Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt Levi Perry 1960 Stratocaster Heavy Relic Inca Silver over Black With Case

 Masterbuilt Levi Perry 1960 Stratocaster

Truetone Music is proud to have a long and close relationship with Fender, especially with the Custom Shop.  Every so often, we make a pilgrimage there to sit down with Masterbuilders to cook up a batch of amazing guitars.  Sometimes we go for vintage-styled recreations, sometimes we go for modernized tweaks.  Sometimes it's a classic color, sometimes it's a totally new color or even reclaimed wood.  No matter what, they always knock it out of the park!

This very cool '60 Stratocaster is a result of this partnership.  When a new Masterbuilder is announced, we jump on it and immediately reach out to start working together.  In this case, it was easy - the newest Masterbuilder was Levi Perry, who we already knew as an Apprentice.  In fact, we had been asking about him becoming a Masterbuilder for sometime, as we previously had a few of his Apprentice builds - and they were amazing.  It was a lot of fun to connect with Levi as a full Masterbuilder, and start dreaming up a batch of amazing guitars.  We specifically asked him what he was interested in doing and worked on the design together.  That was the genesis of this unbelievably awesome guitar.

One of the first things you'll notice, of course, is the finish: it's a Heavy Relic color over color.  The guitar started as Inca Silver, was then painted Black, and then relic'ed heavily to bring out the underneath color.    This is a rarely seen combination, but it's one we love here at Truetone.  Levi absolutely nailed it.  The guitar has the look and feel of a guitar that has been around for decades as a serious player's main axe, and the finish shows it.  It's all tastefully done.  This is the first guitar that we've gotten from the hands of Levi Perry since he became a Masterbuilder, and immediately we were impressed.  It's obvious he put his own care and taste into the guitar, which is exactly what we wanted.  We really didn't know what the outcome would be when originally spec'ing it out, but couldn't be happier with the result.  It's perfect.

The neck is the next thing you'll notice is that when you pick it up, the guitar plays effortlessly and is extremely comfortable.  It has all of the feel & quality you would expect from a masterbuilt instrument.  Levi really does amazing work with the fine details on a neck, from the perfectly seated frets, rolled edges and overall playability.  The way that he did the wear on the back of the neck is perfect - that's one of his specialties.  We went with a modified take on the 60's Oval C neck profile, which has become the most popular for Custom Shop guitars.  This one is slightly larger (.820 - 950"), a tweak that gives it a bit more of an old school vintage feel.  The C shape is really comfortable, and the girth of it will appeal to anyone that doesn't want a super skinny neck but still doesn't want a baseball bat. It has a 9.5" radius and Narrow Tall (6105) frets, making it easy to play, even up high on the neck when bending notes.

For the pickups, we discussed it with Levi and settled on the Custom Shop Hand-wound Fat 60's set.  They provide mellow vintage tones but with enough bite to cut through the mix with crisp articulation, and are over-wound for a hefty low-end punch.  Alnico 2 magnets, Formvar magnet wire, period-correct cloth wire, and a fiber bobbin keep it accurate to what you would expect in a vintage Strat, with a warm, sweet output.  The reverse-wound, reverse-polarity middle pickup eliminates hum for whisper-quiet performance.  

This Masterbuilt 1960 Stratocaster has all of the mojo of a vintage instrument, with a few twists and modernizations for playability.  And it comes in a super cool look, with just the right amount of Inca Silver popping out under the Black.  The guitar comes with a hardshell case, strap and Certificate of Authenticity.

A Masterbuilt instrument is like no other, and this is truly a one of a kind.  Come to Club Fender at Truetone Music to experience it today, or make it yours right here.

About the Masterbuilder:
Levi Perry started at Fender’s U.S. production final assembly department in 2012 fresh out of high school in Riverside, Calif., where he was born and raised. He moved to the Custom Shop three years later in 2015 as a Relic artisan and tune tester and soon moved to service repair. After another three years he was promoted to Masterbuilder Apprentice in 2018.

While an apprentice Perry served as a “floater”, which meant that he worked with and learned from each Masterbuilder individually. He worked on many prestigious builds during this period, including the Game of Thrones series, the Limited Edition Phil Lynott Precision Bass, the Limited Edition George Harrison Rocky Strat, the Limited Edition El Mocambo Heavy Relic Stratocaster and Telecaster models, and many other collections and artist instruments.

“For me what’s important is to always be learning and growing, and to remain a student of the craft,” Perry said. “Fender has such a deep and rich history to glean from, and when you allow that history to teach and guide you while continuing to be creative and push the boundaries, you’ll be amazed at what you can create.”

• Serial # LP0107
• Weight: 7.4 lbs
• Model# 9211003321
• Finish Package: Heavy Relic
• Finish: Nitro Lacquer
• Color: Black over Inca Silver
• Body: Alder
• Neck: Maple
• Fretboard: Rosewood
• Neck Tint: Medium
• Neck Shape: 60's Oval C Modified
• Neck Thickness at 1st Fret:  .820"
• Neck Thickness at 12th Fret:  .950"
• Neck Nut Width: 1.650"
• Neck Butt Width: 2.200"
  
• Frets: 21
• Fretwire: 6105 Narrow Tall
• Radius: 9.5"
• Dots: Clay
• Pickguard: Tortoiseshell
• Pickups:  Handwound Custom Shop Fat 60's
• Bone Nut
• Tuners: Vintage
• String Guide: Vintage
• Bridge: Vintage
• Neck Plate: Vintage
• Switch: 5 way with Modern Wiring
  
• Case: Custom Shop Brown