This issue's All About Guitars columnist, Michael Rootes, is a bedroom guitar player. He likes loud amps, light strings, and fast solos. Rootsey cherishes melodic rock and heavy metal - Van Halen, Ronnie James Dio, Steve Vai, Judas Priest - get the picture? Occasionally (and necessarily Jack-induced) he'll pick up an acoustic guitar and attempt to demonstrate his metal, shredding style of playing. Of course, that demo results in bloody and blistered fingers, so he typically only makes that mistake once or twice a decade. No, Rootsey is an electric guitar junkie. A fan of South Park and The Simpsons. The kind of person who hangs out at Utopia waiting for the doors to open. He knows the entire script of Star Wars by heart. He's crazy and unique. But, if he can hit the deadline, we think you'll enjoy his banter....
Hi All! This month let's take a look at style of guitars that have found their "appeal becoming more selective" over the last 10 years or so. These guitars have traditionally gone by several names, but the most common of all being the SUPERSTRAT or HOT RODDED STRAT. Fortunately for those players that love these guitars their popularity is once again on the increase.
Quick History Lesson (Rockumentery ... if you will)
Towards the end of the 70's one snotty nosed kid from Pasadena Los Angeles with a modified Marshall amp was playing backyard parties and not only about to make the greatest step forward in guitar playing techniques since Jimi Hendrix but at the same time revolutionize the way guitars would be manufactured like no other before or since.
Yeah , you got it, Donnie Osmond. Doh..... no of course it was Eddie Van Halen.
The 70's produced some amazing hard rock players and bands (Zeppelin - Jimmy Page, Deep Purple/Rainbow - Ritchie Blackmore, Black Sabbath - Tony Iommi) but it was Eddie with the release of the album Van Halen I who shot the bar by which guitar players would be judged to the stratosphere. No longer was a good song enough but amazing technique and virtuosity was a pre-requisite for any 80's guitar player. The virtuoso player was born and the sales of guitars worldwide for the next decade was to reach unprecedented heights.
Enough Ancient History ... What the Hell is a Superstrat?
I'm glad you asked. Let's take a look at the shredders arsenal.
Believe it or not the Superstrat is based on the Fender Stratocaster (bet that shocked you, well maybe not so much). It's a solid body guitar, most commonly made from Basswood / Alder / or Mahogany. The top of the body (the bit you see) is quite often a maple cap. The scale length is most commonly 25.5". Ok, Ok ... I've just described a Fender Strat (I know.... but stick with me, 'cause here come the differences).
The Differences .... I love the differences !!!
Frets: The normal 21 frets on the Stratocaster have now been extended to the full 2 octaves (24 frets). The reason is simple... you can't make heavy metal faces with 21 frets. It's only above 21 frets that those truly ugly orgasmic guitar solo faces can be made. Notes that only dogs can hear happen above the 21st fret on the E string. Also the individual frets themselves are larger and taller than usual. These are known as jumbo frets and allow for easier string bending and fretting at high speed.
Extended Cutaways: This simply means scooping the wood on the guitars body out higher up the neck, so for you acoustic players (you poor bastards) the wood is up around the 12th to 14th fret, but for all the metal gods out there you have at least 21 or 22 frets wood free... woo hoo to us!! This facilitates higher access to the neck for those solos that scream louder than a horny angel whose wings are burning to dust.
The other advantage of the neck thru is that the heel where a bolt on neck meets the body is removed. This once again facilitates easier access to the higher frets.
Bolt on Necks: These are also common on Superstrats and it's a regular debate between guitar players which is better, bolt on or neck through. Don't even get me started on set glued in necks cause that just complicates the issue. Set necks are most common on Gibson Les Pauls, but that's for a different article.
High Output Humbuckers: Humbucking pickups in the bridge position are an absolute must. Traditional Stratocasters have a single coil pickup in this position but almost without exception the Superstrat has a humbucking pickup in the bridge position. The aim being to increase the output and punch of the sound of the guitar. This is essential for high gain distorted rhythm playing. The neck position pickups are not as strict, you can choose between guitars that have either a single coil or humbucker in this position. Middle position pickups are optional, but if chosen are usually single coil. Where the traditional Stratocaster has passive pickup circuitry quite often the Superstrat player will opt for Active pickups. Active pickups have their own power supply, normally a 9 volt battery loaded in to the back of the guitar. There is a difference in tonal style between the passive and active. There is no right or wrong here, just personal preference. Check out both types and see what suits you.
Double Locking Tremolo Systems: The most popular version of the double locking tremolo system is the Floyd Rose (named after the inventor). Now this tool was a major breakthrough. Traditional Fender temolo bridges are nice but if you grab the tremolo bar and aggressively tear into some vibrato work your strings go out of tune very quickly. The more aggessive you are with the tremolo the quicker the tuning is GOOONNNE!! Listen to almost any Live Jimi Hendrix recording where he is doing some wild playing and Whoa!! Out of tune is an understatement. The traditional Fender tremolo was never designed with "Divebombs" in mind.
Enter the Floyd Rose System. The simple idea with the Floyd is that you clamp off the strings at the 2 places where they have the most potential for slipping and therefore going out of tune. Each of the 6 strings inserted into the bridge behind the saddles and then clamped off by tightening an allan key for each string. Essentially locking each string in a vice. The 2nd clamp is at the nut at the top of the neck. By locking the strings off in these 2 positions it essentially eliminates string slip at te bridge and nut. It provides more stable tuning and therefore allows for crazy tremolo antics. (Which metal players love!)
Floating (Recessed) Tremolo: The other main advantage of the Floyd Rose system is that is essentially "floats" on 2 screws mounted to the body of the guitar. Most Superstrats have the wood under the back of the bridge routed out so that the tremolo arm can not only be pushed down (flattening the tone) but also pulled up (sharpening the tone). Once again allowing the player to extend the range of notes using the tremolo.
Aesthetics: Now this is vital on all guitars, they have gotta look cool. Well of all the styles of guitars out there, in my opinion the Superstrats look the coolest!! These monsters are the Ferrari's of the guitar playing world. They look fast and aggressive, some with outrageous custom paint jobs, others with pointy bodies and headstocks.
The Bottom Line
After the huge commercial success of the first Van Halen album it seemed almost every guitar player in the world dabbled in customising their traditional guitars with some or most of the stylings mentioned above (As pioneered by Eddie). It wasn't long before the manufacturers caught up and some smaller brands that came rocketing to the forefront of guitar sales worldwide. Brands like Ibanez, Jackson, Kramer, and Charvel became the standard for the next decade. As mentioned, the Superstrat has never gone away and is currently having a resurgence.... go and get your hands on one, get out there and rock. Hell ... who doesn't want a Ferrari?
All photographs used by permission.
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