Somewhat of a rare find is any Fender Custom Shop 'Cunetto' Relic Strat - This 1960's Relic replica dates back to 1997 according to the date on the butt end of the neck - Some players and collectors may already be fully aware of the link between the early days of the Fender Custom Shop and Vince Cunetto, but if you require an update, or indeed need to find out more, then I suggest you click here to view a very good link with some detailed history - Myth or legend, fact or bull, which ever way you look at it, Cunetto Custom Shop Relic Strats are now very rare and indeed highly collectable

Looking into the finer details of this Strat, we find the JB initials in the neck pocket cavity of the body, whilst on the butt end of the neck we find the name John Cruz, (the legendary Master Builder) which can only add to the guitars desirability - Later, as production runs increased, names on the body parts soon finished as the production line became more of a 'team built' process - The butt end of the neck indicates a 97 date of birth based on the 04 08 97 hand written info - The guitar receives the usual 'relic' stamps and transfer on various 'parts' of the body/neck

The 3 ply pick guard even has the full metal screening plate on its under side, just like on a good old Strat - The Custom Shop pick-ups measure 5.7k for the neck pick-up, 5.6k for the middle pick-up and 6.1k for the bridge pick-up, all of which puts it nice and firmly in the vintage category - All wired via the 5 way switch - Note, this Cunetto Strat has the 9.5" fingerboard radius, which is a feature that most of the current Custom Shop models have, to improve the playing performance - Whilst not a correct period vintage feature, this Strat has a delightfully figured birds eye maple neck - Whilst this is available today as an upgrade, on ether Custom Shop or Master Built models, many Cunetto models had it as standard, as I'm sure in the early days of the Fender Custom Shop Relic models, they would use such features to add more desirability to their models - Remember in the 90's, these relic replicas where a new line in the Fender category and represented the pinnacle of the Fender vintage product range - As such they certainly ensured that the guitars had to stand out from the crowd - Included in the price is a Fender vintage replica tweed - We have also just acquired a new/copy of the Custom Shop certificate