Player's Perspective
Music Store Live is proud to offer up this beautiful Fender Custom Shop Strat finished in olympic white over a red sparkle finish, that keeps the guitar a classic finish, but with something flashy peaking out from under the hood. We traveled up to the Fender Custom Shop factory in 2019 and this is one of the guitars that we put together while up there! We're so happy to see how the result has turned out.
Made by the very best luthiers that Fender has to offer, any piece coming out of their Custom Shop has high expectations. We were particularly struck by this one. It looks awesome; the relic job is heavy, but thoughtful. It's a classic finish combo that has been popular since the 60's and will continue to be, probably forever. But that's only part of the fun. The guitar plays like a dream! The fretwork is precise and the action is low. The neck feels smooth and absolutely incredible to slide up and down on. From top to bottom, it's clear that a lot of attention and care went into the making of this guitar, even with the parts where they had to beat it up.
As for the tone, well, it's a tried and true '60's strat sound that you remember on all those records from back in the day. But we actually chose a set of Fat 50's Custom Shop pickups for this guitar because they tend to have a bit more bass response than the 60's style pickups. So, while still having plenty of brightness and all of that airy vocal-like quality that strats have, there's also a little more body to the notes. The neck pickup is warm, rich, and creamy. The middle has lots of twang to it but still maintains some girth to the notes. The bridge is twangy and trebly and will slice right through anything you put in front of it but can even handle some distortion thanks to the slightly fatter tone. It sounds absolutely awesome and perfectly balances out the bright top end of the guitar with a solid low end to go with it.
When fabulous construction meets hand-wound pickups and amazing electronics, you're going to end up with a pretty fantastic guitar. This is a collector and a player's strat.
Specifications
Body
- Model Name: 1960 Heavy Relic Stratocaster Custom
- Model #: 9237100481
- Country Of Origin: US
- Color: Olympic White Over Red Sparkle
- Body: 2-Piece Select Alder
- Body Finish: Nitrocellulose Lacquer
- Body Shape: Stratocaster®
- Pickguard: 3-Ply Mint
Neck
- Construction: Bolt-On
- Neck Material: AA Flame Quartersawn Maple
- Neck Finish: Nitrocellulose Lacquer
- Neck Shape: 60 Style Oval "C"
- Scale Length: 25.5" (648 mm)
- Fingerboard: AAA Rosewood
- Fingerboard Radius: 9.5" (241 mm)
- Number of Frets: 21
- Frets Size: 6150 Medium Jumbo
- String Nut: Bone
- Nut Width: 1.650" (42 mm)
- Neck Depth @ 1st Fret: .820
- Neck Depth @ 12th Fret: .890
- Position Inlays: Mother of Pearl Dots
- Truss Rods: Vintage-Style Heel Adjust
Electronics
- Bridge Pickup: Custom Shop Hand-Wound Fat 50's Strat®
- Middle Pickup: Custom Shop Hand-Wound Fat 50's Lineage RWRP Single-Coil Strat®
- Neck Pickup: Custom Shop Hand-Wound Fat '50 Single-Coil Strat®
- Controls: Master Volume, Tone 1. (Neck/Middle Pickups), Tone 2. (Bridge Pickup)
- Pickup Switching: 5-Position Blade: Position 1. Bridge Pickup Position 2. Bridge and Middle Pickup Position 3. Middle Pickup Position 4. Middle and Neck Pickup Position 5. Neck Pickup
- Pickup Configuration: SSS
Hardware
- Bridge: 6-Saddle American Vintage Synchronized Tremolo
- Hardware Finish: Nickel/Chrome
- Tuning Machines: Vintage-Style with Fender Logo
- Control Knobs: Vintage White
Miscellaneous
- Strings: Fender® USA 250R Nickel Plated Steel (.010-.046 Gauges)
- Included Accessories: Deluxe Hardshell Case; Strap; Certificate of Authenticity.
- Instrument Weight: 8.1 lbs
- Serial #: R103390
Overall Condition
Music Store Live is proud to be an authorized dealer for Fender. This Custom Shop 1960 Heavy Relic Stratocaster Custom is 100% brand new and is being sold with a full manufacturer's warranty. Photos are of the exact guitar you'll receive.
Our in-house guitar tech will inspect, test, set up, and clean all of our instruments on site prior to shipping. All of our instruments are guaranteed to be fully functional upon arrival.
