Jimmy Page - Blue Stratocaster

Jimmy Page acquired his 1964 Fender Lake Placid Blue Stratocaster in April 1975 from Sam Ash in New York City and used it at the 1975 Earls Court shows for "No Quarter" and "Over The Hills And Far Away". It was also used in 1979 and 1980 for "In The Evening".

In the studio, Page used the Fender Stratocaster in the Presence sessions, on "For Your Life" and "Hots On For Nowhere".

Page continued to use the Stratocaster into the 1980's.

1964 Fender Stratocaster - Lake Placid Blue

Richard Thompson - 1959 Sunburst Stratocaster

Since Richard Thompson was a founding member of Fairport Convention, this Stratocaster was his main electric guitar, and was used on 1982's "Shoot Out The Lights" which Rolling Stone magazine rates as one of the best rock albums of all time.

Thompson purchased it in 1971 on London's Denmark Street and replaced the worn out original rosewood fingerboard neck ten years later with an all maple 1955 neck.

The Strat was recently restored by Thompson's long time tech and stage manager Bobby Eichorn.

1959 Fender Stratocaster - Sunburst

Jimi Hendrix - White Woodstock Stratocaster

The 1968 Olympic White Strat that Hendrix played at Woodstock in 1969 was purchased new by Hendrix at Manny's Music in New York.

Hendrix gave the guitar to drummer Mitch Mitchell after his final live performance in 1970.  Mitchell held on to the Strat until 1990 when it was auctioned at Sotheby's.

The iconic Strat was subsequently sold to Microsoft's Paul Allen in 1992 and is displayed at Allen's Experience Music Project in Seattle.

1968 Fender Stratocaster - Olympic White

Bob Dylan - The Newport Stratocaster

The 1964 Fender Stratocaster that Bob Dylan played in his historic electric set at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 was lost for 47 years when Dylan left it on an airplane.  It surfaced with the daughter of the pilot of the plane and was authenticated as the guitar Dylan used at Newport by expert Andy Babiuk on the PBS show "History Detectives" in 2012.


1964 Fender Stratocaster - Sunburst

Nile Rodgers - Fender Stratocaster

Funk legend Nile Rodgers bought the Stratocaster he calls "The Hitmaker" in 1973.  It is the combination of a 1959 body and a 1960 neck.

The classic Chic riffs like "Le Freak" were played on the neck pickup with a bit of compression.

According to Rodgers: "My style is actually based on a jazz technique known as the George Van Eps style, which teaches you how to play all of your inversions on sets of three strings, up and down the neck. Even if I finger six notes, I’m always concentrating on only playing three at a time."

1959 Fender Stratocaster - White

Rory Gallagher - 1961 Stratocaster

Legend has it that, in 1963, Rory Gallagher bought the first Fender Stratocaster available in Ireland.

Rory used his Stratocaster extensively throughout his career and literally thousands of concerts.  It started life as a sunburst, but due to constant touring and Gallagher's especially acidic sweat, the finish was almost completely worn off.

Most parts were replaced over time, but the Strat retains the original body and neck it started with in 1961.

(Photo by Shu Tomioka)

1961 Fender Stratocaster - Sunburst

Robbie Robertson - Bronze Stratocaster

While there is some dispute whether Robertson had his 1958 Strat bronzed before or after it was featured in "The Last Waltz", it is clearly a bronze color in the film.

He had also moved the middle pickup next to the bridge pickup so as not to hit it while using finger picks.

In 1995, the guitar was loaned to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with what appeared to be a Floyd Rose type bridge and tremolo arm installed.

1958 Fender Stratocaster - Bronze

Jerry Garcia - "Alligator"

Graham Nash gave Garcia the Stratocaster known as "Alligator" in 1970.  The body was a 1957 swamp ash Strat.  The maple neck was from a 1962 Stratocaster.

Jerry and Alembic started customizing the guitar.  They added military style black top-hat knobs, a brass nut, brass hardware to replace a broken pickguard, wood filling of the tremolo cavity, silver paint shielding for the electronics, a new tailpiece and bridge, brass string-tree, new super-tall frets, an Alembic preamp circuit, and of course, stickers.

Stickers included Harley-Davidson and the Alligator with a knife and fork that gave the Strat its name.  Garcia used the guitar from 1971 through 1973, when he retired it from Grateful Dead tour duty.

1957 Fender Stratocaster - Natural with stickers

Jeff Beck - Jeff Beck Stratocaster

Jeff Beck uses his own Artist Signature Stratocaster...specifically the $3,500 post 2004 Fender Custom Shop edition.

