After freelancing for Rolling Stone, Tom joined the staff of Guitar Player and became its Editor in Chief four years later. He served in that capacity for ten years, was also the founding Editorial Director of Bass Player, and continues to provide a monthly column for Guitar Player. His first encyclopedia, The Guitar Book: A Handbook for Electric and Acoustic Guitarists, was published by Harper & Row in various languages over a period of 14 years; a new Japanese translation was published in 2000. His next book, American Guitars: An Illustrated History, has been in print for more than 20 years and was called by one retail catalog "the best book ever written about guitars."

Tom co-edited Richard Smith's Fender: The Sound Heard 'Round The World, and also wrote the foreword. He wrote the foreword for The PRS Guitar Book, and contributed chapters to Gibson Guitars, 100 Years of an American Icon; The Electric Guitar; Electric Guitars of the Fifties; and Electric Guitars of the Sixties; among others. He has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, MTV, NPR, and CNN. He is a consultant to The Smithsonian Institution, host of the American Guitar video series, and the writer and host of informational videos for Fender and Guild. He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the Loyola School of Law, is currently a member of the faculty of the University of Oregon's School of Journalism, and gigs regularly with soul singer Deb Cleveland.

The Stratocaster Chronicles is intended neither to replace other books devoted to Fender's flagship guitar nor to fulfill functions better left to catalogs, price lists, or web sites. The landmarks in the Stratocaster's evolution are noted here (along with scads of minor details), but The Stratocaster Chronicles' larger function is to broaden what we know about the origin of this extraordinary instrument, and to lend perspective to all the facts, dates, and specs reported here and elsewhere.

It gives voice to the people behind the guitar, providing a forum for them to recount the tale of the Strat as a reflection of musical tastes, manufacturing necessities, industry competition, and economic trends.

This book also recognizes that the Strat's deeper significance lies in the music guitarists have created with it. We will hear what Strat players have to say about their instrument - and their music, and each other - providing a glimpse into what might be called the family of Strat. The intent is to deepen our appreciation by hearing from a diverse chorus of voices - Strat players, Fender executives and craftspeople, even rival manufacturers.

The Fender Stratocaster both reflects and influences popular culture worldwide. The Stratocaster Chronicles is a Golden Anniversary celebration of the people who brought it into the world, the designers and builders who refined it, and the players who took it from there.

[Excerpt from: The Stratocaster Chronicles, © 2003, Tom Wheeler]

Key participants discuss Leo Fender's one-of-a-kind, pretty good guitar for tight operators.

The following comments are from parties involved in the Stratocaster's conception and early production. I interviewed Leo Fender, Freddie Tavares, Forrest White, Don Randall, George Fullerton, and Bill Carson, some of them repeatedly over a period of 25 years. About ninety percent of the comments below are excerpted from those conversations. Documentary videographer Dennis Baxter discovered a previously unpublished interview with Forrest White, and he also interviewed Don Randall and George Fullerton; a few quotes from those interviews are interspersed below, as are additional comments from Mr. Tavares from a July '79 Guitar Player article.

This not a true "roundtable." In a few cases the participants are responding to each other, but most of the time they are responding to an interviewer. In arranging these quotes, I have taken care to avoid distortions that can result from juxtaposing remarks in new contexts. I have introduced numerous but mild edits where necessary to minimize redundancy, to enhance clarity (e.g., replacing "he" with the person's name), or to group in one place an interviewee's scattered comments on a single topic.

The following summary of viewpoints is necessarily incomplete, although I hope it is fair and reasonably comprehensive. Please see the sections "Fender Men" and "Perspectives on the Origin of the Strat," which serve as introductions to the following exchanges. You can hear additional comments in Mr. Fender's own voice on the accompanying CD; those statements are referenced throughout this and other sections. My own remarks are in italics. Additional opinions may be found in books by Carson, Fullerton, and White; see Chapter 10.

[Excerpt from: The Stratocaster Chronicles, © 2003, Tom Wheeler]

I interviewed Mr. Fender several times in the late 1970s and 1980s, never intending to use the transcripts beyond their appearances in my book American Guitars, my Rare Bird column, and a Guitar Player feature story. Had I foreseen a project such as this one (or imagined a future technology that would allow readers to actually hear Mr. Fender's words), I would have brought along studio-quality recording gear instead of my little hand-held Sony with the dent on the side, and I would have conducted the interview far away from the clatter of dishes at a sandwich and coffee joint. (Despite the funky gear, the less than pristine conditions, and the effects of time, the tapes sound pretty good.)

