Ultimate Vintage Stratocaster
In Celebration of West LA Music’s 40th Anniversary, we’ve worked closely with Fender’s top Custom Shop Designers to bring you the finest Stratocaster ever manufactured, the limited edition, Ultimate Vintage Strat, made in the USA at the Fender Custom Shop in Corona, California.
For players demanding great tone, we've taken the best parts from every Vintage Strat, and combined them to create the Ultimate Vintage Strat. You would have to disassemble several instruments to create one of these Strats, similar to what Eric Clapton did with "Blackie," and you would be lucky to find a comparable instrument at any price!
We started with the original 1957 Strat Contour Body, shaped to comfortably fit any player. (The contour was made less exaggerated in the 1960's, against Leo Fender's wishes). The body features a one-ply pickguard in the original 50s style. The front of the headstock includes the “original patent decal” indicating the body is a contour body, and an original 1962 Fender “spaghetti logo” decal. The back of the headstock features a “Fender Custom Shop” decal.
The Ultimate Vintage Strat offers a 1962 C-Shape neck, which is slightly thicker than the 1950’s C-Shape neck. The fingerboard boasts 6105 Medium Jumbo frets for easy note bend and lighting fast play, a modification many of the world's top guitarists have included on their Strats. The neck features a modern 9.5 degree radius, making bending easier, especially in higher neck positions. You can choose between a Rosewood or Maple fingerboard.
The bridge features a traditional Sync Tremolo built by the Fender Custom Shop plus Fender traditional bridge saddles. The neck plate is an individual limited edition run of 40 engraved with the Fender Custom Shop logo and “West L.A. Music 40th Anniversary,” along with the serial number beginning with the letters “UVS” indicating “Ultimate Vintage Strat”.
Fender Custom Shop pickups include a 69 Custom pickup in the neck position, providing more bite and punch, plus thumping lows and enhanced clarity. The middle position pickup is a 60’s Custom with a familiar glassy tone, recommended by the Fender Custom Shop as the best center position pickup for any Strat. The bridge pickup is the Fat 50’s Custom which has more bite and punch, and is much louder and warmer than a traditional 50’s style pickup.
Fender Custom Shop electronics feature a 5-way pickup selector switch. The first position provides that Classic Blues sound, while the second offers a more glassy tone. The third summons that great chunky sound often found on original vintage Strats. The fourth combines the bridge and center pickup for an awesome Country chicken-pickin' sound, and the fifth is perfect for the rock rhythms and lead. Classic sounds in every position. Fender’s Custom Shop wiring gives you volume control and two tone controls.
Available in a limited edition run of 40 guitars, with a rosewood or maple fingerboard, in five classic colors:
-VINTAGE WHITE
-SONIC BLUE
-CANDY TANGERINE
-RED SPARKLE
-3 TONE SUNBURST
Available as a Relic or NOS.
A Relic is aged in the Fender Custom Shop over a period of days so that the guitar looks and plays like a vintage instrument, including wear marks on the neck, finish worn off the fingerboard, aged metal parts, and the distinctive appearance of an instrument that's been played for years.
NOS stands for “New Old Stock,” which is Fender's definition for a vintage guitar in brand-new, mint condition.
The Ultimate Vintage Strat includes a Fender Custom Shop Certificate of Authenticity and a Tweed Case.