Over the last few years or so, Fender has been pretty innovative with some of their new releases, including the guitars sold under their subsidiary brand Squier. But after some Parallel Universe instruments, we get a new limited-edition guitar and amp that they’ve done with none other than luxury brand Yves Saint Laurent SAS, popularly known as Saint Laurent.
Dubbed Fender x Saint Laurent Limited Edition Collection, it features a Fender Stratocaster guitar and a ’65 Deluxe Reverb amp. The most interesting part about this is that they designed it together with Saint Laurent. And while this isn’t the first time that Fender is doing something like this, the guitar and the amp are just something else.
As you can see from the photo below, the Strat is all-black except for the dot inlays on the fingerboard and the “Saint Laurent” writing just behind the bridge. The hardware is black, the fingerboard is black, and the company logo and the model name on the headstock are a specific shade go grey.
And okay, the frets are also not black. But still, this is a pretty unique-looking Strat. And it’s also accompanied by this ’65 Deluxe Reverb amp that follows the same design. The amp, of course, comes with white writing on its otherwise black control panel, as well as white edges on it.
The grill is also black in its entirety. On it, we have a silver Fender logo and, in the upper right corner, a silver Saint Laurent logo as well. Here’s what that looks like.
Now, before we proceed with the stats, it’s important to first cover the issue of their price tags. The Strat will be available in 10 pieces only and costs $12,500. It’s also possible to get your hands on one as a custom order but we assume that the price would be roughly the same, if not more, than these $12.5k.
As far as the amp goes, it’s the usual ’65 Deluxe Reverb with Saint Laurent aesthetics added to the mix. For this one, you’ll have to give $3,000 which is about double the price of your usual version of the model.
Going back to the Strat, the guitar comes with your usual alder body, a ’60s-style oval “C”-profile neck, as well as a laminated ebony fingerboard. What’s also interesting is that the fingerboard comes with a gloss black polyurethane finish.
The headstock is equipped with matching black vintage tuning machines. These closed-back tuners have the much-appreciated old-school aesthetics that you’d expect to see on such a release.
With this also comes a 9.5-inch radius of the fingerboard. On the fingerboard, we have the usual 21 frets although these are all jumbo frets. Finally, apart from the usual Fender bridge but with vintage-style saddles, we can also find a trio of single-coil pickups. These are, however, covered “lipstick-style” single-coils.
The guitar comes with a matching all-black guitar case that’s included in the instrument’s price. So although the instrument is far from a cheap one, Fender did this as a one-off series of 10 pieces with an option to order more. The changes are mostly aesthetic although having an all-black fingerboard, hardware, and knobs really makes this a pretty unique run.
And on top of all this, there’s also a run of Fender x Saint Laurent guitar picks. A total of six plectrums can be acquired for no less than $32.
More info can be found on Fender’s website, as well as on the Saint Laurent’s website. As for the official statement, Fender’s Executive Vice President said of this new collaboration:
“Saint Laurent is one of the most celebrated luxury brands in the world and an influential powerhouse in fashion culture.“
“We are honored to partner with them to infuse iconic elements from both of our legacy roots in this beautiful ‘Limited Edition Saint Laurent’ collection.”
Photo: Fender/Saint Laurent
