Fender '51 NoCaster Relic

All pots, three way switch, tuners and pick ups perform as designed. The key feature of this guitar is its lack of features and its trueness to the original Nocasters.

I wish the Admin. for H/C would clarify that when you choose a rating for this category, it should be based on how the amenities of the item being perform. Not, by counting numbers of knobs.

As far as specifications; the Nocaster is true to the original design, down to the neck pocket lip.

This one is fairly light at 6lb12oz.

I have owned several Telecasters and some boutique "T" types and have played some really desireable colector Teles. My 88 AV 52 RI has been the "guitar to beat" tonewise for me over the past year, it blew away my Grosh and all other visitor teles.....until now. I just bought my Nocaster Relic.

This guitar has more clarity than my 52 RI and is much louder acousticly. I had the controls set as follows; front posistion is neck pup with volume and no tone, middle posistion is both out of phase, rear posotion is the neck pup with volume and tone.

The extra-deep U sahpe neck is part of the tone and clarity IMHO. I was worried at first that left hand vibrato/tremelo would be a thing of the past but that hasn't been a problem.

Dave at Guitar Resurrection change the wiring and performed a setup for me prior to me taking posession of the guitar, I highly recommend the folks at rez.

This is a relic model the relicing is mild and convincing on most accounts, except the the fake fretboard wear looks a bit contrived.

Great neck pocket fit.

Superb quartersawn maple neck.

Super nice one-peice ash body.

I think you could beat down a tank with one of these.

Never had to deal with Fenders CS dept.

I've been playing over 40 years, electrics for the last 10. Telecasters are perfect for me no matter what style of music Iam playing.

To me, the Custom Shop Nocasters are the cream of the crop of Telecasters.

July 2006 Fender Custom Shop Nocaster Relic. You know what it is. The best feature on this guitar in my opinion is that HUGE NECK. It's the biggest neck I've ever played and it really surprised me how comfortable it is. I have the REALLY Small hands..and I really mean small with short fingers. Imagine hands of 8 or 9 yrs old kids yep, mine just like them. I had always thought that the thinnest guitar neck'd be the best option for me but when I laid my hand on this guitar I know straight away there's something different. It just fits my palm and allows my fingers to move comfortably. I have owned a Strat with C neck, I thought it's gotta be my best choice becuase of the neck's size and a lot of guitarists say so. The Nocaster changed all that.
* I now beleive it's misleading to say small neck or flatter radius are designed for faster, more comfy playing experience. You've got to try them all to find out which one suits your best*
I play this guitar equally well as my Les Paul R0 Historic with 60s neck shape.
I can't praise it enough...really allows me to hang in there and dig the notes. Amazing!
Mine is 6lbs...just super light for a solid body! Many players from a few forums reckon Nocaster 06 model were one of the lightest batches ever produced. I totally agree with mine. 6 lbs flat on my digital scale...I'm sure they don't come any lighter than this! The wood is extremely resonat too..compare with my 52 RI there really is no comparison. Neck Maple neck on mine is slightly flamed. Just a beautiful instrument. This guitar has got everthing I want and never thought of. I've been really spoiled this time.

I mainly plays Blues Rock or Old school Rock. The muddy setting on the guitar is actually very usable for some mellow tunes. The mid position is just clean and breaks up nicely. The bridge is snappy and twangy..if I could do all those Chicken pickin' chops. I play this through Goerge Dennis Blues Beetle 15 watts. I set all knobs at 12'o clock and let it sings. A really beautiful sounding guitar. I'm sure that's because of its ligth weight body. I give it 10 here considering I only gave my LP R0 8/10 and my 56 Relic Strat 7/10 so there must be something special in this guitar. Ah....I've got the word ....Dynmic & picking sensitive...that's right.

Construction is superb. It feels solid. I bough this from a dealer on eBay. The set up was alright but I tweaked to my personal preference. "Nut was well cut!" I couldn't believe at last I found something that was expertly put together from Fender. My 56 Relic's nut was poorly cut, just too deep on G string..buzzes like mad. 10/10 again!

Tuff Dog! It will last will a prper care. Finish is thin but who wants a thick finish guitar?

Fender Dealer in Thailand is nice but sorry I didn't buy from them but they were able to answer my many silly questions.

I've been playing for a few years now. For some reasons I thought I should try this guitar so I pulled a trigger on eBay. I though if it was a dud I'd just let it go but turn out to be one of the best guitars I've owned. I got it for a very fair price too! I don't think this guitar is replacable. Each guitar is different so i don't know if I'll ever find another one exactly or better than this. I just got lucky.

standard features as any newer fender relic nocaster...mine is very light and has a huge neck....06 model...

sounds fantatstic...except i dont need the mud setting on the 3rd positions...will put a different cap to make it useful..lead pickup is fantatstic....i wont change either pickup..they run quiet too....for this price, why should you have to change them ..fender?..huh..?

