Custom Fender Thinline Stratocaster EJ Inspired Eric Johnson Signature Pickguard Assembly w/Gigbag

Here is a custom Fender Thinline Stratocaster build by E11even Guitars inspired by the EJ series and built as close to those specs as we could using readily available components.

The body is a gorgeous new semi-hollow Thinline style, cut to vintage specs, in Aged White (aka Buttercream) gloss poly over Alder. It is fitted with Nickel hardware and a genuine Fender vintage big block tremolo with 2-3/16" string spacing and an American 1 ply Parchment 50s style pickguard with Aged White covers and knobs. There is no tremolo cover nor screw holes per EJ specs.

The pickguard assembly was made in house to EJ series specs and features the Fender American Eric Johnson Signature Series pickups, CTS 250K vintage style pots with a Blue .1uf 104 disc tone capacitor and a CRL 5 way switch all mounted on a 1 ply pickguard with a 50s style aluminum control shield and wired with Gavitt vintage wire to a Switchcraft jack. The tone controls are wired according to the Fender Eric Johnson wiring diagram with the middle knob for the neck pickup only and the lower knob for the bridge pickup only. This combined with the 104 capacitor, gives you a much broader range of tone shaping in the 2 and 4 switch positions than on a typical Strat.

Here is the official description of the EJ pickups from Fender:
Fender's R&D engineers worked closely with world renowned guitarist and tone connoisseur Eric Johnson to craft the perfect pickups for his uniquely articulate sound. Carefully blending Leo's legacy with EJ's modern discerning sonic tastes, these Strat™ pickups are a key element of EJ's unmistakably pure tone. Each pickup is unique in structure and performance. The neck pickup is based on a '54 Strat pickup with oversized alnico 3 magnets. The middle pickup, based on a '63 Strat pickup, uses specially treated alnico magnets and is reverse wound to cancel hum when used with the neck or bridge pickup. The bridge pickup uses alnico 5 magnets and is specially voiced to be hotter without sacrificing that sweet top end sparkle.

The neck is a new genuine ​Fender Vintera Mod 50s 1pc Roasted Maple featuring 21 med/jumbo frets, 9.5" fretboard radius, upgraded bone nut, Soft V rear profile, heel adjusting trussrod and a gloss poly finish on the front with satin on the back for smooth and fast playability. The frets have been leveled, crowned and polished and the neck is fitted with genuine Fender American Vintage staggered tuners with no string tree per EJ series specs.

The guitar weighs 7.1 lbs and is strung with GHS Boomers 10 -46 gauge strings with the tremolo setup gently flush mounted or "decked" with 5 springs and no tremolo cover or screw holes per EJ specs. It includes the new Fender Deluxe padded gigbag shown and will ship UPS with a signature required for delivery.

By making a few compromises on the official specs to accommodate readily available components, we are able to offer this EJ inspired Strat at nearly half the cost of the official artist signature series.

Thanks for looking and please see our Reverb shop page for more cool custom guitars and quality parts.