Yuriy Shishkov-Russian Master Guitar Builder at Fender

By Fred, on January 18th, 2010

I recently had the privilege of playing a Yuriy Shishkov Custom Stratocaster.
Not only was it the most beautiful yet MEAN SOUNDING Stratocaster I have ever played…its builder has an interesting history.

As one could probably imagine, electric guitars were a rarity in the former Soviet Union. This led Yuriy to build guitars for friends and colleagues in the small confines of a root cellar in his hometown of Gomel. Handcrafting not only many of his own woodworking tools, but creating instruments that led to him to becoming one of the most respected luthiers and renaissance type guitar builders around.

Since moving to the States , Shishkov has collaborated with a range of top artists, including late shredder Dimebag Darrell of Pantera, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant of Led Zeppelin, Nuno Bettencourt, Robin Zander of Cheap Trick and Paul Stanley of Kiss.

Anyways, although always having been a fan of Fender Strats, in general, they mostly looked and felt the same to me. Yuriy’s elements bring an entire new panache to the ordinary at Fender. His hand wound pick-ups sound amazing and the playability of these instruments is superb!!!

My only gripe…the cost! Try a price tag of 9000 USD!

I’ll have to go hungry for a while!

City: Johannesburg

Country: South Africa