Fender Custom Shop 1955 Stratocaster Heavy Relic HSS MN WBL #2
Product information "Fender Custom Shop 1955 Stratocaster Heavy Relic HSS MN WBL #2"
As early as 1950 Fender began developing the new guitar that would later be named the Stratocaster. After consultation with several well-known guitarists, including Western-swing musician Bill Carson and entertainer Rex Galleon, for whom Leo Fender wanted to build the perfect guitar, the design for the Stratocaster started to take shape. It was to have three pickups, a more comfortable, ergonomically shaped body and an entirely new feature: the vibrato.
In 1954 the Fender Stratocaster finally hit the market. The instrument looked like no guitar before it: the body was curvier and more flowing than that of the Telecaster to increase playing comfort, the new headstock was somewhat reminiscent of the old Bigsby headstocks, the jack socket was elegantly recessed into the side of the body instead of on the top, and the Strat was fitted with three single-coil pickups. The Fender Custom Shop has made it its mission to study the high-quality vintage Stratocasters of that era and recreate them down to the smallest detail. Here we have a very special Custom Shop one-off for you, modelled on a 1950s Stratocaster:
The Fender Custom Shop 1955 Stratocaster Heavy Relic HSS MN WBL is a classic ST-style electric guitar with a two-piece ash body. Ash was already used on the original Stratocaster guitars and provides the foundation for the perfect vintage tone. The body wood was hand-selected to ensure an especially light weight and thus improve playing comfort. The aged maple neck with maple fretboard has a '60s oval "C" profile and a compound fretboard radius of 9.5" - 12", offering the perfect compromise between vintage feel and modern comfort and making fretting easier for the left hand. The guitar is equipped with a modern H-S-S pickup configuration consisting of a Seymour Duncan EVH '78 Zebra at the bridge, a Fender Custom Shop Handwound Fat 50s RWRP in the middle and a Fender Custom Shop Handwound '59 Strat at the neck position. Further features include Fender vintage-style tuners, aged white control knobs, a Fender 6-saddle American Vintage Synchronized Tremolo and a single-ply black pickguard.
This model is finished in classic White Blonde. The thin nitrocellulose lacquer finish allows the wood to resonate especially well and ensures the finish ages attractively. The most extreme of Fender's relic levels, Heavy Relic, evokes the spirit of the most well-worn and road-tested Fender instruments in history. If you want a guitar that looks as if it has never left your side since the dawn of rock 'n' roll, this is the finish for you.
The Fender Custom Shop 1955 Stratocaster Heavy Relic HSS MN WBL is delivered with a certificate of authenticity in a luxurious original Fender Custom Shop case with cream-coloured Tolex and red interior, allowing you to transport your new dream guitar safely and protect it from external influences.
- Aging: Heavy Relic
- Body Material: Ash, Select
- Body Shape: ST-Style
- Body finish: High Gloss
- Bridge / Tremolo: Fender 6-Saddle American Vintage Synchronized Tremolo
- Bridge Pickup: EVH 78 Zebra Aged
- Color/ Finish: Aged White Blonde
- Colour: Blonde
- Controls: 1x volume, 2x tone
- Country of Origin: USA
- Custom shop: yes
- Factory Stringing: Fender Nickel Plated Steel
- Finish: Nitrocellulose Lacquer
- Fretboard: Maple
- Fretboard Inlays: Black Dots
- Fretboard radius: 9,5" - 12" Compound
- Fret material: Nickel silver
- Frets: 22
- Hardware: Aged Chrome
- Includes: Original Fender case, certificate
- Middle Pickup: Fender Custom Shop Handwound Fat 50s RWRP
- Neck: 1 pc Maple
- Neck Pickup: Fender Custom Shop Handwound '59 Strat
- Neck Profile: '60s Oval "C"
- Neck construction: Bolt on neck
- Neck finish: Gloss aged
- Nut Width: 1.650" (42 mm)
- Nut material: Bone
- Pickguard: Black 1-Ply
- Pickup Configuration: H-S-S (1x Humbucker, 2x Single Coil)
- Pickup Cover: Aged White (Neck, Middle), Zebra (Bridge)
- Pickup Selector Switch: 5-way switch
- Pickup type: passive
- Pot Caps: Aged White
- Scale: 25" (635 - 659 mm)
- Scale Length: 25,5" (648 mm)
- Serial number: R134315
- Signature Model: no
- Strings: 6 string
- Strings thickness ex factory: .010 - .046
- Technology: Solid Body
- Translation: 1:14
- Tuning Machines: Fender Vintage-Style
- Weight: 3,35 kg
To make a Fender instrument available to everyone, they are offered in different price ranges. The subsidiary Squier sells affordable, Far East-made models built to original specifications with Fender know-how in the background. An affordable, "real" Fender can be found in the series made in Mexico. The classic original Fender instruments, such as the American Pro series, are made in the USA. For lovers of hand-built instruments and guitars with vintage flair there is the Fender Custom Shop, where you can even have a guitar built completely to your own specifications.
But Fender is not only known and appreciated for its instruments, it is also famous for various amplifiers such as the Deluxe Reverb, the Princeton, the Champion, the Blues Junior and the Fender Rumble bass amp range. Fender now also offers a wide range of guitar accessories like strings, picks, cables, straps, cases, tuners and care products, as well as spare parts and pickups, plus accessories and merchandising. You can of course find all of this at the music shop you trust – session in Frankfurt and Walldorf!
