Imagine an electric guitar with all the comfort of a great broken-in vintage instrument, but with modern appointments aimed at giving you the best possible playing experience. That’s what you’re going to get with this Fender Custom Shop Limited Edition 58 Telecaster Electric Guitar. And spec’d with a pair of hand-wound ’58 Tele pickups, this axe delivers the legendary twang and bite old Teles are famous for. We’ve been fans of the Fender Custom Shop for quite a while. Fender’s elite luthiers handcraft outstanding instruments with premium features and appointments. Judging from how incredible this 1958 Heavy Relic Tele plays and sounds, we’ll be fans for a long time to come.

Carefully chosen tonewoods for tone and stability

Before you ever plug the guitar in, the Fender Custom Shop 1958 Heavy Relic Telecaster sings with a resonance and clarity that is hard to find in lesser instruments. Its carefully selected 2-piece ash body is joined to a rift-sawn maple neck.

Rift-sawn maple neck for stability

So, what’s the big deal with rift-sawn necks? In a word: stability. Cut radially from quarter-sawn logs cut at a diagonal to the initial quartering cuts, rift-sawn necks are ultra-stable, with thinner grain that is less susceptible to warping and twisting than flat-sawn — or even quarter-sawn — necks. The result is a neck that is more impervious to changes in temperature and humidity. If you gig far and wide, you’ll appreciate this the next time you play Pretoria after a week in Cape Town. The stability and rigidity of rift-sawn necks also translates to better tone and increased sustain.

The Relic treatment: half-century-old looks, modern playability

Though a heavy relic’d guitar finish is almost as common these days as a flawless factory finish, it was the Fender Custom Shop that pioneered the process — and they know how to do it better than anyone. These days, Fender offers different levels of finish distressing, but one of the original techniques is the Relic, found on this 1958 Telecaster Relic. This is an authentic nitrocellulose lacquer finish, which is thinner than today’s polyurethane finishes, allowing the wood to breathe and the tone to bloom. You get a look and feel that’s definitely used, but not abused. Imagine a beloved, decades-old guitar that’s seen its fair share of front-line action, with a played-in feel but perfect fretwork.

The Dream Factory

Since its founding in 1987, the Fender Custom Shop has been home to some of the the finest luthiers in the world. Whether you’re investing in a unique limited edition like this 1960 Telecaster Relic or having them build-to-order the Fender of your dreams, the Custom Shop earns its nickname — The Dream Factory — with every masterpiece they create. Custom Shop instruments are made from only the highest-grade, hand-selected materials, including impeccable tonewoods, high-end electronics, and premium hardware. And to protect your investment for many decades of playing enjoyment, your Fender Custom Shop instrument comes in a deluxe hardshell case, complete with a certificate of authenticity.

• 2-piece select ash body, aged nitrocellulose lacquer finish
• 1-Piece Rift-sawn maple neck, 10/56 “V” profile, nitro finish
• Maple fingerboard, 7.25 to 9.5″ vintage compound radius, 21 medium vintage (47095) frets
• Custom Shop hand-wound ’58 Tele single-coil neck and bridge pickups
• Fat ’50s Tele wiring with 3-way pickup selector switch
• ’58-’63 Tele bridge with threaded steel saddles
• Bone nut, vintage-style tuning machines; nickel hardware
• 1-Ply Eggshell Pickguard
• Handcrafted in Fender’s USA Custom Shop
• Includes Custom Shop hardshell case and Certificate of Authenticity

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