Lot Essay
This Stratocaster neck was originally built by former Fender Custom Shop Founding Master Builder J.W. Black in 1996 as part of a prototype “Double Whammy” Strat with a 'double point' tremolo, where the tremolo arm could be slotted in on either side of the bridge. Evidently, the Double Whammy was not a successful experiment as the guitar had been smashed by 1999, leaving the body broken, the neck detached and a loose prototype bridge - effectively two halves of a left-handed and a right-handed bridge soldered together. The neck was undamaged and put to use on another guitar - a stock white Strat body. Whilst Beck preferred to play plain maple-headed guitars live, the playing wear to the pickguard of this curly maple-headed guitar testifies that it saw extensive home use.