The Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt (Austin MacNutt) Jerry Garcia Alligator Stratocaster Relic has a 1-Pc Ash Body, 1-Pc Maple 1955 Soft "V" Neck and Fingerboard, 7.25" Radius, Brass Nut, Custom 3-Ply Parchment Pickguard, Custom Brass Bridge and Tailpiece with Rosewood Base Plate, 3x Hand-Wound '55 Single-Coil Strat Pickups, Incl. Case and COA.
This Masterbuilt run is limited up to 100 guitars worldwide!
When famed U.K. singer-songwriter-musician Graham Nash released his solo debut album Songs for Beginners in May 1971, he was so pleased with Jerry Garcia’s contributions to the sessions that he presented Garcia with a special gift—a 1955 Stratocaster® Nash had bought the year before in a Phoenix, Ariz., pawn shop for $250.
Garcia immediately adopted it as his main instrument for the next two years, during which it became his first dramatically modified guitar. Although Garcia and the Dead became well known for heavily altering their equipment through the band’s own offshoot gear company, Alembic, it was this Strat that first received the extensive workbench surgery that served as a Grateful Dead hallmark. Garcia’s new Strat became a favourite known and loved by the guitarist and his fans as the “Alligator”—so nicknamed for the grinning cartoon alligator sticker Garcia affixed to the pickguard in 1972.
Now, the Fender Custom Shop is proud to introduce the Jerry Garcia Alligator Stratocaster—a faithful recreation of one of Garcia’s most famous instruments. Every detail is meticulously recreated, from the carefully measured contours and radii of the one-piece ash body to the hammered brass control plate, replica pickguard and body stickers, and custom replica “Blaster” clean-boost output jack assembly. Master built in the Custom Shop by Austin MacNutt, the Jerry Garcia Alligator Stratocaster is limited to 100 built-to-order instruments.
All three pickups are Josefina hand-wound ’55-style single-coil Stratocaster pickups replicated from the Alligator itself, along with five-way switching, standard vintage Stratocaster wiring and replica “hat” control knobs on a three-ply parchment pickguard. Premium features also include a Relic® lacquer finish, one-piece rift-sawn maple neck with a profile scanned and replicated directly from the original guitar, 7.25” fingerboard radius and 1.625” brass nut width, 21 Medium Vintage frets, custom brass bridge and tailpiece with rosewood base plate, Schaller® M6 tuners, disc string tree with custom retainer bar, and custom birdseye maple back plate. Custom hardshell case included.
Specifications:
- Brand : Fender Custom Shop
- Model : Masterbuilt Jerry Garcia Alligator Stratocaster Relic
- Colour : Aged Natural
- SKU : 921-6811-942
- Body : 1-Piece Select Ash
- Neck : 1-Piece Rift Sawn Maple
- Neck Profile : 1955 Soft "V"
- Fingerboard : Maple
- Fingerboard Inlays : Black Micarta, 0.25" (6.35 mm)
- Fingerboard Radius : 7.25" (184.1 mm)
- Nut Width : 1.625" (41.3 mm)
- Nut Material : Brass
- Scale Length : 25.5" (64.77 cm)
- Frets : 21 Medium Vintage (47095)
- Pickguard : Custom 3-Ply Parchment
- Tuners : Schaller M6 90 Chrome-Plated Die-Cast Tuners with Large Buttons
- Bridge : Custom Brass Bridge and Tailpiece with Rosewood Base Plate
- Hardware : Nickel/Chrome/Brass
- Pickups : 3x Custom Shop Josefina Hand-Wound '55 Single-Coil Strat
- Controls : Master Volume, Tone 1. (Neck Pickup), Tone 2. (Middle Pickup), 5-Way Switch
- Control Knob : Custom Black "Alligator" Knobs
- No. of Strings : 6
- Case/Gigbag : Deluxe Hardshell Case
- Accessories : Certificate of Authenticity, Strap
- Condition : New
