John CRASH Matos and the 50 Fender Custom Shop Stratocasters

by Tom Watson.

In January of 2007, visual artist John "CRASH" Matos finished painting the 50th guitar body for a limited edition run of Stratocasters (50 total) from the Fender Custom Shop. The project, which Matos began in late 2004, was inspired by the graffiti-style Stratocaster bodies he had painted for Eric Clapton, one of which, known as Crash-3, was sold in the 2004 Christie's Eric Clapton Crossroads Auction for $321,000.

Though already an internationally established visual artist by 1997, the year Matos and Clapton first met, Clapton's use of Stratocasters with bodies painted by CRASH brought Matos to the forefront of guitar and Clapton fans worldwide. The media attention paid to these instruments and the sale of Clapton's Crash-3 for an astronomical sum, most likely influenced the Fender Custom Shop's decision to commission CRASH to paint 50 Custom Shop guitar bodies, each featuring unique artwork along the lines of the pieces he had painted for Clapton.

Since the beginning of the Custom Shop project in 2004, CRASH has chronicled his work on the 50 Fender Custom Shop guitars (referred to in this article as the Fender Custom Shop Crashocasters) in his Modern Guitars journal titled Crash Pad. This article looks at the Crashocaster backstory and provides a visual link between the 50 painted bodies and each body's corresponding Modern Guitars journal entry by CRASH.

The Custom Shop Crashocaster bodies are presented here in two ways: through a thumbnail grouping of all 50 (below), each linked to the corresponding Crash Pad journal entry; and, on separate pages (links below) of larger images of the bodies in groups of ten, with each image also linked to the corresponding journal entry.

Article Navigation
The Crashocaster story (below)
Thumbnail images of the 50 Custom Shop Crashocaster bodies (below)
Larger images, Custom Shop bodies 1-10 (separate page)
Larger images, Custom Shop bodies 11-20 (separate page)
Larger images, Custom Shop bodies 21-30 (separate page)
Larger images, Custom Shop bodies 31-40 (separate page)
Larger images, Custom Shop bodies 41-50 (separate page)
Gallery of finished Custom Shop Crashocasters (separate page)
Related links (below)

The Crashocaster Story

Clapton meets CRASH

Eric Clapton and John "CRASH" Matos first met in late February, 1997, while Clapton was in New York City to both appear at that year's Grammy Awards Show (at which he would receive two Grammys for and perform "Change The World") and scout NYC locations for a video shoot in connection with the album Retail Therapy by T.D.F., the studio band with which Clapton appears on the album as "X-Sample". Clapton, who had an interest in street art (he also owns Stratocasters painted by Stash, Daze and Futura) was aware of CRASH's work as a graffiti artist and wanted to contact Matos for his advice on NYC locations for a video shoot.

As CRASH tells the story of his initial contact with Slowhand, Clapton was in NYC, wanted to contact CRASH, but, didn't have his telephone number. While dining at a restaurant, a waitress who knew CRASH overheard Clapton discussing the situation with his associate and gave Clapton CRASH's number. The call was made on the morning of February 26, 1997, the day of the 39th Annual Grammy Awards Show at which Clapton appeared, and the two met shortly thereafter. In fact, CRASH would make his directorial debut in 1997 as the director of the animated video for the T.D.F. (an acronym for Totally Dysfunctional Family) song "What She Wants" from Retail Therapy.

The Crashocasters are born

Though CRASH and Clapton discussed the possibility of Matos painting a Strat for Clapton in 1997, it wasn't until 2000 that Matos was inspired to make it happen. "One bright summer morning I just had the urge to do one. I was able to contact Eric's guitar wiz, Lee Dickson, and he made arrangements with Fender to have an unfinished body flown to me," says CRASH. The result would be the Crashocaster (the name bestowed on the guitar by Lee Dickson), also known as Crash-1, the "Over the Rainbow Strat", and simply the "Rainbow Strat".

To-date, CRASH has painted five Stratocaster bodies for Clapton, three of which (Crash-1, Crash-2, and Crash-3) Clapton has used in public performances.

