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Fender Custom Shop® Telecaster® Thinline Relic, Two-Tone Sunburst - Sold

This Fender Custom Shop® Telecaster Thinline guitar is a custom specification and is very much a one-off release. Here is the actual Thinline history:

In late 1968, Fender introduced the Telecaster Thinline. Much like Gibson's 335, the Thinline has a solid center with hollow "wings" and a single "F" hole. Apparently Fender’s supply of lightweight ash was drying up. Fender looked for ways to use readily available, but heavier grades of ash for the Telecaster. Their solution was to hollow out portions of the body to reduce weight. The body was routed from the back on each side of pickup assembly creating hollow "wings". A thin panel was then glued on the back. TheThinline was offered with either a natural finished ash or mahogany body. In 1969, a three tone sunburst finish was also offered as an option. Also in 1969 the maple cap fingerboard gave way to a one piece maple neck with the back "skunk stripe". Finally in late-1971, the Telecaster Thinline was outfitted with a pair of Fender’s new humbucking pickups and it remained unchanged in the Fender line until it was discontinued in 1980. There have been a number of reincarnations of the Thinline since and there are several models in the line today.

But this guitar is different. It has an early '50s style neck a Nocaster headstock, a thin nitrocellulose finish and the pickups are custom-wound. These features were pulled together by Custom Shop Master Builder Chris Fleming. No heavy wood has been used in this construction and the guitar ends up being wonderfully light, weighing in at just around 6lbs. It has been beautifully aged: the wear is relatively light, with a modest amount of checking. It is not true for all Thinlines but the hollowing of this body actually adds bottom end so it has a fuller sonic range than you would get from a regular Telecaster guitar. Check out the many detailed pictures and then come in and play the guitar for yourself.

Here are the exact specifications:

• Relic
• Thin skin lacquer finish
• Early '50s 'U' shaped neck
• 9.5" fingerboard radius
• Medium jumbo frets
• Semi-hollow premium ash body
• Neck pickup - Custom Shop "Twisted" Tele
• Bridge pickup - Custom Shop Hot Nocaster
• Custom Shop hardshell case
• Custom Shop leather strap
• Custom Shop certificate of authenticity

Sale Price: $3 500.00

Freight cost (contiguous USA): $35.00

Reference #: 3682

Call or email us for an in-hand description of this item. 212 353 1775

Hard-shell case included. For orders shipping to a confirmed address in the contiguous USA, buy this now with your credit card or PayPal using our secure server. For all other orders, please contact us. We must provide individual shipping quotes for all overseas destinations.