Fender Custom Shop Eric Clapton Stratocaster Olympic White 1995
Fender Custom Shop Clapton Strat, Olympic White, made in USA 1995. This exceptional guitar first came through my hands in 2017, back when Topshelf was a side-gig trading from my loungeroom. To this day, when I think back over the many hunderds (thousands?) of Strat-style guitars I've played, this numbers among the top two or three. It's been in Hobart in the care of a couple of different friends of the store since then. Originally, I acquired the guitar from it's second Australian owner, a fellow music shop owner, and he relayed the original tale of it's origins, so here goes. This was made as a part of a run of eight Clapton models in 1995, back when the Custom Shop was still a fairly small operation featuring a handpicked team of master builders. They were made with no signature decal on the headstock, as Mr Clapton himself claimed two of the batch for himself and that was his preference. Two more were then sold on by Fender via auction, and the remaining four went to Fender's Japanese distributor, Yamano. This one went to Japan, and has the Yamano stamp in the neck as well as the original Yamano certification documents on top of the usual manual and Custom Shop authenticity certificate. It later left Japan for Australia and spent several years with two subsequent busy working players, before landing with us here at Topshelf. It really is a special guitar in the hands. The neck is soft V shape, typical of a Clapton model, but carved from a truly exceptional and very beautiful piece of maple, and it feels like home straight away. The body rings like a bell and delivers plenty of natural volume and sustain. The original Lace Sensor Gold pickups deliver low noise and plenty of character: they're super clear and open, with a detailed attack, chirpy highs, wide and airy mids and a percussive, fat low end. The electronics bring some added spice: boost or cut the treble with the first tone control, and wind in a wild 18dB midrange boost with the second. You can go from snappy, clean funk tones to wild, P-90-with-fuzz style mania with the roll of a knob. There's so many ways to enjoy the combo: neck pickup clean with a hair of boost on the treble and mids for fatness, bridge pickup with the treble rolled off a little and the mids cranked for wailing sustain, in-between quack with boosted treble to slice right through a mix... do whatever, you'll have a ball. Obviously most Eric models are black, but I really love the well-played white nitro finish on this, it looks very classy. It's hard to overstate how good this is, honestly. Let's just give it a Clap.
Model: Fender Custom Shop Eric Clapton Stratocaster
Made: USA, neck date 4 Oct 1995, Corona Custom Shop
Serial: CN402285
Finish: Olympic White, gloss nitro
Body: alder, two-piece centre join
Neck: quartersawn maple inc. fretboard, 9.5" radius, 25.5" scale, 43mm nut, soft V profile, 22 frets
Weight: 3.740kg
Mods: new bone nut
Pickups: Fender Lace Sensor Gold single coil x3
Controls: 5-way switch, master volume, TBX treble boost/cut, active mid boost
Accessories: original case, Yamano warranty card, Custom Shop certificate signed by John Page, owner's manuals, tremolo arm, extra springs and ashtray cover
Cosmetic condition notes: minor finish wear. The headstock has dimples on the end and top edge, scuffs on the bottom edge and some dents on the front below the Fender decal. The neck is clean and smooth in the hands, minor rub wear on the back only. The back has checking and scuffs near the neck plate, scuffs on both horns, dimples along the bottom and back edge, scuffs in the elbow area and some rub wear and fading along the belly carve. The sides have a small crack in the clear coat on the bass side of the neck pocket, scuffs on the top horn, some small dents and scuffs on the elbow area, dimples near the jack, minor dents and scuffs on the bottom horn and some checking lines on the treble side of the neck pocket . The front has a dent and some dimples in the elbow area, checking lines and scuffs around the jack, a dent near the second tone control, dimples up from the pickups and some play wear on the guard and horns.
Overall: very good condition (8/10)
Playing condition notes: Action is low, neck is straight, intonation is good, truss rod works. All electronics tested and working properly. Wearing fresh 10/46 Moonshiners strings.
Fret life: 8/10, minor wear only