1998. During 2013 and 2014, Fender produced

2821-725: The Fender Pawn Shop Mustang Bass, a series with the tagline of "guitars that never were, but should have been". They were made in Mexico, and based on the original "competition" Mustangs of the early 1970s. Available in Candy Apple Red with white stripes, Olympic White with blue stripes, and three color sunburst, their features included an alder body, C-shaped maple neck, 9.5-inch radius rosewood fingerboard with 19 medium jumbo frets, four-ply white pearloid pick-guard, two Jazz Bass control knobs (volume and tone) and string-through-body bridges with four adjustable saddles. Similar to

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2912-462: The Fender Stratocasters manufactured were made in a single year, in 1979. The increased 1970s production levels saw a gradual departure from the high quality instruments of the 1960s and the introduction of Japanese manufacturers into the market. Original Stratocasters were manufactured with five vibrato springs (three in late 1953 prototypes) attached to a milled inertia block and anchored to

3003-526: The Fender catalog) and Competition Orange. This paint scheme was heavily influenced by the Shelby Mustang cars of the late 1960s. In 1982, Fender discontinued both the Mustang and the Musicmaster II. These were the last of the offset student models to be made. Fender replaced the Mustang line with the short-lived Fender Bullet line of guitars and basses before relegating production of their student guitars to their Squier division. In 1990, Fender reissued

3094-726: The Highway One and American Special Stratocasters) and the more expensive American Ultra Stratocaster (successor to the American Elite Stratocaster). Fender has also manufactured guitars in East Asia, notably Japan, and in Mexico, where the affordable Player (successor to Standard) series guitars are built. In addition to the Player series, Fender has also released the Player Plus series that features noiseless pickups, locking tuners, and

3185-433: The Mustang Bass and Mustang Guitar were issued with notable competition finishes. These finishes included "racing" stripes over the base coat, with one thick central stripe, and two thin stripes bordering it. Three competition finishes were originally offered, being competition orange (with red stripes), competition red (with white stripes), and competition "burgundy" (actually blue, with lighter blue stripes). In 1970, sunburst

3276-449: The Mustang Bass part of the lineup. The Squier Vintage Modified Mustang Bass was released in July 2011, offered in black, or three-tone sunburst with a maple fretboard, a black pickguard and Stratocaster style volume and tone knobs. This model has since been discontinued. From 2012 to 2015, Squier produced a signature model of the Mustang Bass for Mikey Way of My Chemical Romance , based on

3367-584: The Mustang Special. The model features an offset Mustang body shape and a 24-inch scale neck, but with humbucking pickups and a hard-tail Stratocaster bridge. In 2012, Fender announced a Kurt Cobain Signature Mustang. This model is based on Cobain's modified Mustangs that he played during the In Utero Tour. Instead of having two single-coil pickups, it had a Seymour Duncan JB humbucker in the bridge and

3458-543: The Mustang bass are the string-through body design, and the 7-bolt bridge. The pickguard and control plate are two separate pieces, with the control plate made of metal, similar to the Fender Jazz Bass . The control plate features a tone knob, a volume knob, and an output jack facing out of the guitar. The pickups on the Mustang bass have a split coil design similar to the Precision style pickup, but appear smaller, and have

3549-543: The Mustang with an updated version of the original style vibrato system, Tim Shaw designed Yosemite pickups, and a three way selector switch instead of the original’s on-off and phase switches above the pickups. In 2021, Fender announced the Ben Gibbard Mustang as part of their Artist Signature series, designed to Death Cab for Cutie frontman Gibbard's specifications and inspired by the 1970s Mustangs he uses on tour. The guitar features several unique features including

3640-415: The Mustang, largely as a result of the vintage movement prevalent at the time. Among grunge and punk rock guitarists, Fender's discontinued models (budget models such as the Duo-Sonic and high-end models such as the Jazzmaster and Jaguar ) had become extremely popular. Such models had Fender quality, but were less expensive secondhand than vintage Stratocasters and Telecasters . The reissued Mustang

