Fender Stratocaster 57 Hardtail Masterbuilt Andy Hicks (2022)

Andy Hicks - one of the new shooting stars among the masterbuilders of the Fender Custom Shop - is by now well known for his fantastic guitars, but with this 1957 Stratocaster Heavy Relic he has once again raised the bar. First of all, we have here one of the rare hardtail Strats, which come with two big advantages: first, they are usually lighter than tremolo Strats (here only 3080 grams!) and second, the direct connection of bridge and body gives you an extra portion of sustain, attack and tone - just the right thing for hard blues rock riffs or clean funk licks! Next, Hicks' superb heavy relicing is fully convincing here. The wonderfully patinated finish in Faded 2-Tone Sunburst is covered with a multitude of hairline cracks and quirks, considerable abrasion in significant places so that the pure wood grain clearly stands out and impressive aging on the maple fingerboard and pickguard. And of course the sound is pure joy: as befits a good Mapleneck Strat it is already very fast and snappy when dry and also presents itself with above-average volume. The hand-signed Josefina handwounds - 57s on neck and middle (including RWRP noise suppression) and Fat 50s on bridge - transmit every nuance of this phenomenal dry sound to the amp with great transparency. Percussive, bell-like, funky, bulbous - this Strat has a little bit of everything! What's more, with its 57-Style Soft-V profile, 9.5'' radius, lacquer-free back and the tried-and-true 6105 Narrow/Tall frets the neck plays fantastic and just invites you to blaze across the fretboard. This guitar, whose original price was EUR 9.650,- and which we can offer you including the frets in mint condition, combines in best manner excellent playing characteristics with outstanding sound and great vintage look - everything fits here!

• Including original case, certificate, spec sheet, case candy
• Weight: 3080 grams