Let me start out by saying I love Fender I love everything about it! The fact the Stratocaster is virtually unchanged for 50+ years is a credit to Leo and how right he got it. I love the reissues, road worn, closet classics, etc. and I think Fender should never stop making them! However, if I ran Fender in 2011 I would go to work on a brand new guitar with the goal of 50 years from now they will be making reissues and road worn models of it. Not sure exactly what it would look like but, I would use all the modern technology at our disposal and make it one bad *ss guitar. What do you guys think?

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98 MIA Strat, 07 MIM 60's Reissue Strat, Mustang l, Mustang lll

Hi Ragtop. You might want to ask Gibson how reinventing the wheel is working out for them. I think given Fenders track record they would take a more pragmatic approach, and avoid falling into the gimmick trap. I would like to hear some of your ideas, change is always good if tempered with common sense

So you wouldn't base your produce on what sells????
Is that what you're saying?

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No no and no

Fender laid some pretty decent eggs as well as Gibson and everyone else. The Strat, Tele, Les Paul and 335 have been their mainstays. They try new stuff, but people really gravitate to the standards. By the way, The Strat has gone through many, many changes in its run. Some good, some not so good. If you ever played a 50's era Strat, you would know they were no where as consistent as they are today just due to better manufacturing techniques. I had the privilege to play some dogs and some real beauties. The new offerings are much better.

Check out this Fender Factory Tour 1959

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nswcAPvH0P8

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Life...... It's sexually transmitted and always fatal

No, that's sort of the problem, isn't it?

If you can come up with a design that is both new and popular I bet Fender would buy it from you. People have been trying and failing to do that for ages.

Meanwhile: this seems to tick the boxes you mentioned. Have you got one yet?



The Teuffel Birdfish guitar. Very reasonably priced.

Cheers - C

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I don't know. I've kinda got mix feelings about that. It's hard to argue that they shouldn't keep experimenting, but, given how beautiful and simple their classics are, one might say don't tamper with the formula. And, while, of course it makes sense to design, manufacture, and market what sells, if you get too involved with chasing the market, you end up out-thinking yourself.

I have a feeling that vineyards that have been producing wonderful wine for centuries aren't too keen on coming up with new ways to make the wine.

I can't imagine anyone who bought Fender amps in the 80's(?) is crowing about their solid state Twin or Princeton.

But, as I allude to earlier, I have mixed feelings about the subject and would love to see a guitar that would improve upon the Fender Classics.

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Chris
FindaGuitarTeacher.com

Hi Raggtopp,

Presumably you're suggesting that, under your rule, you'd have Fender introduce a new ****caster of sorts?

Ambitious, man, but Fender wouldn't be where they are today if Leo had thought things were fine as they were or had left it to someone else.

The trouble with guitarists, though, is they're either stuck in the past, in the shadows' of their heroes or they're buying instruments that have done very little to change anything.
People like Steve Vai and Joe Satriani have really pushed the limits on what the electric guitar is capable of, just as Jimi Hendrix and Van Halen had before them. All their guitars are really kinda similar, though; just mild evolutions of the almighty Strat.

When wacky guitar shapes come along, I must admit, I turn my nose up them a bit - I never really cared for BC Rich guitars, for example. I think a guitar needs some class and feminine shape.
How do you improve on Strats or Les Pauls? Many have tried and even Paul Reed Smith guitars, to my eyes, just look like wannabes.

What I'm saying is that to improve on such a time proven winning formula is hard, to say the least. Not to mention expensive and possibly misguided. Good luck with your ambitions, though - you may just be the man to change everything... again!

Dino -

Exquisitely expressed. Amen!

Chris

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Chris
FindaGuitarTeacher.com

Well, in order to "improve" the electric guitar, you would need to find and then address perceived problems inherent with the design itself. There really is nothing wrong with the stratocaster's design, and it is very difficult to improve on something that isn't wrong. Basically I cannot see how the electric guitar can further evolve. Sure you can add modeling, robotic tuners, onboard fx, modern materials such as carbon and graphite, integrated wireless (no cords), better switching schemes, etc...but it still is the same design with the same core ideas and even worse usually close to the same sound.

By the way, Road Worn, Relic'ing, etc... is the dumbest F***ing thing in the world of musical instruments, what a load of BS. Guitars that fit like your favorite pair of jeans. At this point just imagine me going on a 20 minute rant with a face something like this ^^

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I traded my car in for a microphone.

Well... What if the car companies never changed the style??? I do see the op's point. I really don't see anything wrong with change...but I am old school, so leave my beloved Strats and Teles alone

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Hey, Boy Blue is back!

Was that designed for Barbarella
What happened to " form follows function "

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

OK then how about a Custom Shop Strat 56 NOS, if this isn't an original design improved to today's criteria then I may have to go back to the OP's 1st line

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

This thread is interesting but there is one critical variable missing from the OP's " If I Was...."
No one can predict the future, there are a lot of great designs that on the drawing board were destined to succeed immensely, only to plunge into obscurity once out the door.

Apple Corp. today is successful beyond the founders expectations, but it could have gone the other way had they completely redesigned the personal computer all at once.
Instead they allowed consumer feedback to dictate their research and creation of new components.

As a builder I would love to "reinvent the wheel" but attempting to forge into alien territory in the belief that everyone will follow is a road filled with skeletons..

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Frankly, if I ran Fender I wouldn't be here posting on the Forum. I'd be sitting by my huge pool counting my millions and then I'd be sending for Brad to come and sort out why my computer can't find this new printer when it's sitting right here beside it on the desk. [Pointing] It's right there, you ****wit machine!

'Scuse my language - I've been trying to set up the SOB printer for hours and I want to cry.

- C

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Hah! I'm gonna change your reality here. I know a chick that was run over by a Fender.

No $@!&, there I was...
setting up for a gig at a juke joint a couple towns over when in comes the other guitar player in the band looking freaked out and looking for me. He comes over and says he needs me in the parking lot quick with my medic bag (I'm a retired firefighter/paramedic) because when he left his house he forgot to slide the door shut on his van and when he pulled into the parking lot at the bar his Fender twin jumped out of the van and ran over the barmaid who was getting a pack of cigarettes from the carton in her pickup. I treated her for a few abrasions and threw an icepack on the goose egg caused by the evil twin when it ran her over. So there, now you've heard of someone getting run over by a Fender.

And before anyone asks, the damn thing ran like a champ for three years before one of the power tubes let out the magic smoke and he had to have it re-tubed. It's still kicking, but he plays a doc. Z at gigs these days and saves the twin for recording. He has a really bad habit of spilling beer in his gear at gigs and says the doc. Z is cheaper to fix and the chassis is better protected against a sacrificial beer....