Fender Custom Shop 1957 Stratocaster Relic Guitar, Maple Fingerboard, Faded Aged Daphne Blue

Player's Perspective

Just in from the Fender Custom Shop - this beautiful 1957 Stratocaster Relic in a stunning Faded Aged Daphne Blue. As you'd expect with anything these guys build, it's top notch from top to bottom. Only Fender's top luthiers are working at their Custom Shop and it's immediately evident as soon as you pick the guitar up.

This feels like the closest thing to a real deal '57 Strat you can get without spending tens of thousands of dollars. There is a lot of love and care that went into building this guitar. Even the relic job is tasteful, carefully done, and looks authentic. The playability is off the charts and the neck feels absolutely incredible. The fretwork is buttery smooth and the guitar works with you, not against you (something that wasn't always the case with those old vintage guitars).

Even the pickups are handwound, to really put a ribbon on the entire Custom Shop experience. They sound lovely with a warm and wooly neck pickup, a bright and twangy middle pickup, and a bridge pickup that sizzles without having that shrill ice-picky sound that some of those really old Strats sometimes had. There's a naturally vocal-like quality to these pickups. They're open and airy while still having the right amount of definition to them.

When Fender puts their best builders to work, the result is nothing short of impressive. This is a prime example of that.

Details

Rock ‘n’ roll was steaming ahead in 1957, and the electric guitar was taking on a prominent role in stripped-down bands, replacing the saxophone as the main lead instrument. The Fender Stratocaster was taking center stage in the hands of legendary musicians and reshaping the sound of modern music. The Fender Custom Shop 1957 Stratocaster Relic brings you back to that time in all its greatness with a few player-centric modifications under the hood.

A two-piece hand-selected alder body (ash on aged white blonde) wears a Relic lacquer finish and the one-piece tinted quartersawn maple neck hosts a “1957 V” profile, 9.5” fingerboard radius and 21 narrow tall frets. Hand-wound ’57 pickups with reverse-wound/reverse-polarity middle pickup are wired up to a five-way switch and Fat ’50s wiring on a single-ply parchment pickguard for vintage-accurate tone and look. Other features include Custom Shop vintage synchronized tremolo, vintage-style tuning machines, bone nut and wing string tree. Also includes deluxe hardshell case, strap and certificate of authenticity.

Fender®, Squier®, Stratocaster®, Telecaster®, Precision Bass®, Jazz Bass® and the distinctive headstock designs commonly found on the Strat®, Tele® & P Bass® guitars are registered trademarks of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation