The "Super" Strat
The late 70's and early 80's were a heady time. Once Eddie exploded on the scene with his FrankenStrat, build from parts sold by Wayne Charvel, and the concept of the Super Strat was born
When Leo Fender and his Fender Instruments company introduced the iconic "Stratocaster" in 1954, few would have predicted how it would dominate the guitar market for generations.
Fender's dream was to mass product guitars, make them consistently, and make them affordable for everyday players. Where established players like Gibson had complicated designs with set necks, and a lot of hand work to finish, Fender looked to make the manufacturing process easier, and more consistent. Designs like the bolt on neck, long considered inferior, were perfected, and instead of a cumbersome fret work, he envisioned and implemented tools to make it easier to set and adjust frets.
These are just some of the innovations that Fender kicked off, and they rose to prominence in the 50's and 60's, where anyone who was anyone in music played them. Hendrix, Beck, Blackmore, and others leveraged the platform of the Stratocaster to great effect.
Along the way, Fender made many structural changes, improved the electronics, made the tremolo system more stable, and altered the neck shape, all to adjust to the needs of the markets. The iconic Stratocaster remained the go to axe for many wielders, as the psychedelic 60's morphed into the classic 70's and players like David Gilmour typified the variety of sounds and tones that came out of their fingers, through their Stratocasters, and onto albums that fans greedily snatched up to listen to.
Then came the rise of hard rock, and metal in the late 70's and early 1980's. A harder edge, more virtuosity, more infusion with classical motifs and thus the guitars that had powered the prior generations became barriers to some/many of the new techniques. When Eddie van Halen blew the doors off the world, his "Frankenstrat" was a marvel. In it, he took routers and carved it up, making floating tremolos, and likely some custom necks.
The guitar world was well and truly rocked. Rocked like a hurricane, so to speak.
As the next generation of players came into their own, the demands on the Stratocaster platform grew, and a niche was born. The "Super Strat" became a whispered thing.
Enter the Super Strat
While not many people had the creativity and genius of Eddie, who could take a Sears router to a body, bolt on a neck, and fiddle with the setup to get a sound and playability they liked, there was a desire to have that same envelope in a guitar.
Up sprung small makers, who would take a real Fender Stratocaster body, rout it for a then-new Floyd Rose locking, full-floating tremolo, bolt on a thin, **flat** neck, and set the string action to ridiculously low levels, all in a quest for speed, dexterity, and what was to become known as "shred".
Players like Steve Vai, with his original Green Meany guitar, Yngwie Malmsteen (who had a highly customized Fender Strat with a scalloped fretboard) and follow on players like Tony MacAlpine, Vinnie Moore, Joe Satriani, Joe Stump, and Paul Gilbert brought shredding to the forefront, and many of them played guitars made either by small makers, or by the majors (Ibanez was heavily invested in this genre) tailored to the needs of this generation of players.
The Super Strat was born. Of course, none of them called their guitars "Strat", as Fender was (rightfully) jealously guarding their trademarks. So they were called the S type, or other cute names. Many had no pick guards, just naked finishes. At the high end were custom makers like Suhr, and Anderson Guitarworks. At the midrange were makers like Charvel and Jackson, and just about every custom luthier had their variant available to cater to this growing cohort of discerning players.
One of the early players
Charvel was a shop in southern California (in San Dimas) where Greg Charvel took real Stratocasters, bolted on custom necks, added full floating tremolos and hot rodded electronics to make a killer guitar.
Word is he was behind the Steve Vai Green Meany, and that success bloomed. He sold the designs, and the company went on to specialize in guitars tailored well to the modern metal player.
My first Super Strat was a 1986 vintage "Made in Japan" Charvel Model 4. It had the best neck I have ever played, a Kahler tremolo (far less temperamental to setup than the Floyd Rose), and active "Jackson" Electronics, (Humbucker, Single, Single configuration). I literally played the hell out of that guitar, finally selling it for a pittance when we moved away from Tucson (I thinned my collection from 7 to 4 at that time).
I really miss that guitar. It was a perfect combination of play-ability, flexible sound, and when coupled with my GK250ML amp, had the ultimate hair-metal tone that dominated the 1980's.
Summary
Fender began the revolution with the mass produced, quality guitar, and that iconic body shape has been copied and extended by many great marquees over the years. Many of the copies taking the original style to soaring new heights, or to grittier neighborhoods, and in general dominating the world.
Solid body, stable tremolo, clean electronics, bolt on neck, and an instantly recognizable form factor continue to power the evolution of the original.