The continued cultural significance of Fender guitars

[johnny k]

nooo, it's the most popular guitar shape ever and the most iconic electric guitar in the world. It looks a little bit passé in recent years, but as PRS proved, it just needed a little update to be popular all over again.

I don't like the strat shaped much. I like mustangs, dano's, jazzmasters, big boxes, but the strat shape not so much.

 

[Wooly Fox]

Ask 10 random people on the street to draw a guitar, 8/10 will draw a strat, the other 2 will be an acoustic...

I really want to try out this theory.

 

[Si G X]

I don't like the strat shaped much. I like mustangs, dano's, jazzmasters, big boxes, but the strat shape not so much.

I hate them, but it's not about me.

I bet there's more strat, super strat, strat copies and strat shaped guitars sold than anything else.

 

[telemnemonics]

In the '50s British cars mostly looked like tea kettles.

Truth is, Punk wasnt an assault on the Queens fascism, it was all about Grandmas old jalopy she was always going on about...

 

[burntfrijoles]

Most days a flick through the newspaper will reveal a Fender Stratocaster or Telecaster

I don’t know about the UK, but newspapers in newsprint are all but dead in the U.S. It’s all digital. Plus, many just ignore the news.
However I get what you’re saying.
I would say it continues to be iconic but I wouldn’t term it of cultural influence for most.

 

[posttoastie]

 

[Nogoodnamesleft]

Certainly iconic. It's interesting how 2 or three basic shapes (body and headstock) have endured, and how few variations have been as successful in even coming along side. I think one of the coolest things about Bowie for example is his Supro or Framus.

But I guess it's a little bit like pants - they generally all have two legs. There's only so much you can deviate between models (among bipeds anyway).

 

[kuch]

I think they were handing out free Fender guitars backstage at Glastonbury.

+1
And.... we all know why Fenders and Gibsons cost so much.... their advertising budgets!!

 

[FSRCustomTeleHHGT]

nooo, it's the most popular guitar shape ever and the most iconic electric guitar in the world. It looks a little bit passé in recent years, but as PRS proved, it just needed a little update to be popular all over again.

PRS and "popular." Not words you often see in the same sentence. The next time Paul popularizes anything it will be a celebrated first.

As far as passé, guitars are passé. THE electric guitar is not, at least not within the realm of electric guitars. Fender's strat sales prove that beyond any reasonable doubt.

 

[bottlenecker]

Proof that humanity peaked long ago and is now in late decline era.

When was that peak?

 

[Nogoodnamesleft]

When was that peak?

ABBA's release of the 'Voulez-Vous' record.

 

[bottlenecker]

Yeah Jack White plays mainly Fender now, He had a cool jazzmaster too... I think the story is that he made the orange tele he used to play out of parts and Fender saw him playing it and said "We'll make you whatever you want" ... because, you know, he's Jack White.

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as well as these 2, which I presume are a blueburst tele and jazzmaster acousasonics?
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What do you think he'll play when he gets to his yellow period?

 

[cyclopean]

Yeah Jack White plays mainly Fender now, He had a cool jazzmaster too... I think the story is that he made the orange tele he used to play out of parts and Fender saw him playing it and said "We'll make you whatever you want" ... because, you know, he's Jack White.

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as well as these 2, which I presume are a blueburst tele and jazzmaster acousasonics?
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I’ll believe that - I know someone who’s not nearly that high profile that got a free guitar from fender.

 

[cyclopean]

I don't like the strat shaped much. I like mustangs, dano's, jazzmasters, big boxes, but the strat shape not so much.

I have an aversion to strats but I think that’s just because of how ubiquitous they are. That’s a big part of why I picked a telecaster as my first electric guitar when I was fifteen and why I spend a lot of time playing a jaguar now. Without all that cultural baggage, I might really like them. Well, outside of that middle pickup being right in the way of where I strum. I’ve played a few that I really like, but given the option I’ll almost always pick another fender style single coil guitar over a strat.

It’s also related to why I pick sgs over lps.

 

[Chester P Squier]

Gibson was busy with a more important date:

For that amount of money, Gibson didn't have to destroy as many guitars as Fender would have had to destroy.

I hate to see musical instruments destroyed. Even accordions and banjos.

 

[Kandinskyesque]

In the '50s British cars mostly looked like tea kettles.

When I see 1950s British cars, I think they look like either Les Dawson or Arthur Mullard.

 

[Ian111]

Fender directly markets their guitars to a younger/hipster/LGBTQ audience while Gibson clings to the the golden age of rock and a more masculine audience (like Harley or Ford/Chevy/Ram full size pickups).

 

[Flaneur]

Some beautiful cars made in Britain, in the '50s. Most regular folks travelled by bus or bicycle, of course.......

 

[telleutelleme]

When did Jack White become the baseline for brand/style choice? I don't have any problem with this skills, but I bet Clapton did more for making Stats popular, not to mention Hendrix and many more.

 

[pbenn]

Fender's Custom Colors prolonged the "hip moment" for many '50s car colors, first moving it to the '60s, then all the way to the '80s to present retro period for collectible custom colors.

By moving the colors from cars to guitars, Fender extended their hip lifespan.