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89-619: The Elite Stratocaster was introduced in 1983. It started life as a USA-made model until 1985, when production was moved to Japan (Fujigen Gakki) before being finally discontinued in 1987. It served as a template for the Eric Clapton signature model of 1988. The Elite Strat featured Paul Gagon-designed active electronics, three alnico 2 single coil pickups with an internal dummy coil for noise reduction, Schaller cast-sealed locking tuners, "Free Flyte" floating tremolo, Ox bone nut and three push buttons allowing 7 pickup combinations. Two of

178-466: A monaural signal. Many guitars with active electronics use a jack with an extra contact normally used for stereo . These guitars use the extra contact to break the ground connection to the on-board battery to preserve battery life when the guitar is unplugged. These guitars require a mono plug to close the internal switch and connect the battery to ground. Standard guitar cables use a high-impedance 1 ⁄ 4 inch (6.35 mm) mono plug. These have

267-400: A vibrato embellishment. A plastic pickguard on some guitars protects the body from scratches or covers the control cavity, which holds most of the wiring. The degree to which the choice of woods and other materials in the solid-guitar body (3) affects the sonic character of the amplified signal is disputed. Many believe it is highly significant, while others think the difference between woods

356-494: A "Thinskin" nitrocellulose lacquer finish in Olympic White, Torino Red and Pewter, as well as a left-handed version). The Eric Clapton Custom Journeyman Relic Stratocaster, introduced in 2017, features a 2-piece select ash body, available in 2-Colour Sunburst and Aged White Blonde. Since their introduction in 2004, all Custom Shop Clapton Stratocasters (Team Built and Master Built) used a standard tone control instead of

445-485: A Crossroads '57 Twin-Amp (produced in a limited run of 50 pieces). Each guitar is crafted to Clapton's exacting specifications and bear a unique "Crossroads Antigua" smiling sun graphic designed and originally hand-drawn by Eric Clapton himself. The commemorative Crossroads '57 Twin-Amps are modeled after the original '57 Twin. This limited-edition amplifier features a custom engraved commemorative "Crossroads 2007" badge autographed by Eric and his "Crossroads Antigua" graphic

534-592: A TBX tone circuit. The TBX feature has been re-introduced in 2009 on "Team Built" versions; only the "Master Built" models had a normal tone control. Several variations of Clapton's personal guitar were made by the Fender Custom Shop throughout the years, including fancy versions with ash bodies, quilted or maple tops, abalone dot position inlays, matching headstocks, gold hardware and white pearloid pickguards, made by Senior Master Builder J. W. Black . Many of these guitars were sold for charity auctions for

623-422: A TBX tone control as of 2009) and vintage black case. Each instrument is individually numbered from 1 through 100 and comes with an official certificate of authenticity. Electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external electric sound amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar . It uses one or more pickups to convert

712-525: A United States patent for an Electrical Stringed Musical Instrument and the patent was later issued in 1937. By the time it was patented, other manufacturers were already making their own electric guitar designs. Early electric guitar manufacturers include Rickenbacker in 1932; Dobro in 1933; National, AudioVox and Volu-tone in 1934; Vega , Epiphone (Electrophone and Electar), and Gibson in 1935 and many others by 1936. By early-mid 1935, Electro String Instrument Corporation had achieved success with

801-590: A built-in system to electrically amplify their output without altering their tone as an alternative to using a separate microphone. The system may consist of piezoelectric pickups mounted under the bridge, or a low-mass microphone (usually a condenser mic) inside the body of the guitar that converts the vibrations in the body into electronic signals. Combinations of these types of pickups may be used, with an integral mixer/preamp/graphic equalizer. Such instruments are called electric acoustic guitars . They are regarded as acoustic guitars rather than electric guitars because

890-426: A deeply contoured select alder body, a 1-piece soft V-shaped maple neck fitted with 22 vintage-style frets, flat 9.5" radius and BiFlex truss-rod system, a "blocked" original American Vintage synchronized tremolo, Gotoh/Kluson tuning machines, 1-ply white pickguard and three Fender Gold Lace Sensor pickups powered by an active MDX mid-boost circuit with 25 dB of gain and TBX tone controls, which helped augment

979-472: A faithful replication of the EC Grey model he uses since his 2006/07 world tours. The EC Grey finish is slightly darker than Pewter. These limited-edition guitars featured a select alder body, a soft V-shape maple neck with 22 vintage frets, bone nut, three Vintage Noiseless pickups, active mid-boost circuit and a "blocked" original vintage synchronized vibrato. Discontinued in 2011. In 1978 Fender introduced

