Fender Custom Shop ’56 Stratocaster Electric Guitar, Heavy Relic, Dakota Red Fender Custom Shop

This ’56 Fender Custom Shop Strat captures the essence of the earliest models of what would become one of the most iconic guitars in history, combining loads of vintage-style specs and aesthetic with modern performance features that turn this guitar into both a visual work of art as well as a player’s dream.

Carved from two pieces of alder, the body wood of this Strat is largely responsible for the tone that’s become synonymous with this style of guitar. In classic Strat fashion, the body’s shape offers a comfy belly contour, and is host to a striking white ’56 Strat pickguard that follows the shape of the body beautifully, as well as a Vintage Strat Eggshell relic’d backplate on its rear.

With a total scale length of 25.5 inches, the 5/4 Sawn Maple neck of this ’56 Strat boasts a 10/56 “V” profile, with a 9.50″ radius maple fingerboard. This heavily relic’d fingerboard is topped with Micarta Black Dots and medium jumbo 6150 frets, which are used frequently in the Fender Custom Shop’s builds and known for their “middle ground” between comfortable but also easily to feel while playing.

Three Fender Fat ’50s Strat pickups take this guitar’s tone home: these pickups are a nod to the golden era, delivering a bright, glassy Strat tone that’s hot-rodded for higher output and enhanced bass response. The reverse-wound middle pickup ensures hum-canceling in positions 2 and 4, while the staggered hand-beveled pole pieces offer a balanced output. Alnico V magnets provide incredible focus and dynamics, capturing the essence of vintage tone, a staple of the Fender Custom Shop. Vintage-style cloth-covered wiring and fiber bobbins complete the package of these incredible pickups.

This Strat’s finish is a highlight, with a FCS Heavy Relic treatment applied to Nitrocellulose Lacquer, in a beautiful Dakota Red. This Heavy Relic treatment transforms this guitar into a visual statement, showcasing forearm wear, buckle rash, and dings and dents strategically placed to tell a story of years of passionate playing. The wear extends to the fingerboard and back of the neck, creating a smooth surface for neck travel. The relic’ing on the hardware from top to bottom puts a bow on the finish of this ’56 Strat.

A Fender Custom Shop Black hard case comes included with this eye-catching ’56 Strat.

• Iconic ’56 Strat Design with Modern Playability
• Distinctive Dakota Red Heavy Relic Finish
• 2-Piece Alder Body
• 5/4 Sawn Maple 10/56 “V” Neck
• Fender Fat ’50s Strat Pickups: RVRP Middle Pickup
• Vintage-Style Trem Arm
• Black FCS Hardshell Case Included