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The Latest Breaking News from Leo Fender

“Leo Fender got it wrong and Hendrix corrected it”: Richard Fortus explains the simple tweaks used by Jimi Hendrix and Joe Perry that improved the Stratocaster beyond its original design

Fortus has made the two relatively straightforward adjustments to his own signature Strat-style guitar, as he believes they both vastly improve a Stratocaster's tone

Guitar World

“It’s such a beautiful instrument. I think when people started hacking them up and putting humbuckers in them, it ruined the look”: Yngwie Malmsteen explains what makes the Stratocaster the perfect electric guitar (and why he scalloped the frets anyway)

While everyone else was ripping on Charvels, Malmsteen was going far beyond the sun with a traditional three single-coil Strat. Why? Because it is “the pinnacle” of the electric guitar

Guitar World

“I think Leo Fender sort of got it wrong, and Jimi Hendrix corrected it”: Richard Fortus explains how Hendrix and Joe Perry improved the Stratocaster’s tone by flipping it upside down

Back to front or upside down, whichever way you look at it, Fortus says Hendrix's reverse approach is the secret to “piano-like low-end” and Aerosmith's Perry was paying close attention

MusicRadar

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The guitar riff changed the course of popular music in the 1950s and remains a powerful force today – we chart its development over the decades, and what you can learn from its evolution

From Chuck Berry to Dave Grohl via Johnny Marr, Jimmy Page and more, this rhythm guitar masterclass offers a decade-by-decade study in the evolution of the riff

Guitar World

“You can hear the influence of those riffs on Guns N’ Roses, but I’m sure it’s not a conscious thing. It’s in our subconscious, ingrained in our DNA”: Richard Fortus on how Aerosmith changed his life, and what he and Slash learned from Joe Perry

The GNR guitarist and Aerosmith super-fan explains what makes Joe Perry one of rock guitar's GOATs and the influence he and Brad Whitford had on him, sonically and sartorially

Guitar World

"I'm genuinely shocked it's this apparent": How much difference does a guitar's fretboard wood actually make to its sound? Well, this video surprised us and its host

The rosewood Vs maple debate

MusicRadar

“I had to step away from the pointy era. I chose the Strat because I like the way they look and the way they sound… everything about them is me”: Mick Mars on how he found his thrill with the Fender Stratocaster – and the 1954 unicorn that broke his heart

The former Mötley Crüe guitarist pays tribute to the most important Strats in his life, the mods they have had, and why he had to step away from the pointy guitars crazy of the '80s

Guitar World

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“The new benchmark for quality and performance at this price point”: Fender launches the Player II Series, featuring rosewood fingerboards with rolled edges, upgraded specs and archive finishes

Fender ups the ante for its mid-priced electric guitars and basses, with player-friendly appointments, the triumphant return of rosewood fingerboards, and some stunning finishes

MusicRadar

“It’s used for fence posts in Guatemala, and somehow that has given it a low-class reputation on the internet”: Paul Reed Smith says the materials used to make a guitar absolutely do make a difference – but not for the reason you might think

The six-string scientist has once again stressed that certain woods do in fact change the tone of your guitar, and he's drawn attention to an oddly spec'd custom build to prove it

Guitar World

“The entire audience in the room could hear the tonal difference”: Guthrie Govan has held tonewood tone tests in guitar clinics – and the results were unanimous

To prove his point, The Aristocrats' Guthrie Govan has two different models of his signature Charvel, identical in every way except for the tonewood

Guitar World

“When Fender and Gibson embrace new tech, it’s usually not well received. It’s better to work with a young, disruptive company who wants to break the rules”: Inside Cream Guitars, the no-copy Mexican brand shaking up guitar with color-changing finishes

How a doctor (who also sidelined in designing suits for firefighters) ended up creating Cream Guitars, one of the most groundbreaking new brands in the industry

Guitar World

“It was more than a guitar, it was a statement. The Rampage became an icon of Seattle’s grunge rock sound”: The G&L Rampage – the guitar beloved by Jerry Cantrell – is officially making a return

The rebooted Rampage 24, due later this year, will revive one of grunge's most influential instruments

