Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster

Right-handed and left-handed YJM Stratocasters

Scalloped fretboard on a YJM Strat

The Yngwie Malmsteen Stratocaster is a replica of the guitar used by Swedish heavy metal guitarist Yngwie J. Malmsteen, made by Fender and was the first signature Stratocaster ever to be offered by Fender. It came originally with two DiMarzio YJM single-coil pickups (neck/middle) paired with a DiMarzio HS-3 Stack humbucking pickup (bridge). This Fender Artist signature guitar now features three Seymour Duncan STK-S10 YJM Fury single-coils and sports a deeper scalloped fingerboard with 21 Dunlop 6000 super-sized frets, late-1960s large headstock, brass nut, 3-ply white/black/white pickguard, Bullet truss rod nut and machine screw neck mounting inserts.

The early Malmsteen Strats (produced before the change to the actual "large headstock" models in 1998) featured an American 2-point synchronized tremolo, small headstock with "spaghetti"-style decal, Gotoh/Kluson tuners and a hardened-steel EasyGlider string tree, a Fender "DeltaTone" single-coil pickup in the middle position and a TBX tone control for the middle/bridge pickups.

Specifications

a rosewood fingerboard YJM Stratocaster

• Body: Alder
• Neck: Maple, Modern "C" Shape
• Fingerboard: Scalloped Rosewood or Scalloped Maple; 9.5 in (241 mm) radius
• Frets: 21 Dunlop 6000 Super-Jumbo Frets
• Pickups: Seymour Duncan STK-S10 YJM Fury Single-Coil Pickups (Neck, Middle, Bridge)
• Controls: Master volume, Tone. 1 No-load tone control (neck pickup), Tone. 2 No-load tone control (middle & bridge pickups)
• Pickup Switching: 3-Way Pickup Blade Switch
• Bridge: American Vintage Synchronized Tremolo
• Tuning Pegs: Fender Schaller Vintage "F" Style Tuning Machines
• Hardware: Chrome
• Pickguard: 3-ply White/Black/White
• Unique Features: Special Refined '60s Shape Neck with Large Late '60s Styled Headstock, Machine Screw Neck Mounting Inserts, Bullet Truss Rod Nut, Brass Nut, Deeper Scalloped Fingerboard, Dunlop 6000 Jumbo Fretwire, Aged Plastic Parts, Aged Pickup Covers

Custom Shop Model

On November 11, 2008, the Fender Custom Shop released the Yngwie Malmsteen "Play Loud" Stratocaster, a painstaking copy of Yngwie's battered 1972 Strat, which was used as the model in the creation of this edition. Each of the guitars in the edition was hand-built by Senior Master Builder John Cruz, Senior Master Builder Todd Krause and Senior Master Builder Yuriy Shishkov, featuring a heavily "reliced" Vintage White finish and the hand-written "Play Loud" sticker on the upper horn. As on the original, the neck is lightly scalloped. Other specifications include:^[1]

• Pickups: 2 DiMarzio HS-3 Stack Humbuckers (neck, bridge) or now to be replaced with Seymour Duncan STK-S10 YJM Furys (neck, bridge), Fender Standard Vintage 1970's Single-Coil (middle).
• Body: Alder.
• Neck: Maple.
• Fingerboard: Maple, Lightly Scalloped 7 ¹⁄₄ in (184 mm) Radius.
• Number of Frets: 21.
• Scale Length: 25 ¹⁄₂ inches (648 mm).
• Bolt On Neck.
• Dunlop 6000 Super-Jumbo Frets.
• Brass Nut.
• New Bullet Truss Rod Nut.
• Large '70s Styled Headstock Shape.
• Original Body Shape with "Original Contour Body" Decal on Headstock.
• American Vintage Synchronized Tremolo.
• Fender/Schaller Vintage "F" Style Tuning Machines.
• Chrome Hardware.
• 3-Ply White/Black/White Pickguard.
• Aged Knobs and Pickup Covers.
• Master Volume Control.
• No-Load Tone Controls (Neck and Middle Pickups).
• 3-Way Position Pickup Selector Switch.

References

1. "Yngwie Malmsteen "Play Loud" Stratocaster". Zuitar.com. Retrieved 2008-08-10.