Squier Stratocaster
Encyclopedia
The Squier Stratocaster is an electric guitar based on the Stratocaster
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a 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...

, manufactured and sold by Squier
Squier
Squier is a musical instrument brand name owned by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation.-History:Fender, under the ownership of CBS, acquired the Squier brand name in 1965 when it bought a USA based string making firm , but it lay dormant for many years...

, a marque of Fender.

Origins

After Fender's decision to switch Squier's production from strings to guitars in 1982, the Stratocaster was one of the first models to be put under the Squier production line, then located in Japan, as it was the most commercially successful guitar Fender had produced. Originally in 1982, the headstock had a "Fender" name written in large script, followed by "Squier series" in smaller script. In 1983, this was later changed to the 70's large headstock featuring "Squier" in larger script, and "by Fender" in smaller script.

In 2002, for the 20th anniversary of the Squier line of Stratocaster guitars, that year's model was offered in limited-edition green and gold finishes, as well as "Freedom of Expression Since 1982" engraved neck bolt covers.

Construction

A standard Squier Stratocaster is mass-produced in factories located in Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

 or China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. For its construction, Squier usually uses woods readily available in those countries, such as agathis
Agathis
The genus Agathis, commonly known as kauri or dammar, is a relatively small genus of 21 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient Araucariaceae family of conifers, a group once widespread during the Jurassic period, but now largely restricted to the Southern Hemisphere except for...

 and basswood. They also use stamped metal hardware and multiple pieces of wood in construction to reduce waste and to lower costs. In some cases, the body is laminated, much like a plywood, rather than consisting of two or three solid pieces glued together.

Pro-Tone Series

The Pro-Tone series of Stratocasters was produced between 1996 and 1998 and featured a solid ash body, a 1-piece maple neck, and three single-coil alnico pickups. The Pro-Tone line was manufactured in Korea (many in the Cort factory). It was available in a handful of finishes: vintage blonde, crimson red, black, three-tone sunburst, trans sapphire blue, and olympic white. The crimson red, and trans sapphire blue finishes came with gold hardware.

There was a special edition Pro-Tone called the 'Fat Strat' which came in black with a black painted headstock, 22 frets, a bridge humbucker, and a licensed Floyd Rose double locking tremolo.

Other Information

One of several types of electric guitar controllers available for the musical rhythm video game Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3
Rock Band 3 is a music video game, developed by Harmonix Music Systems. The game was initially published and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, respectively, with Mad Catz taking over both roles a year later. It is the third main game in the Rock Band series...

 is a Squier Stratocaster that has been modified to include touch sensors in the neck of the instrument. It has a MIDI out port enabling it to be used as a regular MIDI controller outside of the game.

External links

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