1989 Fender Stratocaster Deluxe Plus

My true workhorse guitar for the first 25+ years of my pro career.

In 1989, I was working in my local music store – Durham Music. The place was under the ownership of my one-time teacher, now friend, Jay Jones. My job was selling instruments, restringing guitars, stocking shelves, working the cash, teaching and all the other various activities that come with life in a music store. One day, a large shipment arrived from Fender with their new line of guitars in the Deluxe and Deluxe Plus series. This series features locking tuning heads, brushed metal finishes, modern colours and lace Sensor “noiseless” pickups among other new features. Fender had slipped for a number of years under bad ownership. New owners were in place and they were determined to drag Fender out of the relic category and make them relevant again.

In among the 9 or 10 Fenders I unboxed was this pretty crazy looking, Bahama Green Strat. Not sure what to make of it, I strung it and hung it with the others on the store wall. I really didn’t like the colour at first and I wasn’t alone as it lived there for a time; not uncommon for wildly coloured instruments.

When there was downtime in the store (and there quite often was), I would practice. So, I always grabbed the best-playing guitar on the wall. Over and over again, it was that crazy green Strat that ended up in my hands. Before long, I just had to own it! It was time tested – miles better than all the other instruments that came and went in the shop. So, once again, I hit up Mr. Jones and asked him if I could take it home and work hours at the store to pay it off over time. Generously, he agreed and the crazy green Strat went on to become my #1 guitar during the most publicly performing years of my life. Her and I played all over Toronto and the GTA for a number of years in all the main venues.

It hangs beside me here as I type this, reminding me of all the adventures we had. She’s been a great partner all these years. The neck is yellowing and showing significant wear on the back, but the Green paint is as bold as ever and still looks like new over 30 years later.

Fender did GOOD with this one.