Superstrat
1178035
222693778
2008-06-30T17:31:51Z
62.103.147.54
/* Similar designs, names and trademarks */
[[Image:IbanezJem555BK-full.jpg|thumb|[[Ibanez JEM]] guitar features pointed body shape with deep cutaways, HSH pickups, locking tremolo and 24-fret flat slim neck]]
'''Superstrat''' (sometimes spelled as '''super strat''' or '''super-strat''') is a name for an [[electric guitar]] design that resembles a [[Fender Stratocaster]] but with differences that set it clearly apart from a standard Stratocaster, usually to cater to a different playing style. Differences typically (but not mandatory) include more pointed, aggressive-looking body and [[neck (music)|neck]] shapes, different tonewoods, increased number of frets, usage of [[humbucker|humbucking pickups]] and [[Floyd Rose]] tremolo system<ref>{{cite book
|title = The Cut the Crap! Guide to the Guitar
|first = Gary
|last = Marshall
|year = 2004
|publisher = Artemis Music Ltd
|isbn = 1904411231
|pages = p117
}}</ref><ref name="50years-superstrat">{{cite book
|title = 50 Years of Fender
|first = Tony
|last = Bacon
|isbn = 0879306211
|year = 2000
|publisher = Backbeat Books
|pages = p94
}}</ref><ref name="vintage-guitar">{{cite journal
|title = Stratospheric Variations: A History of offset double-cut guitars
|first = Michael
|last = Wright
|month = March & July
|year = 2002
|journal = Vintage Guitar Magazine
|url = http://www.vintageguitar.com/features/brands/details.asp?AID=1226
}}</ref>.
There is no formal definition for a superstrat<ref name="vintage-guitar" />, the categorisation is still largely left to popular opinion and depends greatly on the artist(s) associated with a particular model and how it is marketed. Superstrats are generally suited for [[heavy metal]] music played with [[distortion (guitar)|distortion]] under high gain.
==History==
===Genesis, custom modifications===
[[Image:EVH frankenstrat.jpg|thumb|Eddie Van Halen's Frankenstrat, red painted version]]
With an emerging revolution in [[Heavy metal music|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 fatter tone that sounds good with hi-gain amplification). Guitarists such as [[Ritchie Blackmore]], [[Uli Jon Roth]] and [[Dave Murray (musician)|Dave Murray]] had used Fender Stratocasters, but each had made modifications to his instrument to suit his individual playing style.
[[Eddie Van Halen]] was the first to gain fame using a guitar with superstrat characteristics. He had assembled the Linn Ellsworth Stratocaster body with a thin 22 fret neck (also from Linn Ellsworth), with a Gibson [[PAF (pickup)|PAF]] Humbucker in the bridge slot. This [[Frankenstrat]], which was pictured on [[Van Halen (band)|Van Halen]]'s debut album ''[[Van Halen (album)|Van Halen]]'', was later repainted with a top coat of red paint and has had different humbucker pickups during the years, some of them custom wound.<ref name="trynka-van-halen">{{cite book
|first = Paul
|last = Trynka
|title = The Electric Guitar: An Illustrated History
|location = San Francisco
|year = 1995
|pages = p104
|isbn = 0811808637
}}</ref>
Many other guitarists and luthiers also applied similar custom modifications to their instruments. Many sources cite [[Grover Jackson]] as one of the first and most influential guitar makers who crafted custom shop guitars with all the features of superstrats since as early as [[1981]]<ref name="50years-superstrat" /><ref name="vintage-guitar" /><ref name="san-dimas-charvel-soloist">{{cite web
|title = Jackson Soloist Custom
|url = http://www.sandimascharvel.com/redsoloist.htm
}}</ref><ref name="50yearsgibson-superstrat">{{cite book
|title = 50 Years of the Gibson Les Paul: Half a Century of the Greatest Electric Guitars
|first = Tony
|last = Bacon
|isbn = 0879307110
|publisher = Backbeat Books
|year = 2002
|pages = p92-93
}}</ref>. Later all these improvements were integrated in factory-produced [[Jackson Soloist]] model.