3731-649: The PJ models, but features the Mustang pickup and placement rather than the Precision pickup and placement. It was released in four finishes; 3-color sunburst, aubergine, satin surf green, and arctic white. Each finish has a rosewood fingerboard. By 2020, the Fender Player Mustang Bass PJ was being offered, with a similar configuration to the previous Offset series model. It came in sienna sunburst, aged natural, and firemist gold finishes. In 2023, Fender began offering

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3822-662: The Squier Mikey Way Mustang Bass, the Pawn Shop Mustang basses featured a single humbucking pickup. The Fender Offset Mustang Bass PJ was released at Summer NAMM, 2016. Unlike the typical Mustang Bass, the Mustang pickup is replaced by a Precision pickup, and a typical Jazz pickup was added in the bridge position. Initially available in olympic white, sonic blue, and torino red. A capri orange finish would be introduced in 2017. As of 2018, they were available with pau ferro fingerboards. In 2017, Fender began offering

3913-469: The Stratocaster by other manufacturers are sometimes called S-Type or ST-type guitars. Many prominent rock musicians have been associated with the Stratocaster for use in studio recording and live performances , most notably Eric Clapton , Buddy Holly , David Gilmour , Mark Knopfler , Jimi Hendrix , Stevie Ray Vaughan , John Frusciante , Jeff Beck , George Harrison , and Tom Petty . Along with

4004-665: The Vintera II '70s Competition Mustang Bass, based on the competition orange and competition burgundy (blue) finishes. They feature a Mustang split coil pickup. Set to release for August 2024, the Fender Player II Mustang Bass PJ is in a similar configuration to the Player PJ, but most notably features rosewood instead of pau ferro, and a reshaped neck. It is available in aquatone blue, coral red, hialeah yellow, 3-color sunburst, and polar white. In 2011, Squier reintroduced

4095-418: The back of the body. The novel mechanism pivots on a fulcrum design with a six screw bridge plate, allowing the whole set-up to "float" while transferring the strings' energy directly into the body. Though advertised as "Tremolo" (a change in volume amplitude), vibrato is the correct term for pitch variation. In the floating position, players can move the bridge-mounted vibrato tremolo arm up or down to modulate

4186-451: The custom design which became the Jag-Stang . No previous Fender student guitar had a vibrato system at all, and the subsequent Fender Bronco used a completely different mechanism, without a floating bridge. The Mustang was the last of the Fender floating bridge models to be withdrawn, and the first to be reissued. Mustangs have maintained a popular following in Japan. The Fender Mustang

4277-418: The design over the years and models with features that differ from the archetypical design. However, the essential character of the design has remained constant. The Stratocaster was the first Fender guitar to feature three pickups and a spring tension vibrato system , as well as being the first Fender with a contoured body. The Stratocaster's sleek, contoured body shape (officially referred to by Fender as

4368-407: The earlier Fender Mustang basses, and has Mustang pickups and Mustang style volume and tone knobs. The Musicmaster Bass variant was also introduced in 1971, and was originally marketed as a student model. Rather than the split-coil design of the Mustang Bass, it featured a single-coil pickup, which was actually a six-pole Stratocaster guitar pickup under a solid plastic cover. Production ceased around

4459-474: The early Fender Duo-Sonic models. However this usually requires modification of the pickguard and routing of the body. Installing an alternative pickup selector switch on the Mustang, like seen on early Duo-Sonics, can thus free up the two, eight-terminal, pickup switches for other uses. Some players choose and prefer this option. As with many student guitars, aftermarket pickup additions and changes are commonly found in many vintage examples. The Mustang introduced

