Fender EOB Sustainer Stratocaster

GUITARIST FEBRUARY 2018

Words Ed Mitchell Photograph Olly Curtis

If you think signature models are just vanity projects

with a scrawl on the headstock, meet an eminently

playable artist-spec’d guitar with infinite appeal...

first play

FENDER EOB SUSTAINER

STRATOCASTER

£979

What Is It? A low-key signature

model from Radiohead’s modest

Ed O’Brien

To Inﬁ nity

And Beyond

t’s entirely possible that you could

encounter and fall in love with the new

Fender EOB Sustainer Stratocaster

without realising it is, in fact, an artist

signature model. The face behind the

initials is Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien

and his new guitar is the best Fender

signature project since Johnny Marr

set about redesigning the Jaguar.

Made at Fender’s Ensenada plant in

Mexico, the EOB features an alder body

playing host to a flawless Olympic White

polyurethane finish, three-ply white/

black/white scratchplate and that classic

‘synchronized’ vibrato. The bolt-on 10/56V

maple neck features a flatter-than-vintage

241mm (9.5") radius maple ’board, 21

‘narrow tall’ frets and a, mostly, satin

urethane finish. Only the headstock face

is glossy.

One of the most popular neck profiles

requested on Fender Custom Shop models,

the 10/56V is nowhere near as porky as the

U profile featured on ’54/’55 models, yet

it carries more heft than the slim C necks

found on late 50s and 60s Strats and Teles.

Back at the body end, you may have

noticed that the classic recessed jack

socket is missing. Back in 1983 Fender

GIT429.rev_fender.indd 10 12/19/17 11:26 AM

PAGE 1
f i r st p l ay FENDER EOB SUSTAINER STRATOCASTER £979 What Is It? A low-key signature model from Radiohead’s modest Ed O’Brien To Infinity And Beyond If you think signature models are just vanity projects with a scrawl on the headstock, meet an eminently playable artist-spec’d guitar with infinite appeal...
PAGE 2
VIDEO DEMO http://bit.ly/guitaristextra FENDER EOB SUSTAINER STRATOCASTER first play FEBRUARY 2018 GUITARIST GIT429.rev_fender.
PAGE 3
first play FENDER EOB SUSTAINER STRATOCASTER 1 2 3 1. There’s no signature on this guitar but Ed O’Brien has included a ‘Flower of Life’ design on the neck plate. The distances between the spheres represents that between whole and semi-tones, apparently 2. The Sustainer might be the headline act but there’s plenty of oomph from the Seymour Duncan JB JR ’bucker 3. This Strat was born at Fender’s plant in Mexico.
PAGE 4
VIDEO DEMO FENDER EOB SUSTAINER STRATOCASTER http://bit.ly/guitaristextra 4. Ed O’Brien’s new baby is fitted with a Fernandes Sustainer pickup. This vibrates the strings for infinite sustain and the sound is pumped through the amp by the bridge pickup first play 4 5. The usual Strat jackplate has been dropped in favour of Sustainer switches: an on/off and a three position mode switch for Natural, Mix and Harmonic settings 6.The EOB comes spec’d with the highly desirable 10/56V bolt-on maple neck.