Fender Stratocaster - buy sell and learn about vintage and
collectible Fender Stratocasters  How Guitar Pickups Work  by
Tom Watson  No matter how visually attractive a particular
Stratocaster may be, the heart of the instrument will always be
the nature and the quality of sound it produces. We don't admire
the guitar greats for the beauty of the guitars they played. We
admire them for the timeless textures of sound they were able to
produce.  The Stratocaster is a superb marriage of art and
science. The visual art of the Strat appeals to the eye while
invisible science helps account for the tones which please the
ear. But we can only say "helps" because the ability of the
individual player contributes to the production of tone in
significant and unquantifiable ways.  A number of scientific
fields are called upon in the creation of a Fender Stratocaster,
but probably none so central to the production of potentially
artistic tone than the sciences involved in the construction of
a Stratocaster's pickups. Here'