The Stratocaster Became Rock Music's Most Iconic Guitar 70 Years Ago
canopic jug writes:
Smithsonian Magazine has a retrospective on the 70th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster. That very popular model of electric guitar has been manufactured since 1954.
The Stratocaster also had timing on its side. It came out amid two other transformative innovations: television and rock 'n' roll. Sales picked up once Buddy Holly showcased a Strat on the "Ed Sullivan Show" in 1957. For the American and English kids who came of age in the '60s-Hendrix, Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, the electrified Bob Dylan at the Newport Folk Festival-the guitar's look was as groundbreaking as its sound. "Cool" depends more on appearance than on wiring, and the Strat's double-cut profile (producing two "wings" at the top) and sensuous body lines were mind-blowing. It looked, one early '60s British pop musician recalled, like "the equivalent of a bullet-finned '59 Cadillac."
Not to be confused with air guitar.
Previously:
(2016) Don't Give Up on the Guitar. Fender is Begging You
(2015) Our Musical Instruments May Become Obsolete
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