ELECTRICIZED

Fender Strat Plus

1987-1999
Alder or Ash / Maple / Maple or Rosewood

By many considered one of Fender’s finest, the Plus series was released and introduced a lot of new props. It was the first Strats to featured Gold Lace Sensor pickups as well as locking tuners. Those pickups were appreciated for keeping a 50s feel, but without the hum. Hear it

Fender Precision Bass Plus

1989-1993
Alder or Ash, Maple, Rosewood

Nicknamed “Boner P-Bass” because of its elongated horn, it is one of the first 22 frets american made bass. Two Lace sensor pickups (one Jazz + one precision). Hear it

Fender Hellecasters Jerry Donahue

1997-1998
Alder, Maple

Fender has honored each of the three member of the Hellecasters band with a signature stratocaster Fender. Jerry Donahue is a Telecaster player, so he “telifyed’ his MIJ signature strat by requesting a metal plate under the bridge pickup. Overall this rarebird (450 made) is considered very well crafted guitar and simply sounds fantastic.

Photo by Cliffsjam

Gibson Grabber

1973-1983
Maple, Alder

Released at the same time as the Gibson Ripper, the Gibson Grabber broke even more the EB series mold.

The Grabber was Maple head to toe up until 1975, when the body got swapped with Alder. Same headstock as on the Flying V.

A single pickup, modular, could be easily moved to a neck or bridge position. In parts due to the wood choice, Its tone is brighter than what you could expect from a Gibson humbucker. Hear it

A limited edition re-run was produced in 2009.

Gibson Ripper

1973-1983
Maple, Alder, Ebony

Gibson EB bass series was very popular, but getting old. They freshened up in 1973 with the release of two basses that would clash with the Gibson tradition: The Gibson Grabber and the Gibson Ripper.

Instead of the Mahogany body, the Ripper was built with Maple (and alder in 1975), woods usually found on a Fender Production line. The bass was kept at low cost by keeping it cosmetically basic. In 2009, Gibson released a limited edition reissue called the Gibson Ripper II.

Photo: BCR Music

Casio PG-380

1987- Early 1990s
Alder, Maple, Ebony

Before Casio came into play, Roland had no real competiton in the Midi guitar market. A total of five models were made by the japanese brand, all at the famous Fuji-Gen factory were Fender and Ibanez models were also produced.

The Casio PG-380 established Casio’s superiority over Roland. Like all the other Casio models, the PG-380 is a superstrat stuffed with loads of electronics; so many in fact the designers had to give up the contoured ‘beer gut’ typical to the stratocaster body. Hear some bits

Fender Wallpaper Telecaster

1968-1969
Alder, Maple

Fender wanted to give the Telecaster a popularity boost among the then important Hippie community. To do so, Leo issued two Telecaster models with a psychedelic touch. One had a blue floral pattern, the other one a pink paisley. That cheap move didn’t convey enough flower power to pump up the sales and the production of the nicknamed ‘Wallpaper’ telecaster got stopped a year after its introduction.

It took a rockabilly guitarist to immortalize the model — Well not any rockabilly guitarist, we’re talking about the Master of the Telecaster, James Burton. Since Burton brought the Pink Paisley to fame, several reissues of that telly have been produced in the last two decades. Hear Burton make it swing.

If you can afford it, it’s for sale

Hallmark Sweptwing

1965-1967
Alder, Maple, Rosewood

Sweptwing were revived along with the Hallmark brand in 2004. But if you want the real deal, you’ll have to be on the lookout for one of the few sweptwings that were made by Joe Hall at the time (around 100). Since Hall was a former Mosrite employee, a few Mosritish features such as zero-fret were common to those guitars.

Fender Bass VI

1961 — 1975
Alder, Maple, Rosewood

Don’t be mistaken, despite all appearances this is not a Jaguar, its is a six string bass. Although not as popular as the Fender precision, the VI got adopted by a bunch of well known bass players (John Entwistle, Noel Redding…). A 2006 Custom shop version was also released. Hear it play

Fender Vintage Hot Rod ‘62 Stratocaster

Circa 2009 - Present.
Alder, Maple, Rosewood, gorgeous olympic white.

Fender John Jorgenson Stratocaster

1997-1998
Alder, Maple, Rosewood

One out of three Hellecasters signature models. 500 made. 3 seymour duncan split pickups for the highest output. Jorgensen asked the guitar to have a 60s reversed headstock. Result is a strange Hendrix-flavored glittered powerhouse.