Sold: Fender Masterbuilt 63 Strat Jason Smith

Frankel84

Nearest thing you'll find to the SRV Number One Tribute without dropping 50k. You can't order the SRV relic pattern from the custom shop, as it's protected under contract with the Vaughan estate. But Jason Smith has gone mighty close with this.

It's a Masterbuilt, so the fact it's a fantastic guitar is pretty much a given. This one really goes above and beyond.

60c neck. .790"/.930". Super dark AAA rosewood lam board. 6105 frets. 7.5lbs. Tone pot on bridge. Nitro guard. Super resonant.

The real magic's in the pickups. Hand wound John Cruz Master Design. Back in 2004 Cruz worked with Abby to replicate the pickups from SRV's number one for the 100 piece tribute, down to the copper tape shielding added by Stevie's tech. Cruz was so pleased with how they turned out that they became his signature pickups, only used on his own builds and by special request for other Masterbuilders. Around 6k each with RWRP. They aren't signed (Cruz pups never are) but after Abby retired John had his pickups wound by Josefina.

When Mayer asked Cruz to build him a black version of the 'Number One', Cruz naturally used his own pups. And so the The Black One was born.

So this guitar not only nails Stevie's tone, it is also the sound of Continuum. It has a thicker, chewier mid range than stock pre-CBS pickups, without sacrificing clarity or articulation. It beautifully fills in mid scooped Fender voiced amps, or gloriously pushes mid rich British voiced amps.

Case has a couple of pin head nicks in the tolex from storage. Traveler, back plate and CS candy all included. Previously collector owned and never used.

Collection from just south of Luton, j10 on the M1. Cash or bank transfer. No trades, ta. £6000
























WOWs graciously accepted, sarcastic LOLs will be mercilessly hunted down and terminated. 

bobacco

Eat my wow. That’s fucking majestic. GLWTS!

Frankel84

@bobacco I salute your turn of phrase, sir! Bang-on and many thanks!

mo6020

What a beauty. GLWS man.

Svartmetall

Jaysis...that's fantastic...

Boromedic

Wow, that there is frickin lovely 

fretfinder

Spectacular guitar, wow! If Jason Smith was going for the SRV number one vibe I wonder why he used a slimmer neck profile and smaller frets on this one, maybe he thought that would have wider appeal among players. Lovely guitar and GLWTS. 

rayttk

Love it!

Frankel84

@fretfinder I'm sure JS (or more likely Fender's lawyers!) would strongly argue that any resemblance is entirely coincidental  as the traveler brief is 'ultimate relic without using a template'.  

Having said that, the resemblance certainly caught my eye. But I am in no way implying this is a SRV guitar in any shape, manner or form (your honour), or that any future owner might contemplate a black guard, gold hardware and Schallers! 

Thank you for the kind words.

And to @mo6020 @Svartmetall @Boromedic @rayttk ;

micamused

Wow... beautiful !!! I would love to try one of those see how they compare to high-end luthier strats like SVL, MB,...

fretfinder

micamused said:

Wow... beautiful !!! I would love to try one of those see how they compare to high-end luthier strats like SVL, MB,...

Interesting that both of the ‘luthiers’ you’ve mentioned build their guitars from bought-in bodies and necks that someone else has made. Not that dissimilar to Fender’s Masterbuilders I guess! 

Fab looker this one OP, GLWTS.

micamused

I am not really preocupied by a  luthier buying pieces of woods from wood providers, I mean I don't know any luthier going in the wood chopping trees to get their wood :P

The important thing to me is that those luthiers are not just buying AllParts necks and MJT bodies to put them together, they actually work on neck contours, neck profile, fretboard rounding, ... and most importantly they choose their wood lumbers in accordance to what they think a good guitar should be... so yes it's probably close to what Fender MB do...

Frankel84

@micamused I suppose it comes down to numbers. I imagine there are probably more Jason Smith Masterbuilts out there than SVLs and MBs combined, so you've got to assume you'll get a higher level of attention from the small shops.

But so much of the art in these is the curation of parts. And the F word on the decal still makes a difference (in price if nothing else), even though it shouldn't. Some of Leo's original presses are still punching parts for the custom shop. And that resonates with some people.

I've never owned SVL or MB, so can't compare. But having owned pre-CBS, CS Team Built and Masterbuilt, this guitar is the best playing of the lot. So Jason clearly knows a thing or two about screwing bits together! Plus, love 'em or loathe 'em, I still think Fender are ahead of the competition with heavy relics.

Ta muchly for your comment.

mo6020

I have a Jason Smith MB and can confirm he knows what he’s doing with a screwdriver…

StuartMac290

fretfinder said:

micamused said:

Wow... beautiful !!! I would love to try one of those see how they compare to high-end luthier strats like SVL, MB,...

Interesting that both of the ‘luthiers’ you’ve mentioned build their guitars from bought-in bodies and necks that someone else has made. Not that dissimilar to Fender’s Masterbuilders I guess! 

Fab looker this one OP, GLWTS.

I don't know about SVL, but M.B. cut their own bodies and necks from blanks, they're not bought in at all.

fastonebaz

It's a bit too worn for my liking. 

Eric_C

Looks like an amazing guitar and one of the best relic finishes I’ve seen…best of luck with the sale 

CloudNine

StuartMac290 said:

fretfinder said:

micamused said:

Wow... beautiful !!! I would love to try one of those see how they compare to high-end luthier strats like SVL, MB,...

Interesting that both of the ‘luthiers’ you’ve mentioned build their guitars from bought-in bodies and necks that someone else has made. Not that dissimilar to Fender’s Masterbuilders I guess! 

Fab looker this one OP, GLWTS.

I don't know about SVL, but M.B. cut their own bodies and necks from blanks, they're not bought in at all.

 I was always under the impression MB used bought in bodies (maybe necks as well), but suppose that could have changed. Really great guitars either way, had one last year for a while and zero complaints. 

MikeBowes

Actually its a bit of both... I source the wood myself from timber mills I've been using for years in North America, then the wood comes to my workshop to be graded, weighed and allocated to my customers, then I deliver them to Rob at RF Custom up the road from me who Ive been working with for 15 years or so, and he rough cuts the bodies and necks, and then they come back to me to be shaped and finished by MY hands as well as fingerboard radius sanding, cutting the fret slots to the correct depths, drilling the side dot markers, and fretting. This is quite different from buying necks and bodies off the shelf from the likes of Allparts, and allows me to add some period correct details that others may not offer such as mid 60's veneer fingerboards and narrow dot marker spacing at the twelfth fret, proper slab boards where the truss rod adjuster cuts into the fingerboard, and the curved join at the headstock. Bodies are routed from original vintage templates based on vintage guitars that have come into my hands over the years, so bodies have periods correct routing. This is the best of both worlds in my eyes. We are currently working on cloning my own '64 Jaguar and will be offering short scale offsets very soon. I always feel like I have to defend myself here as there is a HUGE amount of hand work that goes into my bodies and necks before they are even ready for the spray booth.

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Frankel84

@MikeBowes No need to defend yourself here, Mike. Other than why you're hijacking my for-sale thread with a long post peddling your wares! 

Joking aside, the quality of your work speaks for itself and people whose opinion I trust have enjoyed owning your guitars. 

Frankel84

fastonebaz said:

It's a bit too worn for my liking. 

Good to know. I'll take you off my potential buyer list.