January 23, 2004
New for 2004 - the Fender Custom Shop Master Design Series
by Tom Watson
Fender has announced a new series of limited-edition instruments from the Custom Shop called the Master Design Series. Each instrument in the series will be designed by one of the Fender Custom Shop Master Builders, and, according to the 2004 Fender Frontline, ". . . could be a classic recreation, a souped-up hot rod, or something totally off the wall" (p. 14).
In addition to the instrument and case, each guitar will come with a deluxe leather binder containing a special certificate, a biography of the Master Builder, reproductions of the Master Builder's specs and notes, and a DVD that features an interview with the Master Builder in which he discusses what inspired the design and the challenges he met in its execution.
Each guitar in the series will be limited to between 50 and 75 instruments, ten of which will be built by the Master Builder himself.
The first of the Master Design Series will be built by Senior Master Builder Mark Kendrick and known as the “Mark Kendrick '65 Stratocaster”. The instrument will be based on a 1965 Lake Placid Blue over Olympic White lacquer Closet Classic Strat, featuring:
- a three-piece alder body
- a single-ply, white-bound, light-relic, slab-maple neck
- a select Indian-rosewood fingerboard with 7 mm pearloid dots
- a 9.5" neck radius
- American Standard frets
- a '65 vintage-correct decal
- light-gray bobbin Custom Shop Fat '50s neck- and middle-position pickups
- a reverse-wound middle position pickup
- a light-gray bobbin Texas Special bridge pickup
- genuine Kluson tuners
- vintage hardware
- custom tone capacitors
- an L-series serial number
Included with the Mark Kendrick '65 Stratocaster are a special Master Design guitar case and the bonus items in a leather binder, as described above.
Senior Master Builder Mark Kendrick has been with Fender since 1990, and has built guitars for the likes of Eric Clapton, Sting, Keith Richards, Marty Stuart, Buck Owens, Merle Haggard and many others. Several of the instruments he has built can be seen in both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, and the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee.
For further information regarding the Fender Custom Shop Master Design Series, plus more information about and photos of the Mark Kendrick '65 Stratocaster, see pp. 14-15 of the 2004 Fender Frontline.
[Image: Mark Kendrick working on the binding of a Custom Shop instrument. Copyright, Fender Musical Instruments Corporation]
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