Fender Custom Shop '65 Strat Ultimate Relic Heavy Aged Lake Placid Blue Masterbuilt by Kyle McMillin

Masterbuilt by Kyle McMillin, this Fender Custom Shop ’65 Stratocaster Ultimate Relic captures everything players love about a mid-’60s Strat while adding the elevated craftsmanship and personality that comes with a true Masterbuilt instrument. Finished in Heavy Aged Lake Placid Blue, the guitar looks and feels like a well-loved vintage original that has spent decades on stages and in studios. The Ultimate Relic treatment brings deep character to every surface, from the worn lacquer to the aged gold hardware, giving the instrument an authentic broken-in feel the moment you pick it up.

This Strat is built with classic mid-’60s DNA. A lightweight alder body pairs with a maple neck and a round-lam AAA rosewood fingerboard, delivering the warm, articulate tone and familiar response that made the Stratocaster the most recorded electric guitar in history. The ’65 Strat “C” neck profile measures .820" at the 1st fret and .974" at the 12th, providing a comfortable vintage carve that feels substantial without slowing you down. A 7.25" radius and vintage upgrade frets keep the playing experience authentically Fender while remaining smooth and expressive across the neck.

For tone, Fender loaded this guitar with Josefina hand-wound ’60s Strat pickups, including a RWRP middle pickup for hum-canceling in positions two and four. The result is everything you want from a great Strat—bell-like cleans, glassy in-between tones, and a punchy bridge sound that cuts through a mix. Combined with the vintage-style hardware and the unmistakable character of the relic treatment, this Masterbuilt Strat feels like a vintage icon that has already lived a lifetime of music.

Specs: 2-piece alder body; maple neck with ’65 Strat “C” profile (.820" at 1st fret, .974" at 12th fret); AAA 9mm round laminated rosewood fingerboard with mother-of-pearl 7mm face dots; 21 vintage upgrade frets; 7.25" fingerboard radius; 1.650" nut width; bone nut; early-’60s truss rod; 4-bolt neck construction; vintage Fender logo relic gold tuners; American vintage Strat bridge relic gold with vintage saddles; white relic trem arm tip; vintage upgrade ’60s gold relic string tree; aged white controls. Nitrocellulose lacquer Heavy Aged Lake Placid Blue finish. Fender Custom Shop Strat/Tele black case.

Weight: 7 lbs 7 oz.

Electronics: Josefina hand-wound ’60s Strat single-coil pickups. Master volume and 2 tone controls. 5-way toggle switch.