Fender Crafts Stevie Ray Vaughan Replica Stratocaster

On December 12, Fender will issue a new replica guitar dubbed the “Stevie Ray Vaughan “Lenny” Stratocaster.” Only 185 of these new Stratocasters will be issued on that date.

The guitars will feature signatures from SRV himself as well as one from Mickey Mantle. Can’t say I know what the heck the Mickey Mantle signature is all about. Perhaps SRV was a fan.

The guitar gets the name “Lenny” from his wife’s nickname, whose actual name is Lenora. In 1980, she managed to gather up — with the help of friends — enough money to by Stevie a battered Stratocaster for his birthday.

The new replicas will feature the customized neck that was a gift from ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons and the reflective “SRV” stickers on the body.

These new SRV replicas will not come cheap. They are reported to be around $17,000 each.

I’m not sure SRV’s music fits neatly within the “Classic Rock” category, being that his stuff was so heavily blues-influenced, but he was  a personal favorite of mine, and, probably my favorite guitarist of all time, from any musical genre. The stuff he did on the guitar was just mind-blowing and I really wish he was still with us and able to share more of his amazing talent with his fans.