Fender Custom Shop '51 Loaded Cunife Telecaster Heavy Relic Electric Guitar, Aged Natural, Dave Brown Masterbuilt

Fresh in from Dave Brown's workbench at Fender Custom Shop's headquarters, we have this '51 Loaded Cunife Telecaster Heavy Relic in a Aged Natural finish. Expertly crafted with the highest level of detail, this custom is as good as it gets.

Starting with its body, the Tele is built from a 2-piece off-center cut of ash that was sorted for weigh – this one clocks in at a lean 7 lb 10 oz. The body sports an aged natural finish with nickel hardware and a black pickguard. Its bolt-on rift sawn maple neck is carved to a custom dimension 11/56 off center "V" shape profile which is extremely comfortable in hand. Built on the traditional 25.5-inch scale length formula, the neck is completed by 21 narrow tall frets, 9.5-inch fingerboard radius, and micarta black face dots.

For a unique sonic voice, the Telecaster features a hand wound Loaded '51 Nocaster single-coil bridge pickup and Wide Range Cunife Humbucker in the neck. The bridge pickup is installed in the reverse position to tame brittle high end and tighten bass response, while the wide range neck pickup delivers fuller, warm tones. The pickups are wired up to dual stack potentiometers and tone can further be fine-tuned with the volume, tone, and 3-way pickup toggle switch. Strings are loaded through the reverse Nocaster bridge and are strung to pitch at the headstock with the Vintage-style tuners.

The entire build has received a Heavy Relic, simulating decades of use and abuse. Dings, dents, checking, finish flaking, rolled fingerboard edges, and hardware patina are all present and add to the vintage vibe. The Telecaster comes securely packed in its tweed Fender Custom Shop hardshell case with orange plush interior and is accompanied by its COA.

Dave Brown has done a fantastic job brining this '51 Nocaster to life, and we're confident you're going to love it just as much as us.