Fender Custom Shop Roundup May/June 2025
Published on 28 May 2025
Would you like to see some incredible guitar eye-candy?
Whenever we get a delivery from the Fender Custom Shop, it’s a moment to savour. Even though we reasonably know what to expect in the packages, we’ll have waited for so long for them - often a couple of years between initial order and final delivery - that we tend to forget some of the cooler details that were agreed upon back at the start!
Well, we’ve just had a new delivery, and today I’d love to show you some of the guitars and basses that are catching my eye. Strats, Teles and a couple of really quite unusual guitars make up this roundup, so let’s get moving!
The Instruments at a Glance
Limited Edition 50s Telecaster Thinline
1957 Stratocaster HSS Super Heavy Relic Reversed Tele Headstock
Artisan Buckeye Burl Double Esquire
Mischief Maker Heavy Relic Stratocaster Surf Green Over Paisley
Bass VI Journeyman Relic Aged Shoreline Gold
63 Precision Bass Heavy Relic in Daphne Blue
Limited Edition 50s Telecaster Thinline
Now, would you take a look at this pair of legends right here? I bet your eyes have gone straight to the all-rosewood neck, right? It's a talking point, for sure, and they make these already great Tele Thinlines into something really quite special.
We have one Thinline in Aged Fiesta Red and another in Aged White Blonde, and I just cannot make up my mind about which one I prefer!
How about you?
These are both Journeyman Relics, so there aren’t any hugely noticeable dings in the finishing, but each guitar still has that patina of age that Fender do so well. The rosewood necks are chunky and yes, they add a little to the weight, but then the bodies are semi-hollow so I reckon the trade-off is fair!
1957 Stratocaster HSS Super Heavy Relic Reversed Tele Headstock
Now this one is quite the anachronism, isn’t it? Shell Pink is one of the prime 1950s colours, and I think the idea behind this super-cool 57 Super Heavy Relic Stratocaster is that previous owners (fictional, of course, it’s brand new) modified the guitar with a mismatching Seymour Duncan humbucker (complete with metal cover), and then a left-handed Esquire neck.
Of course, this is not possible, given the right-way-up logo (and the 12” radius, shhhh!), but there’s a real mojo to this one nonetheless! The lovely jumbo frets could be seen as another ‘previous owner mod’ too, and the icing on the cake is a deliciously heavy-handed relic-job on everything. I love it!
Artisan Buckeye Burl Double Esquire
And now for something completely different! Well, sort of. It’s another Thinline Tele (or Double Esquire, as this one wishes to be known), but how often do you see something like this Artisan Buckeye Burl Double Esquire?
The Buckeye burl is just stunning and sits atop a roasted pine body. This guitar will be super resonant! I love the decision to use a smaller ‘Cabronita’-style pickguard in order to show off more of that dramatically-figured top! The timber-champagne continues with AAA Rosewood for the fingerboard (round-laminated for vintage vibes) on top of the AAA Birdseye maple neck.
Handwound pickups and brass bridge saddles complete the rather splendid package. This guitar straddles that difficult-to-discern fine line between paying service to Fender’s heritage and also bringing something fresh to the table.
Mischief Maker Heavy Relic Stratocaster Surf Green Over Paisley
Another Strat with a Tele headstock? Well, yes! This Mischief Maker Heavy Relic Strat is actually a pretty different instrument to be honest, so please allow me to indulge…
This is one of those Strats that has that real ‘something’. The combination of a chunky V-profile neck with jumbo frets is something I think every guitarist should experience! It’s a lovely mix of feeling highly capable but also not overly encouraging you into shred land, which is something I find happens with skinnier necks. It’s a great combination!
I haven’t even mentioned the awesome finish yet, but I presume you’ve checked out the pictures already! Yes, the guitar does have an entire Paisley finish underneath that gorgeously reliced Aged Surf Green, so I reckon years of playing will reveal more Paisley!
Bass VI Journeyman Relic Aged Shoreline Gold
Now then, how about this? A Custom Shop Bass VI? This is not something you see every day, is it? We actually have a couple of these for sale, one in 3-tone Sunburst and this gorgeous thing in Aged Shoreline Gold.
The Bass VI is one of those ‘secret weapon’ instruments: it starts off as a curiosity and then ends up appearing on most of your recordings! There’s something very refreshing about a Bass VI, because you can approach it as a bassist or a guitarist, and each approach is equally valid. The low-slung twang of a Bass VI is able to cover a lot of sonic ground, and also fill a lot of space in traditional band setups.
As with historical Bass VI models, this one has a 30” scale length and a set of Jaguar pickups (three though, instead of two). You can think of this as a special baritone guitar, but it might be more useful to consider it a versatile bass, since it is tuned E-A-D-G-B-E, the same low pitches as a standard bass and a full octave below a guitar’s standard tuning.
This model has beautiful checking on the gold finish, and all of the tonal options that the Bass VI switching and tremolo offer normally.
If you are ready to go into uncharted musical waters, then this Custom Shop masterpiece is the one to go with!
63 Precision Bass Heavy Relic in Daphne Blue
I’ll finish things off with an excellent 63 Daphne Blue Precision Bass. This one is vintage all the way: a curved 7.25” radius, quartersawn oval-shaped maple neck, handwound 1962 pickups… it’s everything you want a P-Bass to be, basically.
Well, it’s everything I want a P-Bass to be, anyway! The P-Bass has more than proven itself as an essential foundation block of any bassist’s technique, and this is just a great example of one, with a fantastically aged finish and cool period details. I love the look of the bridge and string covers, but I also love the fact that they can be removed, making the bass more versatile.
If you have this, the subject of 'basses' is basically sorted altogether for you!
A Whole Host of Incredible Instruments
So much work, care and attention have gone into these Fender Custom Shop guitars and basses. I love how we’re able to see flairs of imagination on display, from reversed headstocks to overpainted Paisley finishes. These all bear the hallmarks of the Fender legend, but push and pull that heritage into a collection of instruments that aren’t afraid to be a little different.
Which is your favourite?
Click to View our Collection of Fender Custom Shop Guitars and Basses