soap box time...i wish somebody from fender would respond to this...i recently went into a very famous vintage/new guitar store....i picked up 3 different 'relic' strats...priced around 2600 dollars...thats for two pieces of wood bolted together...the necks on all 3 were so badly bowed that i was stunned....these were new guitars...they played like complete shite....i know good and well that a guitar never left leo fender's shop showing anything near to that terrible level of quality..he would have burned it rather than ship it.....either fender is using the worst wood possible for many of these necks or these were all stricken by the finger of god on there way from the factory.....why anyone would buy one is amazing....thats my warning.....dont ever buy one of these sight unseen.....you buy one on ebay that looks like a 'deal' and you end up with a 2 thousand dollar sway back mule.....some of the ones i saw were so bowed, that i dont see how it would be possible for a truss rod to take all the bow out....whats going on here..?..how do you make a neck that is this shitty..?.......and the other thing.....the only fender relics or closet classics that feature the real fender vintage fretboard 7 1/4 radius are the nocasters....most all the others have a 9 1/2 radius....which is nothing like a vintage fender....they are flat and dont feel right....i think fender says that they do that so they are more easy to play but thats a lie....the reason is, they are probably cheaper to make, as that way,you dont have to actually have enough talent carve a 7 1/4 radius...people dont seem to mind paying 50 grand for real old fender with the correct radius....why someone would for over 2 - 5 grand for a custom shop with the wrong fretboard radius is crazy...you might as well buy a cheap 100 dollar might mite neck on ebay and put a decal on it...and whats with this 'masterbilt' crap..?..what kind of master does it take to bolt a neck to a body..?.if the bodies and necks were good quality, then any competent tadeo gomez could pop together a lot of classics everyday on a production line...tadeo did it, he was great, but he had good parts to start with.....5 grand for a 'masterbilt' fender?..a joke......why doesnt fender use good quality necks and then they could call all their guitars 'masterbilt'....i checked out some nocasters too...3 of them had badly bowed necks...and played like hell....then i found mine...it had a big fat neck and it was pretty straight.....i had to take it home, pop the neck...put in a shim,raise the saddles and only slightly tighten the rod..its a great guitar now..like an old one.....a fender needs the saddles to be high to get the best sound and get the best feel...if the neck is bowed bad the only thing they do is lower the saddles down, whcih is missing the point...and still doesnt fix the problem....and it leaves the little adjustment screws sticking up , so you can cut your hand....why couldnt it play the correct way off the showroom..?..no wonder dealers cant sell these..they're 90 percent crap..10 percent great...maybe guys buy them to 'collect them'..pretty colors etc....i play them....i played old teles....i know how good they were....my guitar actually comes very close to an old original model...if you get one of the 90 percent that suck, then good luck....try this, ...buy one online or over the phone and tell the guy to set it up perfect and that you want a full return policy.....i bet you get almost no takers....and this is a shame...

this guitar is sound as a pound...i'd like to hit someone over the head with it...and then play 'i fought the law'....i would gig without a backup no problem....the hardware looks ok....its aged...

i would like to hear what they would say if you called them with a warped neck on a new guitar...i bet they have a list of excuses......'probably the humidity where you live'...'settled in shipment'......'thats original spec'.....etc etc....wheres the pride fender..?..even shitty cbs fender had much better quality than this,,even if their guitars weighed 12 pounds...

my first guitar was a beat up fender 50's esquire....i got it for 100 dollars...it played better than any of these reissue things...the neck on mine finally just wore out...from use...i like this one almost as much...it doesnt need any other things....i chose it because of the way the neck felt and the potential i could see in a good setup....but you probably cant buy even ONE that is totally setup correctly,,,which, for the money, is inexcusable...this is just a further example of the way people are forced and conditioned to accept less and less....and be happy with it...

Made in 1995. One of the first Cunetto relics! Early Nocaster features. The bare minimum. Nothin' fancy. But that's what you pay for!

GGrrrrrrrrrrughhhhffff!!!!! This machine will kill fascists at 50 paces! It is the most articulate, touch sensitive, barking, quacking and twanging tele I have every played! You hae to try one to appreciate. Its not like a typical tele at all!

I bought it on eBay. The set up was fine. The pickups are virtually noiseless. the windings are faultless. The finish is very lightly reliced. Not a bash job at all. I like it, because I don't have to worry about dinging it if I pick it up. It already has the hash marks. But not so many that it looks like a beer hall accident. The neck is only slightly flamed. I wish it was a little more, but some like the more "traditional" look.

Its lightweight, but solid as a rock. Another seeming impossibility that they somehow pulled off. the hardware is rocksolid, as is the rest of the guitar.

Never used them. don't plan to.

I took a gamble on this guitar after reading a lot about them. I was never so impressed with a Fender product. As it turns out, I would be willing to pay more than I did for a product this good. This baby does not disappoint! The sound is fantastic. And I now know the rationale behind owning a relic. Its very practical in its design. Meant to be played! If you want true responsiveness and tone in a Fender product, don't hesitate to find one of these!

2004 Made in America 51 nocaster relic

Great for country, classic rock, blues, punk, and I have no problem getting extreme Hendrix, Eric Johnson etc, heavy distorted lead tone with this bad boy.

