Fender Custom Shop 1961 Relic Telecaster, Aged Olympic White

Full Description

Time Machine Series by Fender

The Time Machine series is Fender's own shrine to the heritage and legacy of the pioneers who made the company what it is today. The Fender Custom Shop has reached new heights of craftsmanship with its acclaimed Time Machine series, artfully crafting meticulous replicas using the same techniques and tooling used to create the originals all those years ago.

The Custom Shop proudly introduced an expanded selection of premium ''relic'' finishes that have been designed to replicate the worn-in vibe of a genuine vintage instrument. The Relic finish delivers an authentic worn-in wear of a guitar that has experienced many years of regular use. Each finish is specially devised to capture the authenticity of the original-era, with unparalleled breathability and resonance.

Hand-Wound Custom Shop Texas Special Pickups

The Custom Shop guitar features a set of hand-wound Texas special single coil pickups, producing a high output with a warm, clear authentic telecaster tonality. The Telecaster’s 3-way switching, modern wiring, and Greasebucket tone circuit helps keep the tone consistent regardless of volume, ensuring highs roll off without sacrificing gain and providing a versatile performance, perfect for on stage or in the studio.

A Classic Alder Body

The 1961 Relic Telecaster features a classic alder body, producing a resonant and balanced tone with plenty of clarity. It also features a comfortably light weight, letting you play all night long without straining your shoulders. The tonewood provides a decent amount of sustain, creating bright, sizzling highs, excellently rounded lows, and beefy mids. Fender have used alder as their tonewood of choice since the 1950s, as the balanced response and slight upper middle definition makes it perfect for rock and blues playing.

The Custom Shop 1961 Telecaster comes complete with a stunning aged Olympic white finish and nitrocellulose lacquer, imparting the appearance of years of ageing and use without the need for heavy wear and tear.

Maple Neck and Rosewood Fingerboard

The guitar's solid maple neck provides bright tonal characteristics, tightening up the sound and giving it plenty of cut. The maple delivers a powerfully sharp punch when the strings are hit hard whilst still retaining its clarity to allow each note to sing. The rosewood fingerboard’s naturally oily surface allows any stray overtones to be absorbed into the pours, allowing for a natural fundamental tone. The rosewood also provides the Fender custom shop guitar with warm, soft tones whilst ‘furring up’ the maple’s natural sound. The neck and fingerboard combination provide sparkling, sizzling highs, a thick, firm low end, and an open midrange with a snappy attack.

String Thru Construction

The Telecaster incorporates a string-thru body construction to provide improved tonality and sustain by transferring vibrations and resonance from the strings to the body. The vintage style bridge features threaded steel barrel saddles that keep the strings stable, allowing the guitar to be played harder without it going out of tune.

Bone Nut

As well as offering the perfect tone and look, the Fender custom shop 1961 telecaster also features a bone nut, adding to its classic aesthetic. The main purpose of using a bone nut compared to modern materials is the bone offers excellent resonance and sustain. A bone nut also delivers a very balanced tone, and will last a long time. In addition, this type of nut naturally self-lubricates and helps the guitar to stay in tune for longer.

Unrivalled Quality and Craftsmanship

Since 1987, the skilled craftsmen in Fender's Corona, California ''dream factory'' have been producing guitars that are known worldwide for their artistry and unrivalled quality. Ranging from the fine to the fantastic, whether it's building a new custom instrument from the ground up or modifying an existing one, their best is the best. These wonderful instruments have been crafted for, and with the input of, the world's finest guitarists such as Clapton, Springsteen, Cray, Gilmour, Townshend, Wilko Johnson and Stevie Ray Vaughan, to name just a few.

The History of the Telecaster

The rich history of Fender guitars begins with the Telecaster. An indispensable instrument, the Telecaster was the world's first successful solid-body electric guitar. Perfected after two years of development - and a name change or two - the Telecaster debuted in February 1951 and began its steady ascent towards the stage and studio. Ingeniously engineered with the ability to be heard both loud and clear, it was a marvel of simple design elegance and workhorse functionality. It is perhaps a fitting testimony to its essential original rightness that the Telecaster design has hardly changed ever since.

Specifications

• Model Number: 1561790805
• Series: Time Machine

Body & Bridge

• Body: 2-Piece Select Alder
• Shape: Telecaster
• Bridge: 3-Saddle American Vintage String-through-Body Tele
• Construction: Bolt-On
• Finish: Nitrocellulose Lacquer
• Colour: Aged Olympic White

Neck & Fingerboard

• Neck: Quartersawn Maple
• Profile: Mid ‘60s Oval “C”
• Scale Length: 25.5" (648 mm)
• Fingerboard: AAA Rosewood
• Radius: 9.5” (241 mm)
• Frets: 21 6105 Narrow Jumbo
• Inlays: Vintage Clay Dots
• Nut: Bone
• Nut Width: 1.650" (42 mm)

Electronics & Hardware

• Bridge Pickup: Custom Shop Hand-Wound Texas Special Single-Coil Tele
• Neck Pickup: Custom shop Hand-Wound Texas Special Single-Coil Tele
• Controls: Volume, Tone
• Pickup Switching: 3-Position Toggle

  • Position 1: Bridge Pickup
  • Position 2: Bridge & Neck Pickups
  • Position 3: Neck Pickup

• Special Electronics: Modern Tele Wiring w/Greasebucket Tone Circuit
• Tuning Machines: Vintage Style w/Fender Logo
• Control Knobs: Knurled Dome
• Saddles: Threaded Steel Barrel
• Pickguard: 3-Ply Tortoiseshell
• Hardware: Chrome
• Strings: Fender USA, NPS (.010 - .046 Gauges)
• Case Included: Deluxe Hardshell
• Included Accessories: Strap, Certificate of Authenticity