Was fortunate to recently purchase from a local musical instrument store what has become known as "The Strat". It is from the early 80s and the condition of this guitar is amazing. There is some information available on this particular model - see

http://www.jpstingrayguitars.com/FENDER ... clone.html
http://www.fenderreissue.com/misc-gear/ ... e-red-1269

I am keen to receive further information on "The Strat" and some views on it - see:
http://www.imagehousing.com/image/916634
http://www.imagehousing.com/image/916640
http://www.imagehousing.com/image/916644
http://www.imagehousing.com/image/916648
http://www.imagehousing.com/image/916650

I've never owned one, but they seem to be extremely versatile guitars. I believe they were the first Stratocasters to feature more than the regular 5 Strat sounds including series and out of phase tones. They were also one of the earliest (if not the first) regular production Strat to return to a "small" (albeit distorted) headstock shape. I think that some later examples may have had this flaw corrected. The X1 pickup in the bridge position is also considered by many to be one of the best Strat bridge pickups that Fender has ever made.

I played a few of them back in the day - the ones my local dealer had were quite heavy. I remember them being a pretty cool Strat variation to my still pretty much beginner's ears back then.

93greeenstrat is correct - these were the first Strats to go back to a small headstock shape, but they used the same shape as the Lead series guitars instead of the "true" vintage shape. They were the second Stratocaster model to go back to the 4-bolt neck (the 1979 25th Anniversary model was the first to go back to a 4-bolt neck).

Thanks for the replies so far and the useful information. I can confirm that this is a heavy guitar, probably not far off the weight of a Gibson LP Standard.

It sounds amazing though, one of the best I have ever heard. The fact that it is coming up for almost 30 years of age now only enhances the sound. The craftsmanship (which includes gold plating of some of the hardware) is also clearly evident.

Is anyone aware of well-known guitarists who used this particular model? It is also evident that there are precious few of these available. The few available though are seldom in good condition.

Also, what is this guitar's relationship to the Fender Custom shop which seems to have commenced round about the time that this guitar was introduced?

The only guitarist who was actually seen playing this particular model is the late "beatle" John Lennon.
There are tons of shots showing him strumming an 1980s "Strat" (finished in Candy Apple Red with a matching headstock) on the Web.

I think these photos were taken a couple of weeks before his death.

Ernie Isley (of the legendary R&B group The Isley Brothers) also played one during the late 80's/early 90's. It was around the time he released his solo album "High Wire".

Now there is a guitarist that has never gotten his due....

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

SERIOUSLY +1!

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Want to get that audience Cuttin Up Rough...
Then Play " Climbin Up the Ladder "....
I'm not sure which I enjoyed playing the most, Ernie's riffs or playing bass on an Aria !000-SB

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

A.R. Duchossoir's paper back 'The Fender Stratocaster', and Tom Wheeler's
'The Stratocaster Chronicles' ,may offer you additional insights.

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"Another day in paradise!"

... ah, yes, the old "Clunky Brass Parts Era" ... I don't miss it one bit.

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Member #26797
My other guitar is a Strat.

No relationship what so ever. "The Strat" was from the end of the CBS era when they were beginning to try to turn around the production issues that had gotten worse during the 1970s.

The Custom Shop didn't start until after FMIC bought the company from CBS in 1985 - you can trace the CS back to about 1987 or so.

Always liked the headstock shape of that guitar.

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"Another day in paradise!"

I have an '82 The Strat in Olympic White that I bought new back then. The White has aged to a creamy color. I was going to post photos but Photobucket is making them fuzzy.
As 'doc says, the headstock is a different shape - not the same shape as the typical small headstock but it was an attempt at the time to go to pre-CBS-like shapes. The story at the following website blames worn tooling for the different shape:
http://www.stratcollector.com/newsdesk/ ... 00273.html

They are nice guitars. The pickups do give a nice vintage Strat sound. The X-1 bridge pickup is a souped up pickup that has already been mentioned. The Strat has a master Volume and a master Tone with the second Tone the rotary switch for straight ahead 5-way pickup switching, or the pickup combination switching for four additional sounds.

They came with 23-carat gold plated hardware -- the photos of the original poster seem to lack the gold plated 5-way switch knob that I have on mine. That hardware included the bridge parts, screws, control knobs, 5-way switch knob, back plate screws, tremolo arm and tremolo knob, tuners, string tree, and neck plate.

I also used to own a Candy Apple Red one -- I wish I hadn't sold it!

These guitars came in a variety of odd finishes, including Stratobursts and International colours. Stratobursts were also present on the Elite series of 1983, save for a couple of American Standards and Pluses made between 1987 and 1989.

Greg Fessler revived the Stratoburst legacy with a blue stratoburst Custom Classic Strat a couple of years ago.