The first thing I did after walking into Dave's Guitars of La Crosse, WI, I asked for a guitar stand that would fit several guitars. I picked two Fender American 52 vintage reissues, a Relic Esquire, a Closet Classic 51 nocaster, an American Standard Tele, a Mexi Esquire and a Relic 56 Strat.
I played each through a Fender Blues DeVille, and didn't touch the settings after tweaking them for a good clean sound.
The 51 Nocaster Relic's and the 59 Esquire Relic sounded the way I've heard they should from Albert Lee, Roy Buchanan, and the rest, warm treble, guts, sweetness, and a fatter neck, which to those of you convinced that a small neck equals better playing, try a big neck out, I play a lot of fast runs, Albert Lee, Steve Morse style, and the bigger neck seems less fatiguing, especially for bar chords.
The sound of these tele relic?s was so incredibly different then the other teles, louder, more meat. Finally, a bridge pickup tele sound that I could use! The other teles, the mexi esquire, American Tele, and the American Vintage Reissue Tele's were all treble, with no meat or guts. They sounded thin. Sure, I could have adjusted the amp, but give me a guitar that already has the fullness, the meat to the treble. No one wants a guitar that rips peoples heads off with high end.
I picked the 51 nocaster relic over the closet 51 because it played a bit better and the neck nitro had that aged tint already. I also loved the Esquire relic, even the top load bridge on it seemed ok, the guitar didn't lack anything in sound over the 51 relic, that is of course, except for the lack of a neck pickup. Still a great tele.
The action is higher then my Les Paul, or my American Fender Tele, because of the vintage 7.25 fingerboard, but the sound is great, and this action results in better playing for me. If you've ever heard other guitarists explain that they like the action high because of the "fight," and tone, there is truth to this. Having played for 30 years, I find that when playing a tele or strat with higher action and 10's or 11's (strings), I tend to put more feeling into my playing. Of course my finger strength has improved, and I have no problem doing steel guitar type bends, or wide Albert King blues bends with heavy strings. I can also slap on a slide and have no problem because of the higher action.
Pickups adjusted very well, neck pocket good, etc.
Oh yeah, neck pickup sounded great, and the tone control is actually a blend control for the bridge and neck pickups. I did change the cap for the third position "mud/bass/neck pickup sound" to a 22 cap, now I'm able to get the Clapton "woman tone" with distortion and a good jazz tone when clean. That was the only mod I did.

Rock solid, great for hitting the annoying drunk at a gig over the head with, and still be in tune.

The best Tele I've ever owned, and truly, the best electric I've ever owned. I've owned hundreds....

1996 Cunetto relic all the usual features. Relicing on this one is truly authentic looking, highly figured neck with no damage.

This is the dog's nuts. The holy grail of telecasters, I can't fault this one little bit for sound, everything is in there for all styles.
Control are a bit microphonic but doesn't affect anything. I have a 63 closet tele that is a bit louder and brighter. Much prefer the nocaster for tone.

This one was set up by the previous owner and was perfect. The bridge plate is slightly off as you can see the edge of the pick up rout below. Poor show from the custom shop here. Rusting is 100% in the right places. She weigh's in at 6.75 lbs, unbelievable, really feels great, you hardly know she's there. Body is one piece ash, figured neck is beautiful but hard to believe the originals were made like this.

This guitar is as hard as nails, there's not a lot to go wrong here, I recon she will withstand almost anything, doesn't go out of tune, you would only need backup for heavy rock.

Never needed support, no warrant as I bought this second hand, you won't need one, no need to buy a relic new, save your money.

I been playing for 25 years now, played just about everything, I keep going back to the Fenders and this is as good as it gets. I recently got a black relic strat which is also a great guitar. I have a 63 closet tele in CAR but the nocaster just beats it. If lost I will have to replace it. I have a 1996 cunetto Mary Kay relic, you can't beat them. I have given up on PRS, no feeling to them and the Les Paul are too limited. I now gig with a Gibson ES335 along with one of the relics through a Vox AC30 with a Mesa Boogie twin V. I can't get a better set up.

I just bought this new (i guess you can say that about a Relic...) I was in the market for an actual early Tele or Esquire and have played several recently. I can say wholeheartedly that this axe captures most of the physical and tonal mojo of those vintage artifacts. As for rating it feature-wise, I am giving it an 8 because, let's face it, t's a TELE. Straightforward, rock, blues, country, whatever, it sounds great. Just don't expect any bells, whistles, and/or integrated cupholders.

I have owned over a dozen teles or tele-like guitars over the past two decades, and this smokes them all, hands down. To me, Teles have no middle ground. They either sound great and twangy and rich and full or they sound like a banjo strung with super duper slinkeys. This has that low-end twang and amazing crack on the high end that is present, but not thin and piercing like most new teles sound to me. I run the Relic into a pedal board with a Barber Tone Press Compressor, 2 Barber Direct Drives, a Roland RV3 and an EB Volume Pedal. That goes into a Budda Twinmaster 212 and a Budda Superdrive 18 in stereo. Great, spanky, slightly grindy rhythm tone and a singing, rich EJ/Robben lead tone. The only caveat is that, as expected, the vintage wound lead pickup WILL squeal a bit at high volume. That said, the Relic KILLS!!

This is by far the best straight out of the box setup I have ever seen from Fender (and i have seen 1000s...i ran a music store for 10 years and specialized in the setup and maintenence of the guitars and amps) I haven't touched the action and I am an experienced repairman. It is a vintage-esque instrument, but even with my wide interval bends, it doesn't really have any major fret out problems. The fret work is SUPERB.

Its a tele. Good luck breaking it. As for the finish wearing off...that's kinda the idea.

Fender has always been great in the past. Not expecting to ever have to deal with them about this instrument though.

