NAMM 2025: Every year, Fender Custom Shop’s elite team of Master Builders and Apprentices join forces to create a boundary-pushing collection centered around a particular concept. While previous collections have drawn inspiration from the guitar itself – its materials, finishes, and colors – this year, they’re moving beyond the guitar world and into mixology, with the Cocktail Collection.
“Everyone in the Custom Shop pushes one another to test the boundaries of their creativity and technical skills,” comments Chase Paul, Director of Product Development at Fender Custom Shop.
“This year, the Master Builders and Apprentices continued to lead the way with truly remarkable instruments. The Cocktail Collection offers players a glimpse into the personalities of the people behind these incredible guitars.”
Bourbon Barrel Sub-Sonic Tele
Crafted by Master Builder Andy Hicks, this Tele draws inspiration from the “deep, rich, and complex notes” of the Smokey Old Fashioned cocktail. Keeping in line with the cocktail’s spirit, the guitar is made from oiled Bourbon barrel lids.
Other features include Custom Shop Josefina Campos Hand-Wound ‘50-’51 Blackguard Tele neck and bridge pickups, and a Sub Sonic 9.5” radius with a “C” shaped neck finished in “Nicotine Tint.”
This Sub-Sonic Tele is priced at $11,200.
Moscow Mule Esquire
Moscow Mules are often served in hammered copper mugs, and this drinkware sparked Master Builder Austin MacNutt’s imagination, ultimately forming “the north star for the build.”
With hammered copper appointments, and a lime burst top with white pearloid binding, this ’59 Esquire conveys a “rustic” element while honoring the guitar’s “rich history” as a “symbol of the golden era of music.”
Custom Shop Josefina Campos Hand-Wound ‘51 Nocaster bridge pickup, a 9.5 radius fingerboard, and a ‘60s style Oval “C” shaped 3A birdseye maple neck round up this guitar’s specs.
It’s price tag? $11,200.
PR Esquire
Another Esquire, this time drawing inspiration from the Purple Rain cocktail. Its standout feature is, quite obviously, the beautifully vibrant floral-themed artwork that Master Builder David Brown hand-stained onto the scratchplate.
Sporting a ’59 Esquire select ash body and 3A quilted maple top, a “comfortable, familiar” Modern “C” shaped neck, and a Custom Shop Josefina Campos Hand-Wound Custom Blackguard bridge pickup, this guitar is up for grabs for $10,450.
Lemon Drop Martini Strat
Drawing on the swirling yellow hues of a classic lemon drop martini, Custom Shop Senior Master Builder Dennis Galuszka crafted a hydro-drip white, silver, and transparent yellow Strat – with a finish running from the body, right up the neck and headstock – that encapsulates its cocktail counterpart.
With a select alder body, a one-piece ’54 Soft “V”-shaped neck, and Custom Shop Josefina Campos Hand-Wound Fat ’60s Strat pickups, the guitar promises an “expressive, dynamic, and highly resonant” tone.
The price for this Lemon Drop Martini Strat is $9,625.
Manhattan Strat
With this $10,675 Manhattan Strat, Master Builder Jason Smith aims to emulate the experience of drinking a Manhattan cocktail in a bar. In short, “there is nothing quite like it.”
Featuring a slightly worn look, a Bourbon Metallic body color, a pickguard adorned with prism cherry stickers, and an enamel Manhattan martini emblem affixed to the ball of the Stratocaster headstock, this Strat is well and truly, erm, Manhattan-ified.
Blackberry Bramble Strat
With a unique first-fret inlay – a clock with all 5s, a reminder that it’s always five o’clock somewhere – this Strat, built by Senior Master Builder Todd Krause, exudes mixology through and through. The eye-catching deep burgundy sparkle-finished select alder body is loaded with a trio of Custom Shop Josefina Campos Hand-Wound Fat ‘50s pickups, guaranteeing “unrivaled” Strat tones.
The price of this Strat is $10,275.
Absinthe Strat (image unavailable)
Inspired by the “whimsical imagery of absinthe,” Master Builder Apprentice Mike Morales hand-stained the guitar’s green finish to emulate the drink’s milky transformation. High-end specs include Custom Shop Josefina Campos Hand-Wound Texas Special Strat pickups, a 5A flame-roasted maple ’60s-style Oval “C”-shaped neck, and a Brazilian rosewood fingerboard with mother-of-pearl block inlays.
This guitar is priced at $10,050.
Cantarito Tele (image unavailable)
This Tele is a stunning display of Mexican heritage, realized through the hands of Master Builder Apprentice George Ruiz.
Drawing inspiration from Jalisco’s vibrant culture, Talavera pottery, and the classic Mexican cocktail, Cantarito, it features a hand-painted pickguard by Mexican artist Lucero, a “Cantarito Creme” finish, and a mocha-tinted 3A flame Bosnian maple neck.
Its 27” baritone scale delivers resonant tones that harken back to traditional Mexican instruments like the guitarrón, further enhanced by Curtis Novak JM-WR pickups. Other specs include gold-plated vintage-style hardware, including a hardtail Strat bridge and tortoise tuning pegs.
Further leaning into its Mexican inspiration, this guitar – priced at $11,650 – comes with a pair of Talavera-style Cantarito mugs that match the guitar’s design.
Mai tai strat thinlineline
Growing up by the beach, Master Builder Apprentice Dylan Del Pizzo brings the ultimate surf and summer cocktail – the Mai Tai – to this build, the only Strat Thinline in the collection.
Features include a bound, highly figured quilted maple top, pineapple-shaped knobs, and a birdseye maple neck with abalone dot inlays. Del Pizzo continues to hone in on the beach theme with its engraved wood pickguard, which, paired with the Thinline body, promises a “lively (and) highly-resonant” playing experience.
The price of this guitar is $9,900.
For more information, visit Fender Custom Shop.
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