3 of the Greatest Guitarists Who Ever Shredded With a Fender Stratocaster

There’s nothing quite like the classic Fender Stratocaster. Plenty of Fender guitars have gone on to make history, but there’s something about this particular series of electric axes that so many rock stars through the years have loved. And that includes the following three guitarists, each of whom has or had a lot of love for the Strat.

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Please keep in mind that this list isn’t exhaustive. There are a lot of incredible guitarists who have taken advantage of the power of the humble Fender Stratocaster.

David Gilmour

Pink Floyd’s legendary guitarist, David Gilmour, joined the band way back in 1968. He joined the band with his Strat in tow, and he would go on to use the guitar for years. You can hear it yourself in “Comfortably Numb”, among many other tunes from the band. Gilmour used a black Stratocaster for most of Pink Floyd’s concerts and on every album from the 1970s to around 1983. The guitarist also owns a vintage 1954 version of the Strat, and it is believed that this particular model predated the Strat’s original commercial release. That’s a serious fan, I must say.

George Harrison

Any fan of George Harrison knows the blue Strat named “Rocky” all too well. Harrison got his hands on the guitar in 1965, and there is some footage out there of John Lennon on that particular guitar as well. You can hear Harrison plucking away on Rocky on albums like Rubber Soul and Revolver. The guitar was apparently his go-to during The Beatles’ psychedelic era.

Speaking of the “psychedelic era,” in 1967, Harrison decided to get crafty and change up the look of the guitar. He painted it a whole host of magical colors, and he continued to use Rocky for years after the Fab Four called it quits.

Buddy Holly

You know a guitar is good when the old heads were using it. Buddy Holly, considered one of the progenitors of rock and roll music as we know it, used a Fender Stratocaster for most of his work with The Crickets. In fact, few musicians at the time were using the guitar, meaning Holly essentially made it popular among mainstream musicians.

Holly bought his first Strat early on in his career, a 1954 version that was sadly stolen in 1957. He quickly replaced it with another Strat, a model from 1957. He would own (allegedly) five Strats before his untimely death in 1959.

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