DuoSonicBoy wrote:If strats were originally MDF, we'd all be arguing about what type of MDF sounded the best.
completely true.
yea, there is no "good" or "bad" with woods, it just sounds different. it just depends on what you want.
but the counter argument to this would be that strats were only popular because of how (and of what) they were made. you could say that if they had been MDF they wouldn't have been as popular. It just depends on what you think made them popular.
I believe what made the Fender guitar popular more than the sound they made(undeniably a factor) was the durability and how easy it was to set-up and repair.
Fender's guitars were also very bright sounding in a day when most amps were very dark. That extra clarity made them popular. They were also half the price of a Gibson.
We also can't underestimate how big an advance Fender's PUPs were. Back then, most pickups were very wide and would easily amplify a click any time you touched or tapped them. The compact pickup was important because you could then get more pickups on an instrument without sacrificing comfort.
Also, the Strat wasn't always popular. There was a "hollow-body boom" in the early 60s fueled by the British invasion. Most English kids couldn't afford amplifiers of their own, so hollow-bodies became very popular with them. Fender was considering discontinuing the Strat in 1965 and 66. Then Hendrix happened.
So even the guitars we consider important weren't always regarded as such.
Same thing with the Les Paul which was discontinued and saved by Eric Clapton(he was inspired by Freddie King). I think Gibsons sound way better than Fenders I think even back then people thought this. Jimi did indeed revive The Strat in a mainstream way but he got that from Westside Chicago Blues where among the younger players in Chicago i.e. Otis Rush and Budy Guy that was the guitar to play. But it would have come back from the British Rock guitarist who loved Strats & Teles and Westside Blues and never cared for Jaguars and Jazzmasters for the most part.
I once read where Jeff Beck was excited to come to America and see and buy Fenders and all the American bands had offsets and he was considered out of vogue with his Esquire. Eric Calpton made 'blackie' out of Strats he picked up in Nashville for nothing prices and he bought a pile and gave some away to his buddies like Stevie Winwood.
