John Mayer’s 2004 Fender Custom Shop SRV “Number One” Tribute Strat

John acquired this guitar sometime in early to mid-2004, presumably right after it first became available. The guitar was introduced in January 2004 at the Winter NAMM, and since only 100 guitars were made, it was sold at the authorized Fender dealers who were chosen on a lottery basis.

Specs

The guitar was designed and built by John Cruz (who later worked on John’s BLK1), and was the exact replica of the Stratocaster that Stevie Ray Vaughan used throughout his career, nicknamed the “Number One”.

All of the guitars from the series were marked with serial numbers ranging from 1 to 100 with the prefix “JC” (John Cruz), and they were built with close input from Rene Martinez who prior to working for Mayer worked as a guitar tech for Stevie Ray Vaughan.

Usage

John was seen using the guitar at a soundcheck on July 24th, 2004 in Houston, TX, so it is likely that he carried it with him on tour as a sort of a warm-up/backstage instrument. The SRV Tribute Strat was subsequently seen on some photos taken at John’s apartment later that year, which originally appeared in an article posted on Today.com (they are now removed, for whatever reason)

As a final note, it is rumored that John acquired a few of the SRV “Number One” Tribute Strats at the time of the release, and then subsequently sold them later. If you happen to come across an interview where John talks about the purchase, or about the guitar in general, please be sure to get in touch.