I held onto those old cassettes simply because there are some things you never throw away. Prior to writing The Stratocaster Chronicles I seldom if ever went back and listened to them, but they were precious to me all the same, just knowing I had a piece of guitar history stashed in a box somewhere. Now, listening to the tapes again, I am reminded how fortunate I was to spend time with this quirky, brilliant man and his close associates from the early days of Fender. A few bits of those conversations are included here on the CD, cross-referenced in the text and indicated on the page with the little gold CD icon. I'm happy to share them with you, and I hope you enjoy hearing Mr. Fender talk about the Stratocaster as much as I did a couple of decades ago when he sat across the table and spelled it out for me.

[Excerpt from: The Stratocaster Chronicles, © 2003, Tom Wheeler]

He Came, He Saw, He Pummeled

The CD that accompanies this book - 50 Sounds of The Strat - is much more than a bonus or a mere perk. Inspiring, enlightening, and occasionally hilarious, it continues the 50th anniversary celebration of the Fender Stratocaster guitar with brilliant demonstrations of many of its best loved sounds and styles - 50 of them, to be exact.

I can't think of a better player to pull this off than Greg Koch. In fact, I'm not sure any other player could pull it off. Aside from establishing his own musical identity on jawdropper CDs such as Radio Free Gristle, The Grip!, and 13X12 (and on this CD's intro and outro), Greg can reproduce the sounds and styles of dozens of famous players.

Here, many of what Greg calls the "potentates of Stratdom" are captured with uncanny authenticity in all their twangy glory - from Eldon to Yngwie, from Bonnie to Stevie Ray, from Buddy Holly to Buddy Guy, from Jimi Hendrix to Jimmie Vaughan. Wielding a Custom Shop Relic '56 Strat, another Custom Shop Strat also similar to a '56, and a Voodoo Strat (for the Hendrix and Malmsteen cuts), Greg doesn't just mimic these players; he inhabits them, conjuring up moods and emotions along with licks and sounds.

So crank up this CD and let Greg Koch be your spirit guide into the soul of the Strat. You'll be nodding in appreciation, slapping your forehead in amazement, and once in a while laughing out loud. In the words of our own Jam Master G: Let the good times roll.

[Excerpt from: The Stratocaster Chronicles, © 2003, Tom Wheeler]

Strat Collector News Desk: When, and under what circumstances, did your love affair with the electric guitar begin?

Tom Wheeler: It was hearing Chuck Berry, Duane Eddy and James Burton on the radio. Years later, when I was 13, my older brother had a real junker of a no-name acoustic guitar, with different colors of paint splattered on the top. One day I held it flat on my lap, Dobro-style, played the low ‘E’ and ‘A’ strings unfretted, recognized the first two notes of Ghost Riders In The Sky, figured out the rest of the melody, and I’ve been hooked ever since. My first electric was a hollow, single-cutaway, two-pickup sunburst Silvertone probably made by Harmony. I wish I still had it.

SCND: Did you play in local bands?

TW: Starting in the 9th grade, yes. First surf tunes and other instrumentals, and then in Atlanta, in high school, I played in a band that mixed British Invasion songs with High Heel Sneakers and Jimmy Reed tunes. In college, Hendrix, Clapton and Albert King were my favorites.

SCND: Why book writing, journalism, and, academics instead of a career as a performing musician?

TW: As much as I loved gigging, I never considered a career as a performer. It seemed too crazy and insecure. I never considered a career in writing, either, until I started writing The Guitar Book, just to get it out of my system. Writing was so rewarding, stimulating, and fun I never looked back after that. After reviewing my first book, Rolling Stone called out of the blue and asked if I would interview Mike Bloomfield for them. I was speechless. I’ve been writing for magazines, or editing magazines, ever since.

SCND: You received your undergraduate degree from UCLA in 1969; what was your major?

TW: Political science, one of those “don’t know what else to do” decisions.

SCND: After graduating from UCLA you attended the Loyola School of Law. What inspired you to pursue a degree in law?

