Fender Custom Shop Artisan Maple Burl Stratocaster NOS in Natural

If you've got the looks, you may as well show them off! The Fender Custom Shop have gone to every length to make the Artisan series Stratocaster look and play like absolute perfection. As always with the Custom Shop, this special guitar is built to the highest quality by their renowned luthiers and kitted out with completely unique specs to the Fender range.

Part of the 2023 Artisan series, this Strat's major highlight is of course the stunning blend of exotic woods. The simply incredible AAAA maple burl top has been matched with an equally dazzling roasted alder body. The roasting process rids the wood of imperfections and gives it a luxurious caramel colour. Attached is a neck featuring both classic and contemporary touches. The 1963 "C" shape will be extremely familiar to anyone who's played a Fender Strat before, while the 9.5"-12" compound radius ebony fretboard makes those leads higher up on the narrow jumbo frets that bit less strenuous.

• AAAA-Grade Maple Burl Top - The breathtakingly beautiful AAAA-grade Maple top helps put this expertly crafted Custom Shop (model) in a class of its own.
• ‘63 C - This comfortable vintage-styled C feels comfortable and down the neck and is a well-suited middle ground for all hand sizes and playing styles.
• Compound Radius - With its rounder 7.25’’ radius by the nut and flatter 9.5’’ radius from the 12th fret, this [year/model] offers maximum comfort up and down the neck.
• Ebony Fingerboard - Often found on the most prestigious classical stringed instruments this prestigious tonewood offers premium aesthetics with a rich, articulate and resonant tonality.

Roasted Alder

The already perfect combination of an Alder body, Maple neck and Ebony fingerboard but made even better! Roasting the Alder body in effect, ages and seasons the wood to absolute perfection. All moistures, sugars and saps are roasted away leaving you with a piece of timber which feels like it's been seasoned for 100 years. Perfectly resonant and often more lightweight. Wonderfully complemented by its Maple neck and Ebony fingerboard this Strat is resonant and lively with increased sustain and overtone.

Custom Shop Fat ‘60s Pickups

Designed and made by the Fender Custom Shop, the Fat ‘60s Stratocaster pickups perfectly capture the highly desired articulate vintage ‘60s Strat tone but with a few updated tweaks. Made using period-correct fibre bobbins, cloth wire, Alnico II magnets, and Formvar magnet wire, these pickups provide authentic vintage Strat tones that are rich in dynamics with a bell-like character. They have been overwound for extra bite and more power in the low-end and the middle pickup is RWRP for no noise in positions 2 and 4.

Body

• Series: Artisan
• Country Of Origin: US
• Colour: Aged Natural
• Body: Roasted Alder
• Body Finish: Lacquer
• Body Shape: Stratocaster

Neck

• Neck Material: Roasted Birdseye Maple
• Neck Finish: Gloss Nitrocellulose Lacquer
• Neck Shape: 1963 "C"
• Scale Length: 25.5" (648 mm)
• Fingerboard: Macassar Ebony
• Fingerboard Radius: 9.5" to 12" Compound Radius (241mm-305mm)
• Number of Frets: 21
• Frets Size: Narrow Tall
• String Nut: Bone
• Nut Width: 1.650" (42 mm)
• Position Inlays: Vintage Clay Dot
• Truss Rods: Vintage-Style

Electronics

• Bridge Pickup: Custom Shop Hand-Wound Fat '60s Single-Coil Strat
• Middle Pickup: Custom Shop Hand-Wound Fat '60s RWRP Single-Coil Strat
• Neck Pickup: Custom Shop Hand-Wound Fat '60s Single-Coil Strat
• Controls: Master Volume, Tone 1. (Neck/Middle Pickups), Tone 2. (Bridge Pickup)
• Pickup Switching: 5-Position Blade
• Pickup Configuration: SSS

Hardware

• Bridge: 6-Saddle Vintage-Style Synchronized Tremolo
• Hardware Finish: Gold
• Tuning Machines: Vintage-Style with Fender Logo
• Pickguard: 1-Ply Tortoiseshell
• Control Knobs: Vintage White