Maker Name

Fender

Maker Biography

The Fender Electric Instrument Company is a maker of electric guitars and electric bass guitars. Founded in 1948 by Leo Fender in Fullerton, California, they initially produced electric steel guitars, soon broadening their scope to the electric bass, the first of which, the ‘Precision’ bass, was designed by Leo Fender himself in 1951. Their most famous guitar model is the ‘Stratocaster,’ the first to use three pickups and the first Fender instrument to have the distinctive tremolo arm. In 1965, Fender was sold to CBS and continues to produce instruments under the Fender label.

Technical Description

A small headstock, compared with the larger 1966 ‘CBS style’ headstock, with the transitional Fender decal and four patent numbers. The tuners are double line Kluson Deluxe.

Maple C-shaped neck and a Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 22 frets and ‘clay’ dot inlay markers on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th 15th, 17th, 19th, 21st frets. There are 6 steel strings.

The body is made from maple and features the more defined, less blended three toned sunburst design that was included on Stratocasters after 1964. This guitar features an ABS plastic cream three-layer pickguard rather than the mint green celluloid pickguard of pre 1965. There is a cream plastic three-position switch, two tone knobs and one volume knob. The three single coil pick-ups are in the same cream plastic.

The guitar comes with a detachable whammy bar or ‘wigglestick’ which allows the musician to vary the pitch of the guitar by altering the tension of every string at once. Whammy bar handle is white celluloid.

Signature marks:
Gold and black transfer on headstock: Fender ‘Stratocaster’ / with synchronised tremolo / PAT 2,573,254 2,741,146 2,960,900 3,143,028 / Original Body Contour pat pend

[Serial number] L6346 stamped on metal plate below neck.

Measurements:
Length: 975mm
String length: 660mm
Body length: 445mm
Depth at widest point: 40mm
Upper bout width: 230mm
Lower bout width: 315mm

Accessories: original black leather-effect case with orange/brown plush interior. One latch is broken.

Cultural/Historical importance:
In the 1950s Fender, despite being small and relatively new, introduced one of the first mass produced, solid-body electric guitar, the ‘Telecaster’. This was shortly followed by the equally successful first electric bass – the ‘Precision Bass’. This meant that by 1954 the Fender brand had achieved significant renown and Leo Fender was able to collaborate with working musicians to create the ‘Stratocaster’. He had initially sought to simply create a better version of the Telecaster that would compete with models from rival brands, but after several years of development the ‘Stratocaster’ became a unique guitar in its own right.

The ‘Stratocaster’ was the first Fender guitar with the sleek, contoured body shape – the double cutaways allowed the player to more easily access higher positions on the neck. It has been suggested that this distinctive shape was the brainchild of guitarist Rex Gallion. It was also the first Fender guitar to feature three pickups and a spring tension vibrato system. The switching and controls are regarded as making a significant step forward in tonal versatility. This design became synonymous with the electric guitar and has remained largely unchanged since 1954.

This instrument is from the same year that Bob Dylan 'went electric' playing a 1964 sunburst Stratocaster at the Newport Folk Festival.