Fender Custom Shop 1952 Telecaster Heavy Relic Faded Aged Nocaster Blonde Master Built by Austin MacNutt

Since 1987, the Fender Custom Shop—affectionately known at CME as “The Dream Factory”—has grown to a band of over 50 veteran guitar artisans who take Leo Fender’s legacy to its utmost heights by bringing dream guitars and basses to life.

Taking an amp builder’s sensibility to instrument design, Leo Fender’s modular approach emphasized swappable components. This foundational design philosophy portended a future that we now inhabit, in which it’s not only easy to replace individual parts and maintain the longevity of each instrument—but, players also have the ability to customize every component of an instrument, giving them innumerable options when dreaming up their ideal guitar.

Here at Chicago Music Exchange, we’ve collaborated with the best minds at Fender to build the best instruments from top to bottom, tirelessly going over each spec to ensure that we offer you the best of what Fender has to offer—from neck shaping and fretwork to finishing and aging.

As a result of our ongoing collaboration, the instrument you see here is, of course, much more than the sum of its parts. Imbued with history, alive with the spirit and devotion of those who crafted it, this Fender Custom Shop creation is brimming with intangible, electrifying elements, that add new dimensions to every playing experience.

Heavy Relic instruments embrace the full, hard-earned story of a life played loud. Where NOS captures a guitar at the moment it left the factory floor, Heavy Relic imagines an instrument that’s traveled the long road—bar stages, smoky clubs, sun-bleached festival fields—and survived it all with character intact. Expect deep wear patterns through the finish, exposed wood in all the right places, tarnished hardware, lacquer checking, and the kind of tactile patina that usually takes generations to earn.

General

Body

Neck

Electronics

Hardware