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 Elite Stratocaster Fender Elite Stratocaster The Fender Elite Stratocaster is an electric solid body guitar manufactured by Fender in 1983 and 1984. The Elite Stratocaster was introduced in 1983 and discontinued in 1984. It served as a template for the Eric Clapton signature model of 1988. Two of the few players of the Elite model are Ty Tabor of King's X, who used this guitar to record the first four albums of that band (his gear setup still retains the preamp from the guitar, now rackmounted) and blues/rock guitarist Jeff Fetterman of The Jeff Fetterman Band. Fetterman has used his Elites on