The Red Strat

This was my first Partcaster build. My earliest memories was watching the PULSE live video that my uncle had taped on VHS back in the 90´s. I was in awe of the show, and that red Strat in particular. I never forgot that guitar.

Almost 30 years later, i decided to build my own.
 

 

 

 

 

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History:
In 1984, Phil Taylor and David Gilmour went to the Fender warehouse in Middlesex to look at the new Fender guitars that was to be the last series made in Fullerton California after the CBS pulled out of Fender. The `57s and `62s Reissues were Fender coming back to basics after a decade long downturn in quality with CBS.
David picked three '57 Reissue Strats in three different colors. One of them was the Candy Apple Red Stratocaster. These guitars was early on fitted with the EMG SA-Pickups (Later released on its own as the DG-20 Signature Pickguard) The EMG was installed to combat much of the growing interference from the large stage rig Pink Floyd was traveling with
This became his main guitar from 1984 to 2005 and was used on both the Delicate Sound Of Thunder and The Division Bell (PULSE) tours.
The guitar was sold for $615.000 at the Christies guitar auction in June 2019.
 

For my build, I almost bought a body from overseas when suddenly an American Special 2010 body surfaced on the second hand market. I love the thin shoulder carve on these bodies.

 

The neck is a Classic Player 50´s. So far the best neck i have. This neck is advertised as a soft V-shape but feels much more like a C-Shape. And instead of 52mm width at nut, this is 51mm. Very slim neck. Fantastic.

I also got so lucky with the sustain on this one. It rings and sings so well and perfectly with no dead spots on the frets. Despite that i love regular passive pickups more, the DG-20 works fine. It's when you roll the SPC controller all the way down when you starting to get closer to the sound of passive mics. Somehow i love the look the all white pups cover you find on many noiseless and active mics and its extra beautiful with the CAR finish.
This guitar is just as wonderful to play as it is to look at.

 

The pickguard is cut by Axion Custom Works. I had a 0.7mm thin WD Pickguard on it that warped all kinds of ways due to couple of missaligned holes. So i sent a scan with adjustments on it to Axion to correct the hole placement. At the same time i upgraded it to 1,0mm for more sturdiness.

 

Other than that, it is a pretty straight forward build and very good introduction into building your first Partcaster. Very easy job since it´s a pre-wired pickguard and does not need soldering or even grounding

The Tremolo unit started as a regular PING block, but today it has an Callaham Tremolo Vintage Narrow with Highwood Saddles installed. The arm itself is 64" 5-1/4 length. Shorter than regular but not Gilmour short.

 

SPECS:

BODY: American Special 2010 Candy Apple Red

NECK: Classic Player 50´s Neck 21 Med Jumbo Frets

PICKUPS: EMG DG-20 Active Pickups Kit on custom pickguard

TUNERS: Gotoh SDS 510 Vintage Tuners

TREMOLO: Callaham Vintage Narrow with/ Highwood Saddles

THE GUITAR IS PARTED UP AND HAS BEEN SOLD