Fender Custom Shop S23 Limited Edition '53 Tele Relic Guitar, Aged 2-Color Sunburst

PLAYER'S PERSPECTIVE

We're stoked to bring you another beautiful creation from our friends over at the Fender Custom Shop! This stunning '53 Telecaster Relic is part of a group of eleven very special one-of-a-kind instruments we took home at the Fender Custom Shop Spring & Summer 2023 Event.

This gorgeous guitar has all the ingredients that make a '50s Fender Telecaster incredible and the aesthetic touches that truly make it a convincing vintage recreation, along with a few other tricks up its sleeve. It's finished in a a gorgeous aged 2-Color Sunburst, one of the quintessential Fender colors, and stands out with a really unique '59-spec anodized gold pickguard that's been aged to perfection. It also features an excellent medium relic pattern that remains tasteful whilst having the worn-in look and feel of a well-loved guitar.

The resonant ash body and beautiful 2A Flame Maple one-piece neck come together for a classic tonewood combination that's distinctively Fender. The aging on the nitro lacquer is simply perfect. Everything about this guitar is just silky smooth, from the aged paint job to the playability - it feels like the perfect mix of vintage and luxurious. The fretwork is absolutely phenomenal, and the action is nice and low without any fret buzz to speak of or worry about, which is pretty damn amazing for a vintage-style axe such as this. The sanded-down neck back is a playground for your left hand and makes for a buttery smooth ride up and down. It's all of the best parts of having a worn-in neck but without any of the fretwork issues and problems that can sometimes develop with those old vintage guitars from back in the day.

Sonically, it's everything you'd expect and want out of a vintage Tele. The hand-wound Texas Special set is handwound and sounds spectacular! They have a bit more muscle than typical '50s-style Tele pickups, but this makes it utterly perfect for rock and blues, and jazz and pop players will appreciate this extra warmth in the midrange as well. It's accompanied by a "Fat '50s" wiring configuration - this wiring changes the way the volume and tone pots interact with each other, giving you an enhanced degree of functionality to the knob sweeps than you would usually get on a modern setup. This allows rolling off of the volume or tone pot without losing body to your sound.

You know you're getting a special instrument in your hands any time you pick up something built by Fender's Custom Shop team, and this guitar is sure to not only meet but exceed your expectations.

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