Fender Japan assembles all-star group of elite Masterbuilders for its most ambitious builds yet – the Deck O’ Cards Stratocasters

Fender Japan is accustomed to producing electric guitars that look like they could double as art pieces – look no further than the many Art Canvas Esquires for proof – but for its latest drop, the Big F’s Asian branch has raised the bar beyond arguably anything it’s ever released before.

See, for what has been badged the ‘Deck O’ Cards Collection’, the Fender Japan Custom Shop has assembled an all-star quartet of Masterbuilders, each of whom have sculpted an outrageously styled, meticulously crafted Stratocaster that takes design inspiration from the four suits of a deck of cards.

On paper, it doesn’t sound like a particularly ambitious project – we’ve seen Fender Japan take aesthetic inspiration from other sources before, for example – but the execution is quite hard to comprehend.

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Why? Well, because these might be some of the most cosmetically advanced Custom Shop Fenders we’ve ever seen before – and, given the fact this very writer spent an evening wandering round the Fender Custom Shop showcase at NAMM earlier this year, that’s saying something.

Senior Masterbuilder Paul Weller helmed the project, which was seen as something of an initiation for three of the firm’s most recent Masterbuilder recruits at the time: David Brown, Austin MacNutt, and Andy Hicks.

“We had a hunch that it would be a great 'introduction' project for the four of us to work on together,” Weller recalls. “We each chose our favorite design and collaborated with Pamelina [H., artist] on the design, resulting in an unprecedented collection.

“The artwork, with its vibrant red and black against the white base color, and the paint on the neck make each guitar a true custom guitar.”

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The guitars are, by and large, regular Custom Shop Strats underneath all the bells and whistles, with two-piece alder wood, V-shape necks, hand-wound Josefina Campos 1969 single-coils, and a six-point vintage-style synchronized tremolo among some of the more conventional appointments.

Where these four Strats stray off the beaten track, though, is in the design department. With variants for Hearts, Clubs, Spades, and Diamonds, the Deck O’ Cards collection quite clearly shows four genius guitar builders at the very top of their game.

While Brown was in charge of Hearts and Hicks was responsible for Clubs, Waller went for Spades and MacNutt took care of Diamonds. The artwork for each extends well beyond the top of the body, with the central suite motif extending into exquisite artwork on the back and rear of the neck and headstock.

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“The most difficult step was hammering in the frets after painting, but this was the best way to get the best finish,” reflects Brown, while MacNutt notes, “I'm really happy to have been involved in this project from the beginning. The design of the playing cards goes very well with the aesthetics of the guitar, and there's a sense of unity throughout.”

“The Deck O' Cards Collection, the fruit of the passion of master builders and the artistic vision of Pamelina H., is a truly special collection that will become a new legend of the Fender Custom Shop,” the firm adds.

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Naturally, the one-of-a-kind Deck O’ Cards Strats are absolutely absurd pieces of guitar art, so it’s no surprise that their price tags are equally eye-watering. Apparently, they are available at 22,000,000 Japanese Yen apiece – approximately $152,500.

Visit Fender Japan for more.

Not only has Fender Japan been leading the way in guitar production for quite some time now, it is also looking to revolutionize the retail space, too. Last year, Guitar World’s Michael Astley-Brown visited Tokyo to find out how Fender Japan is looking to change the guitar retail game with its flagship store.