Darn Right You Got the Blues!
Chicago blues legend, Buddy Guy, has been playing Stratocasters since the 1950s, so it only seemed fair that Fender produced a Buddy Guy Strat for its prestigious Artist Series starting in 1995. Available in either a sweet two-color sunburst or classic honey blond, the Buddy Guy model also sports three Gold Fender-Lace Sensor pickups with a 25dB active mid-boost circuit. Our own Jim Miller (Tech Notes) chose the Buddy Guy Strat as his personal favorite, praising the chunky, soft "V"-shaped maple neck, the vintage style vibrato and the distinctively versatile tone. Yeah, he paid us to mention his name in the same paragraph with Buddy's (like that would ever happen in real life). Fender Buddy Guy Stratocaster at a Glance:
- Solid ash body with Honey Blond polyurethane finish.
- Four-ply brown totoiseshell pickguard.
- Three Gold Fender-Lace Sensor pickups with five-way switching.
- One-piece maple neck and fingerboard with soft "V" shape.
The Blues - Chicago Style! Some guitars just ooze style! Part of Fender's popular Artist Series, the Buddy Guy Strat is all about the look, the feel and yes, the tone! When you want to play the blues, you need a guitar that will respond to every nuance of your own personal touch. So you start with a solid lightweight ash body and give it a jewel-like Honey Blond finish, then top it off with a four-ply brown tortoiseshell pickguard. Next, you equip it with three Gold Fender-Lace Sensor pickups with a 25dB active midrange boost, bolt on a soft "V"-shaped maple neck and finally, add the decidedly retro American Vintage Tremolo. Whew! Lift this guitar out of its classy tweed case (with that cool orange lining) and you'll be inspired to play your most passionate blues licks on stage or in the studio. Three Gold Fender-Lace Sensors The original Strat had three single coil pickups, so it was able to produce sounds that no other guitar could deliver, particularly once players discovered they could lodge the three-position blade switch in those "in-between" positions to access neck / middle and bridge / middle pickup combinations. These were often erroneously referred to as the "out-of-phase" settings. The Buddy Guy Strat comes standard with three sweet-sounding - and surprisingly quiet - Fender-Lace Sensor pickups, but with a five-position blade switch, making it a snap to access those glossy Strat sounds with a simple flick of the finger. But when you're putting your heart and soul into your music, you need to squeeze every last drop of tone from your instrument. That's why Fender equipped the Buddy Guy Strat with a 25dB active midrange boost, along with the standard TBX tone control. So you can take this guitar from bright and clean to burning hot with just the turn of a knob. Downright Chunky Soft "V"-Shaped Maple Neck Leo Fender wasn't afraid to "think outside the box" when it came to guitar designs - after all, he was an engineer, not a guitar player. In the 1950s and well into the 1970s, the blond natural maple neck became almost synonymous with Fender guitars. The Buddy Guy Stratocaster keeps that trademark one-piece maple neck and fingerboard, but with a somewhat beefy soft "V"-shaped profile and 22 vintage style frets. In keeping with contemporary player preferences, the fast playing neck is finished in a silky-smooth satin polyurethane. Fender Buddy Guy Stratocaster Features:
- Color: Honey Blond
- Body Type: Solidbody electric.
- Finish: Polyurethane.
- Neck Wood: Maple.
- Neck Shape: Soft "V" shape with 9.5-inch radius.
- Scale Length: 25.5 inches.
- Body Wood: Solid ash.
- Machine Heads: Fender / Gotoh vintage style tuning machines.
- Fingerboard: Maple.
- No. of Frets: 22.
- Position Markers: Dot inlays.
- Pickups: Three Gold Fender-Lace Sensor Strat pickups.
- Controls: Master volume, one master TBX tone, one master mid-boost tone.
- Bridge/Tailpiece: American vintage synchronized tremolo.
- Pickup Switching: Five-position blade switch.
- Hardware: Chrome.
- Case: Vintage Tweed.
Fender Guitars You could easily make the case that Fender electric guitars were responsible - at least in great part - for the birth of modern rock 'n' roll. Originally designed to be easier to build, and thus more affordable, Leo Fender's masterpieces, which include classics like the Stratocaster (is there a more distinctive guitar shape in the world?), the Telecaster and the original Precision Bass, were at the core of a musical revolution that spawned everything from surf to country to punk! In the 1960s, when Fender guitars first hit bandstands and stages all around the country, it was astonishing to see that trademark Fender maple neck and fingerboard. Though the company eventually offered rosewood fingerboards as standard or optional on its entire line of instruments, those first"blond" necks really shook things up. Others have picked up on the maple neck theme, but it's clearly yet another of Leo Fender's "firsts." Today, no other manufacturer can match Fender for the sheer number of options available throughout its entire line. While vintage Fenders can command astronomic prices, the company now has the widest range of quality instruments in the world, along with the highest profile players like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan, all of whom are legendary. When you buy a Fender Artist Series Buddy Guy Stratocaster from Sweetwater, it's like having one made just for you - aside from our 40-point quality control evaluation and basic set-up, the only person who puts their hands on it is you!
