Fender Dave Murray Stratocaster

FENDER DAVE MURRAY
STRATOCASTER
£749
A hot-rodded classic for Iron Maiden’s modest
maestro. Is this the archetypal SuperStrat?
GIVEN
that he plays
lead guitar in
Iron Maiden, the world’s biggest
heavy metal act, Dave Murray is a
relatively unassuming chap. His
first affordable signature model is
typical then, of a man happy to
let the music do the talking; a
signature graces the back of the
headstock, but otherwise this is an
instrument to impress your own
personality upon.
Where Murray’s 2009 US-built
signature was inspired by his ’57
Strat, this model draws upon his
well-used 90s California Series for
inspiration. It has a set of vintage
tuners, a C-shape neck profile with
a super-comfy compound radius
fingerboard, and is augmenting by
a tidy Original Floyd Rose double-
locking vibrato to cater for Dave’s
more extravagant moments on the
whammy bar. Built in Fender’s
Mexican facility, it’ll set you back
just over £700 and reward you in
kind with pro-quality tone and feel
that has a little more character
than your average EMG-loaded,
skinny-necked shred double-cut.
Indeed, Murray’s Strat has an air
of refinement; a sober, classy
aesthetic complementing a
nuanced, classic rock tone. It’s a
lightsaber in a market dominated
by blasters. But make no mistake:
with two Seymour Duncan Hot
Rails stacked humbuckers in neck
and bridge, and a JB Jr in the
middle, there’s plenty of firepower
on offer. When you play in Iron
Maiden you need a guitar with
guts. Seymour Duncan’s Hot Rails
for Strat humbuckers are one of the
Californian company’s highest-
output models, and while they’re
certainly super-hot and punchy,
there’s a wealth of tone when
seated in the Strat’s alder body.
Given that Maiden’s increasingly
progressive sound makes all sorts
of demands on Murray’s gear,
we’re not surprised by the
harmonically rich bark of the bridge
’bucker through an all-valve head,
lending a fiery heat and squeal to
solos. That said, it also has some
unexpected sweet spots when the
signal is just pushed to breaking
point. But the neck pickup is where
much of Murray’s DNA is found;
that precise, bright, yet still slightly
adenoidal tone is vintage Murray:
all control and definition for fast
articulate lead playing. Cleans are
warm and airy, and having a JB Jr in
the middle position is very much a
secret weapon – all midrange bite
and raunch.
Ultimately, the Dave Murray
Stratocaster is one of the best
options at this price for metal,
with plenty of crunch and scream
and a top quality vibrato, arguably
trumping Murray’s US-built
signature model (retailing at more
than twice the price) with regards
functionality and versatility – if not
outright quality. Definitely not just
for Maiden fans; think of it as an
all-rounder for rock, with a quietly
eccentric retro-vibe belying its
SuperStrat status.
Jonathan Horsley
It’s a lightsaber in a market
dominated by blasters
FEATURES
SOUND QUALITY
VALUE FOR MONEY
BUILD QUALITY
PLAYABILITY
OVERALL RATING
SUMMARY
BODY: Alder
NECK: Maple, bolt-on
SCALE: 25.5”
FINGERBOARD: Rosewood
FRETS: 21
PICKUPS: 2x Seymour Duncan Hot
Rails for Strat (neck and bridge),
1x Seymour Duncan JB Jr (middle)
CONTROLS: 1x master volume,
2x tone (neck and middle pickups),
five-way pickup selector
HARDWARE: Floyd Rose Original
Double Locking 2-point Tremolo,
Fender Deluxe staggered tuners –
all chrome
LEFT-HANDED: No
FINISH: 2-Colour Sunburst
CONTACT: Fender GBI 01342 331700
www.fender.com
AT A GLANCE
FLOYD ROSE
THE ORIGINAL FR is
mounted fl ush on the body,
EVH-style, which limits you
to dive-bombing and
wobble, but is great fun and
incredibly stable
FINGERBOARD
THE FINGERBOARD uses
a compound or ‘conical’
radius. In lowest position it
has a 241mm (9.5”) camber
like any modern, non-
vintage-style Fender, which
gradually fl attens out to
356mm (14”) by the 21st
fret. Some players prefer this
for faster upper fret playing
NECK
MAYBE it’s just us,
but we fi nd the gloss
polyurethane-fi nish neck
gums up a bit with sweaty
hands. We’d prefer a satin
fi nish, which burnishes to a
lower-sheen gloss with lots
of playing
FENDER DAVE MURRAY STRAT GEAR
OCTOBER 2015 73
TGR272.gear_fender.indd 73 9/10/15 4:56 PM