I have been playing for 20 Years and have owned over 300 guitars in that time. Of all of them, this Relic and my treasured Tom Andersons (Hollow Classic, Hollow Cobra and Hollow T) are by far the best I have ever touched. It is the epitomy of the Tele tone. Big neck, big tone, not too big a price. Compared to the price of the realio dealio, I decided to buy this and put the money I saved towards a new car. The more I play it, the more I love it.

Nocaster Relic with the usual tele features. A tele is a tele, so in my opinion there not much point in rating the features.

Well...the Relic is supposed to sound and fell like a 5o year old telecaster. I haven't played an original Nocaster, so I wouldn't know how the Relic fits the bill. However it looks the part, and that, I suspect, is the reason why it sells so well. It's a good looking guitar and it both plays and sound good too. But...
I have a '01 american tele which plays and sounds just as good as the relic.
The difference is purely cosmetic in my opinion, and that doesn't justify the Relic's pricetag.

Well set-up from the factory, and looking like shit. But hey, it's a relic........

A good workhorse. Will last forever. I s dependable.

I like this guitar because it sounds, plays and looks good. But if I lost it I wouldn't buy another Relic. I really don't see the point in paying all that exstra cash for a guitar that merely looks old and well used. I rather buy an US tele which is just as good.

Built in 2002, Custom Shop California.
It has everything it's supposed to have. It's a Tele.

Wanted to buy an American Deluxe Tele I've tried before and liked a lot .Brought my Schecter PT Tele (which is very good) and grabbed another Tele from the shop to compare. In addition I took the Custom Shop Nocaster as a reference. Kind of "don't worry, it's to expensive to even think about it"
But too soon I had to think about it.
Single notes, double stops, especially open chords, clean, distorted, amp on standby. Everything sounded so much better with the Nocaster!!!

Perfect action, perfect pitch, stays in tune perfectly.
Looks and feels like an old, well-played guitar.

It's a Tele!

Never dealt with Fender. If any problems occur,
wonderful guitarshop in Vienna (stelzhammer)

I'm a professional, playing for more than 25 years. And this is the best guitar I've ever played (at the moment i'm owning 14 guitars).
So I bought it. No regrets so far.

mine is a 2001 model. bought it new from a music store in nashville. this is guitar is very basic as it should be. no frills just plain telecaster heaven.

i've always wanted a tele but thought i would only use it on certain songs--not the type of guitar i would use all gig----i was wrong this guitar is full of rich pure fender tone. as soon as i started playing it i feel in love with it.

guitar was set up right out of the case---ready to go. it has a very comfortable feel--large neck--light weight body,and it looks ,feels ,and plays like the real thing---this is the first new guitar i ever bought---i've always played 50's fenders----

it is a well made fender guitar---what can i say----it will last forever

never had to deal with fender in over forty years of playing---that's a good thing

i've been playing for over forty years and always fender---i have a 57 strat--59 strat--61 strat--57 esquire---this guitar fits right in the mix. for smaller gigs i use a blues jr---when i need to be louder i use a bogner esctasy and plexi marshall 100---this is an excellent guitar for the money

I got one of the first issues when each store got maybe 2 .It'sMedium
weight not too light, not too heavey the neck is a true 50's neck
not the baseball bat that they are putting out now. I already had a 53 Tele and relic neck was just touch beefer. frets are decent height
for gigging and covered all material well never had to change guitars.
mine looked like they left it out in the rain, the brass barrels were green and the adustments rusted, but i'm the type of guy that if I nick my guitar I feel like I want to throw up so I loved the whole relic thing.

this guitar screams and in the right hands you can virtually play anything,a blues players dream axe. I don't play through any crap
I feel every time you use a stomp box you sell your soul, and gives the guitar a far away sound. I use a Fender Hot rod deluxe for bar gigs and a blues jr. for small rooms, coffee houses I use a fender passport 150 P.A. and run the guitar right through that.

Like discribed this is a recreation of a heavily played axe,so
either you like the relic scheme or you don't. Me I don't like to be a slave to perfection so I love relics. all things considered fit and finish is flawless.

I play only Tele's, wouldn't know what to do with all those Strat settings. I own a 53'and 67' with a maple cap neck both a feather light, the 67' is probably best Tele's fender ever made at least for blues anyway. but these guitars feel fragile compared to the no-caster. And I'm sure that they will be prying this from hands when I kick the bucket. And yes I gig without a back up all the time.

no problems ever so can't say.

Been playing 30 years, I was sold after three notes,I would try to find another old one if I could the new ones are alot different.
Love it to death, never let me down. For my needs no other guitar
cuts it. No it's a Tele all the way simple straight foward.
This isn't your dads Les Paul where you can cover your mistakes in
a wall of Humbuck. This is a guitar slingers guitar if you can't really play don't pick it up, like all Tele's it's unforgiving, and will make you look like a fool.

51 No-Caster. Bought brand new from Guitar Center in Boston for $1800. and change maybe $1900. with tax etc. Guitar resonates like nothing else. Main beef is the neck. The neck is HUGE, solid maple neck, thats difficult to get used to, and the frets need to be larger. I may change over to gibson style frets if I can deal with the neck.

Pickups sound great, bridge and neck pickups with the tone backed off sounds great. Played through a Fender Reverb Tank and a Fender Pro Jr tweed amp all nis well with life.

