Got This One Out of Storage...

LReese

Sausage Gravy
I just finished getting this Strat ready for action - Been a while since I played standard Frets.

Its a '96 Cunetto era relic Strat. Only thing not stock is a superswitch, had a bad run of luck with the regular ones, wired up like your typical Suhr - Tone disabled on #2 and 4, Neck/Middle tone, Bridge tone. Very small neck carve, but still comfortable.

Its got some divots on the 1st few frets, I was able to burnish a lot of it away, but I'm probably doing a fret dress on the next string change.

Its a good one! Its got that thing you only get out of a Fender. I have a couple of Suhrs that ooze mojo too, but in a much more polished way.

I was able to get the action down to .060" ish at the 21st fret, though because it was too low I raised it to .070"

On with the pron!

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Re: Got This One Out of Storage...

yum.

love the flamey headstock. how bout some pics of the back of the neck?
 
Re: Got This One Out of Storage...

gorgeous.

what's the fretboard? looks like ebony/too dark to be rosewood.
 
Re: Got This One Out of Storage...

Incredible! :)

What's the idea behind the switching? Keep 2/4 as bright as possible while still allowing a tone control on the middle?
 
Re: Got This One Out of Storage...

Yep - its to keep those positions brighter. Its not a biggie to me. You'll hear more difference if you're a George L or Bill Lawrence cable user.

When I ordered my last Suhr, I specced Bridge on the bottom tone and the other 4 positions on the upper tone.
 
Re: Got This One Out of Storage...

Well, I recently moved the lower tone to bridge only, and that brightened up the neck/mid position. I like the wide open middle for now, but in case that changes I'll keep this in the back of my mind.
 
Re: Got This One Out of Storage...

The mid to late 90's was a golden era for Fender and Gibson. As you know, the Cunetto Custom Shop guitars are among the most collectible CS Fenders. Yours is worth over $3500 because it's a good color and the relic job looks natural........what Cunetto was known for.

An excerpt from Wiki.

An offshoot of Fender's forays into replicating the look of heavily worn instruments was the introduction of the Fender Relic series in the late 1990s. This idea came as guitarist Keith Richards of the British rock group The Rolling Stones told the Custom Shop that some replicas he commissioned for a Stones tour 'looked too new', stating: "Bash 'em up a bit and I'll play 'em". His statement catalyzed with the presence of Vince Cunetto and Jay W. Black at the start of the Custom Shop. Cunetto guitars have since become known for their high level of quality and artistry among the Custom Shop Relics. The Relic models aspire to perfectly replicate vintage instruments, both in terms of the parts, design and finishes used, as well in the varying degrees of wear typically found on a 40-50 year old instrument. Fender tarnishes metal parts, purposely marks and scratches paintjobs, yellows and cracks plastic parts, and cigarette burns marks in the headstock (some players allegedly timed jam sessions by cigarette burn time). "Relic=ing" is controversial among players who question the logic of paying a premium for a deliberately damaged instrument. Fender offers grades of wear in the relic series, from light to very heavy 'wear', and has since introduced a line of 'NOS' (new old stock) and 'Closet Classic' instruments that employ period-correct parts, designs and finishes but do not feature faux abuse, weathering, or aging.
 
Re: Got This One Out of Storage...

gorgeous.

what's the fretboard? looks like ebony/too dark to be rosewood.

Occasionally you'll get a piece of rosewood that is just that beautiful. Though I'm sure that part of it is the lack of proximity in the picture - a close up would likely reveal the typical rosewood grain characteristics. In the right light, the rosewood board on my Strat looks far darker than your typical rosewood board:

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Re: Got This One Out of Storage...

If this thing ends up in the classifieds, and I don't get a PM, it will be very bad.

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