Fender released their Wayne Kramer Signature Strat recently. Wayne Kramer was the founder of MC5 and supposedly used the flag painted Strat on their “Kick Out the Jams” among other tracks. Unfortunately I can’t find video of him actually playing guitar, though the video below contains several pictures and Wayne discussing the guitar.
My real question though, is how many of these guitars will Fender sell? Going at $1,000 how many guitar playing hard core MC5 fans are out there who are looking to add another guitar? Or will this guitar sell based on it’s American flag artwork to people who don’t know who Kramer or the MC5 are? It certainly possible. A friend’s wife once sent me an email trying to track down a guitar as a gift. Her husband had always wanted a flying v guitar with an American flag on it. I finally figured out it was the Dave Mustaine “Jackson Y2KV Flag” model. And I happen to know the guy isn’t a huge Megadeth fan.
Would you buy this guitar? Or more to the point, would you buy a replica of one of your favorite guitarist’s guitars?
Martin Kelly, Terry Foster and Paul Kelly have been writing an extensive book called Fender: The Golden Age 1946-1970. After following the writing of the book on their website and on twitter (@GoldenAgeFender), I feel confident in saying they have researched the topic exhaustively. Covering instruments, amps, cases etc, the photos are absolutely glorious and would work just as a coffee table book. The accompanying text supplies all of the historical information you need to know about this iconic company. You can check out sample pages from Fender: The Golden Age by checking out this virtual book.
If you have a Fender Strat you may have noticed that the metallic rods or polepieces on your pickups are at varying heights. Not all Strats have the staggered heights, but those that do are compensating for not having adjustable polepieces. But really this is just getting us to the question of why you would want to have staggered or adjustable polepieces. Fender explains:
“staggered polepieces help bring the volume of each individual string into balance so that one string or a couple strings aren’t disproportionally loud compared to the other strings. This is a sonic phenomenon that can and does happen, and depending on your ear for tone it can range from mildly noticeable to outright maddening”
To read more about this concept check out the article
. I adapted the photo above from hyperbros to highlight the polepieces with my super high tech green arrows.
- Gotta Strat? Wanna leave the world of relative obscurity behind for the fast paced and glitzy lifestyle of internet semi-fame? Head over to Me and My Strat, where they will post a picture of you and you gorgeous stratocaster.
- The Guitar Channel has a review of Robben Ford’s new album. If you’re looking to learn some Robben Ford style riffs you should check out our Altered Blues Licks lesson.
- Guitar Stuff brought our attention to a fantastic lesson by flatpicking great Brad Davis on double down up picking. The video starts off with a somewhat cheesy interview but later moves on to some truly valuable instruction. Take a look and see what you think.
Fender released their Wayne Kramer Signature Strat recently. Wayne Kramer was the founder of MC5 and supposedly used the flag painted Strat on their “Kick Out the Jams” among other tracks. Unfortunately I can’t find video of him actually playing guitar, though the video below contains several pictures and Wayne discussing the guitar.
