A 1990 US Fender HM Strat
Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstrat, red painted version

Superstrat is a name for an electric guitar design that resembles a Fender Stratocaster but with differences that clearly distinguish it from a standard Stratocaster, usually to cater to a different playing style. Differences typically include more pointed, aggressive-looking body and neck shapes with increased cutaways to facilitate access to the higher frets, an increased number of frets on the fingerboard, a contoured heel at the neck joint facilitating easier higher fret access, the usage of humbucking pickups, and locking vibrato systems, most commonly the Floyd Rose.[1][2][3]

There is no formal definition of a superstrat;[3] the categorization is still largely left to popular opinion and depends greatly on the artist(s) associated with a particular model and how it is marketed.

History

Origin in custom modifications

With the increased popularity of heavy metal music during the early 1980s, guitarists began seeking out guitars more suited to the new style, both in terms of looks (more "pointy" aggressive designs) and playability (ease of playing and larger tone that sounds pleasant with hi-gain amplification). Guitarists such as Ritchie Blackmore, Uli Jon Roth and Dave Murray had used Fender Stratocasters, but each had minor modifications made to their instrument to suit their individual playing style.

Ritchie Blackmore was one of the first to build a guitar with superstrat characteristics. Dissatisfied with the performance of then-available original stock model commercial guitars, Blackmore sought to create a hybrid instrument that would suit his acrobatic playing style as seen in Deep Purple concert photos from Manchester in 1974.

Eddie Van Halen was another pioneer of the idea. The stock single-coil pickups of a Fender Stratocaster were noisy, and lacked the output necessary to drive an amplifier into hard distortion (characteristic of the Van Halen sound), but the body shape and wide pitch range of the Fender fulcrum tremolo appealed to him. An avid tinkerer, Van Halen assembled a Boogie Bodies Stratocaster body with a thin, 21-fret maple neck and a humbucking Gibson PAF pickup in the bridge slot. This guitar, known as the "Frankenstrat" was featured on Van Halen's 1978 debut album Van Halen, and pictured on the album cover. It was later repainted with a top coat of red, and has had different humbuckers over the years, some of them custom-wound.[4]

While many believe Van Halen's 1977 Frankenstrat to be the first Superstrat, Michael Hampton of Parliament-Funkadelic often used a sunburst Stratocaster with 3 humbucking pickups and a reversed headstock during the band's tours in the mid-to-late 1970s. This guitar can be seen on the DVD George Clinton: The Mothership Connection, which was filmed in 1976.

Soon, other guitarists and luthiers would also apply similar custom modifications to their instruments. Many sources cite Grover Jackson as one of the first (and most influential) guitar makers to have crafted custom shop guitars with all the features of superstrats, doing so as early as 1981.[2][3][5][6] Later all these improvements were integrated in the factory-produced Jackson Soloist model.

Mass production

Starting about 1983–1984, companies such as Kramer,[7] Jackson,[7] Charvel,[7] Yamaha, Aria,[7] Ibanez,[7] Washburn and Hamer started mass production of superstrat design guitars due to growing market demand. The rising popularity of heavy metal music led to a new generation of guitarists that employed fast and complex techniques which demanded thinner and more versatile guitar necks and stable tremolo systems. Some examples of guitars marketed to this specific audience include:

  • Kramer Baretta (1983–1991) – an early guitar with Floyd Rose, one slanted humbucker, but more traditional neck and body contours. Baretta has a close connection to Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstrat—it was designed to be marketed as Van Halen's signature model, but Eddie never endorsed the Baretta in terms of playing it on stage.[8]
  • Dean Bel Aire (1983–1984) — an early HSS guitar dubbed "superstrat",[9] despite still using bolt-on neck construction with 22 frets and vintage tremolo).
  • Jackson Soloist (officially produced starting August 28, 1984[10]) – HSS guitar with neck-through construction, 24 frets and Floyd Rose/Kahler bridge—the fullest embodiment of Superstrat features to date in a mass-produced guitar, considered by many the first "definitive" superstrat.[11]

During the rest of the 1980s, due to the style's huge marketing success, most guitar companies had at least one model of superstrat in mass production.

Makers of superstrat models besides the companies mentioned elsewhere in this article also included Fernandes, Schecter, Carvin and ESP.

Fender's response

Fender Contemporary Stratocaster Japan, one of several Fender attempts on superstrat market

Fender responded to the superstrat fashion in the mid-1980s, producing a number of models based on the standard Stratocaster.

Fender also released several superstrat models, such as Talon, under Fender/Heartfield name from 1989 to 1993.[12]

Gibson's response

Gibson also produced some models inspired by the superstrat:[6]

  • Gibson Victory (1981–1983)
  • Gibson WRC (1985–1986) – an early and rare Wayne Charvel model, a line of guitar manufactured exclusively by Wayne Charvel and branded as Gibson.
  • Gibson US-1 (1986[13]–1991[14]) – first Gibson mass-manufactured try at the superstrat market[13]
  • Gibson U-2 (1987[13]–1992) – second Gibson's superstrat, a somewhat stripped down version of US-1, featuring basswood body without a figured top, dot inlays, and regular pickups.[13]
  • Gibson Q series
  • Gibson M-III (1991–1994; reissued 2013)

End of superstrat era

In early and mid-1990s, heavy metal and particularly shredding declined in popularity, in favor of grunge, nu metal, alternative metal and other styles. The popularity of superstrats also declined, in favor of guitars more suited to these new styles.[3] Companies that relied on superstrats as a major part of their target market suffered heavy losses and went out of business or were bought by larger corporations:

