Fender® Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster® - Artist Series
In 1992 Fender introduced the Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster® as part of their Artist Series. The guitar was meant to look like the guitar Stevie called #1. The one thing that was obvious was that this guitar looked like a brand new version of Stevie's #1 and Stevie bought his guitar used. Also, Stevie played his guitar for years with the original white pickguard, so this guitar comes new with the black pickguard Stevie had eventually installed.
The specifications of this guitar has changed a bit since it was introduced. The fingerboard was originally to be made with Brazilian Rosewood. Stevie's original #1 neck was a rosewood veneer. So the first production models were made with a Rosewood fingerboard. Since then, the fingerboard is now being made from Pau Ferro. Some speculate that the change is attributed to the availability of the wood.
Another major difference is the fact that the pickguard features the initials SRV engraved into the plastic. Stevie put his initials on with stickers. There are many other differences but all in all, the Artist Series guitar was bringing a few key features to the public's hands that were not offered on other stock Strats. The biggest features are the jumbo sized neck and frets, the all gold hardware with the left handed tremolo, and the darker colored 3 tone sunburst finish. Lastly, Stevie's actual guitar was a combination of two vintage Strats. Therefore it was finished with Nitrocellulose. This Artist Series guitar is NOT Nitro, it is a modern day Poly finish. Read more about the differences on the DIY pages.
The Stevie Ray Vaughan Stratocaster® has gone up in price since it's introduction. You can get one from any authorized Fender® dealer. The resale value of these guitars are fairly good. So hunting for a deal on E-bay is not always a huge savings.
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Fender® Stevie Ray Vaughan #1 Replica Stratocaster®
In January 2004, Fender unveiled the prototype #1 replica at the winter NAMM trade show in Anaheim CA. Custom Shop staff had been granted access to Stevie's precious #1 to document every detail of the guitar. Fender Custom Shop Luthier, John Cruz, replicated not only the exact electronic components by measuring the output of the pickups, but was also determined to replicate every scratch, nick and dent. Even the cigarette burns on the headstock would be replicated. Fender planned to make only 100 replicas. Word at the trade show spread fast and the rumor was that all 100 guitars had been ordered by various dealers. The price is rumored to be at least $10,000 each.
Unfortunately for most working class guitarists and SRV fans, the price is too high and there are too few made to even attempting to purchase one of these replicas. For the well to do collector, I'm sure this guitar is going to make a fine collectable. As for the rest of us, there's always the DIY method.
