Fender's Limited Production 'Bowling Ball' Stratocaster
By Larry Meiners
By 1982 a Stratocaster would cost around $900.00. At the time, not much less than a Vintage re-issue Stratocaster with a tweed case. Eddie Van Halen had revolutionized the guitar world with his incredible playing and his $130.00 Strat type parts guitar (with a rewound Gibson PAF added for tone). Strat style guitars (domestic and imported) were coming to market at an amazing rate, no doubt robbing market share from Fender’s Stratocaster guitars. Fender management was pleased with the sale of Vintage Stratocasters but wanted to increase sales of their regular Stratocaster model. They decided to redesign and lower the cost of the regular model in an attempt regain market share by competing at the markets lower price ranges with a remodeled Stratocaster.
Sales revenue pressure from CBS and Fender management continued as 1983 began and required additional changes in product strategy. The lower-cost Strat would become available soon and Fender also began importing Japanese made guitars for the first time in an effort to increase product availability and sales.
New Coke, New Strat
Fender decided to change the Stratocaster formula again for their Standard models and let the Vintage series represent the older, original designs. This latest redesigned Strat used a new tremolo system which was attached to the body with two allen-slot screws. Three tremolo springs now sat directly below the tremolo block in a channel routed from there to the front of the middle pickup cavity. With this design, no routing is made through the back of these Strats. The back of the guitar is solid with no string holes as the string ends are affixed to the rear of the tremolo block. This new Fender ‘Freeflyte’ tremolo/bridge used a snap-in arm versus the screw in type arms. A four-bolt neck arrangement was used with the inclusion of the microtilt mechanism which is different from the one used on the three-bolt Strats of the 1970s. Fender removed a tone control and replaced it with the plug-jack on the pickguard. This last change eliminated parts and the need to route the body for the old style angled plug-jack.
Flat-pole, black plastic bottom pickups were used (embossed # 016730) with blue and white wire leads. Fender used a 12-screw, single ply, white plastic pickguard with shielding. The extra screw was added for support of the relocated jack-plug which was now on the pickguard. A 21-fret neck was available (both maple and rosewood available) with two string trees and Fender logo tuners.
These changes did lower the cost of the guitar. During 1983, the newly named ‘Standard Strat’ sold for around $600. That was a 30% reduction from the previous model. Unfortunately, even with a lower price, the alterations did not create the expected demand in the marketplace. Like the original formula Coke, the original design Stratocaster was what consumers wanted.
Newer Strat
During their brainstorming sessions regarding their Standard Strat dilemma, Fender managers remembered a visit from a company on the East Coast who brought them a sample guitar, thought to be a Kramer, which had the most unusual paint finish. It appeared to be a wild mix of colors but looked almost three dimensional, with tiny circles resembling a trail of air bubbles. The paint firm’s expertise was remembered as applying mixed color patterns to clothing, not like tie-dyeing, but a more controlled process of actually mixing colors together. Tie-dye is a more mechanical process where the cloth is actually tied in places to restrict the flow of dye. This group painted guitar bodies using a variation of the same process they used for their clothes manufacturing. It produces a sculptured, polished marble appearance.
After some deliberation, Fender decided that these unusual paint finishes may be the answer to increase demand for the Standard Strat. Their plan was to proceed with a limited run to gauge the markets response. Fender confirmed that the numbers shown in various guitar books is probably correct and the first batch of these guitars included 225 Standard Strat style bodies (and 75 Telecasters of that era).
Art Class
Fender first sealed the Strat bodies with a white primer coat and then sent them to the finish subcontractors. These 225 Strats were completed as three groups of 75, each with a different primary color. One group used red as the dominant color with black and white. These red guitars have large areas of gray where the black and white have blended. Blue Strats include black and yellow in the mix. Since the yellow and black hues do not blend very much, the yellow streaks contrast sharply against the black and the subdued blue background. Yellow bodies were combined with white and silver and produce patches of gold. Each grouping intermixes differently and produces three unique finish styles. The red appears as a swirling mass, the blue looks streaky and the yellow looks granular and textured. Once these bodies were painted and returned, Fender added a top coat of polyurethane.
While these guitars were being produced, Fender personnel discussed what name should be used to market and sell them. To them it was obvious. Marbles. These instruments would be named ‘Marble’ finished Standard Stratocaster due to the finishes resemblance to marbles (yes, the kind children play with).
The Marble Strats were assembled in the latter half of 1984 and were to be marketed as a Limited Edition guitar to their dealers. If great demand ensued, they would announce a regular edition and attempt to produce as many as the market demanded. Since Fender was paying about $90.00 per body for the finish, they added about $100.00 to the Standard Strats’ 1984 list price. Some confusion exists today concerning the Marble Strat’s serial number decals located on the headstock. For example, a Marble Strat decal shows the number E 345906. ‘E’ represents 198X and the first number is the fourth digit (i.e., 1983). However, a red Marble Strat neck was removed for inspection and shows a ‘JUL 16 1984’ ink stamp on the bottom end.
