Photo of Fender Custom Shop 1963 Stratocaster Heavy Relic The Unicorn: The Guitar that Shouldn't Exist. "A Fender Custom Shop '63 wearing a maple fretboard — the one spec a '63 isn't supposed to have. A year of chasing, two misses, and the rule I paid to learn: never balk." Phillip Gajewski • Collector
2016 Fender Custom Shop Limited Edition Heavy Relic Mischief Maker Some Assembly (and Mischief) Required. "Hendrix started it. Ian Moore and a Sling Blade cameo kept it going. A kid named Gary Vann with a Squier Bullet sealed the deal. This is the story of how a strat with a tele neck became an obsession — and the Custom Shop guitar I finally chased down." Phillip Gajewski • Fender Custom Shop
Photo: courtesy of Pierre Journel of https://theguitarchannel.biz/ Patience, Cash, and a Police Station: Chasing FCS NAMM Editions. I've never been invited to the Fender Custom Shop's annual NAMM showcase. Chances are, you haven’t either. The event is dealer-invite only, held behind closed doors somewhere inside the Anaheim Convention Center each January. For the rest of us, it exists mostly through a Phillip Gajewski • NAMM
Ltd. Edition 70th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster, Super Heavy Relic, Serial No. 4019 Annie, Are You Okay? The 70th Anniversary 54 Strat. The Fender Custom Shop 70th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster arrived with one of the most convincing relic jobs the shop has ever produced — and a soft V neck so good it's impossible to put down. A collector's account of three of them. Phillip Gajewski • Anniversary
