As part of Winter NAMM 2017 and the celebration of the 30th Fender Custom Shop birthday, the '55 Heavy Relic Strat presents Fender a true collector's item in a loving Color over Color finish. The design in the form of authentic shapings and more contemporary Hardware make the '55 Heavy Relic Strat a detailed relic of the 1950s, while three hand-wound Single coils with Alnico 3 magnets revive the classic raw sound of the early Strats.
Not only optically, but also haptically one remained as close as possible to the model. The one-piece neck made of radially cut maple comes in the classic 1954 strong U-profile and offers full control over Bendings, while the ageing of the neck with the popular 'downplayed' feeling ensures trouble-free position changes. Last but not least, authentic lacquer scratches and cracks present the individual lacquer layers from the natural wood of the lightweight ash body to the chocolate 2-Tone Sunburst finish to the top '55 Desert Tan finish.
The Fender Custom Shop hand-wound Single coils of the '55 Heavy Relic Strat are based on the proven recipe with stepped pole pieces and are embodied by a moderate winding with Alnico 3 magnets. In addition to the classic SSS setup, it Fender Custom Shop offers the familiar Strat -circuit with a master volume and two additional tone controls for neck and mid-position, and adds the famous Treble Bleed Circuit . This ensures that the transmitted height spectrum remains constant when the volume potentiometer is turned off.
Hardware -on the one hand there is a classical Vintage Tremolo with original spacing. The spring-loaded Tremolo design used to this day not only permits playing Vibrato techniques, but also a precise adjustment of intonation and string position for each string. Of course, all Hardware parts in the form of screw heads, side riders and mechanics are artificially aged, but their function is by no means impaired.