Drug Rehab – Stay Away From Drugs And Alcohol

A selection of top guitar players who use Fender Strats

The almighty Fender Stratocaster- the guitar most people think of when they hear the word ‘guitars‘. A mainstay in the music industry since its invention, and will continue to be for a long time. Lets talk about some of the players who helped ensure the guitar went into legend.

• Iron Maiden. All three members of Iron Maiden have at one time or another played with a Fender Stratocaster. Other than Steve Harris, Dave Murray is the only other founding member of Iron Maiden that is still with the band. He used Paul Kosoff of the band ‘Free’s guitar up until 1990 when he switched to his signature series model. Murray has his own signature model with Seymour Duncan pickups and Floyd rose system on it -both a rarity for a Fender guitar, let alone a Strat. Murray’s guitar partner in Maiden Janick Gers also favours the strat and Adrain Smith, although usually photographed with many different guitars also plays Strats.
• Eric Clapton. Ol’ ‘slow hands’ as hes known, has played as many guitars as most people have had hot dinners, using everything from a Gibson Les Paul from his days in Cream and a Telecaster when he was in the Yardbirds. Clapton is mostly known for playing a Fender Strat called ‘Blackie’, which was used until the guitar was ‘retired’ in 1985. ‘Blackie’ was sold at auction to raise funds for the ‘Crossroads’ rehab centre and the guitar was sold for just under a million dollars. Clapton made the switch to Strats in 1969, and hasnt looked back since.
• Jimi Hendrix. Jimi is considered the greatest guitar player ever after changing the way we use a electric guitar. Hendrix took to playing Strats in 1966, using them for recordings and gigs. Similar to Eric Clapton, he tried out many different guitars before settling on a Fender Strat. Hendrix was left handed and took to stringing the guitars in reverse order and playing them upside down, as left handed guitars cost more and were difficult to find. Clapton’s present for Jimi’s birthday was to be a left handed Stratocaster, which sadly, Jimi never got, dying of an overdose before his birthday. he 1969 Monterey international pop festival performance.

After a Fender guitar now? Visit these guys.

CrossRoads Antigua