Fender Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster Vintage White Maple Fingerboard

What we say:

The term 'neo-classical shred' conjures to mind only one name: the inimitable Yngwie J Malmsteen. No one can deny the skill level Yngwie has demonstrated since day one, nor his ability to fashion ferocious lead passages that stun with their complexity and musicality.

He has always been a Stratocaster player and his long-issued Signature model has enjoyed a lot of success and a few revisions over the years.

This current iteration of the flamboyant shredder's axe sports a trio of Seymour Duncan YJM Fury pickups: these are Yngwie's own high output, hum-cancelling signature models. The fretboard has been scalloped: the wood between each of the (huge super jumbo) frets is shaped into a concave so that your finger and indeed the string never touches the fretboard. This translates as: you can play super-fast because your touch will be that much lighter and there is much less friction. The neck is also varnished with nitrocellulose lacquer for even greater speed.

The nut is made of brass for sustain and brightness of tone. It's a highly specialised guitar for extreme playing but it does it with such class and authority, it's hard not to love it.