DISC Fender Custom Shop 1953 Heavy Relic Telecaster, 2T Sunburst

Full Description

Time Machine Series by Fender

The Time Machine series is Fender's own shrine to the heritage and legacy of the pioneers who made the company what it is today. The Fender Custom Shop has reached new heights of craftsmanship with its acclaimed Time Machine series, artfully crafting meticulous replicas using the same techniques and tooling used to create the originals all those years ago.

The Custom Shop proudly introduced an expanded selection of premium ''relic'' finishes that have been designed to replicate the worn-in vibe of a genuine vintage instrument. The Heavy Relic finish is the heaviest of the Custom Shop treatments, evoking decades of the most punishing playing and touring. Each one is specially devised to capture the authenticity of the original-era, with unparalleled breathability and resonance.

Custom Shop Hand-Wound Single Coil Pickups

The 1953 Heavy Relic Telecaster is equipped with two custom shop hand-wound pickups, with an original blackguard pickup in the bridge and a "twisted" single coil in the neck to provide classically fat tones. Also featuring a 3-position blade and Greasebucket circuitry, the guitar allows highs to roll off without reducing gain and produces the time-honoured Telecaster snap that many players love.

High Quality Body Design

The Custom Shop Telecaster features a 2-piece select ash wood body, delivering a classic Fender twang with sweet, airy tones. The lightweight ash provides the guitar with excellent resonance and sustain, offering firm lows, pleasing highs, and a scooped midrange. Other premium features include a single-ply parchment relic pickguard, vintage bridge with compensated brass saddles, 6100 jumbo frets, and vintage Fender-logo tuners.

The Custom Shop 1953 Telecaster comes complete with a stunning wide fade 2-tone sunburst finish and nitrocellulose lacquer, imparting the appearance of years of ageing and use without the need for heavy wear and tear.

Quartersawn Maple Neck and Fingerboard

The guitar’s solid quartersawn maple neck and fingerboard provides bright characteristics, tightening up the Telecaster’s sound and giving it plenty of cut. The maple delivers a powerfully sharp punch when the strings are hit hard, whilst still retaining its clarity to allow each note to sing. The neck and fingerboard work together to provide the guitar with sizzling highs and firm lows, while its midrange features a snappy attack.

String Thru Construction

The Telecaster incorporates a string-thru body construction to provide improved tonality and sustain by transferring vibrations and resonance from the strings to the body. The vintage bridge features threaded saddles that keep the strings stable, allowing the guitar to be played harder without it going out of tune.

Bone Nut

As well as offering the perfect tone and looks, the Custom Shop guitar also features a bone nut, adding to its classic aesthetics. The main purpose of using a bone nut compared to modern materials is the bone offers excellent resonance and sustain. A bone nut also delivers a very balanced tone, and will last a long time. In addition, this type of nut naturally self-lubricates and helps the guitar to stay in tune for longer.

Unrivalled Quality and Craftsmanship

Since 1987, the skilled craftsmen in Fender's Corona, California ''dream factory'' have been producing guitars that are known worldwide for their artistry and unrivalled quality. Ranging from the fine to the fantastic, whether it's building a new custom instrument from the ground up or modifying an existing one, their best is the best. These wonderful instruments have been crafted for, and with the input of, the world's finest guitarists such as Clapton, Springsteen, Cray, Gilmour, Townshend, Wilko Johnson and Stevie Ray Vaughan, to name just a few.

The History of the Telecaster

The rich history of Fender guitars begins with the Telecaster. An indispensable instrument, the Telecaster was the world's first successful solid-body electric guitar. Perfected after two years of development - and a name change or two - the Telecaster debuted in February 1951 and began its steady ascent towards the stage and studio. Ingeniously engineered with the ability to be heard both loud and clear, it was a marvel of simple design elegance and workhorse functionality. It is perhaps a fitting testimony to its essential original rightness that the Telecaster design has hardly changed ever since.

Specifications

• Model Number: 1550122803
• Series: Time Machine

Body & Bridge

• Body: 2-Piece Select Ash
• Shape: Telecaster
• Bridge: 3-Saddle American Vintage String-through-Body Tele
• Construction: Bolt-On
• Finish: Nitrocellulose Lacquer
• Colour: Wide Fade 2-Tone Sunburst

Neck & Fingerboard

• Neck: Quartersawn Maple
• Profile: Early ‘50s “U”
• Scale Length: 25.5" (648 mm)
• Fingerboard: 1-Piece Quartersawn Maple Neck
• Radius: 9.5” (241 mm)
• Frets: 21 6100 Jumbo
• Inlays: Micarta Black Dots
• Nut: Bone
• Nut Width: 1.650" (42 mm)

Electronics & Hardware

• Bridge Pickup: Custom Shop Hand-Wound Original Blackguard Tele Single-Coil
• Neck Pickup: Custom Shop Hand-Wound “Twisted” Tele Single-Coil
• Controls: Volume, Tone
• Pickup Switching: 3-Position Toggle

  • Position 1: Bridge Pickup
  • Position 2: Bridge & Neck Pickups
  • Position 3: Neck Pickup

• Special Electronics: Modern Tele Wiring w/Greasebucket Tone Circuit
• Tuning Machines: Vintage Style w/Fender Logo
• Control Knobs: Knurled Dome
• Saddle: Compensated Brass
• Pickguard: 1-Ply Parchment Relic
• Hardware: Chrome
• Strings: Fender USA, NPS (.010 - .046 Gauges)
• Case Included: Deluxe Hardshell
• Included Accessories: Strap, Certificate of Authenticity