First look: Fender Tom Morello Soul Power Strat, plus Eric Johnson and Jim Root signatures
Announcing the Eric Johnson Virginia Stratocaster, Jim Root Jazzmaster V4 and Tom Morello Soul Power Stratocaster.
NAMM 2020: Fender has unveiled three new electric guitars to its Artist Signature Series: the Eric Johnson Virginia Stratocaster, Jim Root Jazzmaster V4 and Tom Morello Soul Power Stratocaster.
Tom Morello Soul Power Stratocaster
First hinted on 4 January at Morello’s Guitar Revolution camp, the Soul Power Stratocaster makes its official debut at NAMM 2020. The guitar is based on a modified Designer Series Stratocaster and features a bound alder slab body with a deep C-shape neck and a 9.5- to 14-inch compound radius rosewood fretboard.
The Soul Power Stratocaster also features a bevy of customisations favoured by Morello, including a recessed Floyd Rose locking tremolo system, Seymour Duncan Hot Rails bridge humbucker, two Fender Noiseless neck and middle single coils, a kill-switch toggle and the iconic Soul Power decal.
The Tom Morello Soul Power Stratocaster will launch in March at a list price of $1,399.99.
Eric Johnson Virginia Stratocaster
The Virginia Stratocaster is the first model in Fender’s all-new Stories Collection, which celebrates iconic guitars in music history. Fender’s Virginia Stratocaster (pictured above) is based on Johnson’s ’54 Stratocaster of the same name, which he famously used to record 1986’s Tones, 1990’s Ah Via Musicom and the latter’s hit single Cliffs Of Dover. The guitar features a rare lacquer-finished sassafras body with a highly detailed grain pattern and custom switching options.
Fender also released a limited-edition Custom Shop version of Virginia – find out more about it here.
The Eric Johnson Virginia Stratocaster will launch in February at a list price of $2,499.99.
Jim Root Jazzmaster V4
Fender’s Jim Root Jazzmaster V4 is the fifth Fender signature model for the Slipknot guitarist, and comes loaded with a pair of EMG Daemonum open-coil active humbucking pickups to accommodate Root’s heavy playing style. Other features include a 12-inch-radius bound ebony fingerboard with jumbo frets and pearloid block inlays, a mahogany slab body and a maple neck.
The Jim Root Jazzmaster V4 is a reflection of Root’s no-nonsense approach to guitar and trades the usual vibrato, rhythm circuit and tone control for a lone volume control, three-way pickup selector and a hardtail bridge.
The Jim Root Jazzmaster V4 will launch in March at a list price of $1,399.99.
For more information, click here.