Nothing says garage and surf rock quite like a cheap old Danelectro six-string electric guitar. It was Nathaniel Daniel’s famous lipstick pickups, (and wiring them in series, rather than parallel), that made those guitars sound the way they did. Daniel had been looking for a cheap pickup housing when he literally stumbled across a bunch of rounded lipstick caps, rolling around a laneway near his New Jersey guitar and amp factory. The caps had escaped under the gate of a factory belonging to a cosmetics manufacturer and Daniels almost immediately realized he could use them for his pickups. And so a legend was born.
A fantastic Stratocaster tweak
Over fifty years later, Fender came to the lipstick pickups party with a fantastic Stratocaster tweak. This limited edition Factory Special Run in 2012 proved immediately popular, and none more-so than those finished in Shell Pink. With none of these guitars shipped to Australia, we spent eighteen months badgering one of our US suppliers into parting with one of the four that he had stashed away as investment pieces.
Brand new
Apart from being removed from its original Fender hard case to be photographed, and played for around twenty minutes to record our soundfile, the guitar is brand new – and, as far as we know, is the only brand new Lipstick Strat ever offered for sale in Australia.
Only three color options
Only three color options were available for the Lipstick Strat – Shell Pink, Lake Placid Blue and Torino Red – and just 100 of each color were produced. All feature a solid Alder body, Maple neck with Micro-Tilt adjustment, 22 medium-jumbo frets, deluxe staggered tuners, Fender’s ‘No-Load’ tone control on the middle and bridge pickups, vintage-style two-point tremolo system, vintage-style bent steel bridge saddles and a Tusq nut. The Rosewood board is a particularly nice piece of timber, the likes of which are usually held back for Custom Shop creations.
A whole different league
While the Torino Red looked a little ordinary, the Lake Placid Blue was quite nice, however the Shell Pink seemed to be playing in a whole different league! The paintwork, matched to a 4-ply aged white pearl scratchplate, and the Seymour Duncan lipstick pickups, (specially manufactured for the Fender Custom Shop), all come together so perfectly – along with the Rosewood board, mentioned above – that the result is one of the finest looking Strats we’ve seen in some time.
Be amazed
How does it sound? C'est magnifique! It absolutely has that vintage Danelectro thing happening, along with an almost Rickenbacker jangle in there, too. But, here’s the bonus prize – play around with the tone controls and it’s really easy to make it sound like… a regular Strat! Listen to our soundfile and be amazed.
One of Fender's rarest color options
Now that Shell Pink – already one of Fender’s rarest color options – is apparently reserved in US production for Custom Shop models only, the rarity of this guitar can not be over emphasized. These Strats aren’t falling out of trees!
Original Fender shipping carton
Brand new, complete with its original Fender hard shell case and case candy, (see pics 7 & 8), your magnificent Shell Pink Lipstick Strat will even arrive at your door in its original Fender shipping carton. And, as with all Just Guitars instruments, FREE COURIER DELIVERY is included to any address in Australia ($100 airfreight to New Zealand, $175 to the US, Canada, UK and mainstream European countries. International freight added at checkout)
Weight: 7lb 15oz / 3.61kg
Just Guitars
