“Part of my soul is on stage with my favorite band every single night”: Fender Masterbuilder on what it’s like to watch his ultimate guitar hero play the Strat he made for him

Sit down with Fender Custom Shop Master Builder Andy Hicks | Meet the Builder | Fender - YouTube

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Recently, Iron Maiden and Fender collaborated on a host of new signature guitars for the band's legendary players. Now, Fender has revealed a touching behind-the-scenes story, shining a light on the luthier who played a key role in the project.

Andy Hicks, a Masterbuilder at Fender’s Custom Shop, says the moment he first picked up a Fender Stratocaster aged 12 changed his life forever. He has two passions in life: his family and building guitars.

As such, building a Stratocaster for Dave Murray – who just so happens to also be Hicks' ultimate guitar hero – was a real pinch-me moment.

“I can't talk about my favorite builds without first talking about the Dave Murray Strat,” he says in a new video from Fender, entitled Meet the Builder. “I built this for him two years ago to take on tour with Iron Maiden.

“It's a surreal experience to receive a phone call and ask if you want to make a guitar for your favorite guitar player ever,” he smiles. “What's absolutely insane is seeing photos of him on my social media feeds every day, with them on tour, and I can see my little signature decal [on the back of the headstock], and it's like part of my soul is on stage with my favorite band every single night.”

For the Maiden gang's new signature drop, Murray’s super-clean and sharp white Strat was reissued as a Masterbuilt model. Elsewhere, Steve Harris was honored with a Precision Bass, Adrian Smith stayed loyal to Jackson, and Janick Gers also got his own axe.

It's not the first time Hicks has spoken about how much this project meant to him. Speaking to Guitar World during a recent Fender Japan event – where Hicks' Godzilla Strat was unveiled – he said the Murray Strat and the Godzilla guitar were his two prized builds.

“This is the most fun guitar I've done. I would say it's between that and the Dave Murray Strat. Dave Murray is my favorite guitar player,” he said at the time.

“To best describe what it is to be a Masterbuilder, I first have to describe what the Custom Shop in general is,” Hicks continues in the Fender interview. “It is the dream factory. You come to us with your dream guitar, and we're going to make that dream come true.

“I'm literally talking with customers at the beginning of their ordering process, and my job does not stop until I carry the guitar to the shipping department. I'm responsible for every aspect of the guitar.”

In related news, Murray recently attributed much of Maiden’s success to the fact that their lead songwriter is a bassist, and his bandmate, Adrian Smith, also recalled the time he got to spend an afternoon alone with Kirk Hammett’s prestigious “Greeny” Les Paul.