Fender Stratocaster

Fender Stratocaster
Manufacturer	Fender
Period	1954–present
Construction
Body type	Solid
Neck joint	Bolt-on
Scale	25.5 inches (647.7 mm)
Woods
Body	Most commonly alder or ash. Other woods have also been used.
Neck	Maple
Fretboard	Most commonly maple, rosewood or pau ferro. Other woods have been used.
Hardware
Bridge	Most commonly proprietary six-screw ‘tremolo’. Other bridge configurations are available.
Pickup(s)	Traditionally three single coil guitar pickups (SSS). Other pickup configurations are also available.
Colors available
Originally two- or three-tone sunburst; many other colors subsequently produced.

The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of double-cutaway 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.^[1]

The guitar's distinctive body shape was revolutionary when introduced in the mid-1950s, and the first time a mass-market electric guitar did not resemble earlier acoustic models.^[1] 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 the shoulder with a strap. The three-pickup design was a step up from earlier one- and two-pickup 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. However, Stratocasters without the vibrato system ("hardtails") started being sold from March 1955 onwards.^[2] 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 the player. All of these design elements were popularized and later became industry standards due to the success of the Stratocaster.

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, Eric Johnson, John Frusciante, and Jeff Beck.

Over the years, Fender has released countless variations of the Stratocaster.^[1] These differed in pickup configuration and other small modifications to the electronics and components. One major change was the transition from using a 3-position selector switch to a 5-position selector switch, which made it possible to get hum-free output from positions 2 and 4 if a reverse-wound, reverse-polarity ("RWRP") pickup was used as the middle pick-up. The added positions also offered more tonal variety, and there are now third-party switches with ten positions or more. Through time, Fender also started offering different tuning pegs and types of woods in various parts of the guitar.

The Fender Stratocaster is one of the most iconic electric guitar models of all time,^[3] and along with the Gibson Les Paul, Gibson SG, and Fender Telecaster, it is one of the most-often emulated electric guitar shapes,^[4][5] It is a patented design, and "Stratocaster" and "Strat" are Fender trademarks. Therefore, imitations by other manufacturers must be shaped slightly differently, and are sometimes called S-Type or ST-type guitars, while the term "Superstrat" typically refers to third-party Stratocaster look-alikes from the 1980s onwards with innovative features such as new types of bridges or pick-up configurations. Some of these features were subsequently also offered on Fender Stratocaster models or those made under the Fender owned brand, Squier, and the Superstrat term is sometimes also applied to these Fender and Squier models.