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1068-576: A folding neck called the "Foldaxe" was designed and built for Chet Atkins by Roger C. Field . Steinberger guitars developed a line of exotic, carbon fiber instruments without headstocks, with tuning done on the bridge instead. Fingerboards vary as much as necks. The fingerboard surface usually has a cross-sectional radius that is optimized to accommodate finger movement for different playing techniques. Fingerboard radius typically ranges from nearly flat (a very large radius) to radically arched (a small radius). The vintage Fender Telecaster , for example, has

1157-593: A further refret. Clapton commissioned Roger Giffin to build two copies of Blackie, one blue and the other green. The blue Giffin strat made its first appearance at the ARMS concert at the Royal Albert Hall on September 20, 1983. Later during this tour, Fender presented Clapton with one of the first 57 reissue strats. In 1985, Dan Smith approached Clapton to discuss a plan to create a signature guitar built to his own specifications. Clapton asked Fender to make

1246-428: A guitar amplifier and speaker. When an electric guitar is played, string movement produces a signal by generating (i.e., inducing ) a small electric current in the magnetic pickups, which are magnets wound with coils of very fine wire. The signal passes through the tone and volume circuits to the output jack, and through a cable to an amplifier . The current induced is proportional to such factors as string density and

1335-511: A guitar with the distinctive V-shape neck of his Martin acoustic as well as a "compressed" pickup sound. Based on Clapton's brief, Fender made two early prototypes: one with a neck based on measurements taken from Blackie and one with a slightly softer V shape which Clapton ultimately deemed preferable. Both prototypes featured electronics based on the Elite Stratocaster including its 12 dB MDX mid-boost circuit intended to make

1424-519: A hard, polymerized finish. Strings vibrating in the magnetic field of the pickups (3.1, 3.2) produce an electric current in the pickup winding that passes through the tone and volume controls (3.8) to the output jack. Some guitars have piezo pickups, in addition to or instead of magnetic pickups. Some guitars have a fixed bridge (3.4). Others have a spring-loaded hinged bridge called a vibrato bar , tremolo bar , or whammy bar , which lets players bend notes or chords up or down in pitch or perform

1513-584: A master volume, a TBX treble/bass expander and an active MDX midrange booster with 12 dB of gain. The sound of the Elite Stratocaster can be described as more humbucker -like compared to a traditional single coil-equipped guitar, especially with the TBX and MDX circuits at their maximum. A few Elite Stratocasters were manufactured with a standard 5-way switch and standard Strat knobs. Two such guitars which were custom built for Eric Clapton came with

1602-658: A neck-through design is difficult or even impossible to repair, depending on the damage. Historically, the bolt-on style has been more popular for ease of installation and adjustment. Since bolt-on necks can be easily removed, there is an after-market in replacement bolt-on necks from companies such as Warmoth and Mighty Mite. Some instruments—notably most Gibson models—continue to use set-in glued necks. Neck-through bodies are somewhat more common in bass guitars. Materials for necks are selected for dimensional stability and rigidity, and some allege that they influence tone. Hardwoods are preferred, with maple , mahogany , and ash topping

1691-434: A rhythm guitarist and a lead guitarist. Many experiments with electrically amplifying the vibrations of a string instrument were made dating back to the early part of the 20th century. Patents from the 1910s show telephone transmitters were adapted and placed inside violins and banjos to amplify the sound. Hobbyists in the 1920s used carbon button microphones attached to the bridge ; however, these detected vibrations from

1780-423: A semi-acoustic tone (see below) or both. Semi-acoustic guitars have a hollow body similar to an acoustic guitar and electromagnetic pickups mounted directly into the body. They work in a similar way to solid-body electric guitars except that because the hollow body also vibrates, the pickups convert a combination of string and body vibration into an electrical signal. Many models, known as semi-hollow bodies, have

1869-418: A single block of wood, semi-acoustic guitar bodies are made from multiple pieces of wood in an archtop form, a method of construction different from the typical steel string acoustic guitar . The top is formed from a moderately thick piece of wood which is then carved into a thin outward-curving shape, whereas conventional acoustic guitars have a thin, flat top. Some steel-string acoustic guitars include

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1958-570: A solid block running through the middle of the soundbox designed to reduce acoustic feedback. They do not provide enough acoustic volume for live performance, but they can be used unplugged for quiet practice. Semi-acoustic guitars are noted for being able to provide a sweet, plaintive, or funky tone. They are used in many genres, including jazz, blues, funk , sixties pop, and indie rock . They generally have cello-style F-shaped sound holes , which can be blocked off to further reduce feedback. Whereas chambered guitars are made, like solid-body guitars, from

