Fender American Vintage 59 Stratocaster 3-Color Sunburst MN

General

The Fender American Vintage '59 Stratocaster is a minutely copied reissue of the classic 1959 Strat. It is available in two versions: the late 1959 model with a rosewood fretboard and three-layer mint-green pickguard and this early 1959 version with a one-piece maple neck and a single-layer white pickguard. The 2012 American Vintage guitars are now more accurate than ever, and this definitely shows with the '59 Stratocaster. Fender builds this guitar by the exact specifications of the period, taking even the smallest details of the originals into account. The result is a look, feel and sound that is staggeringly close to an original vintage Strat. Even the accessory brown case is an authentic replica, inside which you'll find the same case candy (paperwork and accessories) as that of the original.

American Vintage '59 Stratocaster: early 1959 features

1959 was the first year Fender fitted the Stratocaster with a thinner, more comfortable neck. The thick V-shaped neck of the '56 Strat was swapped with a more slender, rounder D-profile one. Additionally, an extra colour was added to the Sunburst finish that now goes from black to red to yellow. These, however, are the only aspects in which the 3-colour Sunburst American Vintage '59 Stratocaster MN differs from the 2-colour Sunburst American Vintage '56 Stratocaster. It features the same lightweight ash body, vintage-style one-piece maple neck construction and an 8-hole, single-layer white pickguard. Other period-correct features include a thin nitrocellulose lacquer with an authentic colour and style Sunburst, a vintage-accurate tremolo bridge with Pat.Pend. stamped steel saddles, single-line Fender Deluxe machine heads, and a bone string nut.

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. Every model has been fitted with new pickups, especially wound after the specifications and sound of the vintage reference models. 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 rosewood fretboard in Black, Faded Sonic Blue and 3-colour Sunburst.
• Please note: pictures 5 to 7 show a white version and are for illustration purposes only. This is the 3-colour Sunburst version.