From Buddy Holly to Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix to Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughan to Billie Joe Armstrong (the list is endless), legendary players have chosen Fender Stratocaster for 70 years – and the instrument’s popularity shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. It’s, of course, not just famous names who are drawn to the iconic Strat, as guitarists of all skill levels snatch up various models of the instrument in volume, year after year.
MMR recently spoke with EVP, Products at Fender about the Stratocaster’s 70th, how the company plans to celebrate the milestone throughout 2024, and some of the new Anniversary models being released!
Before we get to the special anniversary models, let’s start by discussing why you – someone who has quite a lot of knowledge on the subject – believe the Stratocaster became the iconic instrument it is today. Not just MI folks, but literally nearly anyone with any awareness of musical instruments can identify a Strat just by its silhouette and so many players across so many genres have embraced, and continue to embrace it. Why do you feel that is?
I think there are three main reasons why the Stratocaster has retained its relevance and remained so enduringly popular for so long. The first is that the sound of a Strat has become synonymous with so many iconic artists and songs over the last seven decades, and these artists continue to inspire new generations of players. Eric Clapton and George Harrison grew up listening to Buddy Holly in the ‘50s and were inspired to pick up Strats, and they in turn inspired countless others to do the same, and so on and so on. The second reason is a Strat is the perfect vessel for self-expression. You can play pretty much any genre of music on a Strat – pop, rock, jazz, blues, funk – and whilst it will sound like a Strat, you can also carve out your own unique sound. And finally, the design and look is something that was striking at the time of its launch, and has endured to become something that is instantly identifiable and iconic within the framework of music and creative expression… if people are asked to draw a guitar from their minds, many draw a Stratocaster!
Getting down to the all-new 70th anniversary models (fun fact: I have one of the 50th anniversary Strats. I’m old…) – can you talk about why the first batch released (70th Anniversary Player, 70th Anniversary American Professional II, et cetera) right before the holidays was comprised of those specific models? What’s behind the slow roll-out of the instruments throughout the anniversary year? Is it mostly just to “prolong the fun?”
“Prolonging the fun” is a great way of putting it. As this is such a big anniversary, we wanted the celebration to last all year long and let each model have its respective moment in the sun. They are all very special to us, so we didn’t want to play favorites!
Of the anniversary model Strats you can discuss at this time which have really connected with players and what qualities do you think make those models stick out? Are any of them already sold-out or near to being there?
With this anniversary collection, we wanted to celebrate the past, present, and future of Stratocasters, and to ensure there was a model for every kind of player. So for vintage enthusiasts, there’s the American Vintage II 1954 Stratocaster with period-correct specs and the Vintera II Strat with the incredible Antigua finish. For players with more modern-leaning sensibilities, there’s the Nebula Noir Player Strat or the Ultra Stratocaster HSS with noiseless pickups, rolled fingerboards, and locking tuning machines perfect for fast playing. There are so many different types of Strat players out there who value different qualities, but we feel we’ve managed to cater to lots of them, and the collection is proving very popular!
Are there others yet to come that you are especially excited about? Aside from these special anniversary Strats, does FMIC have any special events, promotions, et cetera lined up for 2024 to mark the 70-year milestone?
That’s it for anniversary models, but we have lots more in store to celebrate the 70-year milestone. You may have already seen our hero film, “Voodoo Child: Forever Ahead of Its Time” where 10 incredible artists – Nile Rodgers, Ari O’Neal, Tom Morello, Mateus Asato, Tyler Bryant, Rebecca Lovell, Simon Neil, REI, Tash Sultana, and Jimmie Vaughan – came together to pay tribute to one of the Stratocaster’s most legendary riffs. Elsewhere, we have more content to follow – including “Strat Sessions” with some amazing players – and our “Show Us Your Strat” giveaway campaign ran from April 22-June 2, where we invited our community to share their personal Strat stories for a chance to win one of 70 anniversary guitars.
How are savvy MI dealers leveraging the 70th anniversary – both the special models and the milestone itself – to attract customers and draw attention to their own businesses?
There are countless methods – celebrating the last 70 years of iconic guitars, 70 years of iconic artists, sounds, songs, et cetera. It can be a year-long dialogue – pulling out older interviews, making lists (Top Stratocaster artists or songs, et cetera) – just really reminding people not of the properties of the American Pro Strat versus the Ultra Strat, but really getting back to what makes a Strat great: the sounds, the modularity and serviceability, the design… the cultural impact. Celebrating the form rather than just the specific models. Connecting the products to what people have done with them and their cultural relevance- it speaks to the value built up in what the Stratocaster has become!
As the Strat looks to the next 70 years, how do you envision the guitar continuing to evolve with innovation and technology? To what extent do you view the Stratocaster as a “legacy instrument,” which in many respects really can and should only be “tinkered with” so much vs. to what extent do you think the future is an open book?
Whilst the basic ingredients for a Stratocaster have remained largely unchanged for the last 70 years, we’re always tinkering and trying new things, and that was the same for Leo Fender way back in the ‘50s. The ‘57 Strat was different to the ‘54 Strat, and the ‘59 was different again. He would experiment with different materials and specs, and that’s something we think it’s important to continue, so that we’re always innovating and never just relying on the past. We like to use the term “coloring inside the lines.” Whilst some things about the Strat will never change, we’ll always continue to fine tune and try new things, like inventing new noiseless pickups. At the same time, we’ll always continue to offer vintage models like the 70th Anniversary AVII 1954 Stratocaster, so we’re catering to the purists too.
Anything else on the topic you’d like to share with MMR readers?
Just the honor it is to be in this industry and to be able to help steward such iconic and heavy legacies. I often say that here in MI, we are in the “dream business.” We make our art, so people can make their art – their music.