It features an alder body finished in nitrocellulose lacquer, a thin C-shape maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, 22 medium-jumbo frets, LSR Roller Nut, Sperzel TrimLoks, an American two-point synchronized vibrato, a contoured heel for easier access to the higher notes, a trio of dual-coil Ceramic Hot Noiseless pickups and five-way pickup switching.

Beck on Stratocasters:

"Sometimes I like to try different guitars but I usually think that if the Strat doesn't work then there's a big problem. The Strat is such a versatile instrument it fits most situations."

2004 Fender Stratocaster - Olympic White

Wayne Kramer - American Flag Strat

With a humbucker added to his Stratocaster in the middle position, Wayne Kramer, Fred "Sonic" Smith and the MC5 defined proto-punk and agit-prop music in the 1960's.

Says Kramer:

“When I founded the MC5 and we started to play out, I wanted to develop a look. I was a big fan of Pete Townshend, and I noticed that Pete had a sport coat made out of the Union Jack motif–the British flag–and I thought, ‘What a great idea, but I’m American."

"I figured my motif could be the American flag, the stars and stripes, and so I decided to paint my guitar in that color scheme to advertise my patriotism and total opposition to the direction the country was going in 1968.”

1967 Fender Stratocaster - Custom American Flag Motif

Nils Lofgren - 1961 Stratocaster

Lofgren traded a 12 string to a friend for his original 1961 Strat which is still his favorite guitar to this day.

"When I first started playing guitar, I loved Jeff Beck, so I started with a Telecaster, and played that for two years. Then, I gravitated to Jimi Hendrix and the Strat."

"My favorite old Strats are the ones I’ve been playing for years, both ‘61s. I also have some reissue Strats. I’m a very physical, exuberant player, and Fenders really hold up to a beating. I’ve found that with a Fender, you can lose your finesse and not totally lose it on the instrument, if you can understand that. I like to lean into the guitar and use those five settings you can get out of a Strat."

"I like playing lots of different guitars, but I’ll always reach for a Strat. It’s the most beautiful electric guitar ever made."

1961 Fender Stratocaster - Brown

Buddy Guy - Polka Dot Strat

Buddy Guy's signature electric guitar is a polka dot Strat; the one he currently plays was custom made for him by Fender.

According to Guy's guitar tech Mark Messner... “He had a '57 Strat — I think he still has it — and I think they tried to make it as close to that as possible. It's just that ‘sting’ that the Strat has. That was the sound. He talks about those old days all the time: There was a Strat in a basement and that was it — that was all you needed.”

According to Buddy..."When I left Louisiana in 1957, I told my mother I was going to Chicago, gonna make a lot of money, and come back and buy her a polka dot Cadillac. Then later she had a stroke, so I never did get a chance to give her that car. Those polka dots on my guitar are for her."

Recent Fender Custom Stratocaster - White with polka dots

Dick Dale - Customized Stratocaster

The acknowledged inventor and master of the Surf Guitar style, the left handed Dale started by taking a right handed Stratocaster and flipping it upside down without reversing the strings. The thinnest E string would be at the top of the neck and the thick E would be at the bottom. This helped with his rapid up/down picking style.

Ultimately, Leo Fender designed a left handed guitar for him, painted in gold chartreuse sparkle, which he still strung in reverse.

Dale had what he called a “surf switch” added to the middle of the pick guard. This switch turned the neck and bridge pickups on. In addition, he could have each of the 3 pickups on individually, or the neck and middle pickups on together. He also eliminated the tone control circuit from his Strat.

Dale entirely removed the vibrato bar from the guitar, since he never used the unit, although heavy vibrato action is usually considered to be a definitive part of the surf guitar sound.

Late 1950's Fender Stratocaster - Gold Chartreuse Sparkle

Mike McCready - 1959 Fender Stratocaster

McCready has played numerous guitars during the 20 year history of Pearl Jam, but is most closely associated with this well-worn 1959 Strat.

1959 Strats are highly prized (and priced) as this was the year the new rosewood fingerboard provided a richer tone, the neck got a bit thinner, and the thicker pickguard was now made of celluloid.

Before 1959, Strats had a two-tone sunburst pattern; in 1959 the two-tone was traded in for a three-tone sunburst with the addition of red.

However, after a few years these were back to a two-tone look, as the red paint Fender used tended to fade with light exposure.

