Electric guitar design name. In 1954, Fender introduced the Fender Stratocaster, or "Strat". It was positioned as a deluxe model and offered various product improvements and innovations over the Telecaster. These innovations included an ash or alder double-cutaway body design for badge assembly with an integrated vibrato mechanism (called a "synchronized tremolo" by Fender, thus beginning a confusion of the terms that still continues), three single-coil pickups, and body comfort contours. Leo Fender is also credited with developing the first commercially successful electric bass called the Fender Precision Bass, introduced in 1951. Gibson, like many guitar manufacturers, had long offered semi-acoustic guitars with
Fender Telecaster Custom would give the Telecaster a second rock voice to match the Telecaster's popular bridge pickup. The Custom (along with the Thinline and Deluxe models) was an attempt to enter the humbucker market largely dominated by Gibson. Fender's first humbucking design was the Wide Range humbucker created by Seth Lover, who had overseen the development of the original Gibson humbucker. When Lover's association with Gibson came to an end Fender approached him to design a pick-up which would enable them to compete with his previous employer. The resulting pick-up first appeared in the Thinline and Deluxe range of Fender Telecasters introduced