The Fender Robert Cray Standard Stratocaster is a signature model guitar made by Fender. The Robert Cray Standard is designed to be a less expensive version of the Robert Cray Custom Shop Signature Stratocaster. The Cray Standard is made at Fender's Ensenada factory in Mexico and was first produced in January 2003.
The Robert Cray Standard is one of the few non-tremolo-equipped ("hardtail") versions of the Stratocaster currently produced by Fender outside of the Custom Shop. Some players prefer a hardtail Stratocaster in the belief that the guitar's sustain and tunability are improved by the absence of the tremolo unit. The bridge of the guitar resembles that of a Fender Telecaster in that it is strung through the body of the guitar, from the back. The hardtail option was first introduced in 1954 by Fender, and has been available on Stratocasters since then, although it is not a commonly ordered option.
Aside from the hardtail option, the Robert Cray Standard features medium-jumbo frets, an alder body, chrome hardware, a neck with a modern 9.5" radius and a pronounced C shape, a rosewood fretboard, "Vintage Custom Shop" single-coil pickups, vintage-style tuners and Robert Cray's signature on the headstock. According to a 2005 interview with Robert Cray in Modern Guitar Magazine, the neck radius and design is styled after his 1958 and 1964 Stratocasters. He stated that he wanted the neck to be "a combination of the two." In all other respects the guitar is virtually identical to a 1960's-era Stratocaster with the exception of the five-way switch, which was not offered on Stratocasters until the mid to late 1970s.
The guitar is currently offered (ca. 2006) in three colors: Inca Silver, Violet and three-tone sunburst. The Violet finish is unique to Cray's guitar, while the Inca Silver finish is a 1960's Fender "Custom Color" (originally a DuPont auto finish paint). The Inca Silver finish is the one most strongly associated with Cray (in the same way that Eric Clapton's black Stratocaster is associated with Clapton), and is one of the distinguishing features of the guitar. The three-tone sunburst finish is a standard Fender color.
The Cray Standard is considered by many enthusiasts to be one of the more outstanding offerings from the Fender Ensenada plant, and consistently receives good reviews for sound and performance in various guitar magazines and online sites.
The Robert Cray Signature Stratocaster (Fender Custom Shop) is much more expensive than the version of the Mexican-made copy of Robert Cray Standard model. The big difference between both, is that the custom shop has a 2-piece select premium alder body, lightly figured maple neck with Brazilian rosewood fingerboard and chrome hardware, the pickups were custom wound by Abigail Ybarra with a fiveway switch the 2 and 4 position are hum-canceling, the middle pickup is reverse wound/reverse polarity. This USA-made Custom Artist Series guitar was initially introduced in 1990 as the '59 "hardtail" by custom order only. It had all chrome hardware, and the neck was of light flame maple according to "Fender Frontline magazine" issue (fall 1990 vol 2). It also had a greenish Inca Silver grey color. In 1998 the hardware was switched from chrome to gold and in 1993 the fingerboard was changed from Brazilian to pao-ferro rosewood, with a light figured birdseye neck due to the conservation of exotic woods. The early custom order 1990-1992 Robert Cray guitars are very desirable this days because it had a Brazilian rosewood neck board. You could tell it has a Brazilian board by the light flame maple and doesn't have the birdseye maple neck. It's retail cost now are 4,199. The Mexican Ensenada model "has a 3 to 4 piece alder wood spread" according to a Fender spokesman from customer service assistant relations dep.
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