Fender Custom Shop Cunife Blackguard Telecaster W/ Bigsby Heavy Relic Aged Butterscotch Blonde

Limited Edition Cunife Blackguard Tele HS with Bigsby

The “Blackguard Tele” has been and still is to this day Fender's most popular guitar, and for good reason.  It represents where it all started for Fender, and has because the go-to guitar for countless artists, and one of the most desirable vintage guitars out there.  The Limited Edition Cunife Blackguard Tele Heavy Relic combines elements of the classic Blackguard Tele with custom features including the cunife neck pickup and a Bigsby B-5 bridge and tailpiece making for a tantalizing combination that would inspire any player.

Developed by Seth Lover, who joined Fender in 1971, the “cunife” pickup features a two-coil humbucking design that uses 12 cunife screws connected on the bottom by a steel plate. Cunife is an alloy named for its three constituent metals—copper (Cu), nickel (Ni) and iron (Fe)—and in instrument pickups it produces a distinctive “hi fidelity” sound with rich bass and clear treble, and they never lose their attack or definition when pushed. The Custom Shop used samples of the original magnets to develop these pickups over a two-year period, and brought the material back exactly as it was 40 years ago. 

The guitar features a two-piece select ash body, one-piece tinted rift-sawn maple neck with 11/’56 off-center “V” back-shape, and 9.5”-radius fingerboard with 21 narrow tall frets. Hand-wound ’50-’51 Blackguard Tele (bridge) and wide-range cunife (neck) pickups give you an amazing tone, completed by three-way switching and Dual Stack HS Tele wiring. Additional features include a single-ply black phenolic pickguard, Bigsby B-5 bridge and tailpiece for classic vibrato tone, vintage-style tuners, bone nut and disk string tree. Also includes deluxe hardshell case, strap and certificate of authenticity.

Come to Club Fender to experience it today, or make it yours right here.

• Weight: 7.9 lbs
• Serial # CZ555520
• Model # 9231012534
• Series: Time Machine Limited Edition
• Color: Aged Butterscotch Blonde
• Finish Package: Heavy Relic
• Body: 2-Piece Select Ash
• Body Finish: Nitrocellulose Lacquer
• Body Text Notes: Dirty Checking
• Neck Material: Rift Sawn Maple
• Neck Finish: Nitrocellulose Lacquer
• Neck Tint: Dark
• Neck Shape: 11/56 Off Center V
• Fingerboard Radius: 9.5"
• Number of Frets: 21
• Frets Size: Narrow Tall (6105)
• String Nut: Bone
• Nut Width: 1.650" (42 mm)
• Depth at 1st Fret: .915
• Depth at 12th Fret: .975"
• Position Inlays: Micarta Black
• Decal: Vintage Silver Fender Tele
• Neck Text Notes: Dirty Neck, Heavy Fret Ghosting
• Bridge Pickup: Custom Shop Hand-Wound 50 - 51 Blackguard Tele
• Neck Pickup: Custom Shop Wide Range Cunife Humbucker
• Wiring: Dual Stack HS Tele
• Controls: Master Volume, Master Tone
• Pickup Switching: 3-Position Blade: Position 1. Bridge Pickup, Position 2. Bridge and Neck Pickups, Position 3. Neck Pickup
• Bridge:  Bigsby B5
• Hardware Finish: Chrome / Nickel
• Tuning Machines: Vintage Style
• Pickguard: Single Ply Black
• Control Knobs: Knurled Chrome
• Included Accessories: Deluxe Hardshell Case, Strap, Certificate of Authenticity

 

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