Fender Masterbuilt Greg Fessler '63 Relic — SRV Killer Tone

A masterbuilt from the Fender Custom Shop isn't a guitar that simply comes off a line. One master builder takes an instrument from start to finish, chooses every piece of timber, shapes the neck, does the ageing and signs the neck plate at the end. There are only a handful of people worldwide entitled to that title, and Greg Fessler has been one of them for decades.

Fessler is known for remarkably consistent quality and for building instruments that simply work. No show, no fuss — guitars you pick up and don't want to put down. Which is exactly the case here.

For many people the 1963 specs are the sweet spot in Strat history. Compared with the early maple necks, the rosewood board brings a slightly warmer, rounder note to the tone and takes off precisely the edge that can get in the way in a band. Add the 3-Tone Sunburst, which with its move from black through red to amber is still one of the loveliest finishes there is, and which gains a great deal again in a relic version.

The SRV Killer Tone nickname isn't accidental. This guitar has exactly the mix you associate with the great Texan: a fat, well-aged core tone with plenty of substance in the mids, a very direct attack, and that characteristic dynamic where the tone can flip completely depending on how hard you dig in. Played gently it stays bell-like and transparent; lean into it and it turns loud, wiry and biting without ever sounding thin.

The neck pickup gives the warm, singing blues tone, the in-between positions deliver the bell-like, slightly hollow quack the Strat is famous for, and the bridge turns sharp and cutting. With some drive the instrument responds very finely to the volume control, which in the end is exactly what separates a good Strat from a very good one.

And the relic work makes any sense of a new instrument disappear completely. This guitar feels familiar from the first note.

A first-class masterbuilt piece from Ede's Private Stock.