Guitar was flawless, played great out of the box, again it resonates like an acoustic guitar. How the heck do they do that?? And the nitro finish looks great, my re-lic had checking and some rusted parts that look cool I guess.

Its a great Maple neck Black Guard Tele you can take out and play without worrying if it will get stolen. Thin finish will probably look older as time goes on.

Been playing 25+ years, Tele Junky the past 10 years,. Have owned re-finished 50's Teles. I've had a 58 and a 54 before. This relic stands up pretty darn close to the real deal. My main complaint is the size of the neck (F'n big), and the vintage style frets. Fender should put medium Jumbos on these. Over all its quite the Telecaster.

I bought this guitar to replace the fine sounding, poor playing Japanese tele I had been playing for the past ten years. This is a Custom Shop model made in 2000, designed to look like an old beat up instrument. This was a turn off for me at first, but I quickly grew to like it. The body is very light and the neck quite chunky compared to more modern teles. The fat neck suits my hands fine, although it probably won't be to everyone's liking. Frets are the thin, low vintage type, comfortable to play, but bending can be tough on the fingers. Came with a nice thermometer shaped case with the 'poodle' lining; a nice vintage looking touch. Not a lot of features, but this isn't what you expect on a Telecaster.

Overall, the sound is great. I play this guitar exclusively through my Vox AC30 and I find this setup extremely responsive. I can go from clean to crunchy, all by varying my pick attack, without having to touch the volume knob. Lead pickup tone is meaty, with nice clear highs that cut through the band mix without being harsh. The neck pickup is dark, but in a good way. The pickups combine well giving a warm mid-tone.

The guitar was well setup when I bought it. The relic finish consists of manufactured wear which was tastefully done. Metal parts are oxidized, pickguard and neck finish are worn and there are dings all over the body, none on the back of the neck however, which would have been annoying. The bridge, while historically accurate, has just three saddles, making intonation adjustments a nightmare. I have had to compromise by setting my high E string slight sharp while the B string is flat.

This has become the guitar I play live 75% of the time. I don't have to feel guilty if I put a new scratch on the pickguard as the beast is already worn! The guitar seems to be built like a work horse, however I do wish to state, after owning the guitar just one year, the neck pickup shorted out. See section below for this sad story.

Since I bought the guitar used, I had no warranty and the Fender Custom Shop flat out refused to sell me a replacement. My local dealer pleaded with them (they wouldn't speak to me) on several occassions, to no avail. I was told this policy may change in the future. I ended up paying a small fortune for a replacement on Ebay. Needless to say, this left a bad taste in my mouth and Fender really needs to shape up in the customer service department.

I've been playing 20 years and this has become my most often used guitar because of its sound. It doesn't play nearly as well as a good Gibson, but I am very much partial to the Fender/single coil sound. I am currently considering refretting with larger fret wire and possibly making a switch to a 6 saddle bridge to address the guitars shortcomings. Price used was high, but the Custom Shop model is truly much better than any other 'standard' Fender models I've played. Would I pay $2200 for a new one? No.

This guitar was one of the early Relics with the parts age and nitro finish applied by Vince Cunnetto in his Missouri shop. The body is light as a feather. Otherwise, it's typical relic, as already described at lenght by others. Vince told me that Fender located an elderly woman that had wound pickups for Leo at Fullerton, and arranged for her to come in a couple afternoons a week and wind a few. They are potted in wax, and then 'aged' so that a lot of the wax drools out, as happens with the original guitars. Impedance measures in the range of the original pickups. The primary features to me are not the aging, which I don't care about, but the light weight body, the outstanding neck and the pickups. Having owned the originals, I can say this guitar is better than most of them were/are. Kudos to Vince and Fender.

The tone is that nice ringing Tele sound, with none of the glassy brittleness and thin sound of the later Teles. Chunky chord work, solos, even jazz are all possible, and all sound great. These were among the workhorse pro guitars of the 50's, and the recreation is the same.

The action kills on this guitar. Setup from the Custom Shop was excellant, and I couldn't improve on it. I have downgraded the fit and finish to an 8, because though I love the vintage sound and feel (light weight, great action/neck) the whole relic thing is a bit contrived for me.

These guitars are workhorses, and the basic instrument will be solid as a rock. Reliability is rock solid. Again though, the aging that is done with the Relic process will effect the long term durability of the metal parts and finish. If well played original 51's that haven't been beat look as worn as they do, pre-aging on the Relics will only exaggerate that. I have to downgrade for this.

Fender's current management knows how to spell CUSTOMER, and it shows all the way down the line in how the employees deal with the customers. I have had nothing but positive dealings with Fender, and for me that goes back over 40yrs, and spans multiple management teams.

I was around to play the originals, and have owned them over the years. This guitar shows imagination, and it does indeed capture the playing experience of the original instruments. The features here that matter are the playability and the tone. I'd play a canoe paddle if it sounded like this and played as well. If I had it stolen I would find another to buy. I don't keep as many guitars around as I once did, and part of that is that I've found that quality and not qunatity are what it's all about.

