Fender has unveiled a new Custom Shop Stratocaster for Canadian slide maverick and fuzz connoisseur Ariel Posen, and it is inspired by a Jazzmaster.
In the demo video, Posen admitted to being smitten by cult offset guitar. “I had the opportunity to dive into that world and really fell for the sound, and really fell for just the completely different vibe that it gives you from a Strat,” he says. The trouble was the ergonomics. Not that there’s anything wrong with them but nothing is quite like a Strat when it comes to comfort. Then the idea came to him. Why not combine both?
“I really feel like the things that I love from the Jazzmaster sonically are on this guitar, and the real home base things from a Strat are on here,” he continues. “But it’s very much its own thing and that’s very much a product of mixing both of these in a weird way that makes me very happy and works well for me.”
Posen’s Strat does not come cheap. It’ll set you a cool £5,699 / $6,000. But there are no Strats like this in the Fender catalogue, not in the Custom Shop, not in the production lineup. Actually, when you think of the pickups – a pair of AP90s custom-wound by Fender electric guitar pickup guru Tim Shaw – the closest Strat we can think of is the iconoclastic, and budget-friendly, Squier Paranormal Strat, which is perhaps an alternative to keep in mind if your budget is circa 400 bucks and not 6000.
Posen says the AP90s give him the “open and airy” quality of a Jazzmaster, and that’s an electric guitar tone that works gangbusters with a brass slide and an octave-fuzz pedal.
The AP90 pickups really highlight my love for Jazzmasters – there’s something so open and airy about those guitars
“This is the most genuine and authentic representation of what I’m looking for in a guitar,” says Posen. “I was always a Strat guy and always felt most comfortable playing them, so it was important to capture those qualities.
“But the AP90 pickups really highlight my love for Jazzmasters – there’s something so open and airy about those guitars. More than anything, this Strat embodies everything I love about Fender and condenses it into one instrument.”
There are some exquisite touches on Posen’s Strat. The cupcake tone and volume knobs – brown to match the pickup inserts – look incredible, and are a nod to what you see on his Mule Resophonic StratoMule. The solid-colour finish, Faded Lake Placid Blue Relic, is also very on-brand for Posen.
Nose to tail, this is a high-end electric guitar for the serious collector. The body is two-piece roasted alder. The neck is quartersawn AA flamed maple, and looks like it has endured decades of playing.
The fingerboard is round-laminated AAA rosewood, with pearl dot inlays, a 9.5” radius, 21 Jescar Vintage frets. There’s a bone nut. There are vintage-style tuners. There’s a 3-ply white parchment ‘guard. The switch tips are amber.
Posen’s Strat ships in a hardshell guitar case, inside which you’ll find a custom leather strap, one of Posen’s signature brass guitar slides, signature guitar picks from Dunlop, and a COA. For more details, head over to the Fender Custom Shop.
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