2047-399: A tip and sleeve configuration referred to as a TS phone connector . The voltage is usually around 1 to 9 millivolts . A few guitars, such as Rickenbacker guitars equipped with Rick-O-Sound , feature stereo output. There are a variety of ways the "stereo" effect may be implemented. Commonly, but not exclusively, stereo guitars route the neck and bridge pickups to separate output buses on

2136-405: A top so heavily reinforced that it essentially functioned as a solid-body instrument. Unlike acoustic guitars, solid-body electric guitars have no vibrating soundboard to amplify string vibration. Instead, solid-body instruments depend on electric pickups, and an amplifier ("amp") and speaker . The solid body ensures that the amplified sound reproduces the string vibration alone, thus avoiding

2225-548: A traditional '50s era-style maple neck and a hardtail non-tremolo bridge. In many respects, the Elite series certainly outlined the renewed innovating capacities of Fender but in an otherwise fairly conservative guitar world it did not prove a milestone as anticipated. In January 2016, Fender introduced the American Elite Series Stratocaster. Features include: Fender's Micro-Tilt neck adjustment

2314-687: A triple single-coil guitar. The history of electric guitars has been summarized by Guitar World magazine, and the earliest electric guitar on their top 10 list is the Ro-Pat-In Electro A-25 "Frying Pan" (1932) described as "The first-fully functioning solid-body electric guitar to be manufactured and sold". It was the first electric guitar used in a publicly promoted performance, performed by Gage Brewer in Wichita, Kansas in October 1932. The most recent electric guitar on this list

2403-590: A typical small radius of approximately 7.25 inches (18.4 cm). Some manufacturers have experimented with fret profile and material, fret layout, number of frets, and modifications of the fingerboard surface for various reasons. Some innovations were intended to improve playability by ergonomic means, such as Warmoth Guitars' compound radius fingerboard. Scalloped fingerboards added enhanced microtonality during fast legato runs. Fanned frets intend to provide each string with an optimal playing tension and enhanced musicality. Some guitars have no frets , while others, like

2492-409: A way to reduce or counter the sound, as they are designed to "buck" (in the verb sense of oppose or resist ) the hum, hence their name. The high combined inductance of the two coils also leads to the richer, "fatter" tone associated with humbucking pickups. Electric guitar necks vary in composition and shape. The primary metric of guitar necks is the scale length , which is the vibrating length of

2581-409: A wood post with a neck attached and two hollow-body halves attached to the sides for appearance only — shares nothing in common for design or hardware with the solid-body Gibson Les Paul , designed by Ted McCarty and introduced in 1952. The feedback associated with amplified hollow-bodied electric guitars was understood long before Paul's "log" was created in 1940; Gage Brewer's Ro-Pat-In of 1932 had

2670-592: Is artistically embedded on the grill cloth. Bearing in mind the number of changes he makes with regards to neck dimensions, Clapton fans purchasing this will be getting an exact replica as used at the Crossroads Guitar Festivals 2007, 2010, 2013 & 2019. In 2009, the Custom Shop released an exact representation of Clapton's Daphne Blue Stratocaster used during his recent Australasian tours held from February 12 to March 10, 2009, as well as

2759-558: Is made of solid wood, without functionally resonating air spaces. The first solid-body Spanish standard guitar was offered by Vivi-Tone no later than 1934. This model featured a guitar-shaped body of a single sheet of plywood affixed to a wood frame. Another early, substantially solid Spanish electric guitar, called the Electro Spanish, was marketed by the Rickenbacker guitar company in 1935 and made of Bakelite . By 1936,

Fender Elite Stratocaster - Misplaced Pages Continue

2848-462: Is not available. The American Elite series were initially offered with a rosewood fingerboard until the switch to ebony in 2017 due to CITES regulations restricting the importing and exporting of rosewood in the United States . Fender discontinued the series in 2019. The SSS version was available with either maple or ebony fingerboard and the body came in eight colors: The American Elite

2937-406: Is often used in two roles: as a rhythm guitar , which plays the chord sequences or progressions , and riffs , and sets the beat (as part of a rhythm section ); and as a lead guitar , which provides instrumental melody lines, melodic instrumental fill passages, and solos . In a small group, such as a power trio , one guitarist may switch between both roles; in larger groups there is often

3026-418: Is subtle. In acoustic and archtop guitars, wood choices more clearly affect tone. Woods typically used in solid-body electric guitars include alder (brighter, but well rounded), swamp ash (similar to alder, but with more pronounced highs and lows), mahogany (dark, bassy, warm), poplar (similar to alder), and basswood (very neutral). Maple , a very bright tonewood , is also a popular body wood but

