Transperformance Modified Fender Stratocaster Owned by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco Solid Body Electric Guitar , c. 2000s
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Transperformance Modified Fender Stratocaster Owned by Jeff Tweedy of Wilco Model Solid Body Electric Guitar, c. 2000s, made in Fort Collins, Colorado, Olympic White lacquer finish, alder body, maple neckwith rosewood fingerboard, brown tolex hard shell case.
21st century guitar builders have stayed consistently looking for new innovations, new breakthroughs, the future of guitar; a very popular attempt at breaking into the annals of guitar innovation history has been self-tuning guitars. Transperformance guitars are one of the more sophisticated forays into the world of automated tuning started in 1987 by Neill Skinn. Skinn and colleague Frank Strazzabosco developed technology that could change the tuning of an instrument at the touch of a button through subtle changes in tension at the bridge. In practice, it is a more involved but discernably more sophisticated system to ]say, the infamous Gibson Robotuners.
The Transperformance system can store up to 240 custom tunings onboard, and there are dozens of already existing preset tunings from more standard alternate tunings to modal tunings and even a few tunings favored by the celebrity clientele who have used Transperformance technology over the decades. An additional string tree was added to this instrument, but one can still tune the guitar traditionally at the headstock as well. The sensors in the bridge are impressively sensitive, able to pick up on changes in tension with the addition of a capo and snap the strings back into perfect tune with the touch of a button. An LCD screen on the top edge provides a quick place to check the tuning of all six strings, and it's backlit to remain easily readable under the glare of stage lights. It's advertised as having BPM controls and more advanced functions to experiment with in addition to the tuning function.
Transperformance did not build their own instruments from scratch but rather modified existing instruments; this is a specially modified Fender guitar, not a direct offering from Fender itself. To that end, all Transperformance instruments are "custom" in their own way; this guitar began as an early 2000's Fender Stratocaster and was upgraded not only with the Transperformance system but with a new neck and pickups. The previous owner opted for a Fender Custom Shop neck with a rounded and full neck profile and a rosewood slab fingerboard.
There are two Kinman Noiseless Stratocaster pickups in the neck and middle position and a Seymore Duncan Little 59 mini-humbucker in the bridge. The bridge tone knob was modified to be a push-pull as well to coil split the humbucker. In addition to these personal modifications to the stock instrument, he had Skinn himself install a piezo pickup in the bridge to capture the acoustic output of the guitar as well. A piezo volume control was added beside the volume and tone knobs and there are two output jacks: one standard Strat output and another additional jack next to the power input for the piezo output.
The company who produced it has yet to fully enter the market, making any example of a fully executed Transperformance instrument fairly rare and quite sought after in some circles. Some notable celebrities have embraced the Transperformance technology, most visibly Jimmy Page who owned and used a Les Paul modified with the technology and is said to be the first person to receive a fully functioning unit from the company in 1990. A relatively easy to find prior listing of this exact guitar claims it has been owned by several other notable guitar stars, which we cannot ourselves attest to. We can at least attest that this particular instrument has been owned and used by a rockstar too: this one came direct from Jeff Tweedy of Wilco.
To this day, the Transperformance workshop in Colorado (now operating under the name AxCent) accepts instruments to be modified. If you're looking for one ready to go with all the bells and whistles, several thoughtful upgrades and a nifty provenance: here it is. We have never encountered an instrument quite like this at Retrofret and we were pleased to see that this system does indeed work as advertised, rather impressively considering it precedes other mechanized auto-tuners by some years. NOTE: this system requires careful maintenance and must be re-calibrated periodically, notably when the strings are changed. We have tested the guitar and it is currently functional, but we cannot guarantee the system beyond that. The Transperformance system is built around their own proprietary designs, and we would suggest any future user register the guitar with them for any maintenance or repair, and we can only offer this piece on an AS-IS basis.
Overall length is 39 in. (99.1 cm.), 13 in. (33 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
This unusual Stratocaster is in overall very clean shape cosmetically with only a few dings and scratches here and there: a very faint amount of buckle rash that does not eat through the Olympic White lacquer and some chipping at the very top of the heel from where the neck has been popped off likely more than a few times during the modifications. The stock American Fender body retains the original finish; the guitar was upgraded with a Fender Custom shop neck which still has its original frets and tuners.
Beyond that, there have obviously been many changes. The bridge was replaced by the Transpeformance system, the control panel mounted to the top, and the LED display installed in the top side. The guitar was routed internally to accommodate this, and additional electronics cavity covers were added to the back; a patent pending sticker rests on one cover. An additional locking string tree was added to the headstock before the nut. The neck plate appears to have been replaced with a blank, generic plate with no serial number or Fender markings.
The electronics have been fully altered for the Transperformance system. The tone controls and 5-way switch all work as expected, though an additional knob has been added just above the switch which controls the volume of the piezo. The two Strat pickups are original; the Seymour Duncan mini humbucker appears to have been added and fits inside the original route and pickguard.
The 12V power supply for the Transperformance system and all necessary cables are crammed in a clean Fender-style brown G&G hardshell case. There is a tag on the case that this current case was actually a spare case donated to this guitar by the Wilco Loft. The typical Wilco Loft markings are on the bottom edge and within the case is a certificate of authenticity from the Wilco Loft validating this provenance. This is a one-of-a-kind souped up Strat for a futuristic player, requiring a full commitment to its possibilities. Excellent - Condition.
