The American Vintage '56 Stratocaster takes you straight back to mid-1956, when the model was still new and when what is quite possibly the most prized and popular neck ever affixed to the instrument first appeared-a thick one-piece maple neck with a soft "V" shape, comfortably rounded edges and a then-new butterfly string tree on the headstock. Such meticulous authenticity even extends to the single-ply white pickguard with eight holes, lightweight alder body (ash on white blonde) with deep contours, and vintage-accurate pickups (alnico 3 pickups debuted in 1956), bridge saddles, tuner spacing and more. The American Vintage series introduces an all-new lineup of original-era model year guitars that bring Fender history and heritage to authentic and exciting new life. With key features and pivotal design elements spanning the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, new American Vintage series instruments delve deep into Fender's roots-expertly preserving an innovative U.s. guitar-making legacy and vividly demonstrating like never before that Fender not only knows where it's going, but also remembers where it came from. The American Vintage Series has long presented some of Fender's best selling guitars (their early-'80s introduction, in fact, was one of the first signs that Fender was "back" as the CBS era ended). Today, Fender has boldly cleared the slate to make way for a fresh American Vintage series with new features, new specs and the most meticulous level of vintage accuracy yet. Rather than just replacing the previous models with different ones, they've completely and comprehensively re-imagined the entire vintage-reissue concept-restoring original tooling dies, voicing new pickups, reformulating vintage colors and more-based on actual vintage guitars they tracked down to make sure they had it right. Fender did the work, and it shows, because there's pure tonal magic in each new American Vintage instrument. Includes case.