[1] The double cutaway, elongated horns, and heavily contoured back were all designed for better balance and comfort to play while standing up and slung off the shoulder with a strap.

Many prominent rock musicians have been associated with the Stratocaster for use in studio recording and live performances, most notably Eric Clapton, Buddy Holly, David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Johnson, John Frusciante, Yngwie Malmsteen and Jeff Beck.

Therefore, imitations by other manufacturers must be shaped slightly differently, and are sometimes called S-Type or ST-type guitars, while the term "Superstrat" typically refers to third-party Stratocaster look-alikes from the 1980s onwards with innovative features such as new types of bridges or pick-up configurations.

By the late 1970s, Fender stopped shipping guitars with the bridge cover plate, though some more modern reissue and custom shop models still have them.

However, the essential character of the design has remained constant[8][page needed][1] while Fender released countless variations of the Stratocaster over the years[1] that differed in pickup configuration, types of wood, tuning pegs and modifications to the electronics.

[13] The design featured a solid, deeply contoured ash body, a 21-fret one-piece maple neck with black dot inlays, and Kluson SafeTi String[14] post tuning machines.

[citation needed] A single-ply, eight-screw hole white pickguard (changed to an 11-hole three-ply in late 1959) held all electronic components except the recessed jack plate, facilitating assembly.

The 1963 Fender Stratocaster[16] shows a change in design from the 1950s models including Clay Dot inlays, a 3 tone sunburst finish on an Alder body and Kluson tuners.

[1] As they followed Jimi Hendrix's popularity on TV, CBS asked for the word Stratocaster on the headstock be made larger so that people could read the model name easily.

The increased 1970s production levels saw a gradual departure from the high quality instruments of the 1960s and the introduction of Japanese manufacturers into the market.

In newer guitars, since the middle pickup is almost always wired in reverse (and with its magnets having opposite polarity, this combination also being referred to as RWRP), the intermediate positions create a spaced humbucking pair, which significantly reduces 50/60 cycle hum.

[21][better source needed] The "quacky" or "doinky" tone of the bridge and middle pickups in parallel, popularized by players such as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, David Gilmour, Rory Gallagher, Mark Knopfler, Bob Dylan, Eric Johnson, Nile Rodgers, George Harrison, Scott Thurston, Ronnie Wood, John Mayer, Ed King, Robert Cray, can be obtained by using the pickup selector in position 2; similarly the middle and neck pickups in parallel can be obtained in position 4.

Buddy Guy signature guitar), the first tone control is a presence circuit that cuts or boosts treble and bass frequencies, affecting all the pickups; the second tone control is an active midrange booster that boosts the midrange frequencies up to 25 dB (12 dB on certain models) to produce a fatter humbucker-like sound.

Dan Smith, with the help of John Page, proceeded to work on a reissue of the most popular guitars of Leo Fender's era.

[27] In 1985, Fender's US production of the Vintage reissues resumed into a new 14,000 square feet (1,300 m2) factory at Corona, California, located about 20 miles (32 km) away from Fullerton.

The colors included white blonde, two-color sunburst, black, ocean turquoise, surf green, and ice blue metallic.

This was tailored to the demands of modern players, notably having a flatter fingerboard, a thinner neck profile and an improved tremolo system.

The Strat Plus was produced from 1987 to 1999 and was equipped with Lace Sensor pickups, a roller nut, locking tuners, a TBX tone control[33] and a Hipshot tremsetter.

[37] Original Stratocasters were manufactured with five vibrato springs (three in late 1953 prototypes) attached to a milled inertia block and anchored to the back of the body.

The novel mechanism pivots on a fulcrum design with a six screw bridge plate, allowing the whole set-up to "float" while transferring the strings' energy directly into the body.

As the average gauge has decreased over the years, modern Stratocasters are equipped with three springs as a stock option in order to counteract the reduced string tension.

Leo Fender insisted it leave the factory floating (raised up in the back) while designer Freddie Tavares preferred it tightened flush for full bridge plate/body contact resonance.

Some players, such as Ronnie Wood[citation needed], feel that the floating bridge has an excessive propensity to detune guitars.