Combining the authentic style of a “big stock” Fender with the feel and features of a contemporary instrument, the 1969 Journeyman Relic Stratocaster swaggers into our 2017 Time Machine Collection. Commemorating a banner year for music (and the Strat), this guitar’s two-piece select alder body wears a WLS undercoat beneath nitrocellulose lacquer finish that received a Journeyman Relic treatment, granting the look and feel of an instrument that launched from that musically exciting period into today.

The hand-wound Custom Shop ’69 Strat single-coil neck and RWRP middle pickups are joined by a high-output, hand-wound Custom Shop Texas Special single-coil bridge pickup. A five-way switch and modified wiring—including a Tone-Saver treble-bleed circuit—selects pickups in almost any combination while preserving the tone, no matter where the instrument’s volume is set.

Other exciting features include a light-tint, urethane-finished riftsawn maple neck with ’69 “U”-shaped profile, 9.5”-radius round-lam maple or rosewood fingerboard, three-ply Parchment pickguard, 21 6105 frets, American Vintage synchronized tremolo bridge, vintage-style “F”-stamped tuning machines, bone nut and wing string tree with nylon spacer. Includes a deluxe hardshell case, strap and Custom Shop Certificate of Authenticity.