Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt '62 Stratocaster (by Greg Fessler)

This is an old school strat though and through. The 60s were some of my favorite strats, and this recreation was perfect in nearly every way. The only real complaints I had were typical with any strat, including today's (mainly the rounder radius). The guitar features an alder body, a maple neck with a rosewood fretboard, 21 frets, dot inlays, vintage tremolo, SSS configuration, one volume, two tones and a five way switch.

UTILIZATION

The guitar was aged naturally by the factory, and it looked killer. They didn't overdo it like so many other Custom Shop strats I've seen. It had a nice "nick" pattern that looked very natural, yet subtle. The pickguard was aged nicely, and I really wish they'd include more aged pickguards on their strats. The overall quality was about as top notch as you could get. The frets were nice and level, and the neck itself was rounded a bit so it would feel nicer in your hand. The vintage tremolo on this is really solid, and I didn't have any issues with it going out of tune as long as I didn't go "Steve Vai" on the thing.

SOUNDS

The guitar had the vintage vibe going on in spades. These pickups aren't the hottest strat pickups in the world, but they sing like no tomorrow. Where as the 50s pickups tend to be a bit more vintage voiced, these sound extremely woody and thick. They have this SRV kinda vibe at times, and it just screams through a Marshall. The bridge is great for those cutting solo lines, and the neck is perfect for that old school "in your face" lead. It almost sounds like the guitar is on fire. The middle pickup itself is something I never use, but it worked awesome in conjunction with the 5 way switch as I could get those in-between positions for great glassy clean tones.

OVERALL OPINION

If you're looking for a great strat, you really need to look into the Custom Shop series guitars. These are about some of the best Fenders you can get. While there are other boutique builders out there that can offer more consistent and higher quality guitars, there's just something magical about the right Fender. I'm not really sure what it is. Anyway, given that this is an aged finish, buying used is something you should look into.