Fender Custom Shop 1969 Stratocaster Reissue

Jimi at Woodstock!

I remember being totally awestruck watching the legendary performance by Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock. Sadly at my tender young age I was unable to witness it live, but I was still blown away watching it on the silver screen. In that moment I decided that I just had to have a white Strat with a maple neck. It took me quite a few years, but I finally acquired one.

This guitar was produced by the Fender Custom Shop in 2005. I found this guitar for sale by the second owner several years ago, who claimed to have hardly played it, and that it was in like-new condition – a familiar story. In this case, he was actually telling the truth. This particular guitar was produced as a Time Machine NOS (new old stock) version, which means it looks like a brand new guitar as it would have shipped from the factory in ’69. The guitar was basically flawless. The protective plastic was still present on the tremolo cover on the back of the body, and the factory sticker was still in place over the tremolo arm hole to keep the spring in place. The guitar came with the original case, as well as all of the “case candy” and COA.

Abigal Ybarra

Abigal Ybarra

One of my favorite features of the guitar is the notation on the pickups. All are signed and dated AY 6-3-05. The “AY” stands for the Queen of Tone, Abigail Ybarra, who hand-wound Fender pickups from 1958 to 2013 – many of which undoubtedly found their way into guitars played by legends such as Hendrix among others.

There’s really not much else to say about this guitar. It plays and sounds as good as it looks.

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Custom Shop

Rex Poole