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Lot Essay
This Stratocaster body 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 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. As part of the Jeff Beck tribute issue of Guitarist magazine in March 2023, guitarist Jennifer Batten shared the following memory of touring with Jeff in 1998, which could indicate the possible fate of the Double Whammy guitar:
We were playing a double bill in Rio with Wayne Shorter. We were in the middle of the glorious ‘Where Were You’ duet - just the two of us. I was triggering Tony Hymas-esque synth pads when Jeff broke a string. His tech always had an eye on him and immediately brought him a new guitar while I sustained a chord. He started to carry on with the song when the new guitar went belly up with a horrendous jack buzz. He got so upset with the failure because he was so deeply emotionally invested in the tune, that he took off the faulty guitar and smashed it into the stage. There were seconds there where my life flashed before my eyes as I once again sustained the harmony wondering what came next, until he stormed off the stage in defeat. I'd heard about this behaviour from his early years but had never been a part of it. Soon it was obvious it was over and I put down my guitar and headed backstage to find him extremely upset. It's that kind of vested emotion and sensitivity that made him the best vessel for music possible. I do know how lucky I was to have been a part of his life and music.
We were playing a double bill in Rio with Wayne Shorter. We were in the middle of the glorious ‘Where Were You’ duet - just the two of us. I was triggering Tony Hymas-esque synth pads when Jeff broke a string. His tech always had an eye on him and immediately brought him a new guitar while I sustained a chord. He started to carry on with the song when the new guitar went belly up with a horrendous jack buzz. He got so upset with the failure because he was so deeply emotionally invested in the tune, that he took off the faulty guitar and smashed it into the stage. There were seconds there where my life flashed before my eyes as I once again sustained the harmony wondering what came next, until he stormed off the stage in defeat. I'd heard about this behaviour from his early years but had never been a part of it. Soon it was obvious it was over and I put down my guitar and headed backstage to find him extremely upset. It's that kind of vested emotion and sensitivity that made him the best vessel for music possible. I do know how lucky I was to have been a part of his life and music.