Fender Custom Shop LTD ’61 Stratocaster Heavy Relic Guitar
The Fender Custom Shop LTD ’61 Stratocaster Heavy Relic Guitar captures everything great about a vintage classic, but with a few performance-minded modern refinements. The resonant alder body and stunning quarter-sawn maple/rosewood neck are finished in the Custom Shop’s Heavy Relic for a well-worn vintage vibe. Three overwound Fat ’60s pickups deliver all the bell-like highs and round lows you could ever ask for, and the reverse-wound reverse-polarity middle pickup helps to deter 60-cycle hum in the 2 and 4 positions. Plus, the modernized narrow-tall frets in a 9.5-inch radius offer a serious playability upgrade, making this Custom Shop Strat the best of both the vintage and modern worlds.
Three single-coils nail the classic Strat sound
When channeling the sound of one of the first-ever mass-produced 6-strings, special attention needs to be given to the electronics. That’s why Fender equipped the ’61 Stratocaster Heavy Relic with three spectacular Fat ’60s single-coil pickups to deliver the spank, twang, and grit of an original model. The overwound design gives these pickups extra low-end punch for an added shot of high-octane attitude. Spec’d with beveled alnico 2 magnets, Custom Shop Fat ’60s pickups capture the sound of aged pickups from the early ‘60s — warm lows, rich midrange, and mellow highs — for sumptuous vintage-inspired tone. The middle pickup is also reverse-wound reverse-polarity (RWRP) for hum cancellation in positions 2 or 4.
‘60s Oval “C” profile neck
There’s a reason why the “C” profile neck has served as the standard Fender neck shape for decades — it’s simply a great middle-ground neck style that all types of players have come to love. That being said, the “C” has quite a few minor variations, and if you’re a player that likes a slightly chunkier neck, you’ll love the Fender Custom Shop Limited-edition ’61 Stratocaster Heavy Relic’s ‘60s Oval “C” profile. This profile offers all the comfort of a standard “C”, but with a greater heft to better fill out your hand. Plus, this vintage-style neck is outfitted with a variety of modern appointments: 21 vintage-tall frets in a modern 9.5-inch radius make anything from open chords to high-register bends a breeze.
The Heavy Relic treatment delivers real-deal visuals
The Fender Custom Shop’s Heavy Relic treatment starts with a period-correct nitrocellulose lacquer finish. Nitro finishes — standard back in the day — are significantly thinner than today’s polyurethane finishes, allowing the guitar to breathe. Relic’d guitars are then put through the aging process to give you an axe that looks and feels like it’s seen decades of frontline action. The process creates instruments that are spitting images of the originals. Without sneaking a look at the neck heel stamps, you’d be hard-pressed to distinguish the Fender Custom Shop ’61 Stratocaster Heavy Relic from the real deal.
Fender Custom Shop Limited-edition ’61 Stratocaster Heavy Relic Electric Guitar Features:
- Fender Custom Shop Heavy Relic finish for a worn-in feel right out of the box
- Resonant and lightweight alder body
- Sturdy roasted quarter-sawn maple neck in a comfortable ’60s Oval “C” shape
- Dark rosewood fingerboard loaded with 21 narrow-tall frets in a 9.5-inch radius
- A trio of Custom Shop hand-wound Fat ’60s pickups deliver an overwound take on classic Strat tone
- Vintage-style Fender tuners make string changes a breeze
- Rock-solid Vintage Synchronized Tremolo bridge
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