Fender Custom Shop is renowned for building one-of-a-kind guitars that are art, and the new limited edition Fender Violinmaster Tele Relic has just been announced. The guitar is inspired by the world-renowned violinist Joshua Bell and his legendary 1713 “Gibson ex-Huberman” Stradivarius violin. “Wow” is an understatement when you see the fantastic design and understand how Principal Master Builder, Yuriy Shiskov, captured the essence of the 300-year-old violin.
“When I started designing the Violinmaster, I had to include as many violin elements in the guitar as possible,” said Fender Custom Shop Master Builder Yuriy Shishkov. “With a Telecaster ‘backdrop’ platform, I was able to include violin-style arched carved profiles in the back and top, violin purfling, a newly designed “floating” bridge, strings tailpiece, and most importantly a proportionally scaled copy of the Huberman Stradivarius violin “F” Holes.
“In the “Violinmaster” concept, I wanted to “blend” the violin and classic Telecaster guitar together without adding something that a guitar player wouldn’t ever need. For me, innovation is a never-ending process which is a part of my job. It helps me make something better, new, or even the impossible.”
The gorgeous Fender Violinmaster Tele Relic comes with a Fender Patent Pending Floating bridge and four interchangeable saddles. It even comes in a small “violin case” made from leftovers of the body’s “core” flame maple. The violin “F” holes are proportionally scaled Huberman Stradivarius violin holes, and it includes a newly designed “round-lam fingerboard.”
The Custom Shop Fender Violinmaster Tele Relic’s features include:
• A hollow-carved archtop and back construction
• Italian “Stradivari” spruce top and Bosnian Flame Maple back and neck
• Fender patent-pending floating bridge with four interchangeable saddles, ranging from bronze, ocean coral, buffalo horn, and ebony
• Custom ebony/brass tailpiece
• Copied and proportionally scaled Huberman Stradivarius violin “F” holes
• Newly designed round-lam fingerboard
• Headstock adjust with no skunk stripe
• 22-fret neck
• Violin purfling with an internal soundpost
• Three passive Piezo pickups and two humbuckers for a wide range of tone options
• Hand-polished European violin varnish finish on the body and neck
The Fender Custom Shop will be releasing up to 60 built-to-order Fender Violinmaster Telecaster guitars globally; the word is that this aspirational beauty will sell for $30,000. Better start looking for loose change in your couch (and Swiss Bank Accounts) now!