THE STRAT
The hottest Strat players in the world right now – from H.E.R. to Idles and beyond…
As Fender celebrates the 70th anniversary of the Stratocaster, a wide-ranging generation of modern players are putting its tonal versatility through its paces like never before. Regardless of who picks one up and what they do with it, the Strat continues to excel in every environment.
Super Bowl LVIII proved high-class entertainment on and o the pitch, and H.E.R’s classy halftime show solo was right at the heart of it. The rst black female artist to be bestowed with a signature Stratocaster in 2020, her satin-smooth R&B playing has been turning heads for nearly a decade.
The Californian musician has cited watching Prince and Lenny Kravit music videos growing up as life-a rming moments, and speaking to TotalGuitarin 2020, she explained how her soloing style is as inspired by vocalists as much as blues greats. “I like to play my guitar like I’m singing, so I go for melodies that might feel a bit closer to what a singer would do, as opposed to a guitar player,” she said. “Sometimes, I like to sing and play my solos at the same time, even harmonising my voice with my guitar.”
With that comes a love for minimalism where, though she can shred her fretboard alight, feel vastly outweighs acrobatics. “Everything I do is based on the pentatonic scales,” she explained. “I grew up listening to B.B. King, Albert King and John Lee Hooker. I do like to get melodic and do a little bit of fancy stu , but all the feeling I nd is in the blues. I like making people feel something with just one note.”
Since 2020, she has enjoyed three variants of her signature, Vintage Noiseless pickups-stocked Stratocaster, and she hopes it can be a tool to inspire. “This is my expression,” she said at the time of its launch. “I think it will inspire a lot of young black girls –and actually a lot of young girls in general –to pick up the guitar, which is something we don’t see enough of.”
Fellow Californian Steve Lacy is another Strat-lover rooted in the R&B aesthetic. The magic of single-coils really shines through his clean, chimy tones to the point where you can hear his pick hit the strings. It gives his chord-focused playing a personable charm across songs where his Strat brings colourful texture so his storytelling vocals can thrive. Lacy is a terri c example of how guitarists don’t always need to be ashy to impress.
Angel Olson takes a similar approach in using raw guitars as storytelling vehicles. The singer-songwriter’s music is lled with energy and angst, her tones typically sandpaper-smooth for that ‘amp that’s fallen o a back of a truck’ vibe where it’s not so much about ri s as it is the atmosphere they create. Her playing can feel vulnerable on songs such as Unfucktheworld, or furious and frenzied, like the