3115-727: Is the signature model electric guitar of English guitarist Eric Clapton . It was the first signature model guitar released by Fender . Eric Clapton played a range of different Fender and Gibson models while playing in The Yardbirds and Cream . In 1970, for his landmark Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs with Derek and the Dominos , Clapton started using a sunburst 1956 Stratocaster which he later nicknamed Brownie that he had bought in May 1967 while in Cream. While on tour with

3204-450: Is very heavy. For this reason, it is often placed as a "cap" on a guitar made primarily of another wood. Cheaper guitars are often made of cheaper woods, such as plywood , pine , or agathis —not true hardwoods—which can affect durability and tone. Though most guitars are made of wood, any material may be used. Materials such as plastic, metal, and even cardboard have been used in some instruments. The guitar output jack typically provides

3293-748: The Crossroads Centre of Antigua, the drug and alcohol addiction rehabilitation facility founded on the small, idyllic Caribbean island in 1998. They include the Gold Leaf Stratocaster of 1996 (used during the Legends and Montserrat concerts in 1997) and the Crashocasters (signature model Stratocasters hand-painted by New York-based street artist John Matos , better known as Crash ), used by Clapton from 2001 to 2004. The Gold Leaf Stratocaster The original Gold Leaf guitar

3382-754: The Gibson SG used by Angus Young from the group AC/DC . Some otherwise solid-bodied guitars, such as the Gibson Les Paul Supreme, the PRS Singlecut, and the Fender Telecaster Thinline , are built with hollow chambers in the body. These chambers are designed to not interfere with the critical bridge and string anchor point on the solid body. In the case of Gibson and PRS, these are called chambered bodies . The motivation for this may be to reduce weight, to achieve

3471-673: The Slingerland company introduced a wooden solid-body electric model, the Slingerland Songster 401 (and a lap steel counterpart, the Songster 400). Gibson's first production electric guitar, marketed in 1936, was the ES-150 model ("ES" for "Electric Spanish", and "150" reflecting the $ 150 price of the instrument, along with matching amplifier). The ES-150 guitar featured a single-coil, hexagonally shaped "bar" pickup, which

3560-420: The semi-acoustic and acoustic-electric guitars. Invented in 1932 by Johannes Isaac, the electric guitar was adopted by jazz guitar players, who wanted to play single-note guitar solos in large big band ensembles. Early proponents of the electric guitar on record include Les Paul , Eddie Durham , George Barnes , Lonnie Johnson , Sister Rosetta Tharpe , T-Bone Walker , and Charlie Christian . During

3649-409: The six-string guitar (the most common type), which is usually tuned E, A, D, G, B, E, from lowest to highest strings; the seven-string guitar , which typically adds a low B string below the low E; the eight-string guitar , which typically adds a low E or F# string below the low B; and the twelve-string guitar , which has six two-string courses similar to a mandolin . In rock, the electric guitar

Fender Elite Stratocaster - Misplaced Pages Continue

3738-418: The wolf tones and unwanted feedback associated with amplified acoustic guitars. These guitars are generally made of hardwood covered with a hard polymer finish, often polyester or lacquer. In large production facilities, the wood is stored for three to six months in a wood-drying kiln before being cut to shape. Premium custom-built guitars are frequently made with much older , hand-selected wood. One of

3827-589: The "Frying Pan", and set out to capture a new audience through its release of the Electro-Spanish Model B and the Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts , which was the first full 25-inch scale electric guitar ever produced. The Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts was revolutionary for its time, providing players a full 25-inch scale, with easy access to 17 frets free of the body. Unlike other lap-steel electrified instruments produced during

3916-488: The 1950s and 1960s, the electric guitar became the most important instrument in popular music . It has evolved into an instrument that is capable of a multitude of sounds and styles in genres ranging from pop and rock to folk to country music , blues and jazz . It served as a major component in the development of electric blues , rock and roll , rock music , heavy metal music and many other genres of music. Electric guitar design and construction varies greatly in

4005-491: The 50 Fender Custom Shop guitars (referred to in this article as the Fender Custom Shop Crashocasters) in his online Modern Guitars journal titled "Crash Pad". Fender introduced a matching set of limited-edition Crossroads instruments, which consisted of an Eric Clapton Crossroads Signature Stratocaster (better known as the "Sun Strat" and produced in a limited run of 100 instruments globally) and

4094-506: The 50th guitar body for a limited edition run of Stratocasters (50 total) from the Fender Custom Shop. The project, which Matos began in late 2004, was inspired by the graffiti-style Stratocaster bodies he had painted for Eric Clapton, one of which, known as Crash-3, was sold in the 2004 Christie's Eric Clapton Crossroads Auction for $ 321,000. Since the beginning of the Custom Shop project in 2004, Crash has chronicled his work on