TW: I had vague ambitions of being an entertainment lawyer, representing musicians, specializing in copyright or maybe going into A&R for a record company. It seemed like a way to stay in music without worrying about my next gig.

SCND: You started writing your first book, The Guitar Book: A Handbook for Electric and Acoustic Guitarists, while still a law student, and upon graduation you pursued a career in journalism instead of the practice of law. How did your family and friends react?

TW: You could hardly call it a “career” in those days. I was living in an apartment in West Hollywood, teaching guitar at Westwood Music, and finishing the book, with absolutely no idea of how to go about attracting a publisher. My friends were encouraging, especially Fred Walecki at Westwood Music, but my folks were understandably perplexed. I had written for the Law Review, made dean’s list, earned a teaching fellowship, got my Juris Doctor degree, and then chucked the whole thing. To my folks, writing seemed less than serious, especially compared to their perceptions of my going to work for some prestigious law firm. I think they were waiting for me to grow up during the three years I worked on The Guitar Book. It wasn’t until I got a “real” job at Guitar Player (with trappings like an office and a business card) that they realized the “guitar thing” was a real career choice.

SCND: You served as the Editor in Chief of  Guitar Player for ten years and subsequently became a faculty member of the University of Oregon's School of Journalism & Communication. Did you leave the magazine to pursue teaching?

TW: I had been at Guitar Player for 14 years all together, and had done what I had wanted to do as Editor in Chief. I thought of it as the best job I’d ever heard of, liked my co-workers, was very proud of our magazine, and found the work rewarding and fun. We were purchased by a large publishing company, and I thought that for me, personally, it was time for a change. Local universities had asked me to visit their journalism classes as a guest speaker, which was great fun, and that’s when I started to think that teaching at the university level might be a good next step. I've never actually left Guitar Player. I'm no longer fulltime, but I talk to them often, have a great relationship with the people who work there, and write a column every month.

SCND: What prompted The Stratocaster Chronicles and when did you begin work on it?

TW: Although I’d been contributing to other authors’ books in recent years, I never thought I’d write another guitar book of my own. Of course, I always loved Fender and lately I’d been doing some projects with them, speaking at events and making videos. I really liked the new friends I was making there and I have a lot of respect for what they’re doing. Ritchie Fliegler, who’s a Senior Vice President, proposed the book. He made it clear they were familiar with all my work in the field and they hoped I would take it on. I was flattered and appreciative. At the start I was humbled by the size of the project, but once I got started I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and learned a lot. I started in the Fall of 2002, so it’s been about a 15-month task, very concentrated.

SCND: Does The Stratocaster Chronicles contain photos that we might not have seen of noteworthy instruments?

TW: Yes, but I think the most exciting thing about the photos is the quality of the images and the diversity of the Strats. When it comes to photographing guitars, John Peden is the best in the world, and Perry A. Margouleff is one of the most knowledgeable collectors anywhere. They teamed up on many of these photos. The groupings of the guitars are not only beautiful but educational — a ’54, ’55, and ’56 in great condition, side by side; a ’57, ’58, and ’59 side by side — many such groupings. Among the Custom Colors you can compare the different reds and blues and greens. You can compare features, of course (string trees, knob profiles, etc.), but you can also see things like how headstocks with different finishes age differently over time, or how a Custom Color painted over a particular undercoat looks a certain way. Plus all sorts of unusual stuff, some of which you may have seen before (the “Layla” Strat; Hendrix’ Woodstock guitar; a mahogany-body Strat; a wide-neck, two-pickup Strat that John Sprung thinks might be some sort of Jazzmaster predecessor; Mary Kaye’s "Mary Kaye;" etc.) and some you probably haven’t.

SCND: What does the book offer besides a lot of information on the structural evolution of the Strat?

TW: There’s plenty of that sort of information, but what’s more interesting to me are the stories and the motivations of the people who invented the Strat, built the first ones, and later refined it. In my book, designers talk not just about what they did but why.

