All user reviews for the Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt '63 Relic Stratocaster (by Jason Smith)

Made in USA in the custom shop of Fender, and more particularly by the excellent Masterbuilder Jason Smith

The bridge is a classic vintage bridge 6 points, historically correct and aged (rust)

The neck is maple, cut on quarter, with a rosewood fingerboard reported (Indian or Brazilian?), In any case is very dark rosewood.
The profile is a large C in the early 60's, relatively thin and very comfortable (going around) and the radius is 9.5 (obedience of vintage with a touch a bit more modern)
The hoop is perfect, which really is not always the case with fender custom shop, and the frets are jumbo, which adds to overall comfort.
The guitar has 22 frets, and a typical configuration of type S / S / S with microphones, however, unusual: of John Cruz ltd, hand-wound by the master after he took some lessons with grandma Ybarra
There is also the 5-position selector classic, but with the bridge pickup with a tone knob for himself (this is not the cabalge classic, but very convenient to not have a microphone too piercing, if necessary)

UTILIZATION

The overall comfort is really the appointment, the guitar is very light (3kg300) and the general wear of the intrument realize comfortable (worn almost to varnish wood handle)

Moreover, thanks to his cuts the Strat, is it not the most comfortable guitar to the world?

Access to the treble is good and no surprises on what kind of guitar

The action was set perfectly (relatively low, but not too much) and the ultra comfortable fretting

At the sound, the settings are simple and effective, the 5-position pickup offers a wide range, as always.

SOUNDS

So this is the most important chapter:
This Strat has a woody sound ... that is to say that the mean color of the wood in the sound, the neck pickup is mellow but with clanquant both, and keeps the definition of all the strings, not not bleed into the grave, is still very active EXTRAORDINARY!
The intermediate positions typically offer the sounds of famous hendrix or john mayer with these characteristics "mediums dug"
The middle pickup is perfectly usable with a signature sound pretty good to him and snapping with thickness
Finally the bridge pickup is a microphone pretty solid and balanced, but not too piercing, and elsewhere was the posiiblité to make it softer tone thanks to the dedicated button
All the sounds of the legendary Strat are there, lifelike, authentic, this is the perfect strat!

The sound is completely similar to the john mayer blackone (obviously these are the same pickups made by John Cruz on the proto mayer), and the guitar has that thing in particular mediums, and so musical
You can find all the sounds in: Pink Floyd, SRV, Mayer (obviously), Hendrix and others
I plug everything into combos fenders (Vibroverb / pro junior), but I've plugged this guitar into a Marshall combo bluesbreacker, and there is sound exactly like john frusciante!
In which the best amp I plugged it, and I will soon buy, is a copy of Dumble amp: the Ceriatone Overtone Special ... a killer! a must!

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for about a month, but I'm a professional musician when I play for hours a day, which allows me to have an opinion already ...

Before I had this strat for me is the ultimate strat I've owned about 5 diferent Custom Shop models, relic, ediitions sometimes limited, but easily passes the Masterbuilt.

The only downside of this guitar is an aesthetic concern at the handle ... Even though it's very comfortable, it's not nice to have the bare wood, I think it is not relicage hyper realistic, while everything else, you'd swear a real guitar from 1963!, stuffed details

The price is VERY expensive, bought secondhand € 4400, but considering that this is a guitar for life, so it's not that expensive