4183-680: The Antigua finish on a number of models from the flagship Stratocaster to the classic Coronado Bass. Described as a "rich antique-white finish with halo-mist shading", it became highly prized among collectors around the world. The first Antigua prototype model was awarded to its creator Martin DeCasas who worked on color schemes for Fender from July 1964 till its closing in Fullerton, California in February 1985. In 2008 Sam Ash Music incorporated

4272-610: The Broadcaster. Another notable solid-body design is the Fender Stratocaster , which was introduced in 1954 and became extremely popular among musicians in the 1960s and 1970s for its wide tonal capabilities and more comfortable ergonomics than other models. Different styles of guitar have different pick-up styles, the main being 2 or 3 " single-coil " pick-ups or a double humbucker , with the Stratocaster being

4361-507: The Dominos, Clapton visited Sho-Bud Music in Nashville where he bought an additional six mid-50s Stratocasters for around $ 100 each. On his return to the UK, he gave one to George Harrison , one to Pete Townshend and a third to Steve Winwood . The remaining three each had attractive qualities that Clapton combined in a single instrument. He took the body from a black 1956 Stratocaster he liked

4450-510: The Gold Leaf Stratocaster after 8 years of absence as a limited-edition run of 50 pieces. Each guitar was built to Eric's exacting specifications, with Fender's Vintage Noiseless pickups and a standard tone control instead of the Gold Lace Sensor pickups and TBX tone circuit (re-introduced in 2009) found on the original 1996 model. The John Matos "Crashocasters" In January 2007, visual artist John "Crash" Matos finished painting

4539-455: The Stratocaster's single-coils sound more like a humbucker . Clapton liked the boost circuit but asked for more dynamic range, prompting Fender to replace the "Elite" pickups with Gold Lace Sensor pickups and an updated MDX circuit that had been tweaked up to deliver 25 dB of boost in the midrange at around 500 Hz . Clapton first used Gold Lace Sensors on three prototype signature models built by George Blanda and Michael Stevens – one

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4628-449: The amount of movement over the pickups. Because of their natural qualities, magnetic pickups tend to pick up ambient, usually unwanted electromagnetic interference or EMI. This mains hum results in a tone of 50 or 60 cycles per second depending on the powerline frequency of the local alternating current supply. The resulting hum is particularly strong with single-coil pickups. Double-coil or " humbucker " pickups were invented as

4717-633: The back of the guitar by metal ferrules . Many believe this design improves a guitar's sustain and timbre . A few examples of string-through body guitars are the Fender Telecaster Thinline , the Fender Telecaster Deluxe , the B.C. Rich IT Warlock and Mockingbird, and the Schecter Omen 6 and 7 series. Compared to an acoustic guitar, which has a hollow body, electric guitars make much less audible sound when their strings are plucked, so electric guitars are normally plugged into

4806-418: The body at the base of the guitar. These appear on Rickenbackers , Gretsches , Epiphones , a wide variety of archtop guitars , particularly jazz guitars , and the 1952 Gibson Les Paul. Pictured is a tremolo arm or vibrato tailpiece - style bridge and tailpiece system, often called a whammy bar or trem . It uses a lever ("vibrato arm") attached to the bridge that can temporarily slacken or tighten

4895-430: The body. Set-in necks are glued to the body at the factory. This is the traditional type of joint. Leo Fender pioneered bolt-on necks on electric guitars to facilitate easy adjustment and replacement. Neck-through instruments extend the neck to the length of the instrument so that it forms the center of the body. While a set-in neck can be carefully unglued by a skilled luthier , and a bolt-on neck can simply be unscrewed,

4984-555: The bridge on top of the instrument, resulting in a weak signal. Electric guitars were originally designed by acoustic guitar makers and instrument manufacturers. The demand for amplified guitars began during the big band era; as orchestras increased in size, guitar players soon realized the necessity in guitar amplification and electrification. The first electric guitars used in jazz were hollow archtop acoustic guitar bodies with electromagnetic transducers . The first electrically amplified stringed instrument to be marketed commercially

5073-546: The closer the fret spacing. Opinions vary regarding the effect of scale length on tone and feel. Popular opinion holds that longer scale length contributes to greater amplitude . Reports of playing feel are greatly complicated by the many factors involved in this perception. String gauge and design, neck construction and relief, guitar setup, playing style, and other factors contribute to the subjective impression of playability or feel. Necks are described as bolt-on , set-in , or neck-through , depending on how they attach to

5162-399: The different parts of an electric guitar. The headstock (1) contains the metal machine heads (1.1), which use a worm gear for tuning. The nut (1.4)—a thin fret-like strip of metal, plastic, graphite, or bone—supports the strings at the headstock end of the instrument. The frets (2.3) are thin metal strips that stop the string at the correct pitch when the player pushes a string against

