Fender Showmaster

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The Fender Showmaster is a model of electric guitar made by Fender, and is characteristic of a superstrat.

[edit] History

During the 1980s, superstrats were becoming popular amongst the many hard rock and metal guitarists, who needed the modifications to suit their individual playing styles. Soon, many guitar manufacturers began producing instruments with these modifications as standard. Most notable were the manufacturers Ibanez, Jackson/Charvel, Carvin and Yamaha (the company Bill Schultz started at before his tenure as the current FMIC Chrmn/CEO). However, Fender itself had limited success thereabout. This was partially due to Fender's previous CBS ownership, which caused a drastic loss in Fender's quality and market share. Fender had already made several attempts at the superstrat market, with models such as the Performer, HM Strat and the Prodigy. However, none were especially successful. The Showmaster is hence its most recent foray into the superstrat niche, and was introduced in 1998. Gene Baker, the masterbuilder of Fender's custom shop at the time, was responsible for the creation of this set-neck, carved top instrument. Early Showmaster models (prototypes) were originally labeled as Stratocasters on their headstocks and are very rare.

[edit] Construction

Note: In descriptions of pickup configurations, H refers to humbuckers and S refers to single-coils.

The Fender Showmaster initially came as a Custom Shop model. It featured a carved maple top, a set maple neck, and HSS or HH pickup configurations. Later, it appeared as a U.S. Special/ Highway 1 model, retaining the set maple neck, HSS & HH pickups and its traditional Stratocaster headstock (with Showmaster label, respectively). All Showmaster models are absent of a pickguard. Showmasters all came with Floyd Rose Locking Tremolo, Fender's standard 6-point tremolo, Fender's American Series 2-point tremolo, or a hardtail/non-tremolo bridge. The main distinguishing feature of Fender Showmasters - with the exception of the Flat Head - from other superstrats is the carved top of a quilted or flamed wood.

Currently, the Fender Showmaster is a line of electric guitar of its own under Fender's production, and has met varying success in competing with other companies like Ibanez and Jackson.