  • Guild exited the solid-body guitar business in 1988 and was acquired by Fender in 1995.[15]
  • Hamer was acquired by Kaman Music Corporation in 1988,[16] which in turn was acquired by Fender in 2008. As of 2008, Hamer reduced their superstrat selection to just one model, the Californian.[17]
  • Dean was sold to Tropical Music in 1990. Superstrat production was resumed by its new owner in Korea.[3]
  • Kramer went bankrupt in 1990[3] and was sold to Gibson in the early 1990s.
  • The Jackson and Charvel brands were bought by Fender in 2002.[18]
  • Ibanez suffered heavy losses in 1991–1993 and had to undergo a major restructuring of its model lineup, adding such series as the GR ("Ghostrider"), Blazer, TC ("Talman"), RT ("Retro") guitars, and TR ("Traditional") and ATK basses. The older Iceman model and Gibraltar bridge were resurrected as part of the new "vintage" theme. This restructuring kept the company afloat, tweaking its image from a "metal guitar only company" to a more customer-appealing one.[19]

Nevertheless, extended-fretboard superstrats remain popular in the mid-2010s among metal and shred guitarists in particular, and are produced by guitar manufacturers of all sizes. Additionally, some Stratocaster modifications which were strongly associated with the superstrat, such as the Floyd Rose tremolo system and especially the inclusion of humbucking pickups, have become widely available from stock on 22-fret bolt-on neck instruments which are often seen as Stratocaster variants rather than superstrats, including several stock models of official Fender Stratocaster.[20][21][22] A Fender Stratocaster mounted with at least one humbucking pickup (usually a single humbucker replacing the bridge pickup) is often called a "Fat Strat." The available Fat Strat configurations as of 2018 are HSS (all models including both Fender and Squier), HSH (Player and MIM Deluxe only) and HH (Fender Player and Squier Contemporary). Modern solid-body electric guitars with seven, eight or more strings often show strong influence from the superstrat (such as extended fretboards, humbucking pickups, rear routs and/or locking tremoloes alongside a Stratocaster-influenced body shape) or could be regarded as superstrats themselves: for example, the Ibanez Universe, the first mass-produced solid-body seven-string guitar,[23] closely resembles the Ibanez JEM.

Ibanez JEM guitar features pointed body shape with deep cutaways, HSH pickups, locking tremolo and 24-fret flat slim neck

References

  1. ↑ Marshall, Gary (2004). The Cut the Crap! Guide to the Guitar. Artemis Music Ltd. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-904411-23-9.
  2. 1 2 Bacon, Tony (2000). 50 Years of Fender. Backbeat Books. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-87930-621-2.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Wright, Michael (March–July 2002). "Stratospheric Variations: A History of offset double-cut guitars". Vintage Guitar Magazine. Retrieved 2020-10-15.
  4. ↑ Trynka, Paul (1995). The Electric Guitar: An Illustrated History. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. p. 104. ISBN 978-0-8118-0863-7.
  5. ↑ "Jackson Soloist Custom".
  6. 1 2 Bacon, Tony (2002). 50 Years of the Gibson Les Paul: Half a Century of the Greatest Electric Guitars. Backbeat Books. pp. 92–93. ISBN 978-0-87930-711-0.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Bennett, Andy; Dawe, Kevin (2001). Guitar Cultures. Berg Publishers. p. 126. ISBN 978-1-85973-434-6.
  8. ↑ "The Kramer Baretta". — history and collector's guide at VintageKramer.com
  9. ↑ Fjestad, Zachary R. (2006). Blue Book of Electric Guitars. Blue Book Publications. pp. 225, p228. ISBN 978-1-886768-64-2.
  10. ↑ Jim Shine. "Jackson Soloists 1984–1988". Archived from the original on 2008-04-14. – includes copies of Jackson factory logs from Jackson Museum
  11. ↑ Trynka, Paul (1995). The Electric Guitar: An Illustrated History. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. p. 116. ISBN 978-0-8118-0863-7.
  12. ↑ "Heartfield Central". Retrieved 2013-02-28.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Fjestad, Zachary R. (November 2006). "Guitar Trash or Treasure: Gibson US-1". Premier Guitar Magazine. Archived from the original on 2009-01-11.
  14. ↑ Bacon, Tony (2002). 50 Years of the Gibson Les Paul: Half a Century of the Greatest Electric Guitars. Backbeat Books. p. 96. ISBN 978-0-87930-711-0.
  15. ↑ "Guild Official Site: Guild History". Archived from the original on 2008-05-14.
  16. ↑ M. Wright; A. Large; S. Matthes; P. Fung (June 2000). "The History of Hamer, Part One". Vintage Guitars Magazine. Archived from the original on 2007-07-03.
  17. ↑ Hamer Californian
  18. ↑ "Charvel Official Site: The Charvel Story". Archived from the original on 2008-03-29.
  19. ↑ Specht, Paul (2005). "Third Decade: Shred is Dead". Ibanez: The Untold Story.
  20. ↑ "Fender American Standard Stratocaster HH". Fender website, Stratocaster product list. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  21. ↑ "Standard Stratocaster HSS with Floyd Rose". Fender website, Stratocaster product list. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  22. ↑ "When Gibson Guitar left Kalamazoo: 'They had to make a decision'". 25 March 2015.
  23. ↑ Gill, Chris (2022-07-22). "50 years of Ibanez in the USA: the unstoppable rise of the pioneering Japanese guitar brand". Guitar World. Future Publishing Limited. Retrieved 2023-04-10.
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