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New, but Hot Rodded
This is a brand new Fender® Road Worn Stratocaster® that we've modified with some very nice upgrades, which are detailed below. All original parts are included in the sale. We're an authorized Fender dealer, and this guitar is sold with a full factory warranty. The guitar weighs 7.25 pounds. Fret Level, Crown, & Polish
The degree to which the frets are level determines the degree to which the guitar can be setup with low action. The frets need to be right, and so we level them in-house. We almost always level/crown/polish frets on the Mexican Fender guitars, so they'll be as perfect as possible. You can read more about our process here. After final assembly we completely setup the guitar, so that it plays perfectly. We adjust the nut slots, and adjust the truss rod, the action, and the intonation. When you get a guitar from us, it plays right. Just like it should. Pickups
We replaced the guitar's stock pickups with Raw Vintage aged 6264 pickups. If you're unfamiliar with Raw Vintage, they're part of Prosound Communications, the people who bring you the XOTiC effects, like the BB Preamp, and AC Booster and RC Booster. You know those guys are pro level, they have tons of top players using their gear. These pickups are designed to emulate the best pickups of the '60s. The middle is RWRP, for hum-canceling in the 2 and 4 positions. Wiring
This wiring has lots of unique features. The most important one is the ability to toggle the 2 and 4 positions between series and parallel. Fender guitars typically combine coils in parallel. This is part of what creates that signature Fender “chiminess”. But there’s another way to connect two coils: in series. Connecting two coils in series produces a stronger, more midrange-heavy tone. A Gibson humbucker has its two coils connected in series, and if you’ve ever plugged a humbucker-equipped guitar into an amp that you’re used to hearing with single coils, you know the difference in output and gain that the humbucker produces. It packs a wallop, and drives the amp harder. Now you can have both options available on your Strat, and toggle between them quickly and easily. We use our ToneShaper pushbutton switch to toggle the 2 and 4 positions between series and parallel. This switch fits neatly between the first two pots and the 5-way, and is completely unobtrusive while remaining readily accessible. In the “down” position it protrudes from the face of the pickguard only slightly, and in the “up” position it’s still very low-profile, so it won’t get in the way of your finger if you like to do volume swells. This wiring configuration provides the standard pickup selections in the 2 and 4 positions. If you like this series/parallel wiring, but would like to consider alternate 2 and 4 position pickup selections, then check out our SSS4 and SSS6 wiring configurations. Most Strat pickup sets include a reverse-wound and reverse-polarity (RWRP) middle pickup that will hum-cancel when combined with either the neck or bridge pickup. If you use a pickup set with a RWRP middle pickup in this wiring configuration, you’ll have hum-canceling in position 2 and 4 regardless of whether the coils are in series or parallel. Finally, to make this wiring truly custom, we’ve used a superswitch rather than the standard 5-way, so that we can customize the tone controls. The standard Strat switch assigns the tone controls to specific pickups, but the superswitch assigns them to specific switch positions. We’ve assigned the lower tone control to position 1 only, so this control isn’t active in position 2 (even though the bridge pickup is on in that position). The benefit is that you can adjust the tone of the bridge pickup in position 1 (rolling off a little treble if needed), without affecting the tone of the 2 position. Bridge Upgrades
We've upgraded the tremolo with one of Callaham's enhanced vintage solid-steel inertia blocks, which are denser and provide a more-authentic old-school tone than the cast zinc blocks that ship in these guitars. We've also added Callaham's virtual pop-in tremolo arm in his '64 length. We've also added a set of Callaham bent-steel saddles. We had a problem with a couple of the saddles that came with this guitar, and the Callaham saddles stepped in and took up the slack. There's no denying the superior quality of Callaham's material and workmanship. And last but not least, we added a set of Raw Vintage tremolo springs. You wouldn't think that springs from one manufacturer would be better than those from another, but there are a bunch of guys swearing by these. We put all five springs in the guitar, and it feels great. Cavity Shielding
There are many sources of hum and noise in our modern world. Many of the ones that plague guitar players fall into one of two classifications: EMI (ElectroMagnetic Interference) and RFI (Radio Frequency Interference). Both can be effectively dealt with by comprehensive shielding of the electronics. If you've ever experienced touching the strings on a guitar and hearing a reduction in hum, this is EMI/RFI. The hum is reduced when you touch the strings, because touching the strings connects you to ground, and your body provides some shielding for the electronics. The way to effectively shield a guitar is to enclose the electronic components in a box that's electrically conductive, and then connect this box to ground. Fender shields the cavities on Mexican Standard guitars with shielding paint, but the Classic Series guitars, and the Road Worn guitars, are usually not shielded at all (the Road Worn Player Strats are partially shielded). We shield the cavities on these guitars using a high-quality nickel-based paint, and connect this paint to ground. This provides an effective shield so as to keep unwanted noise (radio transmissions, hum from magnetic fluorescent light ballasts, etc) out of your signal. Pickguard
The pickguard on this guitar is a genuine Fender '62 Reissue pickguard from about six years ago. We sent a bunch of Fender pickguards and knob sets to Bill Nash at Nash Guitars back then to be aged, and we still have a bunch of them. This particular color of tortoise hasn't been available from Fender for quite some time - at least 5 years - which is a shame because we like it better than anything they've used since. It's a perfect fit on this guitar, of course, and we back it with a Fender aluminum pickguard shield as used on the U.S. '62 Reissues (and on the '59 to '64 originals, of course). And man, does it look good! Bone Nut
The stock nut on this guitar was problematic, so we had to make a new one. Since making a nut is mostly labor, when making one you might as well use the best material available, and for us, that's bone. You don't see many guitars with bone nuts these days. Collings uses bone, and some of the other high-end guys too. And given that this guitar can hang with any of them, so do we. Giddyup
So now this guitar is ready to gig. It is, really and truly, all that and a big bucket of grits. Sounds great, plays great, is great, and for not a ton of cash. Bonus: It says Fender on the headstock. It can be yours today, unless you live outside the US (because this guitar cannot ship internationally, sorry!) | | | | Video of actual guitar for sale | | | | | | Click images below for larger versions |  |  |  |  |  |  | | | |