As a flagship of Fender's production, the instruments from the Custom Shop range are guitars and basses that meet the highest quality standards, from wood selection to pickup winding, including varnish and hardware manufacturing. The result is highly reliable instruments with an inimitable sound, offering exceptional playing comfort.
This guitar is a time capsule: a faithful and vibrant evocation of what a 1952 Telecaster felt like, with just the right amount of wear, history, and rock’n’roll under your fingers. But make no mistake: this isn’t just a replica, it’s a creation of the Fender Custom Shop, designed for today’s players with yesterday’s feel.
The lightweight ash body is carefully sculpted and finished in Journeyman Flash Coat nitrocellulose lacquer, giving it a subtle aging. Not too relic’d, not too clean. The Aged Nocaster Blonde finish reveals the grain of the wood and conjures images of smoky clubs, hot amps, and gritty bends.
The quartersawn maple neck with a 1951 Modified “Soft V” profile is a joy to play. Vintage in spirit, but never stiff. The 9.5"-12" compound radius makes it easy to transition from bluesy riffs to fast, articulate leads. The Jescar 45085 narrow tall frets deliver snappy attack and excellent playability across the board.
Tonally, it’s the real deal: the Hand-Wound '50-51 Blackguard pickups offer a dry, punchy tone full of bite. It’s Tele twang in all its glory, but with a modern sense of depth. The 1951 Nocaster wiring, CTS pots, and 3-way switch provide a tone palette that’s precise, unfiltered, and direct.
And since we never settle for just reading a spec sheet, we plugged it into some character-filled amps (Friedman, Fender, even an old Magnatone) and every time, this Tele made the wood and strings sing with disarming ease. Immediate response, tone with bite, and that unmistakable chill down the spine.
The vintage relic-style hardware (Tele 51-54 bridge with steel saddles, knurled chrome knobs, Gotoh vintage tuners) rounds out an instrument built to take whatever you throw at it on stage, in the studio, or cranked up at home.
2-year warranty in our workshop.
