Fender Custom Shop Nocaster 1951 Heavy Relic BTB R135247

If you take a closer look at the guitar with serial number #1477 on page 143 of the Telecaster bible "The Blackguard," you'll immediately see the specifications that inspired us for the model shown here! Pictured is an early Nocaster from 1951, with all screws designed as "slot heads," in the typical bright Nocaster Blonde of the early years, and the ultra-thin varnish (one layer) that distinguishes it from the later '52 models.
Not all Fender guitars from this era had the heavily rounded 7.25" fretboard radius. Probably not a calculation, but simply due to the handcrafting process, quite a few models were made with flatter radius. Nocaster No. 1477 was delivered with a 9.5" fretboard. We've taken it a step further, and this reissue has a 12" radius. The original was refretted in the '70s and given slightly heavier medium jumbo frets, which are also used on our reissue.

According to the 1951 model, the Custom Shop luthiers were able to go wild with the Heavy Relic finish as usual. The back of the neck and fingerboard are "really worn & dirty," the body shows heavy wear down to the primer, and the armrest, which has been completely stripped of varnish, reveals the deep grooves carved into the ash wood, a typical feature we've already come to appreciate on the Masterbuilds Greg Fessler had built for us in the past. Someone in the Custom Shop had to smoke two more Marlboros to get the marks on the headstock. The aging of the single-ply pickguard is the best we've seen so far.

Electrical: The hand-wound "Loaded 51 Nocaster" pickups are among the best you can get on a top-of-the-line Tele. Instead of the original blend control configuration, a standard volume (with Tone Saver Treble Bleed) and tone potentiometer are used.

Additional notes: all slot-head screws, Tone Saver Treble Bleed, modern Tele wiring, back of neck, FB, peghead worn & dirty, cigarette burns, etc., end of frets almost straight not rounded, p. 143 The Blackguard Nocaster #1477