Swedish shred legend Yngwie Malmsteen has become the latest guitarist to feature on Fender’s Stratocaster Sessions series, following episodes with Buddy Guy and Tom Morello.
During the interview, the obsessive Strat collector talked through some of his favorite Stratocasters, and spoke about the guitar-playing journey that led to the creation of his signature guitar in 1986.
He says his journey began when he saw Jimi Hendrix smashing up a guitar on TV when he was seven years old, adding that he “took the guitar I already had off the wall I started playing like crazy”.
He recalls: “An electric guitar was always what I wanted, nothing else, so when I got my first Strat I was very proud, but I wanted more than one, so I started my collection journey immediately.”
When he first fell in love with the guitar, he started making modifications long before he owned his first Strat.
“I would do things like change the pickups and put frets in,” he details. “So, once I got a Strat, I wasn’t afraid to do things.
“In the early ’70s, there was a lacquer on the fretboard that was really thick. I used to sand it off, and eventually started carving it out so I got a better grip of the strings. That was one of the main reasons that there became scalloping and railroad tracks for frets.”
Having “come to America with one guitar and one toothbrush,” Malmsteen blazed a trail with his lightning-fast arpeggios and a playing style he describes as “fluid, like a nuclear violin”.
By ‘86, he’d helped revive interest in the Stratocaster, and so Fender approached him for a signature model.
“I was playing The Long Beach Arena in California and Dan Smith [Fender’s then-Director of Marketing] came, took photos of my guitar, and said, ‘We want to make a signature model’ – I didn’t even know what a signature model was, to be honest with you!”
There was a back and forth regarding the scalloped fretboard – which removes extra wood from the ‘board – with Fender eventually buckling and creating the guitar as per Malmsteen’s wishes.
“They were very excited about the fact the Stratocaster got a revived interest,” he says. “I’ll never forget it. Dan came to the studio, I was recording an album called Odyssey. He gave me the first model ever they made and said, ‘Tune it up.’
“I recorded the solo for Heaven Tonight on that guitar without changing strings – nothing. To this day I’m still so honored.”
The guitar was based on the Stratocaster that Malmsteen traveled to America with: a 1971 model with a one-piece maple neck and a maple fretboard.
“70 years ago it was a very futuristic design, and it still is now,” Malmsteen says of the Stratocaster. “I’ve been playing Strats all my life. This is my favorite weapon. It’s kind of a part of me.”
Despite his affection for the Stratocaster, Malmsteen recently revealed there is one particular spec he isn’t too fond of.
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