Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt Todd Krause 1963 Stratocaster Heavy Relic Sage Green Metallic over Seminole Red

Throughout the years, Truetone Music has received a ton of Custom Shop guitars.  They're all special, but when a Masterbuilt piece lands, it feels like an event, not just a guitar.  And when it's done by legendary Masterbuilder Todd Krause, we know it will be top notch and unique to his own style.  But when it's a color over color '63 Stratocaster with a Brazilian Rosewood, it goes to a whole another level.

 

Masterbuilt guitars are hard to come by, and one like this is a rare creation.  Of course, the main feature is the beautiful, dark Brazilian Rosewood fretboard.  This highly desirable wood is the most sought after for Strat fretboards.  It tops a rock solid quartersawn Maple neck, which has been roasted to perfection.  The 60's C neck profile is very comfortable, and we spec'ed this out to be a bit more streamlined, measuring .790" at the 1st fret and .900" at the 12th fret.  Another added feature is the vintage compound radius of 7.25 - 9.5". This is something that the Custom Shop just started offering a few years ago, and has become quite popular. It allows for a very authentic feel with the 7.25" radius when playing chords, but then easy bending while playing leads as it evolves into a 9.5" radius further up the neck.

 

The guitar features Josefina Hand-Wound 60/63 Strat pickups, voiced to be vintage correct recreations of one of the most sought after sets.   Last in the lineage of the all black bobbin pickups, the hand-wound ‘60/’63s are voiced to produce the hallmark throaty Strat tone from those formidable years. Each pickup is carefully calibrated for balanced output from neck to bridge, with the middle featuring reverse wound/reverse polarity to provide noise-free “in between” tones in the 2nd and 4th switch positions. The vintage bobbin construction, formvar-coated magnet wires and vintage stagger ensure that you're getting as close as it gets to how it was done back in the day.  They are calibrated to be balanced, with Alnico 5 magnets for a focused, dynamic response.  These pickups are bright (without sounding harsh) and provide a clear articulation - the quintessential Strat sound. 

 

The Heavy Relic treatment was perfected by Krause, down to the finest detail (zoom in on the pictures to see). We haven't seen many as well done as this - he has a truly admirable drive for attention to detail with his work.  The color over color treatment works perfectly on this guitar, creating a true one of a kind piece.  Plus, these are two colors that you rarely see - Sage Green Metallic and Seminole Red.