Body: Ash with Flamed Maple Cap
Neck/Fingerboard: Flamed Maple
Finish: 2-Tone Sunburst
Condition: Excellent++

Fender 50's Stratocaster, Jason Davis Masterbuilt

This Masterbuilt Fender Stratocaster is described as a "50's" Strat on the Certificate of Authenticity. What that means in practice is a masterfully crafted Stratocaster, with a feature set that is rooted mostly in the 50's, with a couple of more modern improvements. Let's start with the body - Swamp Ash, with a flamed Maple cap, and a killer two-tone sunburst finish. Beautiful to look at, for sure, and the Maple cap gives this guitar a bright, defined edge to the trebles. The blade switch is a five-way (one of those modern improvements I referred to.) The neck and fretboard are Maple - make that *Flamed* Maple, and really beautiful. The neck profile is fat - a deep C, a neck shape that gives this strat an incredibly solid feel, and a great tone. And the neck is made with Flamed Maple, too - a really nice accent! It's a really cool Masterbuilt Strat.

This is a stunning Strat to behold in person - crisp and elegant, and at the same time drop-dead beautiful. As I was putting my finished pictures into this listing, I concluded that while they show you exactly what this guitar looks like, they don't really capture the oomph very well. When I am shooting a guitar, I can usually capture the oomph - if there is any to be had - but this time the oomph came up short! I've had this guitar for a few months. I love all sorts of guitars, but on the electric side I gravitate toward Teles and 335s. But I'm trying to find a strat to start a relationship with. My friend and I did a trade deal after he found out I was strat-hunting, and he gave me this Jason Davis, after hearing what I was looking for. Since I've had it, two other great strats - an original 1958, and a 50th Anniversary Masterbuilt - have come through Imagine Guitars. I've run this Davis head to head against both. Of course, there's nothing like an original 50's strat. But this guitar has held it's own against both of the other two, with a classic Strat tone that covers anything from clean and bright to pushed with a biting edge (I'm thinking that's the Maple giving this guitar the crisp high end.)

The hardware is all gold-colored. The tuners are the Jeff Beck type, with the pearloid buttons. The vintage-style six-screw "tremolo" (vibrato) has a nice feel. It's fitted with five springs right now, but I've played it with four and three and it's great in all configurations. At the end of the day, I like the rock-solid tuning stability of having all springs in place, and don't mind giving up some tremolo ease in order to get it. Of course, you can adjust to taste!

This guitar is in excellent condition. There is a small white mark on the finish, on the side of the guitar near the jack, and other than that, nary a sign that this guitar has ever been played. Includes original tweed case as pictured, and Certificate of Authenticity. Also includes the original trem bar (not pictured).