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63-663: The Fender Performer Bass was a uniquely styled bass guitar, designed by John Page , and renowned for its extremely slender neck (narrower than Stratocaster and Telecaster guitars). The Japanese Performer Standard has an alder body, with a bolt-on 34" 24-fret micro-tilt adjustable maple neck and a 2-octave rosewood fingerboard, as opposed to the United States-made Performer Elite, never actually put into production, which would have sported an ebony fretboard. Controls are: Volume, Pickup Selector Switch and TBX Circuit Control (Treble Bass eXpander). The latter provided

126-543: 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

189-409: A better 'feel' of the song. Vocals are usually added last, only followed by backing vocals or solos, which may change or be complicated, meaning that multiple attempts could be useful before deciding on a final. Scratch tracks are tracks that are played through roughly at first, so other musicians have something to work with, and can play to support the other parts. However, it is not final, and once

252-419: A collection of songs from a show, and made no attempt to recreate what a performance of the show was actually like. (In the liner notes for the new studio cast recording of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 1947 semi-flop Allegro , former Columbia Records president Goddard Lieberson is given credit for virtually inventing the idea of a studio cast recording.) David Hummel, the author of “The Collector’s Guide to

315-662: A copyright dispute concerning the neck; however, there is no credible evidence for this. Because no manufacturing assets were transferred in the sale – forcing the new owners to contract the manufacture of instruments – it is more likely that the new Fender Musical Instruments Corporation simply chose to focus on proven lines. Once largely ignored by Fender enthusiasts, the Performer has recently grown in popularity and second-hand values. As of 2021, these instruments have commanded prices as much as US$ 2,500 and higher. Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster , colloquially known as

378-454: 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:

441-431: A number of minor features underlying the 'high end' design, including rubber inserts around the volume and tone controls, a 'micro-tilt' adjustable neck, tuners with enclosed worms, a high-quality fully enclosed jack socket, a then new and contemporary Fender logo, sculpted pickups marked with an (original) Fender logo, felt washers to prevent the strap buttons marking the body. Individual intonation adjustment for each string

504-520: 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

567-437: A smash hit that she had starred in, as is the case with Girl Crazy , Panama Hattie , and Anything Goes . Paul Robeson , who appeared in several productions of Show Boat (though not the original Broadway production), made many recordings of the song Ol' Man River from the show. However, early "studio cast" albums were very different from those made today, or even those made from 1950 onward. Many of them were simply

630-545: 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

693-406: 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),

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756-415: Is any recording made in a studio , as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre , with an audience attending the performance . In the case of Broadway musicals, the term studio cast recording applies to a recording of the show which does not feature the cast of either a stage production or film version of the show. The practice has existed since before

819-447: 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,

882-443: Is the aforementioned Of Thee I Sing , which was recorded on CD with its original orchestrations and vocal arrangements for the first time in 1987, featuring a cast headed by Larry Kert and Maureen McGovern . Occasionally, film scores were recorded with studio casts, especially in the days before soundtrack albums . One such example is Decca's 1939 album of songs from The Wizard of Oz , which featured Judy Garland singing Over

945-574: 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

1008-688: 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

1071-574: 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

1134-528: 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

1197-486: 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

1260-467: The 1951 cast of George and Ira Gershwin 's Of Thee I Sing , all of them pre-1943 musicals. But there are no actual original Broadway cast albums of any of these shows. Studio cast recordings have become especially useful in the era of compact discs after being overshadowed for years by original cast albums - in nearly all cases, moderate to large numbers of songs (or instrumental music) were left out of original cast albums of older shows because there

1323-593: The American Musical Theatre” (Scarecrow Press, 1984) was the first person to come up with the term “studio cast” in lists he was making of Broadway recordings. In these lists, which date back to the 1950s, he documented Original Cast (OC), Soundtrack (ST) and when the Goddard Lieberson cast recordings came out he wasn't sure how to catalog them so the term “studio cast” (SC) came into being. Author Stanley Green even wrote to Mr. Hummel asking if he could use

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1386-462: 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

1449-775: 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

1512-593: The Rainbow and the deleted song The Jitterbug , but the Ken Darby Singers singing the rest of the score. Click tracks (i.e. metronome recordings at a certain tempo) are often used to keep the musicians in perfect time; these can be played in musicians' ears through headphones , and so, barring any bleed, will not be picked up by the microphones and thus be silent on the final track. In bands, different groups have different orders of recording instruments. Some record

