Fender '72 Strat, faded daphne blue, made in Japan 1991-2. This little gem pre-dates the offical Yngwie Malmseteen signature model by a whisker, but it absolutely has some of the hallmarks of his taste. First up: the board is scalloped by the factory. The scalloped board on this opens up some amazing possibilities: you can bend notes more cleanly and further without issues, easily bending two whole tones; plus the possibility for vibrato is greatly increased... you can apply vibrato to whole chords or single notes within chords with a squeeze of the fingers. It also cleans up your attack and allows for cleaner sliding around the neck. The basswood body, three-way switch and daphne blue finish are also all Yng-inspired touches. That finish: oh heck, what a looker. It left the factory in a coat of pale daphne blue, which with three decades of play and light has yellowed to a gorgeous subtle mint green... it's like a lime milkshake for your eyeballs. The tone on deck is superb: crispy clear attack and treble, balanced by a thick and punchy low end and a refined, understated midrange. It's lovely clean, but we all know you're gonna run it into a cranked Plexi stack with a Super Overdrive, right? These are increasingly hard to source and this finish is outnumbered by the yellow-white examples by five or ten to one, so if you're taken with it, don't faff about for too long.

Model: Fender '72 Stratocaster (ST72-86DSC)
Made: Japan, 1991-2, Fujigen Plant, (serial L004040)
Finish: daphne blue (DBL), 3-ply white guard
Body: basswood
Neck: one piece maple, scalloped fingerboard (factory), 10" radius, 25.5" scale, 44mm nut, slim U shape
Weight: 3.865kg
Mods: string tree removed, locking tuners installed, strap pins replaced, 5-way switch installed
Pickups: Fender Japan ST-Current single coil x3
Case: hard case (pictured)

Cosmetic condition notes: minor finish wear. Headstock has some minor marks on the end and bottom edge. Neck is clean and smooth in the hands, minor dimples and a couple of very light surface scratches on the back only. The back has some dimples near the neck plate and cavity, otherwise it's just a few light scuffs around the body. The sides have a few scuffs and dimples on the elbow area, scuffs on the top horn and scuffs and dimples near the jack, nothing nasty. The front has a few dimples behind the bridge and above the guard and some standard play wear on the guard and top horn. Overall: very good condition (7/10).

Playing condition notes: Action is low, neck is straight, intonation is good, truss rod works. All electrics tested and working properly. Frets have some normal wear but are freshly polished, pretty even and have plenty of height left, 6/10 for life left. Wearing fresh 10/46 Moonshiners.