In 2004 the Fender Stratocaster reached the half-century mark, and some sort of tribute was in order. Whereas most products were outmoded by shifting tastes, the Stratocaster was adapted and re-imagined time and again, not only proving itself suited to existing musical styles but inspiring new ones as well.
To celebrate the anniversary of the world’s most exciting electric guitar, Fender offered a Custom Shop Master Built model as its flagship product, and a range of commemorative Stratocasters at various price points, from a Mexican-made Aztec Gold Strat to the American Series and American Deluxe anniversary models.  At the same time, many factory-built Stratocasters gained a commemorative neck plate, but these regular production guitars should not be confused with the official anniversary models released by Fender in the same year.
Besides Fender Custom Shop made three special Stratocasters, all team built, painted in Aztec Gold and finished in nitrocellulose lacquer, and equipped with a commemorative neck plate. All these guitars are usually called Limited Edition 50th Anniversary Relic Gold Stratocasters, although they were not Anniversary models in a strict sense, because they were “special run” of three “regular” Time Machine Stratocasters made in 2004: the 1956, 1960, and 1965 models.
The 50th anniversary was so important that an all-star line-up of some of the world’s greatest guitarists gathered at Wembley Arena to perform in front of thousands of adoring fans, and a unique 50th Anniversary guitar was painted by New York graffiti artist John Matos, also known as Crash, and displayed at the Fender Museum.
​

THe Strat Party

Thanks to Miller Genuine Draft and the efforts of Fender Europe’s Jamie Crompton and Hoda Armani, on September 24, 2004, at the famous Wembley Arena in London, a host of legendary and contemporary musicians got together to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Fender Stratocaster. 
​The concert featured Ronnie Wood, Joe Walsh, Gary Moore (who played an unforgettable Red House with a Red Stratocaster), Brian May (playing the Sunburst Stratocaster, in the opening set, rather than his Red Special), David Gilmour (who showed up with his famous White Strat with serial number 0001), Albert Lee, Hank Marvin, Amy Winehouse, Paul Rodgers, Phil Manzanera, Andy Fairweather Low, Theresa Andersson, Mike Rutherford, The Crickets, Paul Carrack, Jamie Cullum, Phil Palmer, Pino Palladino, Paul “Wix” Wickens, and Ian Thomas.

Gary Moore with his Red Strat

Martin Brady, then Marketing Director at Fender Europe Ltd., said: “This is a historic occasion for Fender and the Stratocaster guitar. Never before have so many legendary names come together on one stage to celebrate an icon in rock music.”  
The concert raised £340,000 for Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy, UK’s largest music therapy charity.

Gilmour at Wembley with his 0001 Stratocaster

The concert for the 50th anniversary of Fender Stratocaster at Wembley Arena

50TH ANNIVERSARY 1954 STRATOCASTER

What better way to commemorate the first five decades of the Stratocaster than to bring it back to life? In 1994 Fender had already released the 1954 40th Anniversary Stratocaster, intended to be a fairly authentic reproduction of its original counterpart. But the 2004 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster would mark another leap in authenticity and would be one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken by the Custom Shop.  ​

The guitar made its debut at the January ’04 NAMM show, just four months after the idea was pitched by Marketing Manager Mike Tonn.  “People have asked us over the years to make a ’54 Strat,” said Tonn. “Although we have made ‘versions’ of the ’54 in the past, they were never vintage-correct due to the fact that the knobs, pickup covers, pickguard material, and switch tip were very different back then.”
​So, each and every detail should have virtually cloned the original guitar made in 1954, which means not just getting the right overall shape and color of its components, but also using the correct typeface for letters and numbers and the closest possible blend of chemical compounds for plastic parts obtainable on the modern market.

