1996 Fender Custom Shop Stratocaster Cunetto Relic John Cruz

In the newly founded Fender Custom Shop in 1987, John Page and Michael Stevens primarily did work for discerning customers from professional musician circles who valued the appropriate quality of the materials used and the craftsmanship. In the early 1990's, Fender exhibited an aged Stratocaster and Telecaster each at the NAMM show, which immediately led to a large order volume. The so-called Custom Classic Series was born and four Stratocaster versions were available from 1995 to 1998: 50s and 60s Stratocaster, some with Relicing and those without signs of use. In the years that followed there were a few variants of this. The 1950s version corresponds roughly to an early 1957 version, the 60s to a 1961 version.
The restorer Vince Cunetto took over the relic work, a total of around 4,000 instruments were made during this time, not just Stratocaster or Telecaster.

John Page used only the best available wood for these instruments and the Custom Shop team, which has now grown to almost 20 employees, built them with a large proportion of manual work. One of these employees was John Cruz, who later became well known as a Master Builder and did the final inspection of the neck on our instrument. In the Relic versions, the custom shop logo of the time was stamped into the back of the headstock. The non-Relic version - called NOS from 1998 - received an overpainted decal.

The present Stratocaster reflects on the one hand an early 1957 model with an assumed '56 neck profile, which becomes progressively stronger. The neck is made of solid sycamore maple, which shows slight reflections of bird's-eye maple and always lies perfectly in the hand. The fretboard radius is comfortable at 9.5'' and allows all playing styles to be skilfully realized with the medium frets.

The two-piece body made of swamp ash is joined in the middle and has a perfect typical 50s blonde finish that has been aged very discreetly and convincingly. Heavy Relic versions were not in demand in the mid-1990s and would not have met Vince Cunetto's requirements either. Here it was still about realistic restorer's craft.

100% nitrocellulose lacquer has been used on the neck and body, which you can see and feel. So the guitar vibrates it's a delight and our Stratocaster indeed looks like a played but always appreciated instrument from the 50's. The hardware is gold-plated and you are holding a beautiful Mary Kaye model in your hands.

Even when played unamplified, the dry, round and percussive sound of this Stratocaster is immediately noticeable. The pickups reinforce this impression and the complete set sounds very balanced, throaty and powerful. Having matured for a good quarter of a century, this guitar is convincing across the board and does not rule out the prospect of an interesting collector's item with potential for appreciation.