I just purchased my 2nd Nocaster. The 1st was a 96 ,blond relic, which sounds and plays amazing.I had seen a picture of a 2 tone sunburst in a fender telecaster book and I always liked the way they looked. I saw one on ebay coming from Englund about a year ago. So I started watching to see if there were any more of these. I found out they made a limited run of these for a German dealer.To make a long story short one popped up on ebay and I purchased it.This one is better than my 96. This one is a 97.Similar necks not as big as the new ones. But all tone top to bottom. And sweet to look at.

Fat hollow tone , which doesnt get that thin 70's tele sound.I can get a killer blues to rock tone out of it. I play through a Demeter or a BF vibrolux.These pickups combined with the light ash body and chunky neck make a great combo.

I bought both used from different people and had to do very munor adjustment to string height.it plays like butter.

Ionly bring 1 ax I could live with this. And I always bring 3.

NA

All my gear is vintage, Gibson 335,LP special , 62 strat.If it was stolen I'd use my other one and buy another.

This is a '51 Nocaster NOS version, not the relic. Made July 2002. It has a 3 way pickup selector switch, with one volume one tone control.

I owned a '52 reissue Tele and this one is much better. Especially the neck. The neck is fatter than the '52, but the nitro cellulous is no where near as think. And it is not sticky like the '52.

The finish on the '52 neck reminds of the finish on some bar, where the owner imbeds quarters into it to make people think someone left money behind ... 'know what I mean?

The 3-way pickup selector works differently than other Tele's:

In the lead position, the tone control is actually a pan control between the bridge and neck pickups. Go from Twang to Surf sounding.

In middle position, the neck pickup is on with no tone control

In the forware position, the neck position is on with no tone control and highs rolled off (worthless position).

Comes with 2 cases: Molded plastic (but top otvh) and a dinky tweed (like the original '51 case)

I use this guitar at home, but I play all kinds of music. I mostly use a Marshall DSL-401 all tube combo.

The sound is just splendid. It is bright and accuentates the steel sound of the strings. Although the bridge pickup produces that signature Tele "twang", it is smooth and buttery, not that cheap sounding twang of a low cost Teles.

Like I said, the neck is thick and fat. I thought I woul dnot like it. But a 1/2 hour and wow, what a difference. I like it! I can find notes and chords easy now.

The finish on the neck is surpurb. Beautiful custom shop finish. It is not as dark tint like a '52 Tele, a little whiter.

The body is beautiful. Like the neck, a little lighter.

Even though this is a reissue, based 51 Tele specs, you can tell it has Fender custom shop workmanship.

Never had a problem, never had to call.

I have been playing for 40 years now. I own a PRS Custom 24, PRS Custom 22 and have a Player Strat on order. I have owned a 1970 Gibson SG, a Fender Amer Deluxe Strat and a Fender '52 reissue Tele.

This is one find instrument. I plugged it into a Line6 Flextone II and it actually made that amp sound good. And I think Line6 products suck. It sounds really good thru a Marshall tube or FEnder Twin Reverb.

I would not hesitate to recommend this Fender Custom Shop to anyone.

The cases would not be my first chioces - the dinky looking tweed and the molded case. I would prefer the larger rectangular tweed case like the one that comes with the '52 tele. But, they work for me.

I would buy another one if it was stolen. Hands down.

21 Frets, fat semi worn in curley maple neck, two pickups, semi-beatup body, one tone, one volume, 3 way switch. Weighs 7 lbs

Made in 2001.

Really pretty low on features but it has all of the features I want so it gets a 10.

Sounds like the perfect telecaster. Twangy, but not high and piercing on the back pickup. Very evenly balanced with both pickups on. You can play jazz or whatever you want on the neck pickup.

I bought mine sight unseen over the internet and it arrived perfectly set up with .009s which is what I normally use.
I think I really lucked out because I had played two other Nocasters, (1 relic and 1 NOS) at both MARs and Guitar Ctr and they both didn't play anywhere near as well as mine.
The setups at both stores were horrible and as the guitars both had .010s, I had a hard time doing any bends. Normally 10s don't make that much difference but mine is really easy to do country steel type bends.

As for the finish, it's purposely beat up which is kind of whacky but that's the way it comes. I wish they would put the relic neck on a NOS because that's what really feels so great on these relics.

This is the simplest design of a guitar that there is and you can really abuse these guitars. They take a lickin and keep on tickin.

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing for almost 40 years and have had both a real 52 and 53 tele that I sold very cheaply in the 70s. This guitar is really exactly like those guitars. I'm telling you that this guitar is every bit as good as those guitars. The curley maple neck is probably better and the pickups on this guitar may be better. Obviously it's not worth as much as those guitars are today but I probably wouldn't feel comfortable out gigging with those guitars either.

If you find the right reissue nocaster you will really have a guitar identical to one made in the early 50's.

A short comment about these compared to the 60's relics teles and strats: First of all I really like the 60's relics but they'll never be as authentic as the relic nocaster because real 60's strats and teles used brazilian rosewood which fender doesn't use anymore, at least on the run of the meal time machine guitars.

This is a black one with lots of lacquer checking but little actual wear, the certificate says Relic but I think it's actually a Closet Classic since it has a CC serial number. Lovely birdseye maple neck with minimal wear, big neck and medium to lightweight body that balances just right.

Sounds beautiful with that bloom to the sustain that only a really good Tele has. The controls are excellent, the whole tone is very responsive and the volume and tone controls interact gorgeously.

