John Cruz constructed this Masterpiece for us and it is every bit as awesome as we expected! We waited quite awhile for this guitar to show up and it was certainly worth the wait! An expertly aged guitar finish in Faded 3 Tone Sunburst and dressed in a 1 Ply Black Phenolic pick guard presents one of the sweetest looking guitars we have had in some time.
Built as a 1962 Strat, it has a 9mm AAA Rosewood Fingerboard that sits on top of a Rift Sawn Maple Neck that has been shaped to a 60’s Oval C shape. The fretboard radius is 7.25” and the fretboard is loaded with Vintage Fret Wire. Classic Fender neck width of 1.650” and 25.5” scale length give you a nice taught feel on the strings but with a manageable width and depth. At the 1st fret we have .790” and at the 12th we have .930” with a somewhat fuller feeling taper than some skinny necks.
A set of Fender Custom Shop Hand Wound John Cruz LTD Pickups are installed but these have the extra special secret sauce: being hand wound by Josefina. These single coil’s warm and sweet for days. Even the bridge pickup is smoother and sweeter than say a Texas Special, by far. These lower output single coils fair beautifully through pedals also, especially gainy pedals. A master volume, 2 tone controls and a 5 way switch are all present. As the build sheet suggests, we originally ordered these with the Texas Special set but swapped them for the JC LTD's after falling in love with them.
The Fender Custom Shop has always taken the best of the best employees and helped elevate them to the highest possible level. With Jay Nelson, Master Painter at the CS and Josefina winding the best pickups ever to bare the Fender name, then having John Cruz select the woods, hand carved a neck, roll the edges, dress the frets, literally handle ever other step along the way ensures you get the absolute pinnacle of the Fender Brand.
The Music Gallery has been a Fender Custom Shop dealer since their formation in 1987. We keep a bevy of about 50 Fender Custom Shop instrument in inventory at all times. Whether you're looking for Stratocaster's, Telecasters, Precision Basses or Jazz Basses we are able to help you design or find whatever the special instrument you're looking for may be!
- Fender Custom Shop
- Masterbuilt by John Cruz
- 62 Stratocaster Relic
- 3 Tone Sunburst
- Weighs 7 lbs 8 oz
- 1 Ply Back Pickguard
- John Cruz Signature Backplate
- Alder Body
- Rift Sawn maple Neck
- AAA Rosewood Fingerboard 9mm
- 60's Oval C Shaped Neck
- 7.25" Radius
- Vintage Frets
- 1.650" Nut Width
- 2.200" Butt Width
- .790" at 1st Fret
- .930" at 12th Fret
- Handwound John Cruz LTD Pickups
- Master Volume
- 2 x Tone Controls
- 5 Way Switch
- Original Hardshell Case
- Certificate of Authenticity
- UPC 885978903429
The Music Gallery
(847) 432-6350
Musicglry@gmail.com