FENDER’s Justin Norvell Talks 70 Years of the STRAT!
Published on 14 June 2024
The Fender Stratocaster.
I can almost guarantee that everybody reading this has at least played one. You probably own one, don’t you? It’s a true classic, in the way hardly anything actually is anymore.
Massively copied, used with passion on at least half of the planet’s music (I can’t back that up) and looking as futuristic and stylish as it did back in 1954, the Fender Strat is more than an icon. It’s one of the great symbols of human life, like the bicycle, the knife ‘n’ fork and the pen.
We’re obviously mad about Strats here at guitarguitar, and on the event of its 70th birthday, I thought I’d try to reach out to Fender and see if anybody wanted to talk about the Strat to me. I don’t really know what my expectations were, but I have to admit to being pretty floored when none other than Justin Norvell agreed to a Zoom! That’s Justin ‘Executive Vice President Of Fender Products’ Norvell to you and I! There are very few people (like, one or two at the most) higher up in Fender’s food chain, so it was an honour and a privilege to click on the ‘start meeting’ button and record the interview below.
Justin Norvell Interview
Below, you’ll find the entire interview between myself and Justin, all on the subject of the Stratocaster. It’s past, present and future and all taken in as we navigate the old myths, the realities between different eras, and consider the avenues in which the Stratocaster can still travel in order to remain fresh.
What I got from the conversation is largely what you’d expect: that the Stratocaster is as vital a force in music today as it ever has been, and that Fender love it as much as everyone else. Click through for the whole video, and please join us here at guitarguitar as we yell a spirited ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’ to the world’s favourite guitar, the Fender Stratocaster.
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