The Fender 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster was made in 2004 only to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Fender Stratocaster. This model was a Masterbuilt instrument made by the Fender Custom Shop and aimed to be a more faithful reissue than previous Custom shop '54 reissues. They duplicated the original 1954 parts (from Richard Smith's Stratocaster #0100) as closely as possible, including knobs, pickup covers, pickups, pickguard and even the switch tip. The original templates were used for jack-plate holes, the tremolo cover plate with round holes, pickguard dies, and the fiber dies. They even hand-stamped the serial number on the tremolo cover plate and used the vintage correct font on the control knobs.
The Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1954 Stratocaster has a nitrocellulose-lacquered, sunburst, two piece ash body; one-piece maple neck with 25.5 inch scale length and 7.25 inch radius. The tremolo has the original style ash tray cover. Hardware is nickel/chrome. The instrument is aged to "closet classic" specifications - meant to simulate the ageing of an original 1954 Strat played a few times and then kept carefully in a cupboard for 50 years (has a few small dings, checked finish, oxidized hardware and aged plastic parts).
At least 150 were made.