Fender Custom Shop announces new guitar models for 2011
(Dave Molter | Posted 2011-01-09)
The Fender Custom Shop in Corona, Calif., produces the best of Fender’s best, and 2011 will see the arrival of many new “Dream Factory” guitars and basses, including remarkable Time Machine, Pro and Custom Deluxe models.
The Fender Custom Shop pays homage to Fender’s original early-’50s workhorse guitar with the Time Machine 1953 Heavy Relic Telecaster®. Features include a lightweight ash body with a Nocaster® Blonde lacquer finish given a heavily worn “Heavy Relic” treatment, tinted one-piece maple neck with mid-’50s soft V shape, maple fingerboard with 9.5” radius and 6105 frets, vintage-design 1950s Telecaster pickups, three-way pickup switch with modern wiring, single-ply black Bakelite pickguard, vintage-style hardware, center pocket tweed case and certificate of authenticity.
The Time Machine 1958 Relic Stratocaster® evokes the first-decade glory of the model, with features including an alder body with a Relic lacquer finish in distinctive Chocolate Three-Color Sunburst, tinted one-piece maple neck with mid-’50s (10/’56) large V shape, maple fingerboard with 9.5” radius and 6105 frets, Master Design pickups with five-way switching, single-ply parchment pickguard, vintage-style hardware, blonde case and certificate of authenticity.
Sounds would be wrung from the Stratocaster in the 1960s that its designers and its players of the 1950s couldn’t possibly have dreamed of. The Custom Shop honors that turn-of-the-decade instrument with the Time Machine 1960 Relic Stratocaster with Matching Headstock, in period-correct Fiesta Red, Shoreline Gold and Surf Green. Features include an alder body with a Relic lacquer finish, lightly tinted maple neck with large C shape and matching headstock, rosewood fingerboard with 9.5” radius and 6105 frets, 1960 Stratocaster pickups with five-way switching, three-ply mint green pickguard, vintage-style hardware, wing string tree, brown hard-shell case and certificate of authenticity.
The Custom Shop honors the mid- to late-’60s era of the Telecaster with the Time Machine 1967 New Old Stock (NOS) Telecaster and 1967 Relic Telecaster models, both of which feature an alder body with respective New Old Stock and Relic lacquer finish treatments (in Candy Apple Red and Aged Vintage White), maple neck with large C shape, round-laminated rosewood fingerboard with 9.5” radius and 6105 frets, vintage-design 1967 Telecaster pickups, three-way pickup switch with modern wiring, three-ply parchment pickguard, vintage-style hardware, wing string tree, black hard-shell case and certificate of authenticity.
The 2011 Closet Classic Pine Stratocaster Pro and 2011 Closet Classic Pine Telecaster Pro are truly remarkable guitars, with bodies fashioned from 100-year-old pine and a distinctive Closet Classic lacquer finish that imparts the look of a long-lost but newly rediscovered instrument. Both feature a lightly tinted quartersawn maple neck with a large C shape and vintage-style butt-end truss rod adjustment, round-laminated 22-fret maple or rosewood fingerboard with 9.5” radius and 6100 frets, single-ply parchment pickguard, custom bridge, blonde case and certificate of authenticity. The Stratocaster model features Master Design pickups with five-way switching, a no-load middle/bridge tone knob, and Gotoh® Magnum™ locking tuners; the Telecaster model features a Twisted Tele® neck pickup and new Master Design Twisted Tele bridge pickup with three-way switching and modern wiring, and a Greasebucket™ tone control circuit. Both instruments are available in Aged White Blonde, Black and Copper.
The 2011 Custom Deluxe Stratocaster is loaded with modern refinements not found on other Stratocaster guitars, including a Custom Classic tremolo bridge, locking tuners, Master Design pickups and a carved heel for easier access to the upper frets. Other features include a lightweight ash body with urethane finish (in Candy Red, Candy Blue and faded Three-Color Sunburst), satin-finished AA birdseye maple neck with large C shape, 22-fret maple or rosewood fingerboard with 9.5” radius and 6105 frets, five-way switching, three-ply parchment pickguard, blonde case and certificate of authenticity. Its sibling, the 2011 Custom Deluxe Stratocaster Flame Top, shares those features and finishes but boasts the additions of a scorching AA flame maple veneer top and an equally scorching Seymour Duncan® TB-11 humbucking bridge pickup.
The 2011 Custom Deluxe Telecaster has the traditional look of a Telecaster guitar and is wired for true tone aficionados. Its bright, bell-like Twisted Tele® neck pickup and Seymour Duncan® BG-1400 Lead Stack® bridge pickup deliver maximum output and hum cancellation, and three-way switching with modern wiring and Greasebucket™ tone control circuit deliver even greater tone control. Other features include a lightweight ash body with access heel and urethane finish (in Aged White Blonde, Dakota Red and faded Two-Color Sunburst), satin-finished AA birdseye maple neck with mid-’50s (10/’56) large V shape, 22-fret maple or rosewood fingerboard with 9.5” radius and 6105 frets, black Bakelite pickguard, custom bridge, staggered tuners, blonde case and certificate of authenticity.
Prices and pictures of the new Custom Shop models were not immediately available but are expected to average $3900 USD.
From a press release.
