This Strat began life in 1994 in Japan as a straight‑laced ’54 reissue. We decided it was high time to have some fun. A thin nitro coat of Aztec Gold now tops the body, and where the relic wear peeks through you’ll spot flashes of the original Candy Apple Red metallic—like finding hot‑rod paint under grandma’s Sunday best.
Slide your hand up the soft‑V maple neck and you’ll feel that honey‑amber gloss slick like an old bar top. It’s chunky enough to fill the hand (about 22 mm at the first fret) yet never club‑like, and the vintage 7.25" radius maple board stays true to early‑’50s feel.
Under the aged parchment single‑ply guard you’ll find a tone cocktail: original Fender Japan AlNiCo V single‑coils in the neck and middle slots for crystalline sparkle, paired with an overwound Fender USA bridge pickup that delivers the extra punch you secretly crave.
All that goodness flows through upgraded USA‑spec guts—CTS pots, an Oak 5‑way, Orange Drop cap, Switchcraft jack, cloth wire—so when you dime the volume it’s dead quiet until the strings say otherwise.
The vintage six‑point trem sits on bent steel saddles and a full‑size block, strung up with three springs for that perfect “wiggle without wobble.” At about 3.6 kg it balances comfortably on a strap, basswood body resonating like a gold‑plated choir.
Plug it in and the highs shimmer, mids chew, lows stay tight. Roll to Position 4, lean into a bluesy double‑stop, and suddenly you’ll swear a tube just lit itself.
This isn’t a wall hanger.
It’s a Strat that already looks like a lifelong companion—and is quietly waiting to become one. Pick it up, strike a chord, watch the gold flake under stage lights, and let the songs write themselves.
This instrument received a full professional setup with deep body cleaning, body polish, neck deep clean, full electronics check, truss-rod and action and intonation adjustment. Restringed with D'addario 10-46 Nickel-plated steel strings.
This guitar will be shipped around UK with Parcelforce courier, safely packed into a sturdy guitar cardboard box. 24h courier service provided to UK customers. We also ship to USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and many other places, but at the moment we don't ship to EU or Northern Ireland.
Fender Stratocaster - 54 Vintage Reissue - Japan - Aztec Gold nitro relic (1994)
SPECS:
MODEL: Fender Japan 54 Vintage Reissue Stratocaster
YEAR: 1994
COLOUR: Aztec Gold nitro relic over Candy Apple Red metallic
PICKGUARD: 1-ply aged parchment white
NECK: soft V-shape maple neck, honey amber fretboard finish, worn back finish
FRETBOARD: maple, 7.25-inch radius
NUT WIDTH: 42.3 mm
NECK THICKNESS: 1st fret - 22.7 mm; 12th fret- 24.5 mm
FRETS: 21 vintage frets with no wear
TUNERS: Kluson vintage-style slotted tuners
BODY: basswood body, original SSS body routing, full body cavities shielding
TOTAL WEIGHT: 3.6 kg
TREMOLO: 6-point vintage-style tremolo, bent steel saddles, full size tremolo block, 3 springs
WEAR: all wear cosmetic; no structural damage
PICKUPS: original Fender Japan AlNiCo V neck and middle single-coils; upgraded Fender USA overwound bridge single-coil pickup
WIRING: upgraded USA-spec wiring with CTS A250K pots, Oak USA 5-way switch, Orange Drop tone capacitor, Switchcraft jack, cloth-covered wires
DISCLAIMER
Please note that although we put our heart and soul and also all our knowledge into every single guitar we sell, a setup is a personal preference. However, we try to get the best playability out of every guitar and set them up so you can play both rhythm and lead. We also pull them all apart to clean and check every single component and replace all unreliable parts with new ones, from dodgy pots to the whole wiring, tuners, string trees, nuts and etc. All the work done is described in detail in the listing.
We make sure that every guitar we sell is problem free and take full responsibility for the accuracy of our listing descriptions. All photographs are done by a professional photographer and processed on a calibrated monitor. Some colours might look slightly different on your monitor, but we will always put the official Fender colour name in the listing description, so please study pictures of other guitars with the same colour if you are unsure. We focus on finding great quality guitars and making them reliable and inspiring to play.