===Mass production===
Since about 1983-1984, many companies such as [[Kramer Guitars|Kramer]]<ref name="cultures">{{cite book
|title = Guitar Cultures
|first = Andy
|last = Bennett
|coauthors = Dawe, Kevin
|year = 2001
|publisher = Berg Publishers
|isbn = 1859734340
|pages = p126
}}</ref>, [[Jackson Guitars|Jackson]]<ref name="cultures" />, [[Charvel]]<ref name="cultures" />, [[Yamaha Corporation|Yamaha]], [[Aria (guitar company)|Aria]]<ref name="cultures" />, [[Ibanez]]<ref name="cultures" /> and [[Hamer Guitars|Hamer]] started [[mass production]] of superstrat design guitars due to growing marketing demand. Rising popularity of [[heavy metal]] music led to a whole new generation of guitar [[virtuoso]]s that employed fast and complex techniques which demanded thinner and more versatile guitar necks and stable tremolo systems. It's debatable who was the first to mass-produce the superstrat, mostly because the lack of precise definition. Following examples are usually cited by guitar historians:
* 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 Van Halen's Frankenstrat - it was designed to be marketed as Van Halen's signature model, but, in the outcome, Eddie had never endorsed the Baretta in terms of playing it on stage.<ref>{{cite web
|url = http://www.vintagekramer.com/baretta1.htm
|title = The Kramer Baretta
}} — history and collector's guide at VintageKramer.com</ref>
* Dean Bel Aire (1983-1984) — an early SSH guitar dubbed "superstrat"<ref name="bluebook">{{cite book
|title = Blue Book of Electric Guitars
|first = Zachary R.
|last = Fjestad
|year = 2006
|publisher = Blue Book Publications
|isbn = 1886768641
|pages = p225, p228
}}</ref> (however, it's still with bolt-on neck, 22 frets and vintage tremolo).
* [[Jackson Soloist]] (officially produced since August 28, 1984<ref name="jim-shine">{{cite web
|title = Jackson Soloists 1984-1988
|author = Jim Shine
|url = http://zeus.lunarpages.com/~jimshi2/newJacksonsite/jackson_soloists.htm
}} — includes copies of Jackson factory logs from Jackson Museum</ref>) — SSH guitar with [[neck-through]] body, 24 frets and [[Floyd Rose]]/[[Kahler]] bridge — the fullest pack of Superstrat features to date in mass-produced guitar, considered by many the first "real" superstrat.
During the rest of 1980s, due to huge marketing success, most guitar companies had at least one model of superstrat in mass production.
===Answer from major guitar manufacturers===
Superstrat trend could not pass unnoticed by two major guitar manufacturers, [[Fender Musical Instruments Corporation|Fender]] and [[Gibson Guitar Corporation|Gibson]].
