Following up the release of the George Harrison Rosewood Telecaster earlier this year, Fender has just unveiled the similarly iconic George Harrison Rocky Stratocaster.
While the Fender Custom Shop has previously created replica models of the Beatles guitarist’s famous Strat, this Artist Signature version falls into a significantly more affordable price bracket.
When Harrison first acquired his 1961 Fender Stratocaster in ‘65, it was sporting a Sonic Blue custom colour finish.
Both he and John Lennon had matching Sonic Blue Strats at this point, and Harrison used his extensively on numerous Beatles recordings of the ‘60s.
Come ‘67, and with the Summer of Love in full swing, the guitar was given a distinctive psychedelic paintjob.
“During ’67, everybody started painting everything, and I decided to paint it,” Harrison once told an interviewer.
“I got some Day-Glo paint, which was quite a new invention in them days, and just sat up late one night and did it.”
The new Fender George Harrison Rocky Stratocaster features an alder body with a hand-painted replica finish that mimics the Beatle’s famous guitar in fine detail, from concentric Day-Glo patterns and pickguard motifs to the Grimwoods music shop decal on the headstock rear.
In keeping with the original instrument’s ‘60s heritage, the George Harrison Rocky Stratocaster has been fitted with vintage-style tuners and a 6-saddle Synchronized Tremolo with bent steel saddles.
A 3-ply mint green pickguard (fitted on Strats from 1959 to 1965) along with aged white control knobs and an aged white pickup selector switch tip add to the ‘60s vibe.
Period-correct for Strats made between 1959 and 1962, this guitar sports a 21-fret, 7.25” radius slab rosewood fingerboard atop a solid maple neck (Fender describes the profile as a '60s "C" shape).
Three ‘60s-style Stratocaster pickups provide the kind of clear, chiming tones that made this classic Fender solidbody such a success following its release in 1954.
Visit Fender for more information.
