Fender Custom Shop '54 Strat re-issue.
Fender 54 re-issue Until recently Fender's Custom Shop only built guitars to special order for endorsees or seriously wealthy punters. Recently however they have started building the most frequently requested models as "off-the-peg" items. These guitars are mostly accurate recreations of classic Fender guitars and though still expensive, they can be found in guitar shops for less money than a bespoke model.

This particular guitar is a fairly accurate re-issue of a 1954 custom colour Strat - Aztec Gold in this case. It has a two piece swamp ash body which is lighter and more resonant than either my basswood bodied Ibanez RG550 or any of the modern Fender Strats I've tried. The cellulose? finish is beautifully applied and is very close to that of an original '50s Strat, it's even already chipped like an original (not my fault guv').

The neck is made from a nice piece of bird's eye maple with a deep but very comfortable soft "V" profile and is finished in a too-thick gloss that feels like polyester. I wish the Custom Shop would use a thin cellulose like on the original Strats, as it feels much better and will age more gracefully. The fingerboard is slightly flatter than 50's and 60's Strats which makes string bending easier and allows for a lower action, if that's you're thing.

This guitar has a very attractive pre-CBS style small headstock, although it has a slight curve where an original is straight, that seems to be a Custom Shop trademark. It has a pretty "spaghetti" Fender logo and original Kluson type gold machineheads. These slotted tuners are nice as they make restringing easy and don't leave sharp string ends sticking out! I believe Gotoh do a locking Kluson type peg that I'd like to check out, why this feature vanished in the first place beats me.
The trem unit is the classic "Synchronized Tremolo". It stays nicely in tune for modest whammy bar work (think Allan Holdsworth or Hank Marvin rather than Steve Vai). The gold finish is already wearing off the tremolo arm and saddles but not the tuners or jack socket.

The electronics are '50s specification; three Custom '50s single coils with two tone controls, a volume pot and a single ply eight screw scratchplate. The five way selector switch makes it much easier to get those "in between" pickup settings than the three way selector fitted to early Fenders. This guitar sounds great unplugged, resonant and toneful but plug it in and you realise how good the pickups are. The clean sounds are full and sparkling and through an old Marshall cranked right up, the lead tones have that gorgeous warmth that is associated with expensive vintage guitars.

This guitar is well made and is close to Leo Fender's superb original design, the only modern updates being the slightly flatter fingerboard radius and the five way selector switch. This guitar is more expensive than a stock Fender but the difference is probably justified by the choice wood, pickups and hand finishing details like the neck/headstock join.