When Gary Davies purchased a pre-owned 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Fender Stratocaster, he didn’t realise that acquiring this particular guitar would change his life.
Gary, from Cornwall in the UK, didn’t know much about his Anniversary guitar at that time, so he decided to undertake some research on the 1994 model. After he learned all about his 40th Anniversary 1954 Limited Edition Strat, Gary was hooked, and continued with his detailed guitar-related research for another 5 years. His detailed investigations focused on all the USA-built Anniversary Stratocaster models he could find (both factory and Custom Shop instruments), and it included interviewing the past and present Fender Custom Shop master builders and pickup winders. He travelled to the USA a number of times to meet many of the Fender folks at the factory and Custom Shop, and sometimes socially as well, and he even tracked down a unique Fender Custom Shop guitar when he visited Japan. |
A few more Anniversary Strat models were acquired by Gary over the years, and his research and his passion for Fender’s Anniversary Model Stratocasters culminated in the publishing of his “ANNIVERSARY STRAT” book, which celebrates 40 years of the USA-built commemorative model Fender Stratocaster guitars. The limited edition, signed, and individually numbered 340-page, 174 photo, A4 size book consisting of 45 chapters was published in 2019.
Each ANNIVERSARY STRAT book is individually numbered in the form of “XXXX OF 1954” just like the limited edition 40th Anniversary Stratocasters that inspired Gary to write the book. Since it was published, the book has shipped to more than 30 countries all over the world to universal acclaim, and at the time of writing just 80 or so copies of the original 1,954 books remain. As this was a passion project rather than a profit-making exercise, from the start Gary decided he would only sell the books direct to readers, rather than selling via Amazon or bookshops. Consequently, in his retirement Gary has enjoyed communicating with like-minded Fender fans all over the world. Orders for the book come via the dedicated book website at www.anniversarystrat.com or sometimes via eBay, and the rest of the process is very much old-school, as Gary replies personally to buyers, and then packs and ships each book himself.
The book isn’t just about Strats though, and while the first 20 chapters of the book provide the background stories to the most interesting Anniversary Stratocasters, the remaining 25 chapters are mini-biographies of the past and present Fender Custom Shop master builders. Gary realised that it was important to cover the people aspect, and he felt it was important to share the fascinating personal stories of the various Fender people who created many of these guitars.
In addition to communicating with readers who have bought the book, Gary still maintains contact with many of the Fender folks he has met over the years, and has formed solid friendships with some of them. As the book is almost sold out and because as a limited edition it will not be re-printed, Gary has just started posting short videos to YouTube, which share a few extracts from his book. Anyone who might want to know more about a particular Anniversary Model Strat, or a little about the Custom Shop master builders will find Gary’s channel at www.youtube.com/@garydavies007.
While he doesn’t profess to be any kind of expert on the Fender company or Fender instruments in general, Gary is always happy to hear from like-minded Fender/Strat fans, and will always try and answer any questions about Fender’s American-built Anniversary Stratocaster Models. He has published another guitar-related book recently which unfortunately is not for public sale, but he doesn’t have any plans to write any more books at this time. Gary says that for now he is currently enjoying his retirement, taking photographs (photography is another of his passions), travelling the world, and of course playing the guitar!