5251-538: The effects of different woods or materials on the electric guitar sound. Several neck shapes appear on guitars, including shapes known as C necks, U necks, and V necks. These refer to the cross-sectional shape of the neck (especially near the nut). Several sizes of fret wire are available, with traditional players often preferring thin frets, and metal shredders liking thick frets. Thin frets are considered better for playing chords, while thick frets allow lead guitarists to bend notes with less effort. An electric guitar with

5340-454: The few players of the Elite model are Ty Tabor of King's X , who used this guitar to record the first four albums of that band (his gear setup still retains the preamp from the guitar, now rackmounted) and blues/rock guitarist Jeff Fetterman of The Jeff Fetterman Band. Fetterman has used his Elites on stage and in studio for over 25 years now. Some of the Elite features have been incorporated into USA-made Fender guitars and basses made after

5429-420: The fingerboard. The truss rod (1.2) is a metal rod (usually adjustable) that counters the tension of the strings to keep the neck straight. Position markers (2.2) provide the player with a reference to the playing position on the fingerboard. The neck and fretboard (2.1) extend from the body. At the neck joint (2.4), the neck is either glued or bolted to the body. The body (3) is typically made of wood with

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5518-432: The first improvements on the vibrato system in many years when, in the late 1970s, he experimented with "locking" nuts and bridges that prevent the guitar from losing tuning, even under heavy vibrato bar use. The fourth type of system employs string-through body anchoring. The strings pass over the bridge saddles, then through holes through the top of the guitar body to the back. The strings are typically anchored in place at

5607-432: The first solid-body guitars was invented by Les Paul . Gibson did not present their Gibson Les Paul guitar prototypes to the public, as they did not believe the solid-body style would catch on. Another early solid-body Spanish style guitar, resembling what would become Gibson's Les Paul guitar a decade later, was developed in 1941 by O.W. Appleton, of Nogales, Arizona. Appleton made contact with both Gibson and Fender but

5696-926: The guitar. A stereo cable then routes each pickup to its signal chain or amplifier. For these applications, the most popular connector is a high-impedance 1 ⁄ 4 inch (6.35 mm) plug with a tip, ring, and sleeve configuration, also known as a TRS phone connector . Some studio instruments, notably certain Gibson Les Paul models, incorporate a low- impedance three-pin XLR connector for balanced audio . Many exotic arrangements and connectors exist that support features such as midi and hexaphonic pickups. The bridge and tailpiece , while serving separate purposes, work closely together to affect playing style and tone. There are four basic types of bridge and tailpiece systems on electric guitars. Within these four types are many variants. A hard-tail guitar bridge anchors

5785-649: The list. The neck and fingerboard can be made from different materials; for example, a guitar may have a maple neck with a rosewood or ebony fingerboard. Today there are expensive and budget guitars exploring other options for fretboard wood for instance Pau-Ferro , both for availability and cheap price while still maintaining quality. In the 1970s, designers began to use exotic human-made materials such as aircraft-grade aluminum , carbon fiber , and ebonol . Makers known for these unusual materials include John Veleno , Travis Bean , Geoff Gould , and Alembic . Aside from possible engineering advantages, some feel that with

5874-422: The look of, the neck from a 1957 Stratocaster he liked the feel of and the electronics loaded pickguard from another Stratocaster that sounded better than the others, constructing Blackie that was to be his main instrument from 1970 until its retirement from active service in the mid '80s. By 1983, Blackie had become worn through constant touring to the point that it was essentially unplayable and wouldn't take

5963-652: The new pickups on his personal guitars in March 2000 and was occasionally seen playing Lace Sensor -equipped Stratocasters until 2010). The Vintage Noiseless pickups were previously available as a standard equipment material on the Fender American Deluxe Series guitars produced before 2004. The Custom Shop version (introduced in 2004) is available in Midnight Blue, Mercedes Blue, Black and Gold Leaf with gold-plated hardware (also available with

6052-423: The pickups do not produce a signal directly from the vibration of the strings, but rather from the vibration of the guitar top or body, and the amplification of the sound merely increases volume, not alters tone. Electric guitar design and construction vary greatly in the shape of the body and the configuration of the neck, bridge, and pickups. However, some features are present on most guitars. The photo below shows

6141-634: The purchase of the Fender guitar company from CBS by Bill Schultz in 1985. For example, the Eric Clapton , Richie Sambora (introduced in 1991) and Buddy Guy (introduced in 1995) signature guitars retain the TBX/MDX design from the Elite. In late 1985, Fender Japan made the EST83-110 featuring a 22-fret fingerboard with a flat 12" radius and jumbo frets, offered in 3-Color Sunburst, Olympic White, Black and Candy Apple Red. The Japanese Elite series

