Models include Roasted Poblano Strat and Paisley Jazzmaster Journeyman Relic.
’55 Dual-Mag Strat Journeyman Relic in Super Faded Aged Sherwood Green Metallic (Image credit: courtesy of Fender)
Summer NAMM 2019: The Fender Custom Shop has introduced four new models to its Limited Edition Series—the ’55 Dual Mag Strat Journeyman Relic, the Vibra Tele Heavy Relic, the Paisley Jazzmaster Journeyman Relic and the Roasted Poblano Strat Relic.
Each Custom Shop Limited Edition instrument is only available for a short time and is crafted, according to Fender, “with many features reserved only for certain artists and master built instruments.”
The ’55 Dual-Mag Strat Journeyman Relic boasts a two-piece ’55 select ash body, a one-piece rift-sawn maple neck with a “ ’54 Soft V” profile and a maple rift-sawn fingerboard. Pickups are a trio of Custom Shop Hand-Wound Dual-Mag Strat single coils.
Other features include Strat 1/2 Blender wiring, a Greasebucket tone circuit, an anodized gold pickguard, “transitional” ’54 pickup covers, ’55-style knobs and vintage-style synchronized tremolo and tuning machines.
Available finishes are Super Faded Aged Sherwood Green Metallic, Super Faded Aged Candy Apple Red and Aged White Blond.
‘50s Vibra Tele Heavy Relic in Aged Black (Image credit: courtesy of Fender)
The ‘50s Vibra Tele Heavy Relic boasts a two-piece select ash body with a thin Heavy Relic lacquer finish, a one-piece tinted quartersawn maple neck with a“ ’57 Soft V” profile and a one-piece tinted quartersawn maple fingerboard with 21 narrow-tall frets.
The guitar features a ‘50/’51 Blackguard single-coil bridge pickup as well as “two of the most popular, time-tested Tele mods”—a Bigsby B5 vibrato tailpiece and a Seymour Duncan Seth Lover humbucker at the neck.
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Other features include Dual Stack HS Tele wiring and dual-stack 250k and 500k potentiometers, three-way switching, a period-correct Black phenolic pickguard and vintage-style tuning machines with the Fender logo.
Available finishes are Aged Butterscotch Blond and Aged Black.
Paisley Jazzmaster Journeyman Relic in Black (Image credit: courtesy of Fender)
The Paisley Jazzmaster Journeyman Relic sports a two-piece alder body with a nitro lacquer finish that’s been given the Journeyman Relic treatment. It’s matched to a rift-sawn maple neck with a “ ’62 Jazzmaster C” profile and a rosewood fingerboard with 21 narrow-tall frets.
There’s also a pair of hand-wound Jazzmaster pickups connected with vintage-style wiring, a rhythm/lead circuit, a RSD Jazzmaster bridge and vintage-style tuning machines.
Available finishes are Black Paisley and Pink Paisley, each with a matching nitro-finished paisley pickguard.
Roasted Ancho Poblano Strat Relic in Wide-Fade Two-Color Sunburst (Image credit: courtesy of Fender)
As its name implies, the Roasted Ancho Poblano Strat Relic features a roasted alder body with a Relic lacquer finish. It’s matched to a fat “ ’59 C” roasted rift-sawn maple neck topped with a 21-fret rosewood fingerboard.
Other features include a trio of Custom Shop Hand-Wound Ancho Poblano Single-Coil Strat pickups (RWRP middle pickup), five-way switching, a vintage-style synchronized tremolo bridge and tuning machines and a three-ply Black pickguard.
Available finishes are Aged Olympic White, Aged Black and Wide-Fade Two-Color Sunburst.
For more information on the new Limited Edition Series guitars, head over to the Fender Custom Shop.
Rich is the co-author of the best-selling Nöthin' But a Good Time: The Uncensored History of the '80s Hard Rock Explosion. He is also a recording and performing musician, and a former editor of Guitar World magazine and executive editor of Guitar Aficionado magazine. He has authored several additional books, among them Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck, the companion to the documentary of the same name.
