Love thy Strat (or Jeff Beck, me and the Strat)

No, im not holding fender responsible. What im reacting to is that so many people chose to cultivate a myth. And that IS holding back evolution. Leo Fender did a marvelous job with the strat and he continued doing so with both Music Man and G&L. But not much did happen at fender since the suits from CBS took over 1965. Except for clever marketing that is

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As the saying goes, "If it ain't broke..don't fix it!!!"

Some of the GREATEST guitar players that have EVER slung an axe over their shoulders have been Fender Strat's!:)
Some of the GREATEST rock songs, in the history of rock music, have been played on Fender Strat's:D

It ain't a myth...it's a fact B)

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[youtube]rMzyflexIus[/youtube]

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For all disbelievers a Strat IS a good guitar I uploaded a soundbite,sorry for the mistakes...was kind of improvisation... #92722

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My contribution as a non-guitarist on the topic: #92753

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Probably no need for a sax guy to "wade" into this discussion, yet what I'm hearing about guitars is echoed by saxophones. There are heaps of high quality Japanese (Yamaha and Yanagasawa are the top two) and mid to low quality "other" Asian saxes made today. A few of the "old" makers from Europe are still also making saxes. All current makers use modern CAD design and tooling except for a couple hand makers. Despite all of the design and manufacturing advances there is a big market for 1940s through 1970s American saxes and Selmer Paris saxes. The ergonomics were good enough but the outstanding feature was the tone. Saxes (like guitars) are subject to physical wear, so a well used sax is difficult to keep repaired and often requires a rebuild. Despite this a good quality Selmer Mark VI tenor sax will sell for $12,000 when you can buy a new Selmer for $7.000. Yes, there are some fools out there, but there are also players with discerning ears who know when they have a great playing/sounding horn in their hands. Like fanne, I have lots of saxes that run from cheap Chinese to hand made new, and I use these for different styles and occasions. They are tools. Without a doubt some overpriced and some that are exceptional for the price. What is hard to find is a "modern" horn that has the rich tone of those older horns, and modern manufacturers like Selmer have tried, and mostly failed. Their "reference" horns sell for a fraction of what the original horns sell for even though new with excellent ergonomics and spot on intonation. They just don't have the tone. And so it goes...some instruments were just right at the time and are still recognized as the best of their type, which isn't necessarily the best for all, and for all time, but in demand for what they are and what they can sound like in the hands of the world's best players.

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