Fender suffered complications after being controlled by [[CBS]] in late 1970s and early 1980s. It was only in 1985 when Fender employees raised funds and purchased the company back from CBS, in a campaign initiated by then CBS Musical Instruments division president [[William Schultz]]. Due to these complications, Fender's answer to superstrats was generally unsuccessful and somewhat delayed.<ref name="50years-superstrat" />
* [[Fender Contemporary Stratocaster Japan]][http://freespace.virgin.net/john.blackman4/cont.htm] (1984-1987)
* [[Fender Performer]][http://www.strat-central.com/performer.htm] (1985-1986)
* [[Fender HM Strat]][http://freespace.virgin.net/john.blackman4/hm.htm] (1988-1992)
* [[Fender Prodigy]][http://www.strat-central.com/prodigy.htm] (1991-1993)
* [[Fender Showmaster]] (1998-)
Gibson traditionally competed against the Stratocaster design by offering radically different flagship designs, such as [[Gibson Les Paul|Les Paul]] and [[Gibson SG|SG]] that used very different body shapes, tonewoods, humbucker pickup construction, fixed bridge, yielding a sound radically different from Stratocaster's. However, the marketing hype was so high that Gibson also tried to join in with several models. As with Fender, these models weren't particularly successful commercially and came somewhat late<ref name="50yearsgibson-superstrat" />:
* [[Gibson WRC]] (1985-1986)
* [[Gibson U-2]] (1987-1992)
* [[Gibson Q series]]
* [[Gibson M-III]] (1991-1994)
===End of superstrat era===
In early and mid-1990s, heavy metal and particularly [[shredding]] suffered popularity decline, in favor of [[grunge]], [[nu metal]], [[alternative metal]] and other styles. Popularity of superstrats also declined, in favor of guitars more suited to these new styles<ref name="vintage-guitar" />. Lots of companies that relied on superstrats as major part of their target market suffered heavy losses and went out of business or were bought by larger corporations:
* [[Guild Guitar Company|Guild]] went out of solid-body guitars business in 1988<ref name="vintage-guitar" />. Only hollow-body instruments are still manufactured under Guild brand after its acquisition by [[Fender Musical Instruments Corporation|Fender]] in 1995<ref>{{cite web
|title = Guild Official Site: Guild History
|url = http://www.guildguitars.com/company/guild_history.php
}}</ref>.
* [[Hamer Guitars|Hamer]] was acquired by [[Kaman Music Corporation]] in 1988<ref name="vintage-guitars-hamer">{{cite journal
|url = http://web.archive.org/web/20070703035423/http://www.vintageguitar.com/brands/details.asp?ID=68
|title = The History of Hamer, Part One
|author = M. Wright
|coauthors = A. Large, S. Matthes, P. Fung
|journal = Vintage Guitars Magazine
|month = June
|year = 2000
}}</ref>, which in turn was acquired by Fender in 2008. [[As of 2008]], Hamer reduced their superstrat selection to just one model, the ''Californian''<ref>[http://www.hamerguitars.com/?fa=series&sid=190 Hamer Californian]</ref>.
* [[Dean Guitars|Dean]] was sold to [[Tropical Music Corporation|Tropical Music]] in 1990. Superstrat production was resumed by its new owner in Korea<ref name="vintage-guitar"/>.
* [[Kramer Guitars|Kramer]] went bankrupt in 1990<ref name="vintage-guitar" /> and was sold to [[Gibson Guitar Corporation|Gibson]] since the early 1990s.
* [[Jackson Guitars|Jackson]] and Charvel brands were bought by Fender in 2002<ref>{{cite web
|title = Charvel Official Site: The Charvel Story
|url = http://www.charvel.com/story.html
}}</ref>.
===Modern times===
[[Image:Seven-string guitar ibanez rg7321bk.jpg|thumb|Ibanez RG7321BK is a modern 7-string superstrat]]
Despite all these changes, [[as of 2008]], a lot of guitar manufacturers continue to produce superstrats. Some superstrats evolved to be used in new popular rock styles, for example, [[Ibanez]] produced several 7-string guitars (such as [[Ibanez K7]], a [[Korn]] signature guitar series), catered for playing [[nu metal]] / [[alternative metal]] with additional low A string, followed by 8-string models such as the [[Meshuggah]]-endorsed RG2228GK featuring an extra high A string.
==Comparison==
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!
