This is a excellent, wear free condition - meaning it has no extra player induced fret wear, dents, checking or modifications - 2024 Fender Custom Shop LTD 1956 Stratocaster Journeyman Relic in Aged Black, a meticulously crafted vintage-style electric guitar. Featuring a lightweight 2-piece off-centre alder body with Flash-Coat Lacquer finish, it offers rich resonance and authentic vintage tone. 

The neck is made of Rift Sawn Maple with a Medium Tint Flash-Coat Lacquer, aged to a beautiful yellow hue, and sports a 7.25-9.5R compound radius fingerboard, providing a comfortable vintage feel. The "54 Style Soft V" neck shape combined with Medium Vintage frets (47095) delivers a classic, punchy, and expressive playing experience.

The guitar is finished with a Journeyman Relic treatment, including weather checking and aged hardware, giving it a well-loved vintage appearance. The Aged Black colour enhances its authentic look. Equipped with Custom Shop Hand Wound Tomatillo pickups, which produce sweet, rich, and versatile tones reminiscent of ripe Mexican tomatillos, the sound is both warm and dynamic. The mid pickup is RWRP, adding tonal flexibility. Controls follow the Strat Vintage Mod #2 layout, with a tone circuit that influences the bridge pickup for enhanced sound shaping.

This limited edition instrument combines superb sound quality, vintage aesthetics, and excellent playability, making it a highly desirable collector’s and performance guitar. It includes a genuine hard case, certificate, arm, bridge cover, wrench, and manual and other case candy. The serial number is CZ580889, and it weighs approximately 3.39kg (7.480 lb). The setup has been professionally maintained, with fret life at about 90-95%, and the neck and truss rod are in excellent condition.

Here are the specifications that make this guitar limited edition:

1. Hand-Wound Tomatillo Pickups

• The Difference: Standard '56 reissues almost always come with hand-wound '55 or '56 single-coil pickups.

• The LTD Spec: This guitar features Hand-Wound Tomatillo pickups. These are premium, specialised Custom Shop pickups wound with Alnico 2 magnets. They are specifically aged and calibrated to replicate the sweeter, lower-output, and highly dynamic tone of a vintage pickup whose magnets have naturally weakened over 70 years.

2. Rift-Sawn Maple Neck

• The Difference: Regular Custom Shop guitars typically use standard flat-sawn wood or traditional quartersawn wood.

• The LTD Spec: The neck is cut using the rift-sawn method. This is a highly selective, structurally stable, and expensive way to saw a log. It yields a specific diagonal grain pattern that sits exactly between flat-sawn and quartersawn, offering maximum stability against twisting while retaining a highly resonant, bouncy response.

3. Strat Vintage Modified #2 Wiring

• The Difference: A normal '56 Strat features traditional vintage wiring where the bridge pickup has no tone control at all, often making it sound incredibly bright or piercing.

• The LTD Spec: This guitar uses the Vintage Mod #2 circuit. This modern player upgrade connects the second tone control to the bridge pickup, allowing you to roll off the harsh highs while keeping your neck and middle pickups perfectly balanced.

Part-Exchanges & Trades Welcome: Always open to part-exchanges or trading for other high-end guitars. If you have something interesting you would like to swap, please feel free to get in touch!

Collection from Newcastle Upon Tyne

Note: shipping costs include insurance

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