2006 Fender Stratocaster 60th ann. USA Stratocaster, sunburst, Near Mint, OHC

2006 Fender 60th Anniversary Stratocaster in virtually new condition:  It was in 1946 that Leo Fender incorporated Fender Musical Instruments Manufacturing Company. Leo was always looking for ways to improve existing products and ideas for inventing new ones. His first love was radios and after graduating from college with an accounting degree, he founded Fender Radio Repair. After a friend asked him to repair a PA system, he became interested in musical equipment and together with Doc Kauffman started Kauffman & Fender Manufacturing, where they delved into the repair and manufacture of guitar amplifiers, guitar pickups, and Hawaiian-style lap steel guitars. In 1946 Leo opened the first Fender shop at Santa Fe and Pomona streets in Fullerton, officially leaving behind forever his days as a radio repairman. The innovations he developed with his workers and various artists would change the face of popular music–and the guitar–forever.

While Leo invented a lot of things we now take for granted, none of them may be as iconic or as closely tied to him as the Stratocaster. The Fender American Series 60th Anniversary Stratocaster features subtle but distinctive touches that set it apart from a stock Strat. The most visible appointment is a "Diamond" inlay on the headstock. It features a shiny, classy-looking faux diamond (actually a rhinestone) set into the wood within a banner that reads "Sixty Years." There's also a special chrome neckplate with the classic Fender logo over a special 60th anniversary diamond graphic and the words: Diamond Anniversary 1946-2006. As a final touch, the Fender hardshell case in which the guitar arrives is covered in a special Silver Solarium material and the interior is lined with a dark red plush and embroidered with a 60th anniversary logo. The American 60th Anniversary Strat's other special touches bring together old-school Fender style and tone with new-school thinking in a one-of-a-kind way. The first of those features is a set of three American Original '57/'62 Strat Pickups with the middle pickup reverse wound and reverse polarity. It's the first time Fender has ever done that trick with these more-vintage-than-vintage pickups, which have the original-style staggered, beveled-edge Alnico 5 magnets and Formvar magnet wire. Combine that with the Delta Tone wiring–which features a no-load tone control for the middle and bridge pickups–and this axe is capable of scorching vintage tones. Delta-Tone wiring is an old Fender trick for producing just a bit more midrange and hotter output from the Strat. The no-load tone pot works like a standard tone knob from positions one-to-nine, but at ten it is removed from the wiring completely so that you get the full, unadulerated sonic output of your pickup. It means more output and more treble without using a booster pedal or active controls. An American two-point trem with stainless steel saddles, pearloid fretboard dots, plus parchment knobs and pickup covers complete the 60th anniversary package. Cosmetic appointments aside, the Strat is a performance machine.

PRICE:  1395 EUR