21st century guitar builders have stayed consistently looking for new innovations, new breakthroughs, the future of guitar; a very popular attempt at breaking into the annals of guitar innovation history has been self-tuning guitars. Transperformance guitars are one of the more sophisticated forays into the world of automated tuning started in 1987 by Neill Skinn. Skinn and colleague Frank Strazzabosco developed technology that could change the tuning of an instrument at the touch of a button through subtle changes in tension at the bridge. In practice, it is a more involved but discernably more sophisticated system to ]say, the infamous Gibson Robotuners.
The Transperformance system can store up to 240 custom tunings onboard, and there are dozens of already existing preset tunings from more standard alternate tunings to modal tunings and even a few tunings favored by the celebrity clientele who have used Transperformance technology over the decades. An additional string tree was added to this instrument, but one can still tune the guitar traditionally at the headstock as well. The sensors in the bridge are impressively sensitive, able to pick up on changes in tension with the addition of a capo and snap the strings back into perfect tune with the touch of a button. An LCD screen on the top edge provides a quick place to check the tuning of all six strings, and it's backlit to remain easily readable under the glare of stage lights. It's advertised as having BPM controls and more advanced functions to experiment with in addition to the tuning function.
Transperformance did not build their own instruments from scratch but rather modified existing instruments; this is a specially modified Fender guitar, not a direct offering from Fender itself. To that end, all Transperformance instruments are "custom" in their own way; this guitar began as an early 2000's Fender Stratocaster and was upgraded not only with the Transperformance system but with a new neck and pickups. The previous owner opted for a Fender Custom Shop neck with a rounded and full neck profile and a rosewood slab fingerboard.
There are two Kinman Noiseless Stratocaster pickups in the neck and middle position and a Seymore Duncan Little 59 mini-humbucker in the bridge. The bridge tone knob was modified to be a push-pull as well to coil split the humbucker. In addition to these personal modifications to the stock instrument, he had Skinn himself install a piezo pickup in the bridge to capture the acoustic output of the guitar as well. A piezo volume control was added beside the volume and tone knobs and there are two output jacks: one standard Strat output and another additional jack next to the power input for the piezo output.
The company who produced it has yet to fully enter the market, making any example of a fully executed Transperformance instrument fairly rare and quite sought after in some circles. Some notable celebrities have embraced the Transperformance technology, most visibly Jimmy Page who owned and used a Les Paul modified with the technology and is said to be the first person to receive a fully functioning unit from the company in 1990. A relatively easy to find prior listing of this exact guitar claims it has been owned by several other notable guitar stars, which we cannot ourselves attest to. We can at least attest that this particular instrument has been owned and used by a rockstar too: this one came direct from Jeff Tweedy of Wilco.
To this day, the Transperformance workshop in Colorado (now operating under the name AxCent) accepts instruments to be modified. If you're looking for one ready to go with all the bells and whistles, several thoughtful upgrades and a nifty provenance: here it is. We have never encountered an instrument quite like this at Retrofret and we were pleased to see that this system does indeed work as advertised, rather impressively considering it precedes other mechanized auto-tuners by some years. NOTE: this system requires careful maintenance and must be re-calibrated periodically, notably when the strings are changed. We have tested the guitar and it is currently functional, but we cannot guarantee the system beyond that. The Transperformance system is built around their own proprietary designs, and we would suggest any future user register the guitar with them for any maintenance or repair, and we can only offer this piece on an AS-IS basis.
Overall length is 39 in. (99.1 cm.), 13 in. (33 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
This unusual Stratocaster is in overall very clean shape cosmetically with only a few dings and scratches here and there: a very faint amount of buckle rash that does not eat through the Olympic White lacquer and some chipping at the very top of the heel from where the neck has been popped off likely more than a few times during the modifications. The stock American Fender body retains the original finish; the guitar was upgraded with a Fender Custom shop neck which still has its original frets and tuners.
Beyond that, there have obviously been many changes. The bridge was replaced by the Transpeformance system, the control panel mounted to the top, and the LED display installed in the top side. The guitar was routed internally to accommodate this, and additional electronics cavity covers were added to the back; a patent pending sticker rests on one cover. An additional locking string tree was added to the headstock before the nut. The neck plate appears to have been replaced with a blank, generic plate with no serial number or Fender markings.
The electronics have been fully altered for the Transperformance system. The tone controls and 5-way switch all work as expected, though an additional knob has been added just above the switch which controls the volume of the piezo. The two Strat pickups are original; the Seymour Duncan mini humbucker appears to have been added and fits inside the original route and pickguard.
The 12V power supply for the Transperformance system and all necessary cables are crammed in a clean Fender-style brown G&G hardshell case. There is a tag on the case that this current case was actually a spare case donated to this guitar by the Wilco Loft. The typical Wilco Loft markings are on the bottom edge and within the case is a certificate of authenticity from the Wilco Loft validating this provenance. This is a one-of-a-kind souped up Strat for a futuristic player, requiring a full commitment to its possibilities. Excellent - Condition.