Hi SlapChop and Straycat:

Boy, this really is very unpleasant.

I'd hate to think of anyone feeling got at here - it's just some friendly guitar chat in cyberspace, after all.

Couldn't begin to pick sides in this: I like both you gentlemen and hugely enjoy and value both of your contributions: I believe you'd find most feel the same. The place would be poorer without either one of you.

You're obviously not going to suddenly become friends, but I thought till today things had settled down. Any way we could go back to that?

The OP, Mr Masterhacker, has only been on the Forum a few weeks. He must be looking at his thread and wondering what on earth is going on!

Both of you have plenty of friends here - mostly the same people. Can we all coexist...?

Friendly regards to you both - C

The book, "The Fender Stratocaster" clears up this argument nicely... the artists are approached by fender.

Thank you for that post Ceri! I enjoy both gentlemen!

You mean Fender has a marketing department that might look at market segments, and units sold and demographics and stuff and then contact artist that could have a successful product?

Albert Lee is probably an example of a life-long Fender player that just didn't have the market awareness needed to get approached. He was an unreal tele player since dirt, but ended up with (I believe) an Ernie Ball sig model.

BlackedOut wrote:

The book, "The Fender Stratocaster" clears up this argument nicely... the artists are approached by fender.

I have strongly urged all members to own and read, from cover to cover, both Wheeler's and Duchossoir's work on the subject of the Stratocaster. In the case of Clapton, he was looking for a replacement for his Blackie and apparently approached Fender. Dan Smith brought him two of the hardtail Elites and they started modifications from there to what became the '88 Signature Stratocaster.

In the case of Beck, (according to Duchossoir), Beck wanted a '57 Reissue finished in yellow (Graffiti yellow as it was come to be known, after the dragster in American Graffiti...See Duchossoir...Red Cover Edition...pg.36). Fender asked him if he was interested in having a signature series guitar in his name, and it seems that they were developing the Strat Plus prototype with Beck in mind, at that time. Beck eventually turned down the idea.

With Malmsteen, it was Fender's Dan Smith who made the initial overture.

In the aggregate, the first guitars built by the newly risen Fender company after CBS were the '57 Vintage Reissues. According to Duchossoir, these were the platforms for the Strat Plus and the Clapton. The Malmsteen is said to incorporate features of both the '57VRI and the newer first American Standard. Also of interest is that David Gilmour also acquired two '57VRI's, one in white, and one in red, (this from the book "The Black Strat), both of which 'Gilmouriacs'know well. In fact, the neck on "The Black Strat" is a '57RI, though the body is of later vintage. By the way, the updated, expanded, hardcover edition of "The Black Strat", which was released a year ago, is a must for the library of everyone on The Forum regardless of artist preference. Don't reference Gilmour's gear without having read this book. It's the book Lee Dickson should have wrote about Eric Clapton.

Be kind to each other out there. The whole world is watching.

Rock on

Doc

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"Another day in paradise!"