"It's an American rock 'n' roll icon. There is no more recognizable guitar in contemporary music than the Strat". The Stratocaster was first produced in early 1954 by Los Angeles engineer Leo Fender, who had tinkered with improving amplified hollow-body instruments since the 1940s. I saw this guitar at my local music store. Asking the "manager" if I could look at it I already knew it would be mine. It was used, of course, so I only had to pay £250 for it. He so improved the clarity of the amplified vibrating string that he gave almost every style of music played on the guitar a means to sound better. For five decades, finicky musicians made pilgrimages to Leo's R&D labs to discuss their musical frustrations and seek better ways for guitars to function. Acoustic Electric Guitar Learn. Introduced in 1954 and now recognized as the best electric guitar ever designed, Leo Fender's Stratocaster is one of the 20th century's most influential inventions. Hendrix is known to have owned and played approximately 32 Strats, as guitarists fondly call them. Tying for distant second place are two Gibson models, the Flying V and the SG, of which Hendrix owned two each. I’m sure the new Stevie Ray Vaughn Tribute Strat will be a great success, and we have already had several people asking for more information. There is only one thing I don't like about it and that's the frets. I believe it currently has Mediums, or Medium Jumbo, I'm not too sure on that. I would like to upgrade to Jumbos or however large I can get them. Acoustic Electric Guitar Learn.