4550-610: The finest to ever leave Fender's Fullerton plant, which closed its doors in late 1984. In 1985, Fender's US production of the Vintage reissues resumed into a new 14,000 square feet (1,300 m ) factory at Corona, California, located about 20 miles (32 km) away from Fullerton. Some early reissues from 1986 were crafted with leftover parts from the Fullerton factory. Fender released their first Stratocaster signature guitar for Eric Clapton in 1988. A popular Fender Reissue Stratocaster

4641-449: The first three original competition finishes offered. As stated, each were also fitted with a set of “racing stripes” across the arm contour. Competition Mustangs are the only original Fender guitars to be produced with these "racing stripes" which make them very collectible. The competition Mustangs produced from 1969 to mid 1970 came with a matching headstock; from then until the retirement of competition color schemes, an unpainted headstock

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4732-405: The first tone control is a presence circuit that cuts or boosts treble and bass frequencies, affecting all the pickups; the second tone control is an active midrange booster that boosts the midrange frequencies up to 25 dB (12 dB on certain models) to produce a fatter humbucker -like sound. Dick Dale was a prominent Stratocaster player who also collaborated with Leo Fender in developing

4823-442: The floating bridge has an excessive propensity to detune guitars. These guitarists inhibit the bridge's movement with a chunk of wood wedged between the bridge block and the inside cutout of the tremolo cavity, and by increasing the tension on the tremolo springs; these procedures lock the bridge in a fixed position. Some Stratocasters have a fixed bridge in place of the vibrato assembly; these are colloquially called "hard-tails". There

4914-570: The following year. Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster , colloquially known as the Strat , is a model of electric guitar designed between 1952 and 1954 by Leo Fender , Bill Carson , George Fullerton , and Freddie Tavares . The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously manufactured the Stratocaster since 1954. It is a double- cutaway guitar, with an extended top "horn" shape for balance. "Stratocaster" and "Strat" are trademark terms belonging to Fender. Guitars that duplicate

5005-406: The guitar. Various other companies have produced their own Strat-style bodies known as Superstrats . The archetypal Stratocaster is a solid-body electric guitar with a contoured asymmetric double-cutaway body with an extended upper horn; the body is usually made from alder or ash. The neck is usually made from maple and attached to the body with screws (often referred to as " bolts ") and has

5096-570: The headstock. It continued to be offered in black or Torino Red. In 2023, Squier replaced the Bullet series with the Sonic series. The Torino Red finish was replaced by Tahitian Coral, and Olympic White was also released. Ultraviolet was released shortly after as an online Fender exclusive with a black pickguard and pickup cover. Guitar Center offered an exclusive California Blue finish, with a black pickguard and pickup cover. Clover shaped tuning machines replaced

5187-552: The help of John Page, proceeded to work on a reissue of the most popular guitars of Leo Fender's era. They decided to manufacture two Vintage reissue Stratocaster models, the one-piece maple neck 1957 and a rosewood-fretboard 1962 along with the maple-neck 1952 Telecaster, the maple-neck 1957 and rosewood-fretboard 1962 Precision Basses, as well as the rosewood-fretboard "stacked knob" 1962 Jazz Bass. These first few years (1982–1984) of reissues, known as American Vintage Reissues, are now high-priced collector's items and considered as some of

5278-499: The instrument has a tendency to go out of tune during double-stop string bends. Many Stratocaster players opt to tighten the springs (or even increase the number of springs used) so that the bridge is firmly anchored against the guitar body: in this configuration, the vibrato arm can still be used to slacken the strings and therefore lower the pitch, but it cannot be used to raise the pitch (a configuration sometimes referred to as "dive-only"). Some players, such as Ronnie Wood , feel that

5369-526: The introduction of the Fender Stratocaster Ultra series in 1989, ebony was officially selected as a fretboard material on some models (although several Elite Series Stratocasters manufactured in 1983/84 such as the Gold and Walnut were available with a stained ebony fretboard). In December 1965 the Stratocaster was given a broader headstock with altered decals to match the size of the Jazzmaster and

