Fender Showmaster

Gene Baker, a master builder of Fender's Custom Shop at the time, was responsible for the creation of this set-neck, carved top version.

It featured a carved maple top with hand scraped edges and cream binding, a set-neck maple neck (bolt-on on some models), a sleek mahogany body (many Showmaster guitars are made from basswood or alder; later models such as the Showmaster Elite, employ more exotic woods such as lacewood and spalted maple for the top and back), HSS or HH pickup configurations which consisted of Seymour Duncan '59 Trembucker humbucking pickups coupled with a pair of Fender Custom Shop Fat '50s single-coils.

Later, it appeared as a U.S. Special/Highway 1 model, retaining the set maple neck, Fender Enforcer humbuckers, a special "kill" switch and its traditional Stratocaster headstock (with Showmaster label, respectively), equipped with a Floyd Rose licensed vibrato and a 2-octave rosewood fingerboard.

Some later Showmasters—such as the Elite—were produced in Korea, followed by Squier variants (formerly known as Stagemasters) featuring a basswood body, a reverse headstock, Floyd Rose licensed locking systems and Duncan Designed humbucking pickups.

All Showmaster carved top models featured back-routed controls like most superstrats and came with a choice of bridges, abalone-inlaid rosewood fretboards with 24 frets, Seymour Duncan pickups, locking machine heads, and an LSR roller nut.

The main distinguishing feature of Fender Showmasters—with the exception of the Flat Head—from other superstrats is the luxurious carved (quilted and flamed) maple top with the hand-scraped edges and cream binding.