* In Store – Fender Stratocaster Post Modern Natural 2023 Custom Shop

Looking to ditch the limits of “era-accurate” Strats to experience the full scope of the Fender Custom Shop’s history-honouring offerings? You’ve found your answer: the Postmodern Stratocaster. The postmodern school of thought eschews grand narratives in favour of subjective experiences, and that’s what Fender’s luthiers have done here, ditching the limitations of any singular era to piece together a distinct instrument adorned with features from all over Fender’s timeline! Its ’59 “D” maple neck profile is complemented by a 21-fret compound-radius rosewood fingerboard, while its vintage tremolo — mounted to a 2-piece select ash body — evokes immense expressivity from the Dual-Mag II pickups, thoroughly impressing Sweetwater’s guitarists with its scope of sonic potential. For a masterclass in both Fender Custom Shop craftsmanship and player performance, the Postmodern Stratocaster represents the ultimate opportunity.

Clear and articulate 2-piece select ash body

While it may be “Postmodern,” the Fender Custom Shop Postmodern Stratocaster lightweight ash body reaches back to the Stratocaster’s earliest era. What makes it so different from alder? Both timbers are more than capable of producing a superlative Stratocaster, but ash produces a slightly clearer and more open sound than your typical alder Strat. Perhaps more importantly, the swirling three-dimensional grain lines and charmingly rustic appearance of ash have long made it the de facto standard tonewood for natural-finished guitars such as this Fender Custom Shop Postmodern Stratocaster.

Cutting-edge Custom Shop sonics meet timeless flexibility

Capturing such a diverse array of tonal possibilities requires a triumvirate of superlative single-coil action, and the Postmodern Strat’s trio of Dual-Mag II Strat pickups serve the ideal blend of sonic possibilities. Born out of the Custom Shop, the Dual-Mag II pickups are engineered to offer exacting precision without alienating players who want more flexibility with their sound, settling on a 2-magnet design that optimizes the timbral support of each string, using beveled Alnico 2 magnets with the B- and E-strings and Alnico V magnets for the rest. What’s more, a 5-way blade switch is accompanied by 1/2 Blender Strat wiring that’s armed with Tone Saver bleed circuitry to maintain consistency at any volume, while its RWRP middle-pickup eliminates buzz without compromising tone-sculpting opportunities.

Time-bending tone-crafting from ’59 to the future

With the Postmodern Strat, you’re treated to the Custom Shop’s premier cut of classic character, reimagined through a contemporary lens. Its neck is comprised of quarter-sawn maple, resulting in an increased dimensional stability that makes it less prone to warping, splitting, or twisting, alongside more consistent tones throughout the round-lam rosewood fingerboard’s 21-fret register. Its “D”-shaped neck profile is straight out of 1959, blending comfort and control to support leading licks, searing shred, and robust riffs. Top side, the fingerboard boasts a compound radius, starting at 9.5 inches and ending at 12 inches, serving superior single-fret navigation the higher up the board you go. The Custom Shop’s Vintage Synchronized Tremolo and vintage-style tuning machines bookend the strings, with a bone nut, wing string tree, and tall metal spacer to expertly balance expression with reliably buzz-free, in-tune tones.