5460-404: The late 1960s. His remarkable playing style and musical prowess led to a dramatic increase in sales and thrust the Stratocaster into musical history as the premier electric guitar. As they followed Jimi Hendrix's popularity on TV, CBS asked for the word Stratocaster on the headstock be made larger so that people could read the model name easily. Between the years 1954 and 1979, nearly a quarter of

5551-452: The late 1970s, Fender stopped shipping guitars with the bridge cover plate, though some more modern reissue and custom shop models still have them. The innovative tremolo system is balanced by springs mounted in a rear cavity. The output jack is mounted in a recess in the front of the guitar body. Many different colors have been available. The Stratocaster's scale length is 25.5 inches (648 mm). There have been some minor changes to

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5642-420: The manufacture of the Mustang. Body and arm contours were added, and the guitars were now offered in several "Competition Colors” for the first time. These were as follows; Competition Burgundy with light blue stripes. The main body color is similar to Lake Placid Blue, and it remains a mystery as to why Fender called this color Burgundy. Some erroneously claim that guitars finished in this color scheme came with

5733-410: The middle and neck pickups could be selected between the 2nd and 3rd position. When two pickups are selected simultaneously, they are wired in parallel which leads to a slight drop in output as slightly more current is allowed to pass to the ground. In newer guitars, since the middle pickup is almost always wired in reverse (and with its magnets having opposite polarity), the intermediate positions create

5824-460: The more common pivoting "tremolo" bridges , and the less common "hardtail" fixed bridge. Both types of bridge have six individually adjustable saddles whose height and intonation can be set independently. Early models of the stratocaster came with a removable metal cover plate that fit over the bridge. The plate was purely cosmetic, and tended to get in the way of important playing techniques such as palm muting , so many players removed it. By

5915-529: The most popular electric guitar in history, Leo Fender made very few alterations to the basic design of the Fender Stratocaster (and the Telecaster for that matter) up until 1965 when the company was sold to CBS Instruments. For example, the bridge cover on the Fender Stratocaster was often taken off by players and either disposed or kept in the case. Despite full knowledge of this, Leo Fender always provided

6006-400: The neck shape took a more "V-shaped" feel with deeper body carves on the guitar a noted feature. In 1959, Fender introduced a thick Brazilian rosewood fretboard to the Stratocaster, now colloquially referred to as a "slab-board". This thicker board lasted until 1962, when the fretboard was made with a thinner 'veneer' of Brazilian Rosewood. Nearly all of the 1960s models of the Stratocaster had

6097-402: The new Fender guitars with a bridge cover to prevent corrosion on the bridge parts. After 1965, the Fender company, under the control of CBS Instruments, saw a drop in sales of the Fender Stratocaster to customers. The Fender Jazzmaster had been promoted as the flagship guitar in the Fender line. As such, the resurgence of the Fender Stratocaster is credited to the arrival of Jimi Hendrix in

6188-417: The only available left-handed model finish. White, black, and natural remained, while the walnut finish was replaced by antigua and wine finishes. The Mustang Bass was not listed by Fender in 1982, and stopped production from their Fullerton plant in 1983. Discoloration in older runs of the Mustang Bass have led to "rare" alternate colors such as the "surf green", actually a yellowed competition burgundy, and

6279-601: The option of two necks: a 21 fret, 22.5-inch (or 3/4 scale ) neck, or a 22 fret, 24-inch neck. The 24-inch version was overwhelmingly more popular, and the 22.5-inch scale examples are rare. A 24-inch scale is still relatively short, used in the Fender Jaguar but a full inch and a half shorter than the Stratocaster and three-quarters of an inch shorter than the Gibson Les Paul . The short scale may make playing easier for people with small hands, and also lowers string tension for

6370-458: The phase of the selected pickup, allowing the pickups to be either in or out of phase when in parallel. This phasing option was also unusual for 1964. It also meant that, as both pickups were floating with respect to ground, it was possible to modify the wiring to put the pickups into series either in or out of phase without excessive noise. The unusual switching could also be replaced with a conventional 3 way pickup selector switch, such as found on

