Joe Strummer was the guitarist and vocalist with the British punk outfit The Clash who burst onto the scene in the mid 70’s in the midst of the Punk rock revolution. He was in fact left handed but played guitar right handed and together with The Clash was responsible for classic tracks such as London Calling and Rock the Kasbah, and he remained musically active up until his untimely death in 2002.
As a tribute to Strummer’s unique talent Fender in collaboration with the Joe Strummer estate have now released the Joe Strummer Signature Telecaster as this was almost exclusively his guitar of choice during his days with The Clash and in his career afterwards. The body is crafted from Alder with a traditional Maple neck and Rosewood fingerboard containing 21 vintage style frets.
The body has a unique “Road worn” finish to emulate the unpretentious attitude born out by Strummer who believed that the important factor was “how it sounds …” and not “how it looks …”. All metal hardware has been artificially distressed and aged to give the correct feel to this instrument and you really do get the sense that this guitar has been around the clock many times.
The bridge is the Vintage Style 3-Saddle Strings-Thru-Body Tele Bridge and like wise the pick-ups, 3 way blade type selector switch and tone and volume control are standard vintage components. On the rear of the guitar is an engraved neck plate where the guitar neck is bolted onto the body that reads,
“Revolution Rock” – a fitting statement that perfectly describes Strummers ethos.
The machine heads are Fender Ping vintage style die-cast tuners again in aged chrome whilst both pick-ups are vintage single coil with Alnico magnets. The first 1500 units also come with a Joe Strummer Art Customisation kit for adding graphics to the guitar body.
