The Very First Guitar Ordered From The Fender Custom Shop…

1987 Fender Stratocaster / Esquire Double Neck.

This unique double-neck Stratocaster / Esquire weighs just 11.00 lbs. and was the very first guitar ordered from the newly formed Fender Custom Shop in 1987. Designed and built by Master Luthier Michael Stevens, it features a beautiful asymetrical double-cut see-thru blond two-piece light-ash body. On the Stratocaster side, rounded edges contoured on the back and the lower bass bout, and on the Esquire side, square edges, so that the body contours reflect the half of the instrument they represent. Both of the necks are hand-carved from solid curly maple and are book-matched on the fingerboard face. Both of the necks have a wonderfully thick profile (similar to a '54) and a nut width of 1 11/16 inches. Both have a scale length of 25 1/2 inches and 21 medium frets with black dot position markers. The Stratocaster headstock has the Fender "Spaghetti" logo in gold with black trim, and the Esquire headstock has the Fender "Spaghetti" logo in silver with black trim. Both necks have individual 'no-name' Kluson Deluxe tuners with oval metal buttons. The Stratocaster headstock has a single butterfly string tree with nylon spacer, and the Esquire headstock has a single round string-tree with a metal spacer. The serial number "0001" is stamped in black on the back of the Stratocaster headstock and there is also a small oval gold decal on each headstock "Custom Built / Michael Stevens/ Fender U.S.A." The Stratocaster neck is dated in pencil "MS 6/18/87, whilst the Esquire neck is dated in pencil "MS 6/19/87". Each neck with a four-bolt neck plate. The body is dated by Michael Stevens in the Stratocaster tremolo cavity in blue pencil "4/15/87". The Stratocaster with three white plastic-covered black-bottom single-coil pickups with staggered polepieces and nice, hot outputs of 5.44k, 5.55k, and 6.76k. The Esquire with a single early fifties style flat pole pickup with a great thumping output of 6.90k. One single-layer white plastic pickguard (for both guitars) with nine screws. Two controls (one volume, one tone) plus three-way "tone" switch with "football" tip, all on metal plate adjoining pickguard. Early fifties style knobs with slightly domed tops and knurled sides. The tone knob is also a push/pull to switch necks, whilst the three-way switch selects the Stratocaster pickups. Stratocaster with Fender "Synchronized Tremolo" combined bridge/tailpiece (six-pivot bridge/vibrato unit with through-body stringing) and tremolo arm on bass side. Esquire with Telecaster/Esquire combined bridge/tailpiece with six brass saddles. Both guitars with their respective bridge covers, the Stratocaster complete with its Tremolo arm. All hardware gold plated. This unique guitar is in mint (9.50) condition. Housed in its original Fender custom made 'Tweed' hardshell case with red plush lining (9.50). This guitar was the first order taken by the Fender Custom Shop in 1986 and it was hand built by Michael Stevens and is dated by him in the Stratocaster tremolo cavity in blue pencil "4/15/87". The Stratocaster neck is dated in pencil "MS 6/18/87 and the Esquire neck is dated in pencil "MS 6/19/87".

Accompanying the guitar is a letter signed by Michael Stevens that reads : "To whom it may concern: The Fender Double Neck guitar marked #0001 Michael Stevens / Fender Custom Shop was the first order taken for the Fender Custom Shop. It was ordered by Jimmy Wallace of "Sound Southwest" in Dallas, Texas immediately after he learned I had been hired. He is an old customer of mine and simply specified something very cool. I arrived at Fender Musical Instruments in Corona, California to start a Custom Shop for them with that order in hand and the order for a 5 string Electric Banjo. The Double Neck #0001 was not the first instrument shipped nor was it listed as the first work order. The Custom Shop was in its infant stage and very hectic. Irregardless of any other stories by anyone what so ever their title, that is fact. The guitar was designed by me, similar to the Double Neck Strat / 12 string I had designed and made for Christopher Cross about 1982. It is the first Double neck guitar ever to be sold by Fender and was at the time the highest price dealer cost instrument to date as I was told. They had a Double Neck "plank" bass for testing strings in R & D but it was not a product for sale, nor very pretty. It is also the first instrument to have what is now called a Master Builder decal, mine, on the back of the peghead. The necks were from my own lumber stash and bookmatched on the fingerboard face from a 3 inch block of curly maple. The body is two piece light Ash. The layout is a Stratocaster / Esquire to simplify the controls, but also makes it very clean and elegant, and the body contours reflect the half of the instrument they represent. The tone knob is a push/pull to switch necks. It was built and painted entirely by me no line parts involved. Michael Stevens. "Senior Design Engineer", Fender Custom Shop Dec. 1986 - Nov. 1990.