1959 Fender Stratocaster - Sunburst

Stevie Ray Vaughn - "Number One"

1959 Fender Stratocaster - Tobacco Sunburst

"Number One" is the beat-up mongrel Strat that we all know and love. Constructed of a 1959 body, and (originally) a 1962 neck, it possessed a deep, dark growl of a tone that was immediately identifiable. Even though it used all "stock" Fender Strat parts, about the only "original equipment" parts it possessed by 1990 were the body and the pickups. Over the years, Stevie and Rene Martinez, his guitar tech, replaced the pickguard, vibrato unit, saddles and neck. Some modifications were purely cosmetic, some were functional (to derive a particular feel or tone), and others were out-and-out repairs.

Number One was obtained in 1973 in a trade-in of his first Strat, the 1963 he purchased in 1969. According to Stevie, he saw the Strat in Ray Hennig's Heart of Texas Music, in Austin. He said he knew that this tobacco-sunburst, used Strat was, just by looking at it, the guitar for him. The neck was an oddly-shaped rosewood D-neck, very large, which fit Stevie's large hands like a glove. The body was stamped "LF-1959," but the neck was stamped "1962." Stevie surmised that Leo Fender probably assembled this guitar from left-over 1959 production parts in 1962. It was rumored that the "LF-1959" actually meant "Louis Fuentes" and not Leo Fender. Neither was ever truly verified.

Over the years, Stevie replaced the pickguard (several times) with a black pickguard and added his "SRV" initials in iridescent lettering of several styles. Rene Martinez remarked that he would prowl truck stops to obtain letters to replace the ones that wore away. Eventually the iridescent "SRV" was replaced by Letraset script-style lettering, first seen during his appearance on the "Tonight Show" in 1989.

The vibrato was replaced with a gold left-handed unit sometime around 1977. This was the beginning of Stevie's "Hendrix period." Since Jimi Hendrix and Otis Rush played a right-handed guitar turned "upside down," therefore putting the vibrato bar on top, Stevie emulated this by installing a left-handed vibrato unit in Number One. He also felt it gave him better access to the bar, but did remark that several times, during especially manic performances, it fairly well tore half his sleeve off when he got caught-up on it. Stevie normally used four or five springs in this unit, and had the pivot plate pulled tight against the body. This meant he could only push the bar, and not pull up on it.

Buddy Holly - Stratocaster

1958 Fender Stratocaster - Sunburst

The historic Strat, serial #028228, is a ‘58 three-tone sunburst with an alder body and “slim C” profile neck. The neck measures .840” at the first fret, .992” at the 12th fret, and has a slightly larger-than-standard 1.665” nut. The peghead thickness is .570”. It’s the last of three (or possibly four) Stratocasters that Holly owned during his short career. In July 1958, Manny’s in New York City shipped the Strat to him while he was on the road. This instrument replaced a Strat stolen from the group’s station wagon while the band stopped for lunch in east St. Louis, Missouri.

According to Tommy Allsup, who played lead guitar on several of Holly’s later records and tours, Fender shipped two free Stratocasters and two Twins to the band just before the July tour (one pair for Holly and one for Allsup), and it was Holly’s “free” Strat that was stolen and replaced by Manny’s. Some fans speculate that #028228 was sent to Holly in mid-April from Adair Music in Lubbock to replace another Strat (most likely his original ‘55 model) stolen on one of the DJ Alan Freed’s rock & roll “package” tours. This theory is doubtful, however, because #028228 is dated “4/58” on its neck and body cavity, and was probably still under construction (or being shipped to a dealer) in mid April. What we do know is #028228 was Holly’s last Stratocaster, and it was returned to his parents after that final tour.

David Gilmour - The Black Strat

1969 Fender Stratocaster - Sunburst Painted Black

The original 1969 model was bought by David at Manny’s in New York in May 1970. Originally the guitar had a maple 4-bolt neck with the large headstock as seen on the concert film “Live at Pompeii”.

It features:

• Fender 1969 alder body with black finish repainted over the original sunburst finish.
• Fender 1983 ‘57 reissue C shape maple neck with maple 7.25″ radius fingerboard and 21 vintage style frets.
• Fender/Gotoh vintage style tuning machines.
• 1-ply .120” beveled black acrylic, 11 hole pickguard.
• Fender neck and middle pickups dated 1971 (installed the whole pickguard assembly from a ‘71 bullet truss rod Strat in June 1973) and a Seymour Duncan custom wound SSL-1 bridge pickup (installed late 1979).
• Vintage style synchronized tremolo system mounted in 1997.
• Custom mini-toggle switch on the pickguard for neck/bridge combo.
• Shortened tremolo arm to 4.25″.