! Stratocaster
! Superstrat
! Advantages of superstrat
! Disadvantages of superstrat
|-
! Body shape
| Original
| May be slender and smaller than a standard Strat; May have thinner and deeper cutaways, producing pointier ends; May be arch-topped
| More appealing to [[hard rock]] and [[metal (music)|metal]] players; Gives easier access to higher frets
| Less wood under the bridge absorbs more sustain from the strings; Tone may lose its richness
|-
! Headstock
| Traditional Fender "dogleg" design using string trees
| Usually angled with a radical "hockey stick" (pointy/drooped) shape
| Appearance, more sustain and purer tone on models without locking nut due to increased string angle, ease of tuning
| Larger heavier headstock can upset balance of the guitar. Shape may be vulnerable to breakage
|-
! Tonewood
| [[Alder]] or [[Ash tree|Ash]]
| [[Mahogany]], [[Basswood]], [[Alder]], [[Korina]], [[Koa]], [[Ash tree|Ash]], [[Poplar]]
| Warm, soft tone; good for playing overdriven; better sustain.
| Mahogany is heavier; Basswood has a limited dynamic range. Both are not as bright or clean compare to alder. Some models made from alder or ash.
|-
! Number of frets
| 21 (vintage) or 22 (standard)
| 22, 24 or more
| Extended note pitch range — full two octaves per string; easier access to the upper register
| The harmonic content of the Strat neck pickup tone depends on it being placed directly beneath the 3rd overtone of the open strings, which is the location of the 24th fret. The original Strat neck pickup tone is therefore lost. With a 24-fret neck, the neck pickup is about 2cm (7/8 inch) closer to the bridge. It therefore samples more high overtones and has a brighter sound than the standard position. In addition, the deep cutaways required for a 24-fret neck reduce the mass of the body.
|-
! Neck joint
| [[Bolt-on neck|Bolt-on]]
| [[Neck-thru]], [[set-in neck|set-in]] or [[Bolt-on neck|modified bolt-on]]
| Longer [[sustain]]; able to reach upper frets easier
| Difficult to mass-produce; more expensive; more complicated to repair if broken
|-
! Neck joint heel
| Rectangular metal plate
| Contoured to be slim and smooth
| Better top fret access
| Complicates mass production and modification
|-
! Bridge
| Synchronised tremolo
| [[Floyd Rose]], [[Kahler]], [[Schaller]] or [[Ibanez Edge|Edge]] double-locking, [[Fender Musical Instruments Corporation|Fender]] Deluxe Locking assembly, Wilkinson or other improved [[tremolo arm|tremolo]] systems; May also have Floyd Rose locking and lower-friction nuts (LSR/Wilkinson Roller) and/or locking [[machine head]]s
| Greater tuning stability; Extended tremolo range
| Less traditional sonic palette; More complicated mechanism that increases the difficulty of guitar maintenance. Locking nut can weaken headstock joint.
|-
! Neck
| Relatively thick C-shaped neck and round [[fingerboard]] (low radius)
| Thinner neck and flatter fingerboard (high radius)
| Comfortable playing of [[shredding (guitar playing technique)|shredding]] leads and [[tapping]]
| Different feel of the guitar neck will not appeal to Stratocaster or acoustic players. Playing chords can be more difficult. Lower neck mass alters tone and sustain. Durability can suffer.
|-
! Pickups
| 3 [[single-coil]]s
| 1, 2 or 3 [[humbucker]]s; may have 2 or 1 ceramic or alnico [[single-coil]]s in an [[HSS]], [[HH]], [[HSH]] or [[HHH]] layout; Overwinding done to increase output; Active mid-boost circuitry, [[Fernandes Sustainer|Sustainer/Sustainiac]] infinite-sustain device, piezo bridge transducer and synth-access systems on some models
| Fatter sound more applicable for hi-gain amplification used in rock and metal music; Less hum than with traditional all single coil pickup arrangement.
| Overwinding causes loss of definition and chiming "vintage" [[timbre|tone]]; Greater magnetic pull of ceramic magnets on the strings reduces sustain; Active circuitry requires an external 9V (or 18V) power supply from one or two batteries.
|-
! Controls
| 3 knobs - Volume/Tone/Tone, 5 way blade switch
| Various; usually simplified knobs Volume/Tone or just 1 Volume. Pickup switching may be enhanced with coil splitting and phase options.
