If the Fender Stratocaster is such a perfect design, why – wonders Dave Burrluck – is there a whole industry of aftermarket parts and pickups to improve it?

Michael Watts explores solutions to the challenge of amplifying acoustic guitars over the decades – are we nearly there yet?

Let’s whip off those ’plates and take a look inside

AN ESSENTIAL TECHNIQUE all electric guitarists should strive to master is the art of string bending, which can be used to create personally expressive, vocal-like sounds in unique ways. String bending

As work continues, we get to hear the guitar for the first time in months

Two new lower-end, similarly priced Stratocasters cater for both vintage and more modern tastes and blur the line between Fender’s USA and Mexican manufacturing. Which one has your name on it?