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Most popular guitar gear in the 80's?


genesis3

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Quote Originally Posted by Psychotronic

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Yeah, there's always gonna be someone that says, "Wait a second! I was playing a Fender in the 80's in my country band!". Blah blah blah, you were the minority, get over it. There is no doubt that both Fender and Gibson got the {censored} kicked out of them for several years. Fender has SRV to thank for keeping them from going the way of the dodo Hell, even Jeff Beck was playing a Charvel in the 80's.

 

Here's the cover for the August 1987 Guitar Player:


M.GP1987-08.jpg


Some choice quotes:


- "Even 'Mr. 335' plays one. Even Gibson markets one. Even Martin . . . It's the favored design of $2,000 handmade solidbodies yet it's also at the top of the low-end heap . . . most session pros wouldn't dream of showing up on a date without one. It's everywhere, the undisputed Guitar of the '80's."


- "Never before has a single design dominated the electric guitar field . . ."


- "'It's overwhelming,' reports Bob Capel from Sam Ash Music on West 48th Street in New York City. 'Of the people coming into the store, at least 70 or 80% (emphasis theirs) want a Strat or Strat-styled guitar.'"


- "John Cannon, Guitar Center, Hollywood: 'Without a doubt, it's the most dominant guitar design of the '80's. More specifically, you need to divide the 80's into two parts - '80 to '85 then '85 to '87. Prior to '85, there was the Explorer, the Flying V, the Randy Rhoads-type Jackson - the wild shapes. Since '85 it's been nothing but Strats.'"


- "Prominent examples of Stratobilia include $24.95 actual-size guitar illustrations from NBT Guitars (NBT stands for "Next Best Thing") . . . one of the first guitars chosen for this process was a '59 Fiesta Red Stratocaster. Why? 'Because it's the de facto standard," says NBT's David Riddle. 'Our literature calls it the most popular electric guitar ever made. When people think of an electric guitar, they think of that shape.'



Between the Vaughans, Larry Carlton, Nile Rodgers, John Fogerty, Dave Murray, Robert Cray, Yngwie Malmsteen, David Gilmour, The Edge, Steve Miller, Jimmie Wilsey, Mark Knopfler, Eric Johnson, Richard Thompson, Eric Clapton, Trevor Rabin, Alex Lifeson, Ray Phiri and Carlos Alomar (just to name a few), I'd say the Strat was the most popular piece of music gear in the 1980's.

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I have to be honest, I didn't start listening to SRV until after his death and the first person I ever saw playing a straight up strat in the 80's was David Gilmour in the "Learning to Fly video." We do know this though. In the 80's both Fender and Gibson were struggling to stay in business because companies like Kramer, Charvel, Jackson and others were flourishing at the time and that's what the kids bought like it or not. I didn't know anybody who owned at strat until I was in high school and most of my friends owned Peavey Vandenbergs or so of the other knockoffs.

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Quote Originally Posted by sammyreynolds01

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I have to be honest, I didn't start listening to SRV until after his death and the first person I ever saw playing a straight up strat in the 80's was David Gilmour in the "Learning to Fly video." We do know this though. In the 80's both Fender and Gibson were struggling to stay in business because companies like Kramer, Charvel, Jackson and others were flourishing at the time and that's what the kids bought like it or not. I didn't know anybody who owned at strat until I was in high school and most of my friends owned Peavey Vandenbergs or so of the other knockoffs.

 

Just because not a lot of NEW Gibsons or Fenders were being sold doesn't mean that tons of 80s players weren't using Gibsons or Fenders. Just not NEW ones.
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Quote Originally Posted by sammyreynolds01

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I have to be honest, I didn't start listening to SRV until after his death and the first person I ever saw playing a straight up strat in the 80's was David Gilmour in the "Learning to Fly video." We do know this though. In the 80's both Fender and Gibson were struggling to stay in business because companies like Kramer, Charvel, Jackson and others were flourishing at the time and that's what the kids bought like it or not. I didn't know anybody who owned at strat until I was in high school and most of my friends owned Peavey Vandenbergs or so of the other knockoffs.

 

The plural of anecdote isn't data. wink.gif


Once Bill Schultz and his team bought Fender from CBS in 1985, the brand immediately kicked back into life. I've mentioned "Strat-mania," which made the Stratocaster *the* dominant guitar of the 1980's. Schecter, Ibanez, Jackson, G&L, Charvel and even Kramer were essentially making strat-style guitars.


Speaking of Kramer, I even remember seeing an ad for Kramer, claiming it was the #1 selling guitar brand for the second year in a row in both the $500 categories. In fact, here it is:


Handler.ashx?Item_ID=2C3A3804-9560-4D3B-


If you look at both lists, Fender is in the #2 spot. According to the competition, Fender didn't struggle in the mid-80's.

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Watch Decline of Western Civilization 2 and most are playing Les Pauls.


It really isn't surprising because most of those spandex clad rockers loved Jimmy Page and Marc Bolan.


A few LP Playing bands:


1- Hanoi Rocks

2- Seduce

3- Y&T

4- Cinderella

5- Guns and Roses (and if you don't think they're Glam rock you were not there)

6- Faster Pussycat

7- Enough Z Nuff

8- Jackyl

9- Kix

10- Def Lepard

11- Great White

12- Coverdale-Page (HAHAHA)

13- Kiss

14- Dio

15- Spinal Tap

16- Armored Saint

17- Badlands

18- Poison

19- Britney Fox

20- Randy Rhodes

21- Lizzie Grey (London)

22- Slaughter

23- Zack Wild

24- Tuff

25- Krokus

26- Helix

etc....


Proof:


LA Guns:

laguns3-lewis.jpg


Hanoi Rocks:

574052918_b21d420749.jpg?v=0


Seduce:

l_21a936436eb15c7ab8dabf7fcfd4bb19.jpg


Yesterday and Today (Y&T)

l_21a936436eb15c7ab8dabf7fcfd4bb19.jpg


Faster Pussycat:

faster_pussycat_17_05_03__14.jpg


Bullet Boys:

2110155393_2e270d4f7e.jpg?v=1197644575


Tesla:

Tesla%20Show%20012.jpg


Nelson:

051801.jpg


Enuf Z Nuff:


enuff13.jpg

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