And do I have one now?
Backstory: I got myself a lovely MiM Fender Stratocaster a couple of weeks ago. It has essentially obsoleted my Squier, so I didn’t hesitate when a mate offered to trade the Squier for his Ibanez AZES40, which he defined as a superstrat. Here it is:
So in essence it’s a HSS guitar with the socket on the side (love it), a very fast neck, and a cool switching system that does roughly what I got the Squier to do before trading it. It puts some pickups in series, does weird combinations, etc.
It doesn’t particularly sound stratty. It sounds bold and hot, and plays great, so it is believably super at least.
But is it a superstrat? What the heck is a superstrat?
Discuss.
Comments
That could be a more modern bridge, HSS or other pickup config, pointy horns/headstock, flatter radius, bigger frets, different control layout, active electrics, locking tuners/nut/bridge etc etc etc...
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superstrat
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I can point to a guitar at either extreme and say it's definitely a Strat or definitely a Superstrat, but I'm not sure exactly where one turns into the other!
To my mind the guitar in the OP is a fat strat. Looks very nice too.
My first Strat was a Fender Contemporary Strat in the mid 80s (as was my second one). HSS, locking trem, two controls (TBX), side mounted jack, and intended as Fender's answer to the SuperStrats from their rivals. Now, looking back, I can't believe it then took me another 30 years to own a non-super Strat!
BIG frets, Floyd Rose, side mounted jack, HSS (though HsH and HH are also Superstrat spec guitars), and most often no scratch-plate (Ibanez being an exception to that). .
I would call the OPs Strat (which is lovely by the way) a HB equipped Strat with a vintage trem.
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