A Relic for the Ages
If you're a fan of early '60s Stratocasters, the Fender Custom Shop 1960 Relic Stratocaster is as close to the genuine article as you can get without selling your Bimmer. The '60 Strat Relic serves up the legendary spank, sparkle, and vibe of the original — without an exorbitant investment and endless visits to your luthier. This axe may look a half-century old, but it sports a supremely playable oval C-profile maple neck and slab rosewood fingerboard with a modern 9.5" radius and 6100 jumbo frets. Spec'd with superb-sounding hand-wound pickups and custom wiring, the Fender Custom Shop 1960 Relic Stratocaster sates your senses with its impeccable tone and addictive playability.
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Real-deal visuals: the Heavy Relic treatment
Fender Custom Shop's Relic treatment creates instruments that are spittin' images of the originals. Without sneaking a look at the neck heel stamps, you'd be hard-pressed to distinguish the Custom Shop 1960 Relic Stratocaster from the real deal! A period-correct nitrocellulose lacquer finish gives the guitar a timeless, classic look, while the relic process gives you a guitar that looks like it's spent time on the road. Nitro finishes — standard back in the '50s — are significantly thinner than today's polyurethane finishes, allowing the guitar to "breathe." Nitro finishes not only look vintage-y wonderful; they also enhance the instrument's tonal qualities.
Period-correct slab rosewood fingerboard
Fender's Custom Shop luthiers spec'd the 1960 Relic Stratocaster with a slab rosewood fingerboard. Introduced in mid-1959, the thick rosewood 'board would give way to a thinner veneer-type fingerboard in '62. Why is this important? Well, we know that tonewoods matter, and some guitarists — including many here at Sweetwater — prefer the sound of early-'60s Strats with the slab-style fingerboards. Whatever your opinion about the sound, the slab 'board definitely provides an additional touch of authenticity to this remarkable guitar.
Legendary Strat spank 'n' sparkle
The Fender Custom Shop's 1960 Relic Stratocaster is loaded with a trio of hand-wound Fender Custom Shop 60/63 single-coil pickups that deliver all the legendary spank 'n' sparkle of an original 1960 Strat. From chimey, glassy cleans to chunky grind, these pups deliver the tone. And the middle pickup is reverse-wound/reverse-polarity, for humbucking operation in switch positions 2 and 4. The '60 Relic Strat also features Fender's Tone Saver Treble Bleed circuit, which allows all your tone to shine through, no matter where you have your volume pot set.
It's all about playing feel
The Fender Custom Shop '60 Relic Strat looks totally vintage, and it plays like butter. If you savor the feel of a played-in guitar with a just-right neck and perfect fretwork with spot-on intonation, Sweetwater has your axe right here! The '60 Relic Strat sports 6100 jumbo frets and a 9.5" radius so you can bend up high without fretting out. It's the best of old and new!
Fender Custom Shop 1960 Relic Stratocaster Features:
- Relic lacquer finish
- 2-piece select alder body
- Tinted quartersawn heavy relic maple neck with oval C profile
- Slab rosewood fingerboard with 9.5" radius
- 21 #6100 jumbo frets
- 3 hand-wound 60/63 single-col pickups
- Reverse-wound/reverse-polarity middle pickup
- 5-way pickup selector switch
- Vintage Modified #2 wiring with Tone-Saver Treble-Bleed circuit
- 3-ply nitro mint pickguard
- American Vintage floating vibrato bridge/tailpiece
- Vintage-style tuning machines with Fender logo
- Bone nut, wing string tree with metal spacer
- Includes Fender Custom Shop Certificate of Authenticity
