Fender American Vintage 56 Stratocaster Aged White Blonde

General

Ever since their introduction in the 1950s, Fender's electric guitars have been a constant favourite among guitarists playing various types of music, thanks to their unique sound, elegant looks and great playability. Nowadays, vintage specimens are extremely desirable and, hence, unaffordable. This is why Fender created the American Vintage series. Guitars from this series are accurate reproductions of the original. The '56 Stratocaster is a new model and offers even more vintage-accurate features than before, like the Patent Pending stamps on the steel bridge saddles and the specially voiced alnico 3 single-coil pickups made by exact specifications. The accessory tweed case is also an exact reproduction and even contains period-correct accessories, or case candy.

Specific features of the American Vintage '56 Stratocaster

Halfway through 1956, Fender replaced the Stratocaster's thick D-profile with a more comfortable V-profile. This neck was still a handful, but because of its soft, curved V-shape, it was a lot more manageable. Luckily, this neck still features its rolled fretboard edges. However, the neck isn't the only vintage-correct feature of this Fender American Vintage '56 Stratocaster. Its lightweight ash body has the same authentic deep contours and curves, plus the right colour and type of lacquer, in this case a thin nitrocellulose Aged White Blonde. Additional characteristic features are the single-layer white pickguard with eight-hole mounting and a (for those days rather new) butterfly string guide. Lastly, the distance between the machine heads has been adjusted so that the strings run right down the string nut for minimal friction

American Vintage series: more accurate than ever before

Along with the American Standard series, Fender decided to give the 2012 American Vintage series a massive update. It has been expanded with new, iconic '50s and '60s models that have a minute vintage accuracy. To get to this point, the guitar giant tracked down and studied specs and details of numerous original vintage guitars. Fender even brushed off the tools of the period to make the result as authentic as possible. All of these guitars come with a vintage-style case with replicate case candy that consists of, for instance, a guitar strap, guitar cable, polishing cloth, and vintage-accurate booklets and pamphlets. There's a good reason that these new models represent Fender's famed, 60-year long history in music.

• this guitar is also available with a 2-colour Sunburst and a Black finish
• additionally, Fender makes a left-handed guitar in 2-colour Sunburst