Guitar World

“Leo wanted me to be partners with him, for it to be the Fender guitar – the Les Paul Fender”: Les Paul was once approached by Leo Fender to work together on a solidbody electric guitar

Before Gibson finally decided to work with Paul, the guitar innovator was sounded out by one of the firm's biggest competitors

Guitar World

“You kept asking for more and the time has finally come”: Grunge’s favourite S-style is making a comeback as G&L Guitars announces the return of the Jerry Cantrell-approved Rampage

“Get ready for the next era of the rampage,” says G&L supremo David McLaren, as the Fullerton-based brand bows to public demand to resurrect the classic electric

MusicRadar

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Guitar World

Fender currently makes over 100 Stratocasters – here’s how to choose the Strat that’s right for you

Stratocasters explained: from pickups to bodies, necks to hardware, this is what you need to consider when buying a Fender Strat

Guitar World

“If we lose the amp-making business, we lose everything. We’ve got to go back and show the guitarist community that Marshall truly cares about them”: From digital amps to modelers and mods – Marshall’s new CEO has big plans to win back guitar players

Jeremy de Maillard has gone from Marshall headphones to the head of the iconic amp firm – now he’s tasked with raising a sleeping giant

Guitar World

“I went for the lowest-priced one. My heart broke as I handed my jazz box over. However, as soon as I pulled that Strat down, sadness was replaced with joy”: Nile Rodgers on how he found The Hitmaker – and how the Fender Strat changed the world

The funk guitar superstar looks back at trading in his old Barney Kessel for the budget Strat that would go on to become The Hitmaker – the fabled instrument heard on Get Lucky, Le Freak and countless others

Guitar World

“No guitar has shaped popular culture like the Strat”: How the Fender Stratocaster ushered in an evolution in guitar design – and a revolution in guitar music

The Strat’s radical design transformed electric guitar and reshaped culture, and continues to do so after 70 years of service – and it’s only just getting started

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Guitar World

“While I was on the phone, there was this loud noise in the background… It was David, who had been working on one note all day long for two weeks”: He’s spent decades chasing David Gilmour’s guitar tone – now Steve McElroy reveals what he’s learned

The Australian Pink Floyd Show mastermind has bought just about every piece of gear Gilmour has ever used. He reveals the secrets behind his Strat tones and techniques – and settles a few myths and legends

Guitar World

“That was the one and only thing I found with Strats that I don’t like. I think they’re awful”: Yngwie Malmsteen reveals the one spec of certain Stratocasters he's not a fan of

While this feature might not work for him, Malmsteen admits other players make it “sound great”

Guitar World

“Even Eddie Van Halen – god bless him, I love him – was mainly pentatonic. I was radically different”: Yngwie Malmsteen on Rising Force and the introduction of a neoclassical shred icon

Breaking out of Alcatrazz and releasing Rising Force in 1984, a young Yngwie Malmsteen took us all through a supernova of virtuosity that changed guitar forever

Guitar World

Fender's guitar models explained: We break down the entire Fender line-up from Player to Custom Shop, to help you find the right one for you

Get to know your Jazzmasters from your Jags and your Players from your Performers with our breakdown of the vast Fender catalog

Guitar World

“He preferred what was readily available – and affordable. And when he measured responses, he didn’t really see differences between woods”: Leo Fender didn’t think tonewoods made much difference to solidbody guitar tone

The electric guitar pioneer used pine, alder, ash, poplar, mahogany and more, but apparently deemed the tonal differences negligible

Guitar World

“Like so many of Leo Fender’s products, these instruments ended up being wildly successful at producing sounds that ran contrary to his intentions”: The history of Fender offset guitars

Only now, over 60 years on from their launch, are the Jazzmaster and Jaguar becoming recognised as guitars for all players. We trace the innovations that mapped the offset’s long journey from misunderstood outsider to contemporary king

The Guardian - UK

‘With a Strat you can rule the world!’ Nile Rodgers, Bonnie Raitt and John Squire on the electric guitar that changed everything

How did a radio repair man make an instrument so sublime that it makes giants of music weep with reverence? As the Fender Stratocaster turns 70, we explore its extraordinary life

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