The only obvious upgrade on the Stratocaster, was the 5-way pickup selector. The vintage reissue project became the forerunner to the later Fender Custom Shop.Īll guitars were faithful to the originals, with original body and neck contours, nitro lacquer and vintage style hardware and pickups. The line ran up to 1985, when CBS pulled out of Fender. The new line of vintage reissues were starting to appear in late 1982, although not fully realised and distributed until late 1983. Other guitar companies were starting to make copies of the Fender guitars that were superior to their own, which obviously was not good for business. Modifications were done summer 1985.ĭavid also acquired some lesser known guitars from the same batch, including a sunburst V57 Stratocaster (used on Live Aid 1985), a black Elite Stratocaster (heavily modified with Khaler tremolo system and Charvel 22 fret birds eye maple neck as a backup for the Black Strat) and a black V57 Stratocaster (later fitted with Kinman HX pickups and used by Tim Renwick on the 1994 Division Bell tour, Phil Manzanera on the 2006 On and Island tour and John Carin on the 2015-16 Rattle That Lock tour).įender 1982-85 American Vintage Reissue seriesīy the early 80s Fender began to realise that the 70s had been disastrous for the company. Note that all three are pictured with EMG pckups (the sunburst also sports a Roland synth pickup) and shortened tremolo arms. The candy apple red and vintage white or cream, were both used on multiple albums and tours, while the sunburst made a brief appearance at the Live Aid concert in 1985 and hasn’t been seen since. The three V57 reissue Fender Stratocasters David Gilmour bought in early 1984.
They ended up with at least seven guitars, including the candy apple red V57, a vintage white V57 Stratocaster (referred to as Cream #1 – main guitar on the 1984 About Face tour and first half of the 1987-90 Momentary Lapse of Reason tour), a fiesta red V62 Stratocaster (used extensively on the 1984 About Face tour and later performances in 1985-86) and a butterscotch V52 Telecaster. This was just prior to David heading out on the About Face tour and apparently, he didn’t want to bring his old guitars as they now started to rise in value (International Musician August 1984). In early 1984, David and his long-time technician Phil Taylor, visited the Fender Warehouse in Einfield, Middlesex, UK and tried a bunch of the new reissue guitars from the Fender Fullerton. In this feature we’ll look at the technical details and history of the guitar. Especially of the post-Waters era of the 80s and 90s. For many, the Candy Apple Red V57 is perhaps the most iconic.
David Gilmour is widely associated with the Stratocaster.