A sampling of Eric Clapton public performances with Crashocasters

Crash-1: The guitar made its public debut on January 19, 2001, at NYC's Carnegie Hall when Clapton used it during his perforamance at the Wyclef Jean All-Star Jam / 2001 Reptile Tour / 2003 Japan Tour / 2004 World Tour / Numerous special appearances, such as, Party at the Palace, Concert for George, Tribute to Carl Wilson, BET's 8th Annual Walk of Fame gala for Stevie Wonder, and, John Mayall & Friends

Crash-2: November - December, 2001 Japan Tour / 2004 World Tour (at, for example, the Madison Square Garden Show after breaking a string on Crash-1)

Crash-3: From March 14, 2004 (One Generation for Another concert at Royal Albert Hall) through June 23, 2004 (concert in Albany, New York) / Crash-3 was sold at the Christie's Clapton Crossroads Auction on June 24, 2004

The Fender Custom Shop Limited Edition (50) Crashocasters

While a working relationship between the Fender Custom Shop and CRASH existed since Crash-1 in 2000 (Fender Custom Shop Senior Master Builder Todd Krause has been the Custom Shop builder behind all of the Custom Shop Eric Clapton Crashocasters), it was a chance meeting of CRASH and Fender Custom Shop Senior Master Builder Mark Kendrick at a San Francisco art gallery that eventually led to the Fender Custom Shop CRASH-painted run of 50 Stratocasters. Fender had previously commissioned CRASH to paint a one-off body, which was incorporated into an Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster and displayed at the 2003 Winter NAMM Show, but it was Kendrick who subsequently encouraged CRASH to create and present to Fender a painted Strat body prototype (photo below) with an eye toward producing a limited edition run.

In early 2004, Fender and CRASH discussed the possibility of a limited edition Custom Shop run of Crashocasters, but the commission for CRASH to paint the 50 Stratocaster bodies was not finalized until after the June 24, 2004, Crossroads Auction at which Crash-3 sold for $321,000. Ordinarily, a limited edition Custom Shop run like the 50 CRASH-painted Strats would be presented to retail dealers at a NAMM Show, but in this case the entire run of Custom Shop Crashocasters was bought by dealers prior to the 2005 Winter Show.

Compare Crash-3 and the 50 Fender Custom Shop Crashocasters to the Eric Clapton Crashocasters Crash-1 and Crash-2 and you'll notice that the two groups of guitars sport a different pickguard style. Crash-3 and the 50 Fender Custom Shop Crashocasters incorporate a pickguard design by Mark Kendrick along the lines of Kendrick's Control Plate Stratocaster pictured in the 2004 Fender Custom Shop calendar. It should also be noted that while the 50 Custom Shop Crashocasters feature specifications similar to the Eric Clapton Signature model, they are not EC Signature guitars.

Fender Custom Shop Crashocaster Specs

Alder Body (1960-style routing); 21 Vintage Frets; 9.5" Fingerboard Radius; Custom Black Anodized Control Plate; Black Anodized Tremolo Cover; 3-Ply Custom Painted Pickguard; 3 Ceramic Noiseless Pickups w/Passive Circuit; Black Pickup Covers; Custom Shop Logo and Signature of Todd Krause Stamped on the Back of the Headstock (photo below); Black Knobs and Switch Tip; Vintage Tremolo; Straight-Grain Maple Neck (Custom ''V'' Shape); Special Engraved Neckplate (CRASH's engraved signature - photo below); and, each guitar comes with a Special Certificate (photo below) signed by Todd Krause. Note: The engraved neckplate bears a seven-character Custom Shop serial number (CNXXXXX) that also appears on the Certificate of Authenticity.

Thumbnails of all 50 Fender Custom Shop Crashocaster bodies

Each thumbnail below is linked to the corresponding Crash Pad entry in which the body was introduced on CRASH's Modern Guitars journal.

Group 1, Fender Custom Shop Crashocasters 1-10 (Click to see journal entry)
1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10
Group 2, Fender Custom Shop Crashocasters 11-20 (Click to see journal entry)
11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20
Group 3, Fender Custom Shop Crashocasters 21-30 (Click to see journal entry)
21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29	30
Group 4, Fender Custom Shop Crashocasters 31-40 (Click to see journal entry)
31	32	33	34	35
36	37	38	39	40
Group 5, Fender Custom Shop Crashocasters 41-50 (Click to see journal entry)
41	42	43	44	45
46	47	48	49	50

Related Links
CRASH
Crashocasters (CRASH's site devoted to the Crashocasters)
2004 Interview with John "CRASH" Matos on Strat Collector News
Fender Graffiti Stratocasters (Where's Eric)

More articles by Tom Watson

[Many thanks to CRASH, Where's Eric (the excellent Clapton fanzine), Marco van Rooijen of Where's Eric, and guitar collector Alain Saiget for their help (and patience) in preparing this article. —Tom Watson]

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