Fender Custom Shop Johnny A. Signature Stratocaster Time Capsule Lydian Gold Metallic - Blemished
Many a fine and fiery guitarist has hailed from Boston, and the Fender Custom Shop is Proud to honor one of the City on the Hill’s finest guitarist/songwriters with the Johnny A. Signature Stratocaster. The guitar’s special Time Capsule flash-coat lacquer finish comes in striking Lydian Gold Metallic with Closet Classic chrome hardware, and it combines several classic ’60s design elements to honor one of New England’s most accomplished sidemen and solo artists.
Born John Antonopoulos in Malden, Mass., he first got the guitar bug when he saw the Beatles in Boston at age 13. He saw Jimi Hendrix a couple years after that and avidly soaked up the era’s finest fretwork, especially that of the Yardbirds holy trinity of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. Taking the stage name “Johnny A.”, he steadily acquired a sterling reputation as a rock, blues and jazz ace with artists including Delaney & Bonnie, Derek and the Dominos keyboardist Bobby Whitlock and Creedence Clearwater Revival drummer Doug Clifford. The 1990s saw a seven-year stint as guitarist and musical director for J. Geils Band frontman Peter Wolf, and to really bring his career full circle, Johnny A. joined the Yardbirds in 2015 for a three-year stint. Today, he continues to wow listeners with his impeccable playing in a variety of studio and onstage projects.
The Johnny A. Signature Stratocaster is an amalgamation of his four favorite model years—1963 through 1966—and features a select two-piece alder body with off-center seam, paired with a 3A birdseye maple neck featuring a ’65-style “oval C” profile and contoured heel. The round-lam rosewood fingerboard has a comfortable 7.25” radius and 21 medium jumbo (6150) frets.
The neck and middle pickups are hand-wound 11/56 models, while a steel bottom plate on the custom 11/56 bridge pickups delivers livelier tone with more wide-ranging response; all are fixed to a three-ply mint green pickguard, along with a five-way switch and Strat Blender wiring with Tone-Saver bleed circuitry.
Other premium features include Custom Shop synchronized tremolo bridge, vintage-style tuners, bone nut, wing string tree with tall metal spacer, deluxe hardshell case, strap and certificate of authenticity.
***This particular guitar arrived with a few finish issues, so we've listed it as a Blemished piece. The issues are not major - so small that they can only really be seen at certain angles and don't come through in the photographs. We believe in full disclosure so we'll list everything here:
- Thin lines (finish cracks) stemming from the jackplate and from the bridge
- Tiny ding on the top of the body
- Neck pocket finish cracks and chips
- Side of the nut discolored (in the how the lacquer was applied)
Based on that, we've passed along a discount - making this one a great score! The issues are all cosmetic and don't affect the playability or sound, of course. The guitar has been setup by the techs in our shop to play perfectly. The full warranty on the functioning of the guitar still applies.
SPECS:
- 9235001512
- SERIAL # JA0129
- WEIGHT: 7.2 LBS
- SERIES: Custom Artist
- COLOR: Lydian Gold Metallic
- BODY: 2-Piece Select Alder with Offset Seam
- BODY FINISH: Flash Coat Lacquer
- SCALE LENGTH: 25.5" (64.77 cm)
- NECK MATERIAL: 3A Birdseye Maple
- NECK FINISH: Flash Coat Lacquer
- NECK SHAPE: 1965 "C"
- NECK THICKNESS: .810"
- NECK BUTT WIDTH: 2.200"
- NECK THICKNESS 12TH FRET: .980"
- FINGERBOARD RADIUS: 7.25" (184.1 mm)
- FINGERBOARD MATERIAL: Round-Laminated 3A Rosewood
- POSITION INLAYS: Vintage Clay Dot
- SIDE DOTS: Vintage Clay
- NUMBER OF FRETS: 21
- FRET SIZE: Medium Jumbo (6150)
- TRUSS ROD: Early '60s
- STRING NUT: Bone
- NUT WIDTH: 1.625" (41.3 mm)
- HEADSTOCK: Stratocaster® Small
- HEADSTOCK THICKNESS: 0.575"
- BRIDGE: Custom Shop Vintage Synchronized Tremolo
- PICKGUARD: 3-Ply Mint Green
- CONTROL KNOBS: Vintage-Style Skirted White Plastic
- SWITCH TIP: Vintage White
- HARDWARE FINISH: Nickel/Chrome
- TUNING MACHINES: Vintage-Style with Fender Logo
- STRING TREES: American Vintage '59-'64
- TREMOLO ARM: Vintage Upgraded '60s
- NECK PLATE: 4-Bold Serialized with Contoured Heel and Custom Engraving
- STRAP BUTTONS: Vintage-Style
- BRIDGE PICKUP: Custom Shop Hand-Wound Special Design Single-Coil Strat®
- MIDDLE PICKUP: Custom Shop Hand-Wound 11/56 Single-Coil Strat®
- NECK PICKUP: Custom Shop Hand-Wound 11/56 Single-Coil Strat®
- CONTROLS: Master Volume with Tone-Saver Bleed, Master Tone, Neck/Bridge Pickup Blend
- SWITCHING: 5-Position Blade: Position 1. Bridge with Neck Blend, Position 2. Bridge and Middle with Neck Blend, Position 3. Middle, Position 4. Neck and Middle with Bridge Blend, Position 5. Neck with Bridge Blend
- POTENTIOMETERS: 250K 10% Taper Split
- INCLUDED ACCESSORIES: Deluxe Hardshell Case, Strap and Certificate of Authenticity.