Fender Custom Shop '65 Stratocaster Journeyman Relic Candy Tangerine Truetone Color Set

Ever since the Stratocaster debuted in 1954, it has evolved, even in the earliest days.  The Strat has continued to change over the years, but for many, stepping back to how it was done in the 60's is the way to go.  The Fender Custom Shop excels at recreating the look, feel and sound of these guitars, often with special tweaks.  That's where we decided to go with this one.  

As part of a close partnership with the Fender Custom Shop, Truetone Music cooked up an exclusive run of guitars, known as "Truetone Color Sets".  It's where we do a quartet of instruments - Strat, Tele, Jazzmaster and Jazz bass - all in the same color, as a matching set.  For the colors, we picked unique ones that are rarely ever seen.  In this case, it's a Candy Tangerine, one of the coolest and most vibrant colors that the Custom Shop offers.

This Custom Shop '65 Stratocaster is a testament to their ability to pull off vintage recreations with modern playability, featuring a roasted maple neck, a flatter radius and bigger fret size, and an otherwise all-tradition design.  It has a two-piece select alder body that is lightweight, a rock solid roasted maple neck with a '65 Strat C neck shape, dark rosewood fretboard, and all of the correct vintage hardware.   We went with a 9.5" radius and Narrow Tall (6105) frets for easy playing and bending - this is one of the most common and popular modifications to vintage-styled guitars out of the Custom Shop.  For the pickups, we kept it real, going with the base model Custom Shop '65 Strat pickup set.  These recreate the sound of a classic mid-60's Strat, using Alnico 5 magnets and a vintage stagger, with strong output and a nice, even response across the tonal spectrum.