Fender debuts the Cuervo x Fender Agave Stratocaster

Fender and Jose Cuervo announced their collaboration to create the Cuervo x Fender Agave Stratocaster® - the world’s first Stratocaster guitar made from the agave plant. Designed and constructed by Fender Custom Shop Master Builder Paul Waller as Fender Custom Shop celebrates its 30^th anniversary, the Cuervo x Fender Agave Stratocaster is a unique art guitar that, in the true innovative spirit of the Custom Shop, tests the limits of guitar craftsmanship. The guitar was unveiled April 26, 2017 by alternative rock band Young The Giant during an intimate set at Electric Room in New York City. This latest collaboration fuses an innovative use of tequila’s thorny ingredient with Fender’s most iconic guitar model that musicians have been playing for more than seven decades. For years, Jose Cuervo Foundation has been working with artisans to explore agave’s many uses beyond tequila – from Ford car parts to the first 100% agave surfboard, and now – a Stratocaster. Inspired by Mexico’s picturesque landscape, culture and native agave plant, the Cuervo x Fender Agave Stratocaster is about as 100% agave as it can get, with all traditional wood elements replaced by agave plant-based material. While the instrument features a pure agave body, 21-fret neck and fingerboard, the two-piece ‘56 Stratocaster remains true to tradition with all-genuine Fender hardware, a custom-engraved neck plate with a Jose Cuervo inscription, and hand-wound Fat ‘50s neck, RWRP middle and bridge pickups. In the end, the Cuervo x Fender Agave Stratocaster took more than 30 work hours to design and meticulously build, with an additional five days used for agave stalk harvesting and guitar sealing.

The creative process began in Summer 2016, when Waller traveled to Tequila, Mexico – steeping himself in agave while he toured Jose Cuervo’s distillery, La Rojeña. At his side was notable surfboard shaper Gary Linden, who has worked with agave for more than 30 years and created the first 100% agave surfboard in partnership with Jose Cuervo in 2015. Linden worked alongside Waller to harvest the agave materials and complete the sealing of the guitar.

One of the biggest challenges Waller faced was working with the extremely soft agave plant material. For this reason, Paul used 10-gauge strings with the agave neck and fretboard. Featuring a beautiful, rugged aesthetic, as well as a variety of color and texture throughout, the guitar is lightweight – an estimated weight of 6.5 pounds – weighing significantly less than guitars made of traditional hardwoods. The sound of the instrument is musical with the “quackiness” of a Stratocaster pickup, making it a tonal fit for surf music. While musical performance was not the primary goal, the Cuervo x Fender Agave Stratocaster is bound to start a conversation. The Cuervo x Fender Agave Stratocaster is a proud creation of the Fender Custom Shop in partnership with Jose Cuervo and will not be available for purchase at retail.  

BODY Two-piece agave 56 Stratocaster body with hand wound Fat 50s neck, RWRP middle and bridge pickups FINISH NOS with polyurethane finish NECK '54 "Stout V"-shaped agave neck; 9.5"- radius agave fingerboard with 21 frets; bone nut; '56-'60 Stratocaster headstock decal FRETS Upgraded vintage Stratocaster fret wire PICKGUARD Custom pickguard material HARDWARE Chrome switch tip and pickup covers, agave paper back plate and custom-engraved neck plate with Jose Cuervo inscription  BRIDGE American Vintage Stratocaster bridge PICKUPS Hand-Wound Stratocaster Fat 50s neck, RWRP middle and bridge pickups WIRING Vintage Modified Wiring #2 CONTROLS 5-way selector switch INCLUDED  Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster case