Pearl! – Fender Standard Stratocaster 2004, Arctic White

Meet Pearl, a 2004 Fender Standard Stratocaster built at Fender’s Ensenada factory in Mexico and finished in beautifully aged Arctic White.

Some guitars make it to their twenties looking as though every one of those years was an argument. Pearl appears to have been rather more carefully supervised.

Remarkably, she still retains her original Standard Strat factory sticker on the rear of the body, along with the Fender Super Bullets sticker on her tremolo cover. After surviving for more than two decades, we decided they had earned the right to stay.

Pearl pairs her Arctic White body with a maple neck and fingerboard and the classic Stratocaster arrangement of three single-coil pickups and five-way switching. From clear, glassy neck tones and the unmistakable sounds of positions two and four to the extra bite of the bridge pickup, this is the familiar Strat formula for very good reason.

She has been played and carries some evidence of her previous life. A small area of finish damage has been carefully colour-matched, touched in and stabilised during her restoration. It remains visible on close inspection, along with some minor age-related marks, and has been photographed clearly.

As part of her preparation for adoption, Pearl’s frets have been levelled, crowned and polished, her fret ends dressed, her fingerboard edges carefully rolled, and her electronics and hardware checked and cleaned. She has then received a full professional setup and intonation before being restrung with Ernie Ball Extra Slinkies.

The result is a wonderfully comfortable, properly sorted example of the Mexican Standard era, with 22 years of history behind her and plenty more ahead.

Specification

Model: Fender Standard Stratocaster
Year: 2004
Country of manufacture: Mexico
Serial: MZ4263313
Finish: Arctic White
Neck: Maple
Fingerboard: Maple
Frets: 21
Pickups: 3 x Fender single coils
Controls: Master volume, 2 x tone
Switching: 5-way selector
Bridge: Stratocaster tremolo
Strings: Ernie Ball Extra Slinky
Condition: Very good used condition with minor age-related marks and a small professionally attended finish touch-up