Fender Masterbuilt David Brown '62 Poblano Strat Seminole Red/Journeyman

A David Brown Masterbuilt ‘62 Strat in aged Seminole Red with gold hardware, a comfortable ’60s Oval C neck, and hot Josefina-wound Poblano pickups.

We’ll confess: we’re normally not into gold hardware, but on this beautifully aged Seminole Red ‘62 Strat, we’ll make an exception. It looks amazing, doesn’t it?

This Fender Custom Shop ‘62 Stratocaster comes from the bench of Master Builder David Brown, a TME favorite if we’re speaking candidly, and this guitar only reinforces why. The second we took it out of its case, we fell in love with the neck. The shop traveler calls it a ’60s Oval C, a standard profile that we and plenty of other players bond with, and at .78" to .975" for you numbers types, you’d expect something fat with a big taper. In the hand it feels like neither, and it actually reminds us of a Masterbuilt Clapton Strat we had not long ago: the first five to seven frets are really comfortable, and from there the neck fills out subtly without ever getting unwieldy or clubby. For our money, it’s the perfect carve, though of course these things are subjective.

Plugged in, the hotter-output Poblano pickups, hand-wound by Josefina Campos, sound fantastic, and paired with the alder body and maple neck they deliver muscular Strat tones in spades. Into a clean amp, the bridge pickup is chimey and bright enough for Tele-like chicken pickin’, but crank the amp or hit it with your favorite overdrive and it responds in kind with great rock tones that stay glassy, clear, and powerful without ever getting muddy. It’s exactly how we like our Strats, since the extra output lets our picking hand relax and let the guitar do more of the work.

All in all, it’s a really fun Strat for anyone searching for a lifer.