Your Shot
Just prior to the Marble Strat release, CBS announced their decision to sell Fender. The current Fender management team suddenly had more on their minds than the introduction of a limited production guitar. During this hectic period the Marble Strat was finally released and Fender management discussed their bid for the company.
Their product roll-out campaign included matching baseball caps and sleeveless T-shirts. Fender also produced a promotional poster for the introduction. Feedback from the introduction of the Marble Strat was clear. Dealers liked the guitar but said that it looked more like a bowling ball than a marble. Regardless, the alias stuck and the Marble Strat became the ‘Bowling Ball Strat’. Needless to say, Fender did not designate this guitar as a regular production instrument. At the time, the sale of Fender was the important topic of choice and not 225 Strats with funky paint jobs that weren’t selling all that well anyway. It was reported that several dealers still had unsold Marble Strats in stock two years after obtaining them.
For comparison, This table highlights the differences between the 1984 Standard, Vintage re-issue and Bowling Ball (all USA made).
Table
|
1984 Stratocaster |
Standard Strat |
Vintage re-issue |
Bowling Ball |
|
Control Knobs |
Volume, Tone (1) |
Volume, Tone (2) |
Volume, Tone (1) |
|
Pickguard |
12 Screw |
8 and 11 Screw |
12 Screw |
|
Input Jack |
On Pickguard |
On Body |
On Pickguard |
|
Tremolo |
Freeflyte |
Vintage Style |
Freeflyte |
|
Production |
1983-1984 |
1982-present |
1984 |
|
1984 List Price |
$699 |
$999 |
$799 |
Source: Fender, The Fender Stratocaster book by A.R. Duchossoir
No additional Bowling Ball Strats were made and the Standard Strat did not survive into 1985. Fender was already designing the next version, the American Standard Strat which was to debut in 1987. The Standard Strat saga was not a total disaster for Fender. According to Dan Smith, who has been with Fender since 1981, "We were planning to build additional guitar making capacity. With the factory capacity we had, we were selling as many Vintage re-issue Stratocasters as we could make. Those reissue guitars were in great demand". Looking forward, they learned a few lessons from their experience marketing the cost-reduced Strat. Their next version, the American Standard Strat, looks more like a Strat was expected to look like. It has three controls, a simple tremolo and the jack-plug located on the body.
Shooting For All The Marbles
By early 1985, Fender was purchased by several members of their current management staff, including Dan Smith. Dan stated that arguably, the original Stratocaster design has become the most popular guitar (and most copied) over the last twenty years. Gibson may offer a different opinion by pointing to their popular and often copied Les Paul model guitars.
John Grunder of Fender’s Custom Shop remembers an attempt to resurrect the Bowling Ball Strat. John believes the year was 1987. Dan confirmed that Fender was approached again by individuals who were involved in the first effort to paint the Bowling Ball Strats. Fender decided to paint a small number of guitar bodies, estimated to be between 12 and 20, before deciding on the program. Since these bodies were the newest style Strat, they would not be confused with the first Bowling Ball Strats. Several other guitar companies either had used this company to finish guitars or used a similar painting process to develop new finish options similar to the Bowling Ball Strat. Fender decided to proceed with caution. Once the bodies were returned, several guitar builders within Fender were impressed. Dan Smith, who was Fender’s Director of Marketing at the time remembers that the Marketing Department sent inquires to their dealer network and the response was less than overwhelming. Fender decided to shelve the project and sold the bodies to their employees. Dan also said that he recalls there was not much demand in the resale market for Bowling Ball Strats until 1990. His observation is that the limited number available and the demand by collectors has resulted in a substantial price premium compared to the regular issue Standard Strat from 1984.
Expensive Marbles
The vintage guitar and used guitar markets are influenced by many of the same forces that govern other collectibles and commodities, including supply and demand. The supply of Bowling Ball Strats is relatively small and it is one of the few Fender models where the production numbers are known. Also, unlike most Gibson guitars from 1948-1979 whose production numbers have been published, no similar published listing is available for Fender guitars. Usually, these guitars are listed with a sales asking price above $2000 (March 2001).
Bowling Ball Strats are unique and no two finishes are the same. Some Bowling Ball Strats have rather plain mixed color patterns and some are stunning. However, most vintage guitar dealers agree that the Bowling Ball Strat is not a classic vintage guitar but a modern era collectible.
I gratefully acknowledge Dan Smith and John Grunder of Fender for their interviews. Several reference sources were helpful in creating this article; The Fender Stratocaster by A.R. Duchossoir (Hal Leonard), The Fender Book by Tony Bacon and Paul Day (GPI Books).