“The Agave Stratocaster has a specific sound compared to an alder and maple guitar, a unique tone that is going to start a conversation, and that’s the purpose – it’s exactly what the Fender Custom Shop has been doing for the past 30 years,” said Master Builder Paul Waller.
The guitar has a two-piece body made from pure agave with a polyurethane finish and an agave paper back plate. The 21-fret ‘stout V’ neck and fingerboard are also made from agave and the whole thing weighs just 6.5 pounds. It has three hand-wound single coil pickups, including a Fat 50s neck and a Reverse Wound, Reverse Polarity (RWRV) middle and bridge, with a 5-way selector switch.
Waller spent a total of 30 days making the instrument, including five days harvesting the agave, so it is unlikely that these will see mass production. The project is part of the Jose Cuervo Foundation’s push to promote the use of agave beyond tequila manufacture, which has also included collaborating with Ford to create car parts and with surfer Gary Linden to create a 100% agave surfboard.
Fender are distributed in Australia through fender.com.au.
