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John 5 confirms his upcoming Fender signature

The new model has been in production since 2019 and is said to be named “The Ghost”.

John 5 New Signature Fender

Image: Michael Tullberg/Getty

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Guitar virtuoso John 5 has confirmed that he has a brand new Fender signature guitar on the way, named “The Ghost”. Showcasing the new model in recent footage, the axe is said to be based on Fender’s previous Supreme guitar and comes sporting a surprisingly humble design.

Featuring as a guest on Play And Trade GuitarsYouTube Channel last year as part of a rig rundown, the musician shared his advice to new guitar players and provided insider access to his most recent live setup.

In the video, John 5’s guitar tech takes us through the guitarist’s collection of pedals and guitars, showing most notably, the prototype for his upcoming new signature model, designed with Fender.

Unsurprisingly, the new design comes as Telecaster and features some notable features including an all-white body with red binding and a painted fretboard. Briefly showing the new model in the footage, John 5’s technician confirms the design will be an upcoming signature for the guitarist, although asserts that modifications are still underway, thus meaning no official release date has been announced.

Now, in a recent interview with Ultimate Guitar, the artist has provided more details on the model, including revealing features of the model and the inspiration behind the design.

“We’re calling it The Ghost, and it is beautiful. It’s all white. It’s got red binding, red pickups and hardware,” John 5 confirms. “It is an amazing sounding guitar and an amazing playing guitar. It’s just one of the coolest things I’ve seen in a while, and I love it. You know, it’s been in the works for a while and everything came to a screeching halt in 2019. It is just an unbelievable guitar. And yes, it is coming to fruition very soon.”

The upcoming model is also confirmed to bear just one knob for master volume, a kill switch and the guitarist’s very own DiMarzio pickups.

A relatively straightforward and humble design, the artist continues to elaborate on the inspiration behind his latest axe, stating that he was encouraged to incorporate a painted fretboard after seeing the look of Fender’s limited-run of Supreme Stratocasters, pictured below.

Fender Supreme Stratocaster (2017)
Image: Supreme

“To be honest, I saw the Supreme guitar they did and that had kind of a painted neck and I give credit where credit’s due,” the guitarist says, describing the design process. “That guitar was in such a very, very, very, very limited production I was like ‘well why not get this out to the population so that everybody can get this because it’s so beautiful.’”

“I was like, ‘let’s make this something that we can get out to the public so everybody can enjoy it.’ […] it’s very simple. But it’s very complicated to get that paint, right. The dots and everything. It’s just, it is something very special.”

The Ghost is set to be released sometime in the near future, although no official release date has been announced as of yet.

Find the full interview with John 5 at Ultimate Guitar.

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