6230-592: The rising cost of rare tonewoods , human-made materials may be economically preferable and more ecologically sensitive. However, wood remains popular in production instruments, though sometimes in conjunction with new materials. Vigier guitars , for example, use a wooden neck reinforced by embedding a light, carbon fiber rod in place of the usual heavier steel bar or adjustable steel truss rod. After-market necks made entirely from carbon fiber fit existing bolt-on instruments. Few, if any, extensive formal investigations have been widely published that confirm or refute claims over

6319-602: The shape of the body and the configuration of the neck, bridge, and pickups. Guitars may have a fixed bridge or a spring-loaded hinged bridge , which lets players "bend" the pitch of notes or chords up or down, or perform vibrato effects. The sound of an electric guitar can be modified by new playing techniques such as string bending , tapping , and hammering-on , using audio feedback , or slide guitar playing. There are several types of electric guitar. Early forms were hollow-body semi-acoustic guitars , while solid body guitars developed later. String configurations include

6408-735: The spirit of the Eric Clapton Stratocaster with the spirit of the Crossroads Centre , commissioning a limited run of only 100 pieces of the signature model in the classic Antigua finish along with a commitment to donate $ 100,000 to the Crossroads Centre. This exclusive instrument is currently being built by the Fender Custom Shop to Clapton's exacting specifications. Features include a select alder body, 1-piece maple neck with soft "V" shape, 22 vintage style frets, 3 Vintage Noiseless pickups, “blocked” American Vintage synchronized tremolo, active mid-boost circuit (with

6497-538: The strings at or directly behind the bridge and is fastened securely to the top of the instrument. These are common on carved-top guitars, such as the Gibson Les Paul and the Paul Reed Smith models , and on slab-body guitars, such as the Music Man Albert Lee and Fender guitars that are not equipped with a vibrato arm. A floating or trapeze tailpiece (similar to a violin 's) fastens to

6586-461: The strings from nut to bridge. A typical Fender guitar uses a 25.5-inch (65 cm) scale length, while Gibson uses a 24.75-inch (62.9 cm) scale length in their Les Paul . While the scale length of the Les Paul is often described as 24.75 inches, it has varied through the years by as much as a half inch. Frets are positioned proportionally to scale length—the shorter the scale length,

6675-615: The strings to alter the pitch . A player can use this to create a vibrato or a portamento effect. Early vibrato systems were often unreliable and made the guitar go out of tune easily. They also had a limited pitch range. Later Fender designs were better, but Fender held the patent on these, so other companies used older designs for many years. With the expiration of the Fender patent on the Stratocaster -style vibrato, various improvements on this type of internal, multi-spring vibrato system are now available. Floyd Rose introduced one of

6764-592: The time, the Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts was designed to play while standing upright with the guitar on a strap, as with acoustic guitars. The Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts was also the first instrument to feature a hand-operated vibrato as a standard arrangement, a device called the "Vibrola", invented by Doc Kauffman . It is estimated that fewer than 50 Electro-Spanish Ken Roberts were constructed between 1933 and 1937; fewer than 10 are known to survive today. The solid-body electric guitar

6853-422: The tone of the sound delivered, opening up a wider tonal range Clapton desired. One of the unique features of this guitar was the inclusion of an original vintage synchronized tremolo bridge blocked off to defeat tremolo usage by a small piece of wood wedged into the bridge cavity. This idea came about as Clapton liked the tone of tremolo-equipped Stratocasters but not their tuning instability plus he had no use for

6942-570: The vibration of its strings into electrical signals , which ultimately are reproduced as sound by loudspeakers . The sound is sometimes shaped or electronically altered to achieve different timbres or tonal qualities via amplifier settings or knobs on the guitar. Often, this is done through the use of effects such as reverb , distortion and "overdrive" ; the latter is considered to be a key element of electric blues guitar music and jazz , rock and heavy metal guitar playing. Designs also exist combining attributes of electric and acoustic guitars:

7031-693: The vibrations of the guitar strings into electrical signals, which could then be amplified. Commercial production began in late summer of 1932 by the Ro-Pat-In Corporation (Elect ro - Pat ent- In strument Company), in Los Angeles, a partnership of Beauchamp, Adolph Rickenbacker (originally Rickenbacher), and Paul Barth. In 1934, the company was renamed the Rickenbacker Electro Stringed Instrument Company. In that year Beauchamp applied for

