The Fender Stratocaster was designed in 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously manufactured the Stratocaster from 1954 to the present day. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top “horn” shape for balance.

The Stratocaster features three single coil pickups, with the output originally selected by a 3-way switch. Guitarists soon discovered that by jamming the switch in between the first and second position, both the bridge and middle pickups could be selected, and similarly, the middle and neck pickups could be selected between the 2nd and 3rd position.

Custom Shop models can cost many thousands of pounds, but a Standard American Stratocaster today can cost around £1,200, but there are many more affordable options. The first one being the Stratocasters made in Mexico that start from around £400, and the much more affordable Squire range starting at around £100.

Notable players include, for classic rock n roll, Buddy Holly, blues, Jimi Hendrix, prog rock, David Gilmour and the guitarist that influenced me to pick up and learn a guitar, The Edge from U2.