6461-432: The pickup selector in position 2; similarly the middle and neck pickups in parallel can be obtained in position 4. This setting's characteristic tone is not caused by any electronic phenomenon—early Stratocasters used identical pickups for all positions. This "in between" tone is caused by phase cancellation due to the physical position of the pickups along the vibrating string. The neck and middle pickups are each wired to

6552-429: The pitch of the notes being played. Hank Marvin , Jeff Beck and Ike Turner have used the Stratocaster's floating vibrato extensively in their playing. As string gauges have changed, players have experimented with the number of springs (often four though Hendrix used five). As the average gauge has decreased over the years, modern Stratocasters are equipped with three springs as a stock option in order to counteract

6643-414: The player. Fender has released numerous models with different pickup configurations and has made other small modifications to the electronics and components of the base model, such as changing the initial 3-position selector switch to a standard 5-position selector switch, offering more tonal variety, as well as other small cosmetic changes to things like tuning pegs and types of woods used in various parts of

6734-462: The previous Y-shaped tuning machines, and a four saddle bridge replaced the earlier two saddle bridge. The black finish also received an Indian Laurel fingerboard with pearloid inlays while the Tahitian Coral and Olympic White finishes retained the maple fingerboard with black dots. In 2024, Fender began offering lime green as a second online exclusive finish. The black finish is the only version with

6825-416: The recessed jack plate, facilitating assembly. The 1963 Fender Stratocaster shows an advancement in design from the 1950s models including a 'veneer' Brazilian rosewood board with Clay Dot inlays, a 3 tone sunburst finish on an Alder body and Kluson tuners. To summarize, the specific features in the evolution of the Fender Stratocaster between 1954 and 1979 included: Despite being credited with inventing

6916-416: The reduced string tension. While the floating bridge has unique advantages for wavering pitch upwards (like Jeff Beck), the functionality of the "floating" has been widely accepted, yet disputed by some musicians. Leo Fender insisted it leave the factory floating (raised up in the back) while designer Freddie Tavares preferred it tightened flush for full bridge plate/body contact resonance. As the bridge floats,

7007-454: The same time as the Mustang Bass in 1981, with the release of the similar Fender Bullet Bass . Squier reissued the Musicmaster Bass briefly during 1997, with a four-pole bass guitar pickup, only to be discontinued after one year of production. In 2003, the Bronco was released under the Affinity line. The Bronco Bass uses the Mustang body, and has a maple neck and fretboard. The rest of the bass

7098-453: The shoulder with a strap. The three- pickup design offered players increased versatility and choice in tone quality over earlier one- and two-pickup electric guitars, and a responsive and simplified vibrato arm integrated into the bridge plate, which marked a significant design improvement over other vibrato systems, such as those manufactured by Bigsby . All of these design elements were popularized and later became an industry standard due to

7189-419: The strings. The Affinity Bronco basses were originally offered in black or Torino Red, both of which had white pickguards. In 2006, Squier and Sanrio released a black Affinity Bronco featuring a Bad Badtz-Maru -shaped pickguard, a black pickup cover, and no control plate. The Bronco Bass was moved into Squier's Bullet series at some point with the most notable change being the removal of the Affinity name from

7280-401: The success of the Stratocaster. The Fender Stratocaster is one of the most iconic electric guitar models of all time. Over the years, countless variations of the Stratocaster have been made. The modular nature of the guitar, with its easily removable components, left players and luthiers to perform numerous modifications to their own guitars, changing out pickups or necks to fit the needs of

7371-410: The time of the Mustang's initial release, and thus the Mustang was not eligible to receive these finishes according to Fender. Speculation continues that these paint colors may have very well been the same exact custom paint formulations offered on other eligible Fender guitars, but it is not known with 100% certainty, although it is certainly probable. In 1969, Fender made several significant changes to