Bought used but (to my certain knowledge) had only a few hours' play on it. Excellent action, fine piece of work. Quite why the "relic" process means they have to fit horrible, little, low frets is beyond me. I've played 50s originals with their original frets and, yes, they had narrow frets but not as low as this! This is a serious problem that makes string-bending a chore. I'd like to have it refretted it but as it stands I'll sell it on rather than spend out more money.

Tough old guitar. They've overdone the lacquer-checking and with a bit of serious playing the finish will start to fall off this guitar. The low frets make it a no-no for me as a stage instrument. It's ideal for chord work or for a lounge jazz player.....just not for me. I wouldn't gig it.

No experience.

I've been playing for 30 years and have hundreds of guitars. This is one of the best-sounding and sweetest looking Teles I've found. Unfortunately, even my original 1960 Tele with "well-played" frets is easier as a string-bender than this. If it were to be stolen I'd count myself unlucky as I'll be selling this guitar as fast as I can find a buyer! Definitely a bedroom instrument, fun to own but unsatisfying as a gigging tool.

This is the "Relic Version of the Fender "Nocaster", purchased "almost mint" and completely unmodified as finished at the Fender Factory.

I own three Telecasters, and borrowed a 1955 model from a friend. This is every bit as wonderful to play as the 1955 Model. The vibe and feel are virtually identical. I have a new (2001) American Tele, whic is somewhat heavier and certainly pleasant, but the Nocaster, out of all of my guitars, is the one I reach for first. The classic "twang" that I grew to love about the Teles of old is here!

It's like putting on your favorite jeans. This is a beautifully made guitar with just enough "distressing" to look the part of a 50-year-old, but tight enough to be played with confidence. Every detail was attended to. I can play for hours and it just feels right.

Despite looking like it was made in 1951, there is a solid "feel" that instills confidence. I would never play the "real" 1955 Tele the way I do this one, and perhaps it's because I know that the Nocaster is not one of a kind and valued at "car money" prices. I would not hesitate to play the Nocaster anywhere.

All my dealings with Fender are great. I have never needed service, but they are there and a friend to a "collector".

I have been playing off and on for 30 years. I own 4 Les Pauls and a Ric 330 also. I would replace this Nocaster with another just like it. If you are thinking about buying any Telecaster, you owe it to yourself to try one of these pups!

Got this guitar new. Not entirely sure of the year - maybe 1996.
This guitar has the great early 50's blond finish - everything is distressed, right down to the rusty bridge. The neck is a very nice flamed maple with a yellowed nitro lacquer finish. It came with the tweed case and a handful of other things - strap, cord, etc.

It has what I would call the classic Tele sound. It is everything I expected. The bridge pickup has all the high end you need to shatter the glassware, but growls nicely when you turn things up. The neck pickup has a guttural boom to it that I love.

The action felt different from any guitar I'd ever played - like I had owned it forever and it was dialed in perfectly. A friend of mine who owns a Broadcaster played it and said it felt just like his. I thought he was being polite until I played the Broadcaster myself. The 'feel' between the two guitars was incredibly similar. The Custom Shop did a fine job recreating this guitar.

Very durable. No complaints.

N?A

This is the best electric guitar I have ever owned.

Mine was made in Feb 1997. It is the same as the other Nocaster Relics in these reviews. Mine came with a single tweed case with red/orange fluff interior. The strap compartment is in the middle of the interior. It has been carefully "reliced" and most of the work is very tasteful. From my view it is a very convincing piece. (The closest thing that I have owned to this was a 1972 blonde/maple/whitegard tele.) When I brought the guitar home to test out, my wife thought I was nuts. Guys, I am blessed. I am married to a beautiful blonde that nods approval to almost any six strings that I wish to bring home. That-is- until she saw this guitar. She was not impressed by the factory aging that came as an accessory with this guitar. I am sure she would have approved of a '52 butterscotch/ black guard reissue. This guitar however, for my wife was a stretch. My six year old daughter said it was plain old "ugly." In spite of the female reaction to it, my wife allowed me to purchase it. ("YES!!")
I play in church every week and also with a band called the "Guitar Woodies." We play almost every weekend and then some. I probably have
one of the best guitar jobs that a non-professional could have. The pay is good, and we are working on a CD. G.Woodies have been together for about seven years. I have been with them about four. Check out our web site. OK- features? After playing 35 years of almost any kind of music that you can name... (rock, classical, theatre, christian, gospel, jazz,country swing, Pop,funk,soul, blues..name it,I 've played it!) I choose the tele-style guitar for 75% of my work. This is the best FENDER tele I have ever played. G&L asat classic are more consistant and better than most Fender tele's I have played. INCLUDing the old ones. Features are minimal on this guitar, but that is one of the things that makes it a great guitar. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)

The most accomplished guitarists I listen to usually choose a good OLD instrument. Some of the tonal charachter is added as the guitar ages. (This does occur on poly finishes also, but it is somewhat slower. You can speed the aging of a poly finish by a little judicious buffing with some rubbing compound. Gently guys!) I have to admit that this guitar is special. Obviously some other gentlemen on this page feel this way also. I got mine for $1350.00 or about half of what you'd pay for a new one. How does it sound??? Like a tele should plus some of the complexity of tone that normally comes with select,aged instrument. This one is easy to spend hours playing.My body reacts heavily to great guitar sound. It actually makes my mouth water. (very pavlovian) Time for some pizza.

