Around this time last year, we featured a jaw-dropping Prestige Collection Telecaster from Fender's Yuriy Shishkov that was based on an 18th century pocket watch. The Custom Shop Master Builder has been raiding the company's jewelry box again, this time to produce a Strat-shaped creation called the Studioliner that riffs off of a 1930s Kodak camera.
The Masterbuilt Prestige Studioliner guitar was built to celebrate Fender Custom Shop's 30th anniversary. It's valued at around US$450,000, and has not only been inspired by a Kodak Bantam Special photo camera from 1936, an Art Deco masterpiece designed by Walter Dorwin Teague, but is also sold with an example of the camera.
The special edition red, black and silver six string boasts a thousand diamonds – 423 to the front, 462 around the back and 115 elsewhere – and a handful of rubies. There's quite a bit of silver work, some striking Guilloche Enamel inlays and custom made hardware.
The guitar is made from exhibition-grade wood, has been treated to three rail pickups (instead of the usual pole-packing single coil pickups found in most Strats), custom electronics and an attractive custom Deco bridge.
The Studioliner is definitely something of a beauty, though we've no idea if it sounds as good as it looks – other than Fender promising "stand-out performance and presence." You can listen to Shishkov talk briefly about the build in the video below, and be sure to head to the gallery for lots of photos of this camera-inspired stunner.
Source: Fender Custom Shop