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Sweetwater’s Tribute to the Tele’s Early Years





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Available only at Sweetwater, the Fender Custom Shop ’52 Telecaster Relic represents a tricked-out tribute to the Tele’s early 1950s heyday. A resonant 2-piece select ash body sets this 6-string off on the right foot, loaded with period-correct features such as the 1-ply black phenolic pickguard and uncompensated brass-saddle bridge. Under the hood, you get two Custom Shop Hand-wound Loaded ’51 Nocaster pickups ? a slightly overwound take on traditional Tele sonics, packed to the brim with treble-heavy twang and a gritty, biting voice. Players who favor a chunkier neck profile will be sure to love the 1-piece rift-sawn maple neck’s 1952 “U” shape, while the fingerboard’s 21 medium-jumbo frets and 9.5-inch radius deliver all the best of modern Fender performance. It’s all wrapped up in a wonderfully worn nitrocellulose lacquer Relic finish to provide you with a played-in feel right out of the box.





Related Videos: '52 Telecaster Relic Electric Guitar - Aged Nocaster Blonde, Sweetwater Exclusive





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Before you ever plug the guitar in, the Fender Custom Shop ’52 Telecaster Relic Telecaster sings with 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. 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 the flat-sawn neck blanks. The result is a neck that is more resistant to changes in temperature and humidity. Perfect for gigging in Phoenix after a two-week residency in Miami!





Vintage-correct construction





There aren't many guitar tones as sought after as a good vintage Tele. The Fender Custom Shop ’52 Telecaster Relic gives you so many of those to-die-for features in a highly playable modern instrument that is significantly more affordable than a vintage prize. Like with the '52 Relic's ancestors, your hand will immediately feel comfortable around the tinted rift-sawn maple neck, contoured with a satisfying 1952 "U" profile that fills out your hand just right. But this instrument also has a modern 9.5-inch fingerboard radius and medium-jumbo frets for comfortable chording and string bends that don't fret out.





The Relic treatment





Though a 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. Fender offers different levels of finish distressing; the second most intensely distressed of which is the Relic treatment, which is found on the Fender Custom Shop ’52 Telecaster Relic. It starts with a period-correct nitrocellulose lacquer finish. Nitro finishes ? standard back in the day ? are significantly thinner than today’s polyurethane finishes, allowing the guitar to breathe and enhancing its tonal characteristics. Relic guitars are then put through the aging process to give you an axe that looks and feels like it’s seen decades of action. The process creates instruments that are spitting images of the originals. Without sneaking a look at the neck heel stamps, you’d be hard-pressed to distinguish the Fender Custom Shop ’52 Telecaster Relic from the real deal.





Fender Custom Shop ’52 Telecaster Relic Electric Guitar Features:


A Sweetwater Exclusive take on the Telecaster's most iconic iteration


Lightweight 2-piece select ash body deliver a balanced, resonant tone


Exceptionally stable 1-piece rift-sawn maple neck in a chunky 1952 “U” profile


9.5-inch fingerboard radius and 21 medium-jumbo frets offer a high-performance platform for comfortable chording and fret-out-free bends


Fender Custom Shop Hand-wound Loaded ’51 Nocaster pickups put an overwound spin on traditional Tele twang


Period-correct features abound, including an uncompensated 3-saddle bridge, 1-ply black phenolic pickguard, and classic vintage-style slot-in tuners


Nitrocellulose lacquer relic finish captures the played-in feel of a well-loved vintage instrument