1575-414: 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

1638-426: The U.S. with what might be termed studio casts, although in many cases, such as those of Walter Huston from Knickerbocker Holiday and Helen Morgan from Show Boat , singer-actors from a musical did make recordings of songs from the shows they appeared in. Another such example is Ethel Merman , who recorded virtually all of the songs that she made famous, even when there was no original Broadway cast album of

1701-509: The advent of Broadway cast albums in 1943. That year the songs from Rodgers and Hammerstein 's Oklahoma! , performed by the show's cast, were released on a multi-record 78-RPM album by American Decca . (London original cast albums have existed since the early days of recording, however, and there are recordings in existence of excerpts from such shows as The Desert Song , Sunny , and Show Boat , all performed by their original London stage casts.) Before 1943, musicals were recorded in

1764-418: 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

1827-418: 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

1890-424: The entire group at the same time, as would be played in a live performance, though this can cause some instruments to be picked up on the microphones of others, which can complicate mixing : partition screens are available to counter this. Others choose to add tracks one by one. For example, a group may choose to have the drum and bass guitar record first, so that the following instruments keep in time, and can play to

1953-610: 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

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2016-405: 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

2079-524: The first two placed side-by-side in the rear position and the third in the centre), 5-way switching and an ebony fretboard to be manufactured in the United States, retailing at $ 949, was never actually put into production. A 5-string prototype of this bass was made in 1987. The Fender Performer Bass was designed by John Page to be an evolution version of the Fender Jazz Bass . The Performer Standard

2142-442: 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

2205-406: 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

2268-552: 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

2331-499: 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

2394-578: 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

2457-404: 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

2520-452: 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

2583-410: 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

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2646-460: 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

2709-529: 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

2772-400: 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

2835-402: 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

2898-432: 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

2961-429: 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

3024-414: 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

3087-416: 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

3150-416: 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,

3213-514: The same tonal range as the Jazz Bass between 0 and 5, with the range 5-10 providing significantly brighter sound – oriented towards solo playing and particularly suiting the sharp attack needed for a slap bass playing style. Both basses were available in Burgundy Mist, Gun Metal Blue, Candy Green, White and Tobacco Sunburst. All finishes were metallic except for the sunburst. Both versions featured

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3276-453: 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

3339-415: The show, but with interest growing in the way shows from the past first sounded on Broadway, these albums are now nearly always recorded using the original orchestral and vocal arrangements of the shows in question, especially after the 1982 discovery in a Secaucus, New Jersey Warner Bros. warehouse of the original manuscripts of many classic Broadway shows in their original orchestrations. One such example

3402-401: 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

3465-435: The term. Mr. Hummel responded that he didn't own the term; it was just something he came up with for his lists so the recordings could be cataloged. Beginning in 1943, then-current revivals of musicals began to be recorded with their stage casts, a custom that persists today. Therefore, we have recordings of the 1943 cast of Rodgers and Hart 's A Connecticut Yankee , the 1946 cast of Kern and Hammerstein's Show Boat and

3528-633: Was discontinued in 2008. The Custom Classic Strat was intended to be a combination of the best aspects of vintage and modern Strats. The guitar boasted 3 Modern Classic pickups along with a Custom Classic 2-point tremolo with pop-in tremolo bar. The "C" Shaped neck was maple with either maple or rosewood finger board and 22 jumbo frets. The colors available were three-color sunburst, daphne blue, black, bing cherry transparent, cobalt blue transparent, and honey blonde. Fender has released several models of Stratocaster in collaboration with famous guitarists. They include: Studio recording A studio recording

3591-498: 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

3654-559: Was manufactured by FujiGen in Japan in 1986, at a time when Fender was just completing moving United States production from Fullerton (which had been through terrible quality control issues) to Corona. Shortly after the launch of these instruments, CBS sold Fender to a group of employees led by Bill Schultz and production of the Performers ceased. It is rumored that only a few hundred were made and that some were ordered to be destroyed because of

3717-418: 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,

3780-651: 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

3843-498: Was simply no room for all of them on a single LP, even one that lasted 50 minutes. The extended length of a typical CD makes it possible to include all the songs and music from one show on one or more discs, and studio casts have had to be the ones to record new albums of older shows, since, in many cases, original cast members are either long retired or have died. In the past, studio cast albums have almost invariably used different orchestrations and vocal arrangements from those heard in

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3906-554: Was standard. The Performer Bass was only ever available in one Standard version. The Standard retailed at $ 499, but still had a level of fittings comparable to high-level Precision and Jazz models. Unlike the Japanese-made Performer Standard, which featured a 3-ply white pickguard, dual single coils, 3-way toggle switch and a rosewood fretboard, a rumoured Performer Elite , having rear-routed controls and sporting three specially designed single coil pickups (with

3969-528: 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

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