“There's a bigger vision with this guitar." Fender's first seven-string Stratocaster is here — and could be headed for full-scale production

Fender looks set to enter new territory after a prototype seven-string Stratocaster has been unveiled amid talks of “a bigger vision” for the guitar.

Through the success of djent and progressive metal, the demand for extended-range guitars has skyrocketed over the past two decades. Metal guitar luthiers like Ibanez and Jackson were quick to cash in on that demand and today, extended-range guitars are commonplace in any electric guitar store.

Despite that surge in popularity, more traditional luthiers like Gibson and Fender, have historically stuck to what they’re best at rather than experimenting in unchartered territory.

That is, until now. Talking on the latest episode of his podcast, Suicide Silence guitarist Chris Garza has shown off the first-ever seven-string Stratocaster made by Fender. It's a striking axe that, aptly, has been nearly seven years in the making.

“This is the first-ever official Fender – not Squier – seven-string hardtail. The first one ever in history,” he says. “Honestly, it still doesn’t seem real.

“I've been trying to manifest it, and it's now a physical, real thing. It even looks better in person as it did in my mind.”

As detailed by Garza, the guitar pairs a mahogany body and maple neck with an ebony fingerboard sporting 24 jumbo frets. Built to a 26.5” scale length, the Custom Shop creation sees Bare Knuckle Aftermath humbuckers sitting beneath its seven strings.

That makes it quite a rare beast, as typically Fender guitars come with Fender-voiced pickups, but of course, exceptions had to be made for what is currently a one-off prototype.

FENDER 7-STRING STRATOCASTER | Chris Garza of SUICIDE SILENCE - YouTube

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Its specs are rounded out with a string-through-body hardtail bridge, a single volume knob, and some choice body contouring, especially around the neck. There are also no inlays for a clean finish.

There’s a reason Garza was so clear underlining that this is a Fender build, and not one from its wallet-conscious sister firm, Squier. That’s because Squier has tried – albeit unsuccessfully – to bring seven-string guitars into the Fender family stable before.

First came the now gold-dust-rare Squier Stratocaster VII in 2000, which was made available with hardtail and tremolo bridges. The Squier Stagemaster 7 also arrived in 2000 and rocked a Floyd Rose-style floating tremolo but was discontinued two years later.

While this new build is a one-off, Garza hints that more chapters in the Fender seven-string story will soon be written.

“There’s a bigger vision with this guitar,” he continues. “I do want this to be a signature model at some point. We’ll see what happens.”

Noticeably, Fender has been blurring the lines between its roster of brands, which includes Jackson, Charvel, and EVH. Fender’s new American Ultra II line is a testament to that, with a great emphasis on faster and thinner necks, which is a trope those other three brands have hung their respective hats on.

If that trend is to continue, more seven-string Fenders doesn’t seem too far of a stretch. Indeed, as extended-range Jackson’s for Spiritbox’s Mike Stringer and Periphery’s Misha Mansoor prove, there’s a real renaissance for vintage-modern builds right now, with both only possible with Fender and Jackson collaborating. Fender could be sitting on a veritable gold mine.

It will be interesting too to see what Fender does regarding the pickups for potential seven-strings. Voicing its own pickups, drafting in Jackson designs, or using Seymour Duncans, which are commonly found on Jackson builds, all represent viable options.

For now, players can marvel at Garza's one-of-a-kind history-maker.

“Shout out to [Fender Custom Shop manager] Javier Cuba ,” he concludes. “He put in a lot of time on this. From the first conversation with Fender to getting it in my hand took almost seven years. It was definitely well worth the wait.”