1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar
1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar
1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar
1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar
1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar
1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar
1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar
1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar
1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar
1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar
1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar
1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar
1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar
1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar
1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar
1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar
1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar
1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar
1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar

1965 Fender Stratocaster Vintage 60's USA Custom Shop Strat American Guitar

Regular price
$36,624.00
Sale price
$36,624.00
Regular price
$36,809.00
Sold out
Unit price
per 
Tax included. Shipping calculated at checkout.

1965 Fender Stratocaster serial number L60427 (2 January 1965) unlike any other on the planet! This Brazilian Rosewood '65 Strat has an incredible history where it went to the leading Stratocaster custom shop in America in 1975 to gain the aesthetic & technical features you see today! Part of the crazy story of this guitar is when Andy Martin (the face of Reverb.com) discovered this guitar hidden away in a shop in Chicago and had to play it over all of the others for Reverb's official Guitarist's Guide to Chicago video! See the guitar in that video at the 22:10 minute mark! This guitar is a 57 year old vintage beauty unlike any '65 strat you can find anywhere in the world!

57 years ago Fender did not have a Custom Shop like we know today. We spoke with the original owner, who called us while on vacation from a beach resort in Mexico when he found out his guitar ended up with us in England! He said you couldn't get this level of customization from Fender when bought the guitar and wanted to own the "Ultimate Tricked Out Strat," so he took this 1965 strat to the best known custom shop in Scottsdale, Arizona in 1975 to have every conceivable "tricked out" feature of the era applied to the electronics of the guitar....phaser, wah, piezo...you name it, this guitar has it... and all from the analogue glory of a world class custom shop in the middle of the 70's! We had a long chat with the original owner. He said the guitar was built by Fender on January 2nd 1965. The body, neck and pickups are all original...but the paint, plastics and electronics were transformed into this legendary upgrade when he took it to the custom shop in 1975.

This '65 strat received the best of the best upgrades in the world for '75....a year with major releases from Rush, AC/DC, Neil Young, Led Zeppelin, Alice Cooper, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Peter Frampton, Eric Clapton, Aerosmith, ZZ Top, Fleetwood Mac, Bad Company, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, Thin Lizzy, Ted Nugent, Deep Purple, Queen and many more! Any one of those bands could have been found on stage or in the studio with a guitar like this. You are instantly transported to the golden era of rock when you open the original hard case and see this thing!

There is an on-board phaser that is turned on via a mini toggle on the lower horn. The speed is controlled by the outside knob. There is also a filter built in that puts wah-type sweeps right at your fingertips that can be turned on via the red push-button. The sweep is controls by the middle knob. The black push-button sounds like it switches over to a piezo pickup. The little holes in the pickguard are where you can insert an allen key to adjust how much you want to put the pickups in and out of phase! As the knobs have been utilized to control the effects, the mini toggles in that area are active tone controls and boosts. When they are all pointed towards the edge of the guitar it seems to be all passive and sounds like a vintage Strat should. The inside knob is a master volume. We had a long talk with the original owner who brought the guitar to the custom shop...he remembers it like yesterday, and there is an incredible story that comes with the guitar....we'll pass on all the details to the new owner. 

To further clarify the controls:

A) The top mini toggle turns on a the phaser effect. There is no depth controls but the bottom knob control the speed of the phaser.

B) The little black push botton turns on/off a piezo pickup so you can get those quasi-acoustic sounds.

C) The red push button turns on a wah-wah type filter. The middle knob controls the sweep, just like rocking a wah-wah back and forth.

D) Since the regular tone knobs are doing other functions, the mini toggles by the knobs give you different tone options, seems to be an active circuit.


This one-of-a-kind 1965 Fender guitar is part of the world famous instrument collection as Essex Recording Studios! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitch and YouTube! @essexrecordingstudios

International buyers welcome! We ship to any country in the world. This guitar will be packed and shipped with love, care and respect in its hard case. There are of course minor marks and signs of use from 57 years of history...just watch the video for the full condition! You are also welcome to collect the guitar in person if you are local to our studio in Southend-on-Sea, England at post code SS1 1AB directly opposite Southend Central train station. 

YOUR PURCHASE HELPS MUSICIANS! Buying from us directly helps support unsigned musicians and bands that struggle to produce professional music without the development & funding provided by major labels these days. Thank you for your support!