The rest of the story are the players who picked up the Strat and did amazing things with it. There are many photos of famous and not-so-famous players, and the captions typically avoid the usual bio material. Nowhere does it say “Jimi Hendrix was a revolutionary guitarist who . . . .” Readers know that stuff already. So instead, there’s a nice anecdote from Ernie Isley about how his brothers bought Jimi his first Strat, and some words of encouragement for beginners from an old interview with Hendrix himself. Eric Johnson’s and Robin Trower’s captions talk about how they shop for Strats. David Gilmour and Mark Knopfler talk about wanting Strats when they were kids. Buddy Guy talks about how much he appreciates the efforts of younger players to educate audiences about first-generation Chicago bluesmen. There’s a Hubert Sumlin quote about meeting Eric Clapton, and Clapton giving him a Strat. Mary Kaye talks about that famous photo shoot. Rory Gallagher’s brother recalls how Rory acquired his famous “ex-sunburst.”

So players talk about what they like about the Strat and what they admire in each other. I think there’s such a thing as a “family of Strat,” people with diverse tastes and backgrounds all tied together in various ways by this wonderful, quirky guitar. I tried to capture that, and I think that is what’s going to separate this book from the others out there. I hope so, anyway.

SCND: How do people find the book?

TW: I think all you’ll need is The Stratocaster Chronicles by Tom Wheeler, published by Hal Leonard. Often the ISBN is convenient, which is 0-634-05678-6.

SCND: It's widely agreed that the 1954 Stratocaster owned by David Gilmour bearing serial number 0001 was not the first Stratocaster made, but the literature seems silent about the existence of the actual #1 or prototypes. Can you shed any light on this?

TW: You’re right about Gilmour’s Strat; I don’t know any historian who thinks that’s the first one. There is no confirmed “first Strat.” My book has George Fullerton’s personal account of how what was intended to be the “first Strat” came off the line in ’53, sounded terrible, and caused Leo and Freddie Tavares to go back to the drawing board to redesign the tremolo. It also pictures the prototype seen in Richard Smith’s book, Fender, the Sound Heard ‘Round The World. Richard’s April ’54 is the earliest Strat I’ve seen in person, although my book quotes Robb Lawrence’s accounts of seeing close-up photos of a January 1954 and his personally examining Strats from February and March.

SCND: Do you think Leo Fender regretted selling Fender to CBS?

TW: He was glad to be rid of it. It had gotten way too big for him. He was happier working at smaller facilities — the early Fender shops, CLF Research, G&L. The Stratocaster Chronicles reprints an excerpt from one of my interviews with Leo where he talked about all his frustrations with running such a huge company, even mundane things like having to lock up all the doors at night.

SCND: Our readers are dying to know what anniversary models Fender will introduce in 2004 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stratocaster. Do you discuss them in The Stratocaster Chronicles?

TW: Yes, but as always, there’s a lag time between finishing the manuscript and publication, and Fender was still finalizing their plans. As my book went to press, Fender’s plan was to offer the guitar only through 2004 as a Limited Production Time Machine model in the Closet Classic finish. By the time the book appears in March (we’ll have samples at the January NAMM Show), you’ll probably be able to get details about the 50th Anniversary Strat on Fender’s web site.

Fender had already reissued the ’54 Strat, so all they can do this time is to go to even greater lengths to duplicate the originals. They have indeed gone to an extraordinary amount of effort, even formulating the kind of plastic that people often mislabel Bakelite, and reconfiguring the polepiece diameters to match the originals. One of the most authentic things about the 50th Anniversary Strat will be the nitrocellulose lacquer finish. The guitar will come with a special certificate and unique serial numbering.

SCND: Your book comes with a CD. What’s on it?

TW: Brief excerpts from my interviews with Leo Fender, where he talks about designing the Strat headstock, the tremolo, and so on, plus Fifty Sounds of the Strat, which are samples of many Strat sounds and styles played by the amazing Greg Koch. It’s a lot of fun.

SCND: According to your bio above, you gig regularly with Eugene-based blues/soul singer Deb Cleveland and appear as a guitarist on the 1999/2000 CD by Deb Cleveland, Live! All Night Long. What guitar or guitars did you use on the recording? What guitar(s) do you use when you perform?

TW: On that record I played an amazing PRS Hollowbody II, one of those guitars you just can’t keep your hands off of. I borrowed a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe for that gig, and now I use an ElectroPlex Rocket 35 or a Fender Pro Jr. I still love to play that PRS, but since then I’ve bought an American Series Strat that sounds great and is a joy to play. I play it a lot. It’s blonde, with a rosewood fingerboard. Several people who tried it assumed it’s a Custom Shop guitar, but it’s a stock factory Strat. I am incredibly fortunate to have that PRS and that Strat.