7462-401: Was added. In 1972, blue, red, and competition orange were no longer offered. By 1974, competition red and burgundy were also no longer offered, replaced by black and walnut. White was replaced by or renamed to olympic white. In 1977, the mustang Bass was offered in blond, natural, and walnut, as well as sunburst, black, and white (no longer olympic). In 1981, the sunburst was tobacco sunburst, and

7553-498: Was discontinued in 2012. As well as the vintage reissues, Fender launched an updated model in 1987: the American Standard Stratocaster. This was tailored to the demands of modern players, notably having a flatter fingerboard, a thinner neck profile and an improved tremolo system. This model line has been continuously improved and remained in production until late 2016. The model line received upgrades in 2000, when it

7644-656: Was offered in Daphne Blue and Honeyburst. In 2013, Fender introduced the American Special Mustang, the first production Mustang made in the United States since the original run was discontinued. The American Special Mustang is significantly different from vintage models, and eliminated many unconventional features of the original Mustang. It retains the traditional Mustang shape and scale length, but has two Fender Atomic Humbuckers with conventional three-way wiring,

7735-418: Was originally a two-color, dark brown-to-golden yellow sunburst pattern, although custom color guitars were produced (An example is Eldon Shamblin 's gold Stratocaster, dated June 1954). In 1956, Fender began using alder for sunburst and most custom-color Stratocaster bodies. Ash needed grain filler and sanding blocks for contour sanding, though it was still used on translucent blonde instruments. In 1957,

7826-612: Was originally produced in what Fender simply referred to as Blue, White, and Red from 1964–1968. Some now erroneously label these colors as Daphne Blue, Olympic White, and Dakota/Fiesta Red (actually two distinct custom red colors available from Fender) due to their similarity with these custom colors. However, Fender further notes in sales literature of the time that custom colors were not available on Mustangs or other student models of guitar. As such, Daphne Blue, Olympic White, and Dakota or Fiesta Red were never officially offered as Mustang colors. These would have been custom order only colors at

7917-651: Was renamed as the American Series Stratocaster, and again in 2008, when the American Standard name was restored. In 2017, the American Standard Stratocaster was replaced by the American Professional Stratocaster, with narrow frets, a fatter 'deep C' neck profile and V-Mod pickups. Various other modern American-made Stratocasters have been produced. As of 2019, these include the more affordable American Performer Stratocaster (successor to

8008-413: Was standard. The matching headstock models seem to be more desirable with collectors than the non matching models. Mid-to-late 1970s US Mustangs were produced in sunburst and natural finishes as well as blonde, walnut, and black (with a standard black pickguard, updated from the earlier white pearloid or tortoise shell) and the unique Antigua burst scheme. Later Japanese reissues have been made available in

8099-528: Was the '57 American Vintage Reissue. The company regarded 1957 as a benchmark year for the Strat. The original specifications were used, with three 57/62 pickups, aged pickup covers and knobs, a tinted 7.25" radius, 21 fret maple neck, an ashtray bridge cover, and three position switch (with five-position switch kit included). The colors included white blonde, two-color sunburst, black, ocean turquoise, surf green, and ice blue metallic. The '57 Vintage Reissue Stratocaster

8190-415: Was the last original bass designed by Leo Fender before his departure from the company in 1965. Like the early Precision and Jazz basses, the Mustang Bass was originally fitted with string mutes, which were often removed by players. The standard finishes were red, white, and blue. Fender guitars were finished in nitrocellulose lacquer up until 1968, with later fineshes done in a thick polyester. In 1969,

8281-408: Was unique when introduced and remains the most unusual feature of the Mustang; Only the Jag-Stang and Fender Custom (Maverick) share this particular mechanism. While not nearly as popular as the Stratocaster synchronized tremolo , some guitarists prefer it over all other vibrato mechanisms. However, some guitarists also claim that the vibrato is too sensitive. Most notably, Fender incorporated it in

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