These Custom Shop ‘57 Fender Strats with matching painted necks are sure to get guitar purists talking

The Stratocaster is widely regarded as the electric guitar, a design that’s remained largely unchanged since Fender nailed it decades ago. But that doesn’t mean the company can’t have some fun and shake up the blueprint every now and then…

And in a drop that’ll surely make the purists wince, Fender has partnered with New York specialist guitar store The Music Zoo on a range of Custom Shop 1957 Strats boasting body-matching painted necks and fretboards.

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Body-matched headstocks are commonplace across Fender’s product lineup, but body-matched necks/fretboards? Much less common. John 5’s eye-catching Ghost signature Telecaster is a notable example – with an Arctic White finish across the entire guitar – while the Big F also collab’d with The Music Zoo in 2025 on two models painted all in Sherwood Green and Olympic White.

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But this new drop from Fender x The Music Zoo is notably bigger, with seven guitars in total, all with a uniform colour scheme across the body, neck/fretboard and headstock. Finishes up for grabs include Candy Green, Desert Sand, Pink Pearl, Shell Pink, Ice Blue Metallic, Sonic Blue and Bright Amber. My personal favourite has to be Candy Green…

These Custom Shop guitars are sure to divide opinion but either way, you’ll need a pretty penny to get your hands on one, as they start from $4,999 apiece.

Finishes are the real draw here, but in terms of further specs, these guitars feature NOS finishes, vintage-style hardware, Custom ’50s Single-Coil Strat Pickups, alder bodies and maple necks.

Learn more at The Music Zoo.