1965 Fender Stratocaster

Since 1954, the Fender Stratocaster has set the bar for the electric guitar. Versatile and expressive—but originally conceived as an affordable, workingman's instrument—the Stratocaster has become ubiquitous across all genres of music as a Swiss-army-knife guitar. By the mid-'60s, the Stratocaster very clearly resembled the 1954 original, except each one had an Alder body (instead of some that were Ash) and a fine Rosewood veneer fingerboard instead of plain Maple. There were also some minor cosmetic changes such as a three-ply plastic pickguard and a 3-tone sunburst that showed red in between the yellow and black. But in many ways, the Stratocaster design needed little tweaking to deliver the tones and inspiration musicians needed. While the Stratocaster remained much the same, 1965 saw huge changes for the Fender company as a whole. On January 4, 1965, Leo Fender sold ownership of the company to CBS. As the new ownership sought to increase production and maximize profits, there is a