2015 Fender Custom Shop 1957 Stratocaster Partscaster Sunburst w/ Fat 50s, Case

Up for sale, a 2015 Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster Partscaster, honestly played and in perfect working order, complete with a hardshell case. This unique amalgamation of high-end Fender componentry combines a 2015 Fender Custom Shop 1957 Stratocaster neck with a 1954-style ash body, loaded with a trio of Custom Shop Fat ‘50s single coil pickups and outfitted with Fender Pure Vintage hardware and plastics.

The tonewood pairing of ash and maple ensures a certain midrange complexity, low end clarity and sonic authority, and at 9lbs 3oz, the instrument has notable sustain too. The Custom Shop Fat ‘50s pickups deliver quintessential vintage Strat sparkle and snap; these pickups feature a slightly hot-rodded wiring design for enhanced bass register kick, with great midrange detail and exceptional articulation. The neck pickup has a percussive cut and throaty roundness, the bridge has a sparking bounce and presence, and the “in-between” positions on the five-way selector switch offer classic Strat hollow cut. This Strat has been professionally setup here at Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar with 10-46 strings, low action, and spot-on intonation.

The rift-sawn maple neck has a medium depth soft V-shaped profile carve at the nut with lightly rolled fretboard edges, measuring .850” deep at the 1st fret and .990” at the 12th. The fretboard has a “vintage compound” 7 1/4“ to 9 1/2“ radius, and the medium fretwire is practically perfect, with plenty of meat and well-rounded crowns. This Strat plays cleanly up the 25 1/2“ scale with a straight neck and a responsive, optimally-adjusted truss rod, and the nut measures 1 5/8“ in width. On the headstock, most of the Fender waterslide decal is intact, with the Custom Shop chevron on the reverse side. The Fender-branded Kluson-style single line tuning machines turn smoothly and hold pitch as they should, and the High E tuner has been replaced. The neck heel retains all of its factory stamps, dated to 2015. The neck pocket also has a few illegible factory markings, and the small "Custom Shop" sticker in the pocket is not original to the body.

All of the electronics function as intended; the Fender Custom Shop Fat ‘50s pickups are wired to a brand new harness with properly spec'd 250k CTS pots, a Sprague Orange Drop Tone cap, and a five-way pickup selector switch. The chrome-plated bridge, jack cup, and Fender-embossed saddles are brand new components, as are the pickup covers and knobs, while the one-ply white pickguard exhibits some requisite pick scuffing along the treble side of the strum path.

The gloss two-tone Sunburst nitro lacquer finish has a notably thin outer black band and extensive lacquer checking. Cosmetic wear arguably splits the difference between natural playwear and simulated relic'ing, includes a number of minor nicks and finish chips on the body as a whole. There is an area of wear through the finish (with subsequent ambered lacquer overspray) adjacent to the jack cup, and an area of black touch-up beneath the pickguard on the treble-side edge of the neck pocket. The Custom Shop neck exhibits palm wear across the gloss nitro lacquer finish, largely along the fretboard edges and central to the carve in the lower registers, giving this neck a worn-in, easy-playing feel that is exceedingly comfortable in the palm.

A black tolex hardshell case with black plush interior is included.