British Guitarists and the Strat

Some of you might know more about this than I do, but in the late 50s and early 60s, Strats were rare-ish in the UK. And they were expensive for the average player. Clapton and Harrison both had wanted one.

Buddy Holly was huge there, and the Strat was revered because of it. Hank Marvin of The Shadows too.

EDIT: I swear I read this in an interview with him in a German magazine in the 80s. But I just read another interview in which he says first Charley Patton. Then he saw Ry Cooder, and that's where the Strat comes from.

One of my fave bits of history is from Chris Rea. He said when he was a teenager, he went to some western movie that had someone playing a slide guitar. He delved into Charlie Patton and the great blues slide players. After he saw Ry Cooder playing a Strat in concert, he bought one, and his Strat and slide have become his trademark. It's too bad he's relatively unknown in the US. He's a great singer and songwriter. His slide playing is unique and melodic as well as bluesy.

British guitarist and Strat? Look no further than Richard Thompson (ex Fairport Convention, Richard & Linda Thompson, The GP's, etc.). A uniquely gifted player on any guitar (including acoustics), his Fender work is stunning. For anyone who thinks you can't get great tone from lighter gauge strings need to give him a listen (he kills it with 8's).

Well there's the small matter of Rory Gallagher and Wishbone Ash's Ted Turner. Steve Winwood and Dave Mason were also known to sling a Strat whenever the occasion suited them.

Well, I must be amongst the few who knew the name Chris Rea. Thanks for the memories.

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Originally Posted by architar

British guitarist and Strat? Look no further than Richard Thompson (ex Fairport Convention, Richard & Linda Thompson, The GP's, etc.). A uniquely gifted player on any guitar (including acoustics), his Fender work is stunning. For anyone who thinks you can't get great tone from lighter gauge strings need to give him a listen (he kills it with 8's).

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Man! Absolutely! Richard Thompson is a very talented guy, and I have a couple of his CDs--haven't listened to them in 20 years, so thanks for reminding me.

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Originally Posted by phantomman

Well there's the small matter of Rory Gallagher and Wishbone Ash's Ted Turner. Steve Winwood and Dave Mason were also known to sling a Strat whenever the occasion suited them.

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Worthy wielders of the Strat, for sure. One of the first albums I bought was Rory G's Irish Tour album--lost somehow among international moves. One of the first songs I learned okay enough to sing along was "Too Much Alcohol." Rory was a very cool guy, and it's tragic that he's not here to show folks how a Strat can be played.

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Originally Posted by DanTheBluesMan

Well, I must be amongst the few who knew the name Chris Rea. Thanks for the memories.

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Here ya go, Dan.

Remember when people wore the case candy Fender straps? in the mid-late 90s, I saw so many guitarists using them, and I did too, until I started on a strap spending spree (say that three time and repeat).

https://youtu.be/rOimUM_sA0Q

I enjoyed that! Thanks.

Albert Lee.

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Originally Posted by ch willie

Here ya go, Dan.

Remember when people wore the case candy Fender straps? in the mid-late 90s, I saw so many guitarists using them, and I did too, until I started on a strap spending spree (say that three time and repeat).

https://youtu.be/rOimUM_sA0Q

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I can only imagine the heights he and Duane Allman could've gone too had they ever had the chance to meet and play together. Thanks for introducing me to this guy. Time to have a deep listen. :sign11:

I'd forgotten that a lot of folks in North America might remember him for "Fool if You Think It's Over".


https://youtu.be/3aZBqrHs4qo

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Originally Posted by anchorsaweigh

Albert Lee.

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I got really lucky once when in the late 90s, Albert Lee's show in Nürnberg was cancelled, and he knew someone in Bayreuth. He brought his band, and they played at a small club at which my band often played. There were 15 of us in the audience, and Albert Lee was on fire. He chatted with us during breaks. We didn't have the time or right circumstances to pump him for memories and info, but he was a super nice guy. What a great player.

Knopfler, Gilmour and Townshend.

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Originally Posted by architar

British guitarist and Strat?

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Of course, there's always THIS obscure British bloke, from an equally vaguely obscure band...



https://i.redd.it/rkq21f6cs6051.jpg



https://images.equipboard.com/upload...ig_XR3OOpw.jpg



https://images.equipboard.com/upload...t_white_01.jpg

Yes on Jimmy Page!!!!!

The iconic pics of him playing a Les Paul makes me forget that he played Teles and Strats too, according to the album.


In that way, I could mention Pete Townshend too.

OK, thread drift... It happens. :smile:

One need only look at Fender's Artist Signature series to note the British Strat players. Two of my favorites:

http://www.watersish.com/media/yellow_444.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pr...ZjK3uCCiZBdStg

I love how much that whole generation of Clapton, Beck, Page, Albert Lee--they all talk about Hank Marvin's red Strat and about Elvis: those two influenced British rock as much as "real" straight blues did.

I mentioned Beck and Clapton because while they played other guitars throughout their careers, they seem have "settled" on the Strat as their guitar of choice. Gilmour is another who comes to mind.

I was listening to Rainbow and Deep Purple last night, Blackmore era for both. Granted, one of the albums was his 335 but the rest were Strats. Good lord but that guy had some slamming sounds. It was quite frustrating being a newbie with a piece of crap Stratocaster and but a Princeton Reverb trying to cop that monster tone. The PR is not a bad amp, but it sure as eff wasn't a Marshall, no matter how many pedals I tried through it. The poor original speaker was fried by my attempts to capture that thunder.