Fender Stratocaster Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster is a model of electric guitar 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. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top "horn" shape for balance. Along with the Gibson Les Paul and Fender Telecaster, it is one of the most-often emulated electric guitar shapes. "Stratocaster" and "Strat" are trademark terms belonging to Fender. Guitars that duplicate the Stratocaster by other manufacturers are usually called "S-Type" or "ST-type" guitars. The Stratocaster is a versatile
Fingerstyle guitar solid-body electric guitars such as the Gibson Les Paul or the Fender Stratocaster. As mentioned above, fingerpicking has similar roots to and may have been inspired by ragtime piano. An early master of ragtime guitar was Blind Blake, a popular recording artist of the late 1920s and early 1930s. In the 1960s, a new generation of guitarists returned to these roots and began to transcribe piano tunes for solo guitar. One of the best known and most talented of these players was Dave Van Ronk, who arranged "St. Louis Tickle" for solo guitar. In 1971, guitarists David Laibman and Eric