SCND: Do you collect electric guitars? What electric guitars do you own?

TW: I’m not a collector. I am lucky enough to own a 1960 Telecaster that an old roommate purchased for forty bucks and a Fender 12-string on trade. This was before we started to talk about “vintage” guitars. It was just a used Tele, and I thought nothing of refinishing it myself and having a black guard made for it. It was unplayable, but John Carruthers installed jumbo frets. One pickup was shot, but I put a Seymour Duncan in there, and the whole guitar is fabulous. In retrospect it would be worth a lot of money in original condition, but then again I wouldn’t have been able to play it all these years, so I don’t beat myself up for modifying it.

My one and only vintage Strat was stolen many years ago. It was a ’61 with a ’62 neck, and I still miss it. I was feeling sorry for myself, and Fender’s factory was shut down in those days, so I decided to treat myself to a “boutique” Strat. Seymour Duncan recommended Tom Anderson, who was new, and I bought a wonderful Strat-type guitar from him. I am very attached to my old walnut-finish, block-marker ES-335; it’s not prized as a collector’s item, but I played it all through college and I’d never part with it. I own a Travis Bean that Travis gave me many years ago. I own other PRS guitars, and can’t say enough good things about them. Paul Reed Smith continues to improve, continues to amaze. I recently tried out a PRS Singlecut that is probably the best playing guitar I have ever held in my hands.

SCND: If you could own any Stratocaster ever made, which would it be?

TW: To help put my kids through college, a mint ’54. To hang on the wall as an artwork, either a maple-neck Mary Kaye or a transition ’58 with a maple neck, a single-layer pickguard, and a 3-color sunburst. As a player guitar, a pre-CBS slab-board, but I’d probably be too paranoid to take it to gigs, so I’d buy my dream Strat from the Custom Shop.

SCND: What’s your dream Custom Shop Strat?

TW: Let’s see, it’d have an ash body with a wide figure grain, like those Strats in the earliest literature, but not too heavy. Plus a moderately figured neck, a rosewood board, spaghetti logo, a 3-color sunburst with lots of red, a gradual overlap of colors, and a real see-through translucence (not a “targetburst”), a green guard, aged plastic, and several American Series features like the two-point trem and staggered tuners. For pickups, either Custom ’54s or Vintage Noiseless. By the way, the brand new American Deluxes for 2004 have Cobalt Samarium pickups developed with Bill Lawrence, and the guys at Fender are genuinely excited about them. I would definitely check them out.

SCND: Fender Custom Shop Senior Master Builder Todd Krause and artist Pamelina H. have created an instrument called the "Plastiform Strat" that will be shown at the upcoming Winter NAMM Show, representing an artistic vision of a Stratocaster of the future (see News Desk article, Pamelina H. Relaunches Website). What do you think the future might hold for the Fender Stratocaster?

TW: One part of the answer (I’m guessing) is this: The Strat used to be one thing. Aside from mixed-feature transition guitars, a few options, and minor changes in knob profile, string tree, etc., there used to one basic design at a time — the 1954 ash guitars, the early alder ones, the first Strats with rosewood boards, the big-headstock CBS guitars, and so on. Those days are gone. The Strat is no longer one thing at a time. Within certain limits of inherent “Stratness,” it’s whatever you want it to be — factory or custom, import or domestic, plain or fancy, traditional or high-tech, basic or hot rod, etc. It’s evolved from a model into an extended family. I think that process will continue.

Also, I think the answer will come from players in the field as much as it comes from Fender. Something that has really changed in the past 15 years is that Fender is much more on top of what’s happening in the field, and especially with the Custom Shop they can respond a lot quicker, build guitars in limited quantities, and see how they do in the marketplace before committing to major redesigns. The way the American Series evolved not only from the American Standard but also from the Strat Plus and the American Deluxe is a good example. So more than anything else the Strat of the future will depend on the imagination of the players who pick it up and plug it in.

In one way, Fender has come full-circle in terms of responding to players. Maybe guys don’t walk in off the street and talk to designers as casually as they did when the shop only had a few dozen people, but Fender has found new ways to keep on top of players’ needs, even in a global marketplace. I truly believe Leo Fender would be impressed and happy about that.