In 2007 we approached the Fender Custom Shop with an idea. We wanted the most beat-up, played-in Stratocaster we'd ever seen, and we wanted it to feel like it had been played every night for 40 years. Soon we realized that we would have to take the aging processes developed in the Custom Shop to their limits to produce what would end up being not a tribute to any famous guitarist, but a tribute to the instrument itself. The Ultimate Relic Stratocaster® was born.

We really wanted something that had that special vibe, that particular feeling that so many vintage, well-played instruments have. We had our doubts that guitars aged to this degree wouldn't be done right unless it was a tribute model or some such limited edition. But we shouldn't have doubted Fender's Masterbuilders. Custom Shop veteran John Cruz and guitar building phenom Jason Smith immediately "got it" and met our challenge with an extraordinary attention to detail and skill.

We can order your Ultimate Relic based on Stratocaster® models from 1954 through 1969, in original colors and custom hues. All Ulimate Relics have a extremely worn (and thin) lacquer finish and a very soft neck feel, with the neck profile determined by the model year. We add a special players touch by outfitting most of the guitars with a slightly flatter 9.5" fingerboard radius, and slight larger 6105 medium jumbo frets. Is it a player's guitar? Or is it a collector's guitar? It's both.