Nothing will replace the Mary Kaye as the number one Fender Stratocaster closest to my heart, but this Custom Shop transparent finish does appeal to my wood-grain-across-the-contoured-body mania.

Of the panoply of DuPont Duco custom colors Fender finished its guitar bodies in since the early ’60s, I don’t recall ever seeing an orange model. Orange is great. It may be a secondary color, but it’s not a second-class color, so I guess it’s about time the company righted this grave injustice. In a transparent finish, no less. Or something.