NAMM 2020: Fender Custom Shop’s exquisite guitars
The Fender Custom Shop presents itself in full splendor at NAMM 2020, with guitars worth up to half a million dollars being exhibited. Also, expect new Jimmy Page, George Harrison and Eric Johnson signature models.
Prestige Collection
This year, the Fender Custom Shop is going all out with over-the-top, exquisite luxury guitar creations. They will be bringing a whole bunch of them to this year’s NAMM event to show off these ornate instruments.
I already covered the George Harrison Rocky Stratocaster, a recreation of his famous Beatles guitar. But the Fender Custom Shop is not only about recreating classics, but also innovation, and this is where the Prestige Collection comes in.
Fender Coronation Stratocaster · Source: Fender
Faberge Coronation Guitar
Fender’s crown jewel this year at NAMM is Yuriy Shishkov‘s Faberge Coronation Guitar. Price: $560,000!
The guitar is inspired by the Fabergé egg, which was made in 1897 for the ceremonial inauguration of Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra on the imperial throne.
Because of its historical importance, Shishkov argues that it is the most famous and valuable egg of it’s type. The egg even starred in the movie Oceans 12. The guitar has a gold-plated surface with a guilloche and gold-plated silver inlay. There are diamond eagle medallions and hundreds of diamonds all over the instrument. The guitar took 16 months to complete and is Shishkov’s most complex and fascinating project to date.
Faberge Coronation Strat · Source: Fender
Stratocaster 1 by Ron Thorn
Even before arriving at Fender, instrument maker Ron Thorn was known for sport-car-inspired designs. His love of fast racing cars has led him to cross a Stratocaster with the Saleen 1 super sports car, resulting in the Stratocaster 1.
The body is made out of super light carbon fiber and is completely hollow, with a middle block of roasted alder and a hand-carved maple top. The quartersawn neck is made of roasted maple and has a carbon fiber fingerboard. It comes with a matching carbon fiber head plate. The guitar is painted in distinctive Saleen Candy Apple Red.
Price: $ 33,000
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- Fender · Source: Fender
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- Fender Saleen · Source: Fender
The Broadcaster turns 70
To commemorate the 70th anniversary of this groundbreaking electric guitar, four new limited Broadcaster models will be presented in both Teambuilt and Masterbuilt versions.
Fender 70th Anniversary Broadcaster · Source: Fender
Good times
This year will also see the mirrored version of the well-received Jimmy Page Telecaster now become a permanent, custom teambuilt model in the Custom Artist Collection.
Another one to look out for is the Eric Johnson ‘Virginia’ Stratocaster, a recreation of Johnson’s rare sassafras-bodied 1954 Stratocaster that he played in the intro to the iconic “Cliffs of Dover” track. Built by master builder Carlos Lopez, only 50 of these special instruments will be available.
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One response to “NAMM 2020: Fender Custom Shop’s exquisite guitars”
I’m a lifelong Fender fan, but I’ve always found most showcase guitars from the CS to be just a bit *too* ostentatious. I bought the ‘coffee table’ book, and barely 10% are guitars I’d like to own from an aesthetic point of view – though it’s rarely difficult to appreciate the workmanship. If it keeps the Master Builders happy and their skills finely honed that can only be a good thing.