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. "It's an American rock 'n' roll icon. There is no more recognizable guitar in contemporary music than the Strat". Marshall amps have defined the sound of rock for a generation, boasting such notable users as Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Ritchie Blackmore, and Jimmy Page. Guitar. Jose Rodriguez blows on a Fender Stratocaster guitar body to remove wood dust as he does the final sanding work before sending the bodies to the paint shop, at the Fender manufacturing facility. Always in demand, the Strat has to be one of the most popular collectors' items. When I started, even though it was still a relatively expensive guitar, it was still within the price range of most collectors and/or players who were looking for something to keep into their old age. 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. Guitar.