7120-501: The whammy bar. In 1991 Clapton agreed to have his signature model with a rosewood fretboard as well to suit the needs of players disliking the feel of maple-neck models. Only 94 of these short-lived guitars were made before their production finally came to a halt. The Lace Sensors in the Clapton Signature Stratocaster were replaced with Fender Vintage Noiseless pickups in 2001 (although Clapton began using

7209-505: Was a cast aluminium lap steel guitar nicknamed the "Frying Pan" designed in 1931 by George Beauchamp , the general manager of the National Stringed Instrument Corporation , with Paul Barth, who was vice president. George Beauchamp, along with Adolph Rickenbacker , invented the electromagnetic pickups. Coils that were wrapped around a magnet would create an electromagnetic field that converted

7298-970: Was also available in an HSS version with a Shawbucker humbucking pickup in the bridge position and a "Passing Lane" switch. This version was available with maple or ebony fingerboard and came in five colors: This model was essentially identical to the right handed version, available in 3-Color Sunburst with an ebony fingerboard. There was also a 3-Color Sunburst version with a maple fingerboard. Eric Clapton Stratocaster Custom Artist Series: Mercedes Blue, Midnight Blue, Black, Gold Leaf Metallic (from 2004) 2001 Crashocaster Series : Graffiti Canvas 2008 10th Anniversary Crossroads Antigua: Antigua Sunburst 2009 Limited Edition: Daphne Blue, EC Grey 2019 Limited Edition: Almond Green 2023 Limited Edition Crossroads Centre 25th Anniversary: Blu Scozia, Graffiti Canvas Custom Thinskin Nitro : Olympic White, Pewter, Torino Red The Fender Eric Clapton Stratocaster

7387-596: Was built by Fender Master Builders Mark Kendrick and John Luis Campo as a custom order for Eric Clapton at the time of the 50th Anniversary of the firm in 1996. Clapton used the guitar for his 1997 Far-Eastern tour, the European Legends jazz concerts with Marcus Miller , Joe Sample , Steve Gadd and David Sanborn and the Montserrat benefit concert at the Royal Albert Hall before selling it to Christies for US$ 455,000. The Fender Custom Shop reissued

7476-479: Was designed by Walt Fuller. It became known as the " Charlie Christian " pickup (named for the jazz guitarist who was among the first to perform with the ES-150 guitar). The ES-150 achieved some popularity but suffered from unequal loudness across the six strings. A functioning solid-body electric guitar was designed and built in 1940 by Les Paul from an Epiphone acoustic archtop as an experiment. His " log guitar " —

7565-402: Was discontinued in 1987. This guitar model featured an alder body, a maple neck featuring a rosewood or maple fingerboard with 21 jumbo frets. There were also Gold and Walnut Elite variants with gold hardware, the latter sporting an American walnut body and an ebony fingerboard. The Freeflyte tremolo system differed significantly from previous Stratocaster tremolo designs. All routing

7654-536: Was done from the front of the guitar. A cavity was created where the spring system would reside, and this connected to the bottom of the tremolo unit. This reduced production costs since it required only a single, front-sided rout on the guitar to accommodate the pickups, the tremolo, the preamp and the controls. Other features included three special-design alnico 2 single-coil pickups with solid covers and an internal dummy coil for hum cancellation, as well as three push-push buttons for pickup selection. Controls include

7743-677: Was finished in Torino Red and the other two in Pewter Grey Metallic – in The Prince's Trust Concert, in June 1986. The first early prototypes made around 1986–87 featured a 21-fret neck, a 21 dB mid-boost circuit, an active/passive toggle switch (which has been deleted on the final release) and Schaller locking strap buttons. The final product (released in 1988) is essentially a vintage 1957 reissue Stratocaster featuring

7832-743: Was the Ibanez Jem (1987) which featured "24 frets", an impossibly thin neck" and was "designed to be the ultimate shredder machine". Numerous other important electric guitars are on the list, including Gibson ES-150 (1936), Fender Telecaster (1951), Gibson Les Paul (1952), Gretsch 6128 Duo Jet (1953), Fender Stratocaster (1954), Rickenbacker 360/12 (1964), Van Halen Frankenstrat (1975), Paul Reed Smith Custom (1985) many of these guitars were "successors" to earlier designs. Electric guitar designs eventually became culturally important and visually iconic, with various model companies selling miniature model versions of particularly famous electric guitars, for example,

7921-553: Was unable to sell the idea behind his "App" guitar to either company. In 1946, Merle Travis commissioned steel guitar builder Paul Bigsby to build him a solid-body Spanish-style electric. Bigsby delivered the guitar in 1948. The first mass-produced solid-body guitar was Fender Esquire and Fender Broadcaster (later to become the Fender Telecaster ), first made in 1950, five years after Les Paul made his prototype . The Gibson Les Paul appeared soon after to compete with

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