After 60 Years...

[funkStrat_97]

...the Fender Stratocaster is still The One!!!





While there have been innovative designs from other manufacturers, and even what some might say are improvements to Leo's original design, the Fender Strat is still the king of all electric guitars and that is unlikely change unless the National Weather Services issues a winter weather advisory for residents of hell and its surrounding suburbs. 

Not only is the Strat a great guitar on its own, but it has given birth to a number of imitators (as well as outright counterfeits) and inspired several designs which, while not being copies, clearly owe much of their DNA to the Stratocaster design.  And then there is the whole after-market industry that is largely fueled by its modular nature. 

[SketchMan3]

That strat would be really nice with a black pick-guard and pickups

[funkStrat_97]

That strat would be really nice with a black pick-guard and pickups

You mean like this?

[funkStrat_97]

...and speaking of designs by other guitar manufacturers, 56th years go, what became the Gibson Flying V was patented:

[SketchMan3]

You mean like this?

Yeah but minus all the white stuff

[Sweetplayer]

 

[gtrdave]

I've owned and still own many Strats, but I'm still a Les Paul guy at heart.





 

[funkStrat_97]

I never understood why some people look at Fender and Gibson as being competing brands.  IMO, they're rather complementary to one another.  A competing brand to me would be like PRS vs. Gibson, or Ibanez vs. Fender.  Although...................both Fender and Gibson have offered guitars that were obvious copies of each other.  Gibson - via Epiphone - has had Strat, Tele, P-Bass, and J-Bass copies while Fender - both under Squier as well as its own name - has offered Gibson-like guitars.  But still, when you look at a Strat and Les Paul, they're so different from each other that no guitar collection would be complete without at least one example of each.

[trackman]

I have to agree with Dave, I'm a Les Paul guy at heart...

[gtrdave]

I never understood why some people look at Fender and Gibson as being competing brands. 

Play enough of each and you'll know why: they feel, sound and look totally different than one another (if we're talking LP vs. Strat).
Yes, they ARE complimentary as one will never do exactly what the other does, but they're both polarizing shapes, styles and sounds.
I've always struggled w/ Strats and Teles and it seems to take me going through a pile of a dozen or more before my hands and ears are satisfied, whereas most Les Pauls I can pick up and bond with from the get go, although neck profiles can be quite different on them and the thinner they are, the more I dislike them.

I've currently got three Strats: my old trusty ESP 400 Series (which is a '57 V-neck copy), my Fender Pawn Shop '72 (the Strat/Tele hybrid that is so weird, it's cool) and my recent cheap purchase Peavey Predator (which is like a '60s C-neck copy). I do miss my genuine MIA '99 American Standard that I used to own as that was quite a player and was that beautiful metallic teal color, but I had to sell it for $$$. I did a lot of studio and stage gigs with that guitar and it was the perfect fit for me as far as Stratocasters go.
But I pick up my Les Paul and I forget that Strats even exist... 

[funkStrat_97]

Play enough of each and you'll know why: they feel, sound and look totally different than one another (if we're talking LP vs. Strat).
Yes, they ARE complimentary as one will never do exactly what the other does, but they're both polarizing shapes, styles and sounds.
I've always struggled w/ Strats and Teles and it seems to take me going through a pile of a dozen or more before my hands and ears are satisfied, whereas most Les Pauls I can pick up and bond with from the get go, although neck profiles can be quite different on them and the thinner they are, the more I dislike them.

I've currently got three Strats: my old trusty ESP 400 Series (which is a '57 V-neck copy), my Fender Pawn Shop '72 (the Strat/Tele hybrid that is so weird, it's cool) and my recent cheap purchase Peavey Predator (which is like a '60s C-neck copy). I do miss my genuine MIA '99 American Standard that I used to own as that was quite a player and was that beautiful metallic teal color, but I had to sell it for $$$. I did a lot of studio and stage gigs with that guitar and it was the perfect fit for me as far as Stratocasters go.
But I pick up my Les Paul and I forget that Strats even exist... 

Gibsons are great and all, but enough with the Les Paul talk  - BTW, I just saw a Studio on C/L for around $600.....we are here to celebrate the 60th anniversary (I believe full production started in late August/early Sept. of '54, but some prototypes were around since March of that year) of the Stratocatocaster!

[gtrdave]

Yes, Happy 60th to the Comfort Contour Body Stratocaster.

[trackman]

Gibson is celebrating their 120th year this year... just sayin'...

[SketchMan3]

I always thought Les Paul was a classy looking guitar, but having never played one at length (Les Paul was the guitar that I always wanted because the headstock was more traditionally shaped than the Strats ) I've bonded with my humble squier affinity strat and all it's capabilities. :3

PRS though... i reaaally want one of those... I played an SE super-strat type and it was love for days...

But yeah, strats are so great :3 so crispy.

[funkStrat_97]

I've bonded with my humble squier affinity strat and all it's capabilities. :3

Funny thing is that I've been reading a lot of favorable reviews on these bottom of the barrel Affinitys.  In fact, I remember a well-known guitarist from the New Orleans area who was lamenting the loss of his Squier after Katrina.  He said that he has not found another guitar like it which goes to show you that every guitar has something unique weather it's a budget beater or a top-of-the line custom made axe.

[gtrdave]

I got an older Affinity Strat a while back. It was in a box w/ a bunch of broken guitars and it looked like a hot mess, but some TLC and a lot of cleaning brought it back to life and now my youngest daughter uses it.
It's a really decent looking and playing guitar.