Fender Custom Shop '55 Telecaster Journeyman Relic Electric Guitar, Super Aged Sonic Blue

It's into the wild blue yonder with this Fender Custom Shop '55 Telecaster Journeyman Relic in an invigorating Super Aged Sonic Blue. A carefully yet deeply worn example of a vintage Tele, this Custom Shop piece takes off with a suite of unique finish artifacts, dimensions, and electronics for a rush of cool, cool water to the face.

This Fender Custom Shop '55 Telecaster begins with a striking base. A two-piece guitar and bass ash body kicks this all off, sorted for weight. In the Custom Shop build process, bodies can be "sorted for weight," meaning they are picked in construction for their light weight among the lot. This light weight is handled easily and highly resonant, due to the ash pick. The ash is then wrapped in a Fender Custom Shop Journeyman Relic finish in a cool Super Aged Sonic Blue. Highly faded to impart some classy age, this Custom Shop finish is designed to replicate the look of a lacquer finish sustaining decades of age and some minor playwear through its Journeyman Relic finish treatment.

From here, this Fender Custom Shop welcomes a 5/4 quartersawn maple neck in a 10/56 "V" profile. The prominent geometric "V" in this profile is measured out with custom dimensions at it moves from .890" at the first fret to a thick .980" at the twelfth as it moves from lower to higher registers. Connecting with a worn-down feel in the palm, this quartersawn neck has an unfinished Relic back. This neck then fills to a fingerboard that lays out twenty-one 6105 Narrow Tall frets. Fender Custom Shop's Narrow Tall fret wire drops in with great articulation for slightly taller and higher frets across a compound radius fingerboard. Measuring at a round 7.25" and flattening out to a more modern 9.5", this compound radius board is seamlessly playable.

This '55 Telecaster's voice is summoned by two hand-wound 55/56 Telecaster single-coil pickups. Exhibiting some hand-crafted uniqueness and imperfection, these Teles play with all the twang and snap we've all come to love with Fat '50s Tele wiring for smooth tonal sculpting. These single-coils are built up by a strong hardware setup. A 55-57 Tele bridge lands at the base of the scale with Vintage-Style Fender tuning machines and a bone nut at the opposite end. Concerning hardware, across the entire guitar, you'll find a Fender Custom Shop Custom Classic wear finish treatment on all hardware and only Phillips head screws. This Fender Custom Shop '55 Telecaster travels with a Strat/Tele Tweed hardshell case.

It's nothing but blue skies on this '55 Tele – take it all in.