New and Cool: Fender EOB Sustainer Stratocaster
Fender recently partnered with Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien to create the EOB Sustainer Stratocaster. The guitar offers a wide palette of tones, thanks to its Seymour Duncan JB Jr. humbucking bridge pickup, Texas Special single-coil middle pickup and Fernandes Sustainer unit in the neck position. The Sustainer creates near-infinite sustain on one or more strings, making it easy to achieve thick, textured sounds.
Its controls include an on/o_ switch, intensity control and a three-position switch to select the mode: Fundamental only, Harmonic only or Blend. Other modern and classic features include a six-saddle vintage-style synchronized tremolo bridge, vintage-style tuning machines, a “10/56 V” neck profile, 21 narrow-jumbo frets, a synthetic bone nut and a special neck plate engraved with a custom “Flower of Life” emblem.
STREET PRICE: $1,099.99 | fender.com
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
Paul Riario has been the tech/gear editor and online video presence for Guitar World for over 25 years. Paul is one of the few gear editors who has actually played and owned nearly all the original gear that most guitarists wax poetically about, and has survived this long by knowing every useless musical tidbit of classic rock, new wave, hair metal, grunge, and alternative genres. When Paul is not riding his road bike at any given moment, he remains a working musician, playing in two bands called SuperTrans Am and Radio Nashville.
“My brother's trying to knock Norm down in price. He's worth $800 million. He goes, ‘I'll give you a bottle of whiskey on top’”: Frank Stallone on the prized vintage Epiphone that Sylvester bought him – and the guitar's mysterious origins
“More people play stop-tails than guitars with locking tremolos. We dig both”: EVH delivers on its hardtail promise and launches the Wolfgang Standard T.O.M. – which vows to take Eddie's legacy to new heights