This guitar drives most novices nuts. They don't "get it." It is a guitar for more experienced players and professionals. The subleties of a great instrument are not to be found by someone plugging into a boss metal zone. (Or most of the digital "craplifiers.") I don't claim to be Eric J or Danny G. (I'm close, though...probably would give Phil Keaggys'head a turn.)But you can't really want an instrument like this until you understand how to play pretty clean and clear. Back on track...ok the guitar plays well if you play correctly on your fingertips. You won't complain about a fat neck if you hold your hand in front of the guitar like Mel Bay book says. (some exceptions re: if you are doing the "little wing" thing with your thumb. I

Unless the aging process caused catastrophic failure of some weird kind. I cannot see how you couldn't depend fully on this instrument. Ten years of playing will give a better picture. (Hindsight)

N/A

I have played since 1966. I have a spare bedroom full of guitars and amps,accesories. My favorite guitars are Pre-BBE G&L ASAT Classic Signature guitars. I own eight of them. I also have an assortment of acoustics, classical & Jazz guitars, strats,teles and Pauls. I am not rich, but remember, I have been playing and collecting for 35 years! Lots of Fender classic amps, Vox reissues, Gibson GA 20, Marshall JTM 45,have you ever heard of a Teleno or a Flot-A-Tone?? Got em! Next amp will probably be a Fuchs Audio Mod or some Deluxe tweed remake. This guitar has attained "most favored" status in a short time. Keep up the good work Fender. Too bad a great guitar has to cost so darn much. However they always have. When I was young the good ones in the music store were too expensive. Now I have learned to buy good used guitars and save about half. God Bless you all and thanks for reading my squabble.

This is the custom shop relic and it is made by the Fender Custom Shop in California. It comes with two cases, but I only received the smaller old-style case from my dealer (bastards!). Of course then again I bought it slightly used (11 months old).

This guitar is as close as most of us will ever come to own the "real thing." Why pay $20,000 anyway? Save the bucks and you get, for me, and I have actually played a vintage '51 Nocaster, a better guitar - yes, I did say BETTER! Trust me. Save your cash.

Features? What features? You get cool custome vintage sounds that only a Nocaster of ash body can supply you. You get the nifty ash tray cover that we all remove and pout in the case forever - or lose on our original Fenders.

The best sounding guitar I own and I won a ton of 'em! Best sounding guitar I have ever played.

It is a relic and it is supposed to look like a 1951 guitar that has been kept in great shape (c'mon - it would be 50 years old by now!) I love the warm honey butterscotch look. Neck is nice and fat!!!

It is a Custom Shop baby!

Not had to make a call.

The features are standard for the Telecaster range: two single coil pickups, three-way selector and volume & tone controls.

The neck is incredibly thick. Having small hands I've spent my whole guitar-playing life choosing slim necks because I didn't think I could handle anthing big. What a mistake !!. I find runs, bends and chords so easy on this... an absolute delight.

It comes supplied with two hard-cases, one old style tweed and another more substantial hard-shell which is really more suitable for transporting any distance. There is a small but very nice accessories pack including a lead, picks and leather strap.

I wouldn't want 'loads of features', it's not why I bought this guitar. But it has exactly what it should have so I give it top rating.

I can't believe the range of sounds it is possible to get out of this guitar !.

I have a Gibson Lucille and a new USA Fender Deluxe with the noiseless pickups, but I might as well throw them away because all the sounds I bought those guitars for are right here in this one.

I play Blues and Jazz through either a Booker British Class A valve amp or a Line 6 Flextone II Plus and with this guitar everything is there from Wes through BB to Muddy

Right out of the case I didn't have to adjust a thing. I thought at first that the action may be a little too low for me, on the bends in particular, but not so; after a few days of playing we bonded !!!

This guitar would have survived the Titanic. In fact, if I'd been on board it would probably have saved my life.

This is one for the professionals, you can play it in any situation and it won't let you down.

I have had no need to contact anyone.

I've been playing guitars, basses and drums for over 30 years and I've been through many of each in that time, Les Pauls, Lucilles, Strats, Thumbs, Stingrays, but if ever I lost this one I wouldn't hesitate to replace it.......I would just hope the others were as good..........and there's nothing I would change.

It's raw, it's basic and it's beautiful !!

my costom shop tele is beautiful with a lighter than usual ash body done relic style and a flamed maple u-shaped neck with a costom compound radius fretboard with the frets well rounded on the ends. The finish on the body is the honey blonde of the early fifties and the neck is finished with an antique lacquer effect that feels supurb to the hand, unlike most relics mine has a neck that hasn't been beat upon no nicks or any imperfection and the fretboard is raw maple. the pickup in the front is a warm lipstick and the back is an extra hot tele pickup with an aged cover, the three postion switch along with the tone knob can make a huge aray of sounds. the bridge is the one with three brass saddles each with, two adjustment screws for action and one screw for intonation. the strings run through the body for excellent sustain. this tele is a sweetie and why not it only cost $2800.

it can rock when you turn on the gain or can be very clean good for all styles of music.

well it is a relic so it has a certain look to it but it is superb in setup

it is costom shop so you know that it is built well