2011 Fender Pawn Shop '51 Electric Guitar

I remember when the Squier '51 came out in the early 2000s and how it immediately became a fun, cheap, interesting-looking modding platform in the hack-and-slash guitar community. It was strange to me when the model was discontinued as fast as it was, but the Squier version has been reissued at least once, so it definitely has some staying-power with its fans.

Anyhow, this guitar is the Japan-made Pawn Shop '51. It may look a lot like the Squier '51, but it's worlds better in features, build, and fittings. Gone is the thin basswood body -- this has a "full depth" alder body. Gone is the cheap-feeling hardware -- replaced with nicer-plated, heavier-duty stuff. The stock pickups are better and the neck is more stable and has a more vintage cut to it. It just -- you know -- feels better and sounds better.

This one has been modified lightly by a previous owner. The control plate has been replaced with a custom plate that allows for a 3-way pickup selector and volume control rather than the two-knob setup that this originally had. In addition, the Texas Special neck pickup was swapped to a Fender Noiseless model. The original control plate and an additional white pickguard come with this guitar. The strap buttons have also been swapped to "strap lock" units.

After a quick setup, it was ready to hang out in the shop.

Repairs included: setup.

Body wood: alder

Bridge: hardtail-style w/string-through

Fretboard: maple

Neck wood: maple

Pickups: 1x replacement Fender Noiseless at neck, 1x Fender Enforcer at bridge

Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast)
String gauges: 46w-10

Neck shape: slim-medium C

Board radius: 9 1/2"

Truss rod: adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium

Scale length: 25 1/2"

Nut width: 1 5/8"

Body width: 12 3/4"

Body depth: 1 3/4"

Weight: 7 lbs 8 oz

Condition notes: it's very clean -- only lightly-played. The frets look hardly used and the finish is clean throughout. There might be a few minor surface handling scratches here and there but I didn't find anything I could see without getting glare from lights on it and looking hard. As for originality, please read my above comments about changes -- neck pickup and control plate.

It comes with: a really nice hard case plus white pickguard and original control plate.