The Stratocaster and Telecaster

ESBlonde

Leo designed (or oversaw) the first production electric guitar, then upgraded the design to a stratocaster and designed and developed electric bass as a concept and put it into mass production. Many albums of the era and through into the 70s refferred to people playing 'Fender Bass' because essencially there were no other real contenders other than upright slap bass. Gibson only developed the Les Paul once they saw the Califorian upstart getting a lead on sales, before that they considerred it a fad/joke. The upper fret access on a Tele or Strat needs to be considerred in relation to all other guitars available at the time they were developed, as such they were radical and way ahead of the competition (flat top acoustics and arch top jazzers with glued in necks).

Not bad for a self taught radio fixer.

Strat54

They should have quit designing in 1954...job done, put your feet up. Here's my latest '94 Custom Shop made 40 years after their launch....still the same.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e128/Telesquire/Motorola V50 2nd/A3C647D5-BA3E-402A-80C2-8E7C0BB2AB70_zpsqsybvwo4.png

TTBZ

I like the idea/ethos (sturdy, well designed and well priced) of Fender guitars but never really get on with them. I have small hands and I'm used to Gibsons so the scale length ruins it for me. Teles are the closest I've come to really enjoying playing a Fender but the scale length makes it harder work than it needs to be. A 24.75" tele would be ideal for me.

olafgarten

I agree that Strats are amazing, I never through an LP was uncomfortable until I got a Strat, heavy yes, but not uncomfortable.

I am very much a Fender Amp Person, a Blackface Twin, a Tweed Deluxe and a Bassman are all you need ever in terms of amps.

Ravenous

By the way the Fender strat is almost the outline of a regular Spanish/classical guitar but with cutaways drawn in, to me at least.

NOT knocking the Strat. Just saying most of the proportions are following a successful, established principle and then adding to it. I suspect that was always Leo's basic idea, to stick to the same waist & bout proportions.

Voxman

guitars4you said:

Hey remember that Leo could not play guitar

Yup, he was a drummer - ridiculous isn't it!

p90fool

Voxman said:

guitars4you said:

Hey remember that Leo could not play guitar

Yup, he was a drummer - ridiculous isn't it!

So was Jim Marshall.

Where did it all go wrong?!!

richardhomer

Ravenous said:

By the way the Fender strat is almost the outline of a regular Spanish/classical guitar but with cutaways drawn in, to me at least.

NOT knocking the Strat. Just saying most of the proportions are following a successful, established principle and then adding to it. I suspect that was always Leo's basic idea, to stick to the same waist & bout proportions.

I suspect that's broadly true of most guitars - the genius is the belly cut and forearm contours - the design almost 'disappears' when you wear it. Where the bridge falls under your right hand, the control layout (including the volume control), the angle that of the neck, etc...

As I said earlier - it's perfect.

guitars4you

p90fool said:

Voxman said:

guitars4you said:

Hey remember that Leo could not play guitar

Yup, he was a drummer - ridiculous isn't it!

So was Jim Marshall.

Where did it all go wrong?!!

So was my old boss at Academy of Sound - Keith Woodcock

amazing how many drummers become Bluddy Rich

siraxeman

Sassafras said:

Then Fender go and screw it all up by putting  humbuckers in Teles and Strats.

this is called progress. Turns wimpy screech/whine into rrrrraaaggghh!!!

ICBM

Voxman said:

guitars4you said:

Hey remember that Leo could not play guitar

Yup, he was a drummer - ridiculous isn't it!

I think he was actually a trumpet player - but still nothing to do with guitars.

Jim Marshall was a drummer and Randall Smith (Mesa/Boogie) was a sax player.

cruxiform

Gassage said:

THis is the best programme made on Strats, ever.

Agreed. I wore my VHS copy out watching it so many times. 

rico

Not as nice as Les Pauls though are they...

normula1

guitarfishbay said:

Yes there is - the switch is too close to the controls. It could easily be fixed (and you can buy a replacement that is) but it hasn't ever been done.

Sorry to differ, I think the switch is in the perfect position. It's the one thing that I think PRS have got wrong.

Neil

I think you can see from this picture how the Strat was the evolution of the Tele.

The Strat, very definitely from the jet age,  has:

Proper body contouring..

An extra pick up.

Tremolo bridge

Proper individual string height adjustment and intonation

An extra tone knob

An output socket that doesn't keep falling out.

The original idea was for the Strat to replace the Tele -  but it never happened.

ICBM

normula1 said:

guitarfishbay said:

Yes there is - the switch is too close to the controls. It could easily be fixed (and you can buy a replacement that is) but it hasn't ever been done.

Sorry to differ, I think the switch is in the perfect position. It's the one thing that I think PRS have got wrong.

The PRS switch - if you mean the toggle behind the bridge - is perfect. It's the only position where you never knock it by accident but can always flick it with the side of your hand in between picking movements, in either direction, without looking. The rotary switch is an ergonomic disaster though.

On the Tele the switch is both too close to the volume control so you can't easily move it away from the bridge position, and too easy to knock *into* the bridge position when it's in the middle.

On the Strat, the switch is also too easy to knock (especially from the middle position into the bridge/middle) and the volume control is far too close to the strings so I constantly bash it.

thermionic

Voxman said:

guitars4you said:

Hey remember that Leo could not play guitar

Yup, he was a drummer - ridiculous isn't it!

He played the saxamophone!

http://www.electricguitarsetup.com/wpimages/wpcd88d47d_05_06.jpg

I regularly advise any Fender fans to read this book, it's a great account of the legendary early days:

http://shop.musix.ch/images/products/orig/Fender-Fender-The-Inside-Story.jpg

normula1

It's the blade PRS switch I don't get on with as I have to lift my hand up and over the trem arm. I've a surprisingly light touch for a fat b*stard and never knock a Strat's switch.

rsvmark

While I wouldn't disagree with the strat love in, I would suggest there are a small number of design flaws thusly:

original 3 way selector which evolved into the 5 way
Single coil pick ups prone to noise in certain conditions
Neck pocket creates a heel which hinders upper access 
Screw mounting of tremolo assembly to body (makes setting up harder but conversely contributes to that stratiness sound)

I wouldn't compare it to the mona Lisa but I would compare it to the original mini designed by Sir Alec Issigonis. Both are now icons and owe a lot of their original aesthetic to components designed for manufacturing techniques and proces. Both are also very functional, but I am going to resist the modernist (Le Courbousier derived) form follows function argument. The headstock design, rounded curves on the body and upper horn imho move the design way beyond modernism.

fftc

jimmyguitar said:

Yep, don't get much sexier than these two designs!
https://i.imgur.com/jFpjkEt.jpg

Maybe these two!