| Less "tone suckage" from wiring and circuitry components; simplified operation. Enhanced pickup switching allows a wide variety of hum-cancelling pickup combinations, especially with HSH and HHH configurations.
| Less control of tone without using effects. Possibly more complicated pickup switching.
|-
! Pickguard
| Present
| May be absent
| More sustain, as there are less plastic parts that dampen the sound; Also unnecessary as shredding techniques used in rock and metal music should not scrape against the guitar body.
| No scratch protection; different routing of the guitar may also lead to difficulty of maintenance. Reduced ability for modification with different controls and pickup configurations.
|}
==Similar designs, names and trademarks==
Stratocaster design was a subject of copy and slight enhancements since its introduction in 1950s. Many manufacturers produced guitars very similar to Stratocasters, usually referred to as [[strat copy|Strat copies]] (it can't be legally called "Stratocaster copy", because "Stratocaster" was trademarked by Fender. Conversely, the superstrat design changed a lot of things (radical body shapes with sleek offset pointed cutaways, active or passive electronics, flatter 24-fret necks, locking tremolo bridges, a wide variety of humbucking and single-coil pickup configurations and enhanced pickup switching) hence superstrats are usually not considered "Strat copies" but a separate category of guitars.
There is a design similar to superstrat concept named [[Fat Strat]]. The term was introduced by Fender itself in 1997-1998<ref name="50years-fat">{{cite book
|title = 50 Years of Fender
|first = Tony
|last = Bacon
|isbn = 0879306211
|year = 2000
|publisher = Backbeat Books
|pages = p123
}}</ref> and it is a Fender trademark. Generally, Fat Strat only specifically refers to a Stratocaster with a hot [[humbucker|humbucking]] pickup in the bridge position while a superstrat will typically have other traits such as a 24-fret neck and a [[locking tremolo]]. A Fat Strat is usually closer to a traditional Stratocaster in those respects.
Note that "superstrat" is a subjective concept of adapting the Stratocaster design to be more suited for certain genres of music, and are not necessarily higher-end or more capable Stratocasters. The [[Fender Showmaster]] series, for example, is made by Fender itself but marketed as a separate guitar line. The [[Fender American Deluxe Series|American Deluxe Stratocaster HSS]] and the [[Fender Floyd Rose Classic Strat|American Special Strat HSS]] exhibit many of the traits normally associated with a superstrat, such as a universal HSH pickup rout, Fender DH-1 [[humbucking pickup]]s, [[Floyd Rose]] Original and [[Floyd Rose|Fender Deluxe locking synchronized bridge]]s with LSR roller and genuine Floyd Rose locking nuts, as well as [[Schaller]] locking and traditional Kluson tuning machines on certain models (discontinued in 2007 and 2003), but they are not generally considered to be superstrats, rather high-end Stratocaster models. Fender produces Stratocaster pickguards specially routed for HSH pickups.
<!--
This section should be cleaned up of non-notable models, notable ones should take their place in history.
==Notable models==
Almost every guitar company that produced electric guitars in 1980s manufactured some models that could be designated as a superstrat. There are several notable models that are unique in some way:
*[[Kramer Pacer]] - HH or HSS; Floyd Rose Original
*[[Kramer Proaxe]] - HS, HH or HSS; Floyd Rose Pro; body scallops
*[[Charvel]] San Dimas (1984-1986)
*[[Ibanez JEM]] (1987-)
*[[Ibanez RG]] (1987-)
*[[Ibanez S]] (1987-)
*[[B.C. Rich Assassin]] (1986-)
*[[Yamaha RGX]]
-->
==See also==
*[[Fat Strat]]
*[[Strat copy]]
==References==
<references/>
[[Category:Electric guitars]]
[[de:Superstrat (Gitarre)]]
[[fr:Super Strat]]
[[it:Super Strat]]
[[hu:Superstrat]]