Fender Stratocaster (Crowood Collectors' Series) [Hardcover]

Sam Orr (Author)

Book Description

Series: Crowood Collectors' Series | Publication Date: April 1, 2010

Leo Fender produced his first Fender Stratocaster guitar in California in 1954. It featured a striking two-tone sunburst finish, with its ash wood grain body, selected for its appearance as well as tonal and lasting qualities, and a neck made of one piece of solid maple, together with the drop-in assembly of the electronics. From 1950s rock 'n' roll through to 1970s punk and 1990s funk, it has played a constant and vital role in the development of music through the latter part of the 20th century and into the 21st. This book traces the history of the Stratocaster and the way in which it developed in countries such as Japan and the UK, as well as its native U.S. Topics covered include Stratocasters from the 1950s to the present, the influence of Jimi Hendrix, modern alternatives to vintage Stratocasters, notable recordings, and common alterations.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Sam Orr is a guitar repairer who was introduced to Fender Stratocaster guitars at an early age and has owned more than 100 Stratocasters, many of which he lovingly describes in this book.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Crowood Press (April 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1847971016
• ISBN-13: 978-1847971012
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 7.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,149,316 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars nice pictures, but not a very knowledgeable writer, November 6, 2010

By 

Jonathan E. Segel "puppet figurehead" (oakland, ca) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fender Stratocaster (Crowood Collectors' Series) (Hardcover)

I freely admit to being a guitar-nerd who buys too many books of information and pictures of old guitars. I keep wanting that extra piece of information that I didn't know!
So, while this is a cool collection of Stratocaster photos, including multiple close-ups and angles on different guitars, the actual information is at best the same sort of stuff available to anybody with an internet connection, it is repetitive and in many cases not entirely correct. Plus the chapter arrangement is odd-- rather than a timeline, it diverts between eras to discuss modern versions or other things. This results in a lot of repetition, even repeating nearly identical paragraphs! It seems to jump back and forth a lot between chapters about specific guitars and chapters about things related to the guitars

For the most part this book reads like a personal account of Stratocaster-love intermingled with re-written information and anecdotes from other books such as Duchossoir, Minnihett and Young, or the 50 Years book, or even the [...] site and their videos. I do appreciate the love given to 70s-era Strats, I personally have played and owned several excellent guitars from this era. I don't know that "most" were made of ash as is written here... I also really love the extensive and in depth photo essays on specific guitars in this book. The author's personal guitar history is not as interesting to me, as most of his instruments are not that thrilling.

I do like Jimi Hendrix an awful lot, and there is a lot of attention given to Hendrix here and some of his specific guitars.

There is much information on the Tokai strats and the subsequent Fender/Squier series, which is not usually covered in other books.

Example points of contention:
I'm generally annoyed by the constant monetary valuation of instruments here. Who knows what a particular guitar is worth, nor whether that information is current or constant? There is a lot of verbiage about the monetary value of the instruments in this book, with such passages as: "Guitars from these periods have become such a commodity that criminal gangs roam the world, pinpointing certain valuable models and making organized efforts to steal them." Really?

I don't have a problem in general with people still referring to the early era plastics as Bakelite, though it really should be pointed out that it isn't Bakelite, really. (also Fender did use it into 1956, not 1955 as written here.) He mentions some of the characteristics of the extremely early '54 instruments (football-shaped switch tip, serial number on back plate) as if they persisted throughout the 50s instead of existing only in mid 1954.

While most of the pickup info on 50s instruments is correct, his info on the capacitor is odd, probably a typo? (i.e. they are 0.1uF, not 1. ! And I think orange only due to paper aging?)

one thing he continues to note throughout the book is the great weight of Ash bodied instruments, even 50s Strats. In my experience the heavy ash instruments were only the mid-to-late 70s ones, most 50s strats I have experienced are very light! My mid-50s strat is ash and weighs 7 lbs. He cites water content in the wood, but most older wood not only had been sitting in storage drying for years, but has since dried more!

His notes on the plastic parts of the 60s strats are incomplete, he doesn't note the materials used on the celluloid-nitrate guards (just noting that they age badly.) Also the pearloid backs on ~1969 strat pickguards aren't all that common!
More attention to pickup changes might have been nice here, beyond just the copper wire color or the bobbin bottom.

His listening recommendations are minimal. (and no Richard Thompson?)

The appendix is only the standard serial number list. I still want more. Plus, the serial numbers vary incredibly! Duchossoir's book has a nice example area of specific numbers and their neck dates. The OOP samizdat document "Werner's List" is incredible- I wish someone would include some of that serial number info into one of these books....

Again, these are just some examples of detail that I expected in a book like this. There are other nitpicky points. Overall it is a good photo book.

3.0 out of 5 stars Agree with other review, February 18, 2011

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M. Rael - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Fender Stratocaster (Crowood Collectors' Series) (Hardcover)

As J. Segel pointed out, this book almost reminds me of a self-published title; the author loves his strats all right, though its not a deep content book. But in the introduction the author says, "The beauty of the Fender Stratocaster...is that the guitar itself creates the player." Theres a soulful humility in that statement and a perfectly valid perspective as well. And so it is with the book as a whole: its humble, but also a valid contribution to the strat culture.

BTW: if you have a look at the eBay ads for the most expensive stratocasters for sale, they usually have extensive pictures attached -- better than any strat specific book contains. Check it out.