J.W. BLACK FOUNDERS DESIGN STRATOCASTER®

J.W. Black Founders Design Stratocaster®, Birdseye Maple Fingerboard, Tobacco Burst

More about J.W. BLACK FOUNDERS DESIGN STRATOCASTER®

J.W. Black always thought his time at Fender was completed, until he got the call to design a guitar for Fender Custom Shop's 30th anniversary in 2017. Outside of his work with artists for Fender Custom Shop, J.W. built guitars for a large number of doctor/lawyer clientele. "They were a weekend warrior guitar player collector group, and when you talked to them, you knew they were making a special gift for themselves," he said.

J.W.'s Founders Design Stratocaster is inspired by this FMT "figured maple top" doctor/lawyer model he became known for. The '50s-style Stratocaster features a lightweight ash body with a Tobacco Burst color. Players will immediately notice the 5A quilt maple top true to his FMT models, alongside a 5A birdseye maple neck and '50s Stratocaster headstock. The golden hardware includes vintage-style staggered tuning machines. "It's still about Leo and how he served the musician," he said. "It's taking his greatest designs and just adding modern twists, artist input, player input, and coming up with something that honors his original concept, but brings it up to standards for the modern player."