Mike Tonn

In fact, Fender utilized some of the old machines and manufacturing methods used back in 1954, including one of the big presses to fabricate some of the hardware and stamping machines from the early days for bridge and saddles, although they acquired new tooling such as injection molds that made vintage-correct knobs and covers. Even the holes on the tremolo cover plate were round - not oblong - like the original ’54 Stratocasters. Fender even recruited a pre-CBS Fender employee, Roger Centeno, who was originally hired in 1964, to stamp the serial number on each back plate with the original die.​

The project was spearheaded by Chris Fleming, then just getting ensconced in his new role as Master Builder, with the help of George Blanda from R&D, and each guitar was built by a Custom Shop Master Builder.
Richard Smith’s original 1954 Stratocaster, serial number 0100, which had also been scrutinized during the planning of the 40th Anniversary Stratocaster in 1994 was picked as a starting point for the 50th Anniversary project.
Obviously, they couldn’t mess up any of the original plastic parts on Richard Smith’s Stratocaster by shaving off even microscopic fragments to have the materials analyzed in order to produce plastic parts that were made with material that was as close as possible to that used to form the original guitars. Fortunately, Mike found and acquired some broken pieces of real 1954 Stratocaster knobs, covers, and pickguards, and George Blanda took them to a chemical lab for composition analysis.  
​They also refined the body perimeter and contours as well as the sunburst finish. Each 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster featured a two-piece premium ash body with an off-center glue joint.​

Chris Fleming with the Richard's Smith guitar and the 50th Anniversary 1954 Strat prototype

According to Chris Fleming “Generally the seam [on the originals] is on the lower side, where the pickguard covers much of the glue joint. Some people who bought Anniversary guitars thought they had one-piece bodies, but the spec called for a two-piece with the off-center seam.” 
​

Personal memories of the original guitars obviously affected the approach to the build of each Master Builder and even though they followed overall the official specification and they all based their replicas on Richard Smith’s guitar, sometimes the hand of the individual builder was evident in one detail or another. Therefore, although the maple neck was officially described as being a one-piece U-profile, to a certain extent the builders did have the flexibility to vary the neck shape, and also the rendering of the 2-Color Sunburst and the level of Closet Classic varied to some degree from guitar to guitar.
All the prototypes and first dozen or so guitars to leave the shop, all built by Chris Fleming, had a body with a very pronounced dark grain pattern because Chris used a darker-than-usual brown paste filler that accentuated the grain and looked very much like the Richard Smith’s Stratocaster. Chris’ bodies were also recognizable by a slightly lighter hue on the outer edges, rather than the traditional blacker “Dark Salem” hue favored by some Master Builders.

50th Anniversary 1954 Strat checking

Although that dark grain fill became the official specification, not every Builder followed that particular aspect of the specification.

The Custom Shop 50th Anniversary Stratocaster on 2004 Fender Frontline

Don Randall and Bill Schultz, May 2004, during the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the Stratocaster (Courtesy of Michael Bedilion)

The former EMG Bill Turner, who designed the Noiseless pickups back in 1998, reverse-engineered the ‘54 pickups and suggested to use larger diameter Alnico III pole pieces for the Vintage 1954 Stratocaster single-coil pickups, which was used exclusively on this model (and on the “factory” American Series version)​. They were all hand-wound to ’54 spec using formvar coated copper wire by “the queen of tone” Abigail Ybarra, who came to Fender in 1956 and in 1958 began hand-winding and hand-building guitar pickups. “Abby is one of the many individuals, like George Fullerton, Freddie Tavares, and Forrest White, who have set our course as a company and leader in our industry,” said Mike Eldred, Fender Custom Shop Marketing Director, when she retired in 2013. “She has literally ‘set the tone’ for Fender, and we will continue to carry on her legacy in the Fender Custom Shop.”

