Fender Stratocaster

Fender Stratocaster

Guitars - The Fender Stratocaster Is A Thing Of Dreams

The very first guitar I ever played was a Candy Apple Red Fender Stratocaster. It was love at first touch. I wanted that guitar SO bad. I grew up listening to Eric Clapton, David Gilmore and Jimmy Hendrix, and during my college years I was a huge fan of Stevie Ray Vaughn. The Fender Stratocaster was the guitar of choice for these incredible guitar players and many more.

My tasted in guitars evolved as I learned, and I discovered that every guitar had their own personality in my hands. Some were sassy and bright, others were bad and loud, and still others just wanted to sing the blues. One of the coolest parts about owning a music store was being able to play thousands of different guitars of all makes and styles.

But my roots have always been with the Fender Strat. The secret to the amazing tone for the Strat lies in the traditional single could pickups, two piece body and the types of tone woods used to make the guitar. Fender offers the same pickups played by Jimmy Hendrix, or Eric Clapton. Fenders custom shop '69 pickups will do the trick, or if you're into Stevie Ray Vaughn you need Fenders Tex-Mex specials.

Probably the best way to play the same guitar as your guitar heroes is to purchase their signature model. Fender has signature models available for Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Robert Cray, Robin Trower, Rory Gallagher, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Buddy Guy, Yngwie Malmsteen, Eric Johnson and more.

Rather a "c" or "v" neck dressed up in maple or rosewood, nothing feels like a Stratocaster and nothing plays or sounds the same. In everyone's life a little rain must fall, and in every guitarist life a Stratocaster must be played.

Strat's are best known for their warm unique tone, but not all Strat's are created equally. The tonal range will depend on the tone woods used in the neck and body as well as the type and configuration of pickups. When selecting a Strat to purchase take your time and research the various online forums to learn everything about the model you want to purchase. You may even want to visit your local retailer and play a few, just to get a better feel for the playability of the model you desire. Sometimes you may find that what you think you want and what you really like are quite different. Once you are convinced of what you HAVE TO HAVE, you should check out the various online retailers. In most cases you will find better prices on line then at your local store.

Buying your Strat will be one of the best days of your life. So enjoy every moment and remember that you are not purchasing just a guitar, you are purchasing something from your dreams.

Is it recommended to change the pickups on a Fender Stratocaster Made In Mexico?

I just bought a Fender Stratocaster MIM and I hear form people that it is recommended to change the pick ups to EMG or Duncan Seymors.. any suggestions?

I tend to like Seymour Duncan pickups a lot.... its hard to make an overall generalization of the wide range of pickups from a company, but in general one can say that Seymour Duncan pups tend to be a little warmer and rounder, DiMarzio tend to be a little more "cutting" or have a sharper treble, and that EMG actives are the only pickups you should be looking at from them - active pickups tend to have a little less definition and subtle detail than passive pickups do, but they interact well with amps and are good especially for getting a good range of distorted tones. Fender has some single-coil pickups too...

While I haven't played them myself, the Seymour Duncan Hot Rails, Cool Rails, and Vintage Rails have all been pretty well reviewed... they're "noiseless" single coils, which actually means they're stacked humbuckers the size of a single-coil pickup. A little different tone, and a little higher output than an actual single-coil, but no hum.... Fender also has the Lace Sensors (I think that's what they're called) that are the same idea.

Some of my friends who play strats and teles don't like noiseless single-coils because they feel that there's something missing, something that isn't as snappy and responsive and ... I dunno, the buzz/hum from your normal single-coil just flippin' kills me, so even when they sound really nice they drive me insane....

Active pickups have no hum/buzz (if properly installed!).... David Gilmour (Pink Floyd) had EMG-SA's on his guitar.... that's EMG's active single-coil...

Anyways, the general idea is that stock pickups tend to pretty much suck and that going out there and finding some new pickups is usually a pretty big improvement.

If you're interested in doing some experimenting, there are a couple of online companies that are pretty well reviewed that sell inexpensive pickups.... might want to check 'em out....

Also, the last link is to harmony central's user review pages.... check out the brand/model of the pickups you're looking into before you buy 'em, and see what similar minded ppl think about 'em...

Good luck!

Saul