As part of my ongoing effort to encourage readers to point out any mistakes or share their own stories on GroundGuitar, I’m occasionally lucky enough to be contacted by people who actually own the gear I’ve written about. Recently, I had just such an experience when René Kramer from Amsterdam, Netherlands, reached out to me. René happens to own one of the incredibly rare Fender-made replicas of Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Charley” Stratocaster.
René was kind enough to send over some photos of the guitar, and given how rare and unique this piece is, I decided to share them with you.
Fender Custom Shop Charley “Lipstick” Stratocaster
This particular guitar is modeled after the 1983 “Charley” Stratocaster, originally made by Charley Wirs for Stevie Ray Vaughan. What’s fascinating is that Fender never officially announced they were making replicas of this guitar, and only a select few have ever gotten their hands on one—among them, John Mayer.
The only other Fender Custom Shop-produced Charley replica I’ve found online is a 1960 Fender DW Stratocaster. The author of that article was puzzled by the “DW” branding, but I suspect it stands for “Dale Wilson,” one of Fender’s Custom Shop Masterbuilders.
However, in most master-built guitars, the back of the headstock is signed by the builder, which isn’t the case for either the guitar in the linked article or the one owned by René.
Aside from these Fender replicas, it’s worth mentioning that Charley Wirs himself made a few replicas—23 in total—before Fender stepped in threatening with a lawsuit. There are also some Japanese-made Fender Stratocasters that appear to be Charley replicas, though I haven’t been able to dig up much information on those.
As for this particular Fender Custom Shop version, it seems to be extraordinarily rare. Initially, I thought it might have been a custom order, but since there are at least three (now four) confirmed examples, it’s more likely part of a very limited run.
The Specs
All the specs are taken directly from the Shop Floor Traveler document, provided by the owner (thanks Rene).
The neck is an early ’60s-style maple with a rosewood slab fretboard, and it features a thicker transition-style Fender logo on the headstock. The headstock, like the body, is painted in aged white to replicate the look of the original Charley Strat.
The pickups are Seymour Duncan Lipsticks, modeled after the originals from Danelectro, and the guitar features a master volume and master tone control, along with a hardtail bridge—true to the style of the original.
A Rare Find
This guitar is not only rare but shrouded in mystery. No one seems to know exactly how many were made, though the most common number I’ve come across is 16. Based on my research, we know that one is owned by John Mayer, another by Bill Gephardt (linked above), one by René Kramer (who provided these great photos), and one by James Arnold (see comments below).
A huge thank you to René Kramer for sharing these photos! If you happen to own an interesting piece of gear and want to share it, feel free to email me at danko@groundguitar.com.
I know I’m very late getting in on this discussion but the first incorrect thing about this guitar is the shade of the “white” paint used on the guitar. Put up two pictures of the guitar (SRVs & the Fender replica) and you’ll see what I’m talking about. They screwed up on the color.
I’ve got this guitar now. I love it
Just saw this thread and wanted to show you guys another rare one that looks familiar. In 1992 I purchased the last Charley Wirz made lipstick stratocaster. He made about a dozen of these (this is what I was told at the shop when I bought it) and they are all a little different. This one is set up with the traditional 3 knob. These are set up with chandler lipstick pickups and sounds great.
I posted this last week on this forum.
https://www.strat-talk.com/threads/charleys-guitar-finding-out-the-value.588016/
I own this guitar now ! It’s back stateside
Nice Peter, congratulations! It’s an awesome guitar. Did you buy it directly from Rene? I saw that he was selling it just recently on Reverb.
Thanks! I got it off reverb from a guy who had bought it from Rene- sound buddy
KNEE SRV in Austin TX 80 before he went big, I hung out with His brother, FABULOUS T BIRDS,, where I got this 🎸
I’m glad that the model is named after the name of my band that I founded in 1991. And this name was actually given in that year before others in the States. But, it is normal that many bands around the world have called their SRV Texas Special tribute band, also because they were inspired by the name of the pickups that were produced in the mid 90’s by Fender. I had my idea before. However, this is not the focus of my speech; I can say that here in Italy, many people have seen the SRV and double trouble tours, in particular some guitarists searched and found lipstick pickguards on the internet, in the San Francisco area and had copies of Charlie built by buying between Japan, Canada and the USA all parts to have the same type of guitar that Charlie built for SRV. Personally I tried one of the first copies built or rather assembled in Italy and the sound of the lipsticks is absolutely beautiful. Said this. thank you for your post. A greeting. Alex Porrini by TexasSpecial
I have one. I just pulled it out of the shipping box last weekend, November 2019, so the COA was intact stating that it is a limited series to 25. It is called the “Texas Special.” There can only be 24 or less at this point as I did locate an ended listing on reverb that stated that the guitar had the body from this limited series but was frankensteined with other things. There is also a Northwest Special made the same year, 1992, that I would love to locate.
Hello there, would you consider selling your guitar, as I have serious interest. Please let me know. Thank you, Marc Herman in Toronto, Ontario. marcherman@rogers.com