Fender Japan releases limited George Harrison Dark Horse Records Stratocaster

Fender Japan has launched a collection honouring George Harrison and his label Dark Horse Records, led by the limited-edition George Harrison Dark Horse Records Stratocaster, priced at ¥198,000, according to Guitar World. The maker says the collaboration celebrates Harrison's "musical legacy and creative spirit".

The guitar carries custom Dark Horse artwork, gold hardware and an engraved neckplate, and comes in Black, Orange and Olympic White, mirroring the label's colour scheme. It pairs an alder body with a maple neck in a modern C shape and a 9.5-inch rosewood fingerboard with 22 medium-jumbo frets. Three Player Series Alnico 5 Strat single-coil pickups sit alongside a five-way switch, with a two-point synchronized tremolo with bent-steel saddles and Fender ClassicGear tuners. The Black model is sold only at Fender's flagship store in Tokyo; the others are available for pre-order through select channels.

The collection also includes a signature ukulele for Harrison's son Dhani, who took over the label in 2020, at ¥75,900. There is a Dark Horse-inspired guitar strap in a premium gift box for ¥10,450, a set of 12 picks with different designs for ¥3,850, and a 15-piece Made-in-Japan capsule collection of T-shirts, shirts, sweatshirts and denim costing up to ¥77,000.

Harrison founded Dark Horse Records alongside his fifth solo album, and his 1974 Dark Horse tour was one of his most divisive. The label has released music by The Traveling Wilburys, Billy Idol, Cat Stevens and Jon Lord. In October mbuzz also reported on Fender's next-generation American Professional series and the Tone Master ’59 Twin-Amp JB Edition developed with Joe Bonamassa.