Rogelio Centeno, known as "Roger", Courtesy of Yuriy Shishkov

Abigail Ybarra

Bill Turner

Even new saddles with the “FENDER PAT. PEND.” stamp were used. The slot that the string goes through were longer and had an improved position that allowed the strings to go through without resting against the front edge of the slot. On the contrary, older “FENDER FENDER” stamped saddles had a slot that was back toward the intonation screw and thus, in some cases, the string rested on the forward edge of the slot before it rested on the intonation point of the saddle. Hence, the string often had three contact points: the inertia block/bridge plate junction, the forward edge of the saddle, and the intonation point of the saddle. On the Anniversary saddles strings had only two contact points, like the originals.

The 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster was available from January 15 to December 31, 2004. It came in an original style “poodle” brown case, flat on one side, thick with red plush lining, and sporting a 50th Anniversary logo. It was developed by the Custom Shop with the help of John Andrews from Texas, who sent Mike Tonn his original 1954 case and strap. 
​​

50th Anniversary American Deluxe Stratocaster

“With the recreation of the Custom Shop 1954 Stratocaster guitar, we acknowledge our past. With the 2004 American Deluxe Series 50th Anniversary Stratocaster, our eyes are focused firmly on the future. Never before have we offered such groundbreaking benchmarks. The construction, technology and player-centric design of this guitar makes it truly state of art,” said the 2004 Fender catalog.
In fact, the 50th Anniversary American Deluxe Stratocaster featured a select alder body finished in a 2-Color Sunburst finish and gold-plated hardware. A Modern “C” shaped maple neck had rolled edges for a “broken-in” feel and sported abalone dot inlays.
Other features include a contoured neck heel to improve playability, a beautiful etched neck plate, die-cast locking tuners, which lock down and keep the guitar in tune even with the most dramatic tremolo bends, a 2-point American Deluxe Tremolo bridge with pop-in arm, aged plastics, a 3-ply pickguard with commemorative logo, and a trio of custom-staggered Fender Samarium Cobalt Noiseless single coil pickups, designed by Bill Lawrence with the purpose of reducing Foucault currents to the minimum and improving the quietness. The groundbreaking push/push S-1 switch allowed players to choose from ten different pickup configurations.
Carrying a price tag of $1,703.99, this guitar was only available between January 15 and December 31, 2004, and came in a Brown Tolex case.

American Deluxe Series Anniversary Stratocaster (2004 Fender catalog)

50th Anniversary American Stratocaster

The 50th Anniversary American Stratocaster featured an ash body with a polyurethane 2-Color sunburst finish. Differently from other Anniversary Fender guitars, some left-handed versions were also made at the Corona factory.
It sported a Modern “C” shaped maple neck with 22 medium jumbo frets and rolled fingerboard edges, a two-point tremolo bridge, a 1-ply 11-hole pickguard, and a commemorative neck plate featuring the inscription “STRATOCASTER 50TH ANNIVERSARY 1954-2004.”  
Other features included custom staggered tuning machines and a trio of Vintage ’54 pickups hand-wound by Abigail Ybarra, the same used in the Custom Shop replica.
Priced at $1,499.99, this model was only available between January 15 and December 31, 2004, and came in a Brown Tolex case.

50th American Stratocaster, Courtesy of Stage Shop

ENSENADA AND THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY

Last, there was the 50th Anniversary Golden Stratocaster, made in the Mexican factory of Ensenada. This guitar lived up to its name by featuring an Aztec Gold finish, a gold-anodized aluminum pickguard, and gold-plated hardware.
Priced at $999.99, this guitar was the cheaper Anniversary Stratocaster made in 2004.

The Mexican 50th Anniversary Golden Stratocaster (zzound.com)

Antonio Calvosa​

---

​​​MAIN SOURCES
​​- The Stratocaster Continues: The Sixth Decade of the Fender Strat by Tom Wheleer
- The Dream Factory by Tom Wheleer by Tom Wheleer
- Fender‘s 50th Anniversary Strat: Height of the Reissue, Ward Meeker article on November 2004 issue of Vintage Guitar Magazine
- Fender Newsroom: Fender Press Releases & Products Updates
- Fender Frontlines and catalogs
- Guitars inspection and photos