Fender Stratocaster

Rock Band Fender Stratocaster guitar controller

The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as the Strat, is an electric guitar and the basis for Rock Band's signature guitar controller.

Guitar Info

The Fender Stratocaster is Billie Joe Armstrong's model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top horn for balance while standing. The Stratocaster has been used by many leading guitarists, and thus can be heard on many historic recordings. Along with the Gibson Les Paul, Gibson SG, and the Fender Telecaster, it is one of the most common and enduring models of electric guitar in the world. The design of the Stratocaster has transcended the field of music to rank among the classic industrial designs of all time; examples have been exhibited at major museums around the world.

In its original form, the Stratocaster was offered initially in a 2-color sunburst finish, together with a solid deeply contoured ash body, a one-piece maple neck with 21 frets, black dot inlays and Kluson machine heads until 1957, when Fender started making bodies made from solid alder. There was also a set of available custom colors that wasn't standardized until 1960. These custom colors were mostly automobile lacquer colors made by Dupont and could be had for an extra 5% cost. The single-ply, 8-screw hole white pickguard was a unique concept that allowed all of the guitar's electronic components - except the recessed jack plate - to be mounted on one easy-to-remove surface. Subsequent Stratocaster designs (by both Fender and other imitating companies) have ostensibly improved upon the original in usability and sound, but vintage Fender models are still often worth large amounts of money, and some prefer the timbre of older models.

The Stratocaster has been widely copied; as a result, the term "Strat," although a trademark of Fender Musical Instrument Corporation, is often used generically when referring to any guitar that has the same general features as the original, regardless of manufacturer.

Rock Band Guitar Controller

Specifications

Rock Band's signature guitar controller is modeled after the Fender Stratocaster. The controller contains a strum bar, fret buttons (Green, Red, Yellow, Blue, and Orange), a whammy bar, a D-pad, and controller buttons much like the Guitar Hero controllers. However, the Fender Stratocaster guitar has a total of ten fret buttons which include the five standard fret buttons at the top of the neck and additional five fret buttons near the guitar body that can be used for playing guitar solos without strumming and can also be used without strumming during a Big Rock Ending. The guitar also contains an effects switch to change the sound of the guitar notes during a guitar solo or when Overdrive is activated.

The Rock Band Fender Stratocaster's strum bar does not click like the strum bars on the Guitar Hero controllers and the fret buttons are built into the neck with its five colors on either side. Early Xbox 360 guitar controllers were wired, but later got wireless versions. The wireless guitar controllers can be synced to the Xbox 360 console like a standard Xbox 360 game controller. The PlayStation 3/PlayStation 2 and Wii guitars are also wireless, except they require a USB dongle to sync and make connection with the consoles.

Appearance

The Rock Band Fender Stratocaster guitar controller that was bundled with the first Rock Band has a black body with a white pickguard and cream-colored neck and headstock. When Rock Band 2 was released, two new Fender Stratocaster guitars were released. One of them contains a black body with a white pickguard just like the first Rock Band's guitar controller, but it has a brown neck with a tan headstock. The other guitar also has a white pickguard, brown neck, and tan headstock, but it has an orange and black body with a sunburst finish. This particular guitar controller was the one commonly included in Rock Band 2 Special Edition bundles.

References

• U.S. Patent No. 2,741,146 (Tremolo device for stringed instruments; Stratocaster Tremolo system)
• U.S. Patent No. 2,960,900 (Utility patent for offset body styled guitars (Fender Jaguar/Jazzmaster))
• U.S. Patent No. D186826 (Design Patent for Fender Jazzmaster)
• The Stratocaster Chronicles: Celebrating 50 Years of the Fender Strat. Tom Wheeler. Hal Leonard (April 1, 2004) ISBN 0634056786 ISBN 9780634056789
• The Fender Electric Guitar Book: A Complete History of Fender Instruments. Tony Bacon. Backbeat Books. 3rd edition (September 1, 2007) ISBN 0879308974 ISBN 978 0879308971

External links

• Fender official website