FENDER '54 STRATOCASTER 50TH ANNIVERARY, Custom shop MASTERBUILT CHRIS FLEMMING £3300

[cayston]

Fender '54 Stratocaster 50th Anniversary Masterbuilt by Chris Fleming (2004) for sale. Got this guitar via a trade not long ago only to realise that I prefer rosewood over maple fingerboard!

These guitars were part of the special release commemorating 50th anniversary of the Stratocaster in 2004. Apparently Fender spent fair bit of money replicating the plastic parts and even went on hire a fella who used to work for Fender in the 60s to stamp the serial number on the tremolo back plate by hand instead of the usual neck plate! The pickups are also meant to be a special release that are totally different to the current 54' Stratocaster custom shop pickups. The neck is a very comfortable U-shape and is no way near as big as a Broadcaster. I find the neck a little chunkier than the usual modern Strats but still fits in my hand nicely. To be honest, once you've been playing it for awhile you tend to forget that it is chunky.

Considering its age, the guitar is in really excellent condition with no damages on the neck or body. The guitar also has very minimal fretwear and very clean fingerboard. There are finish checkings on the body but these were mean to be part of the 'Closet Classic Finish' and the condition would differ from Master builder to another. I have seen one that was made by Greg Fessler that had more finish checkings than this one. There are two small cracks on the pickguard which I assume that Chris Fleming intended for this to happen. The guitar originally came with fitted 3-way pickup selector and a spare 5 way. This guitar is currently fitted with a 5-way selector for wider tonal range.

Really lovely instrument with plenty of highs/twangs - highly playable with low action. I have had many vintage instruments in the past and I have to say that these masterbuilt instruments are really consistent in terms of built and finish - the neck pocket is one of the tightest I've seen. Come with original 'poodle' case, COA and candy case, although it does not come with a strap.

The pictures can be found here [url="http://www.bnbguitars.com/EN/gitaren/fender-54-stratocaster-50th-anniverary-masterbuilt-chris-flemming/index.cfm"]http://www.bnbguitar...mming/index.cfm[/url] which is the website that I got it from.

I am based in Cardiff but regularly travel to Birmingham so if you live nearby then I can always bring it with me.

Postage is possible but I rather that the potential buyer sees and tries the guitar before buying.

[size=5][u][b]No trades please![/b][/u][/size] Unless it's a [u][b]Fender Custom Shop [b]Ma[/b]sterbuilt Limited release Brazilian board 60s Stratocaster or Telecaster[/b][/u].

I am open to offers but within reason. Although it is worth mentioning that it is currently the cheapest one on UK based websites (eBay has 4 going on at the moment including mine and they are all above my asking price - there is one in another forum which is cheaper but does not come with the 'poodle' case and has worse fret wear than mine).

Any questions please ask and thank you for looking.

Edited February 14, 2016 by cayston

[Chiliwailer]

Seni, don't do this to us! I love these guitars and remember them coming out very well, always wanted one as they put so much effort into making these right. The poodle case is awesome too.

Oh well, not this time

GLWTS pal

[cayston]

Thank you for your kind words Daniel. These are really nice guitars and you're right about them spending so much time (and I'm sure lots of money!) on them. They were right about those old plastics being brittle!

As much as I'd love to keep it I just prefer the more midrange sound of a rosewood strat and have this feeling that it won't be played as much as it should..

Cheers fella