Fender Custom Shop Ltd Poblano Partscaster - USA 2020

2020 was a very strange year which resulted in some out-of-the-ordinary pastimes …. Like lots of folks using their COVID downtime to build some great guitars.

Some of this activity has been motivated by the fact that unless you’re in a big city, you may have some challenges finding the right Custom Shop Stratocaster with just the right specs …. until you realise that you can actually build it!

Here’s a great playing Fender Strat built by an experienced player using genuine Fender USA and Custom Shop parts sourced from US guitar parts reseller The Stratosphere in Brentwood New Hampshire - https://stratosphereparts.com/

From The Stratosphere –

“We have been helping the world build a better guitar every day now for the past 16 years. We are best known for offering the largest selection of brand name necks & bodies anywhere. Our customers range from working musicians to repair shops to some of the most famous guitar players in the music industry.”

So his order is placed and duly delivered. It was –

Fender Custom Shop 1961 Relic Stratocaster neck – roasted maple with rosewood fretboard, '61 C profile, light relic. Narrow tall 6105 frets, 9.5” fingerboard radius, clay dots.

Fender American Original '56 solid alder roasted body in Fire Mist Silver & loaded with CS Poblano Strat pickups. Vintage style bridge & block with trem. Body date 25 Nov 2020.

It all went together quite beautifully, and has been tweaked and set up in a most professional manner. 

The result is a fabulous Fender Stratocaster in beautiful Fire Mist Silver created from genuine Fender USA and Custom Shop components. Of course, it plays brilliantly and sounds great.

When you add up the $$$ spent, plus Aussie GST + import duty + shipping, it actually comes to an amount similar to a (second hand) Fender Custom Shop guitar. Except it was built specifically to the owner’s requirements, and it’s new.

Stratosphere does not ship the original guitar’s Certificate of Authenticity or spec sheet with the parts. They do supply a COA with specific parts where possible – eg the body of this one.

This guitar is in brand new condition. The trem arm is included but it has never been attached to the body. This lovely Strat has been used sporadically in a home and studio setting, and is ready to rock.

Comes in a hard shell case in new condition, along with Fender info, tags and Certificate of Authenticity for the body.