Stratocaster has been the first Fender guitar to use volume and tone knobs and pickup covers in plastic. These accessories are often wrongly associated with bakelite (rather dark in color), but actually the material used in the first Stratocasters was the polystyrene, a rigid but so fragile thermoplastic polymer that in March 1957 Fender began to replace it with ABS (acrilonitrile butadiene stirene), a plastic that had a tendency to darken or slightly yellow over time.
The very first polystyrene plastics used by Fender were translucent, so that sometimes you could see the coils through the pickup covers, and had rounded edges. They were particularly brittle, reason why Fender began to use another type of polystyrene, white but opaque. But even this was not resistant and, like the first ones, had a tendency to break in although knobs and covers were new! For this reason Fender, already in 1955, supplied its customers with new knobs and covers, made of the second type of polystyrene, the opaque one, but this time they were built with a new mold that gave the edges of the pickups and knobs a clean look, not rounded. Finally, the new plastics were more resistant.
The volume and tone knobs of the new Stratocasters of 1954, made with the first mold, are called short skirt (or, sometimes, "tall boy"), because the flared edge on which the numbers were imprinted was narrower than that on the knobs of the Stratocasters made since the end of the same year, built with the second mold, called long skirt, shorter and with a wider edge and on which the numbers were more visible.
The numbers engraved on the knobs were colored with the same golden ink used for the logo decal; however, over time, the ink could oxidize, turning green and sometimes disappear. With the exception of the '54 short skirts, which had no rays at the bottom, the tone and volume knobs had only three rays until the '70s; only later they became four and the font used for writing and numbers also changed, becoming slightly larger.
The very first polystyrene plastics used by Fender were translucent, so that sometimes you could see the coils through the pickup covers, and had rounded edges. They were particularly brittle, reason why Fender began to use another type of polystyrene, white but opaque. But even this was not resistant and, like the first ones, had a tendency to break in although knobs and covers were new! For this reason Fender, already in 1955, supplied its customers with new knobs and covers, made of the second type of polystyrene, the opaque one, but this time they were built with a new mold that gave the edges of the pickups and knobs a clean look, not rounded. Finally, the new plastics were more resistant.
The volume and tone knobs of the new Stratocasters of 1954, made with the first mold, are called short skirt (or, sometimes, "tall boy"), because the flared edge on which the numbers were imprinted was narrower than that on the knobs of the Stratocasters made since the end of the same year, built with the second mold, called long skirt, shorter and with a wider edge and on which the numbers were more visible.
The numbers engraved on the knobs were colored with the same golden ink used for the logo decal; however, over time, the ink could oxidize, turning green and sometimes disappear. With the exception of the '54 short skirts, which had no rays at the bottom, the tone and volume knobs had only three rays until the '70s; only later they became four and the font used for writing and numbers also changed, becoming slightly larger.
1954 tone knob
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1954 rounded edges pickup cover
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1956 knobs
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In 1975 Fender began to use the black color for all the plastic accessories of the Stratocasters; since the following year to the end of 1981, this had become the standard color and it had been used also in many Stratocasters of 1981 with white pickguard.
Later, with the 1981 Stratocaster Standard, also known as “Smith Strat”, the plastics could be black or white according to the instrument finish. The new 1983 Stratocaster Standard, known as “2 knobs”, instead, had always white plastics.
Later, with the 1981 Stratocaster Standard, also known as “Smith Strat”, the plastics could be black or white according to the instrument finish. The new 1983 Stratocaster Standard, known as “2 knobs”, instead, had always white plastics.
At the end of CBS management Fender made also some special Stratocasters, as the Strat of 1980, that had brass knobs, or the Elite of 1983, whose knobs had a rubber insert and a “F” printed on the back and whose pickup covers lacked pole holes.
Stratocaster Elite and its knobs and pickup covers
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The brass knobs of the Strat
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