Fender Telecaster this famous rarity. In 1951, Fender released the innovative and musically influential Precision Bass as a similar looking stable-mate to the Telecaster. This body style was later released as the Fender Telecaster Bass in 1968 after the Precision Bass had been changed in 1957 to make it more closely resemble the Fender Stratocaster guitar. At the time Leo Fender began marketing the new, more refined Stratocaster in 1954, he expected it to replace the Telecaster, but the Telecaster's many virtues and unique musical personality have kept it in demand to the present day. Leo Fender's simple and modular design was
Fender Elite Stratocaster MDX circuits at their maximum. A few Elite Stratocasters were manufactured with a standard 5-way switch and standard Strat knobs. Two such guitars which were custom built for Eric Clapton came with a traditional '50s era-style maple neck and a hardtail non-tremolo bridge. Two other variants of the guitar were introduced in late 1983, the Gold Elite Stratocaster with gold plated hardware and the Walnut Elite Stratocaster featuring a solid walnut body and a stained ebony fingerboard. In January 2016 Fender introduced an American Elite Stratocaster featuring "4th generation" noiseless pickups, compound C-to-D neck shape and fingerboard radius, locking tuners