What a color! 1997 Fender Stratocaster California Special edition in its original Fiesta Red Finish with gold hardware. This model of Stratocaster was limited to a production run from 1997 to 1998. The California series model concept was an attempt to offer a vintage looking and feeling guitar with hotter pickups and medium jumbo frets. It was designed to be a serious player! Shortly after production began the Fender factory in Corona California suffered a catastrophic fire in the paint and finishing portion of their facility. The solution was quickly proposed to send USA-made bodies to Baja California and have them painted by the same workers traveling from the Corona, U.S.A. plant. Once the paint was applied, the guitars were then returned to the Corona U.S.A. facility for assembly. To streamline production-color choices were limited to Black, White, Sunburst, Candy Apple Red and Fiesta Red. Tex-Mex pickups were selected for a fatter low end, increased treble brilliance and higher output. The Medium Jumbo Frets afford easy bending and the 9.5" radius fingerboard offers enhanced playability. The model featured vintage bridge, vintage tuners and a nice 3-ply pickguard to round out the look.
This example is a 1997 and is an excellent player. The body has the nice big vintage style contours front and rear. The finish has a vintage appeal and although it is nice-it also displays some patina and mojo. It looks vintage and killer for sure. The neck slot is an excellent fitment. The neck itself is super straight and smooth. There are a few bumps on the backside of the neck and some honest playing wear-see photos. The neck profile is a vintage C and the nut measures 1.65" wide. The neck itself measures .854" deep at the 1st fret and .906" deep at the 12th fret. The gold tuners have patina but all function smoothly. The 50's-60's style PRE-CBS headstock and Transition-style logo display excellent. The maple fingerboard is clean and has minimal playing wear-see photos. The Medium Jumbo frets are in excellent condition and have just been professionally leveled, crowned and polished. They appear like-new condition-see photos. The action is low and the guitar plays superb. The string height is currently .010" at the 1st fret and .050" at the 12th fret. The action can be easily raised if you prefer a higher action. The guitar plays lights out. It invites bends and has a solid resonant feel.
The pickups all all have an excellent signal. The neck and middle position are both the stock vintage Tex-Mex units and the bridge unit has been swapped for a Dimarzio mini-humbucker. The neck pickup measures 6.24 ohms, the middle measures 6.26 ohms and the bridge measures 12.03 ohms! This guitar absolutely rips. It sounds like Stevie Ray Vaughn's Strat. Some of the potentiometers were updated to facilitate the pickup change-but the body was not modified in any way. There is a small hole where the previous owner wanted to add a micro switch like David Gilmour's but this was never done. The hole is tiny but it is there. The pickguard screws are gold and appear to be newer replacements. The bridge and saddles function and they have an excellent patina that just goes along with the rest of the guitar's personality.
This guitar is fairly lightweight-it only weighs 7.94 lbs. It feels great on a strap or in your lap. It is easy to wield and just feels right.
