- Jun 30, 2010
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- 222,128
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- musician/artist/owner - Gildaxe
A bit long but an interesting read. Rumor was that Keith Richards in the mid-'90s wanted a new Tele he would use live to look as old as his beat-up vintage Tele and the FCS 'relic'd' it for him for visual effect, creating the 1st "relic'd guitar" - ummm, read the real story below.
The Real Relic Story and Rumor Clarified...
Posted by Vince Cunetto on November 05, 1999 at 15:40:39:
Since there seem to be questions out there regarding the who, what when and were of the Relics, I
thought I'd do my best to try to set the story straight in a nutshell. I'd be happy to respond to any
posts that come up regarding anything in here!
The concept of the Relics came out of conversations between my good friend Jay Black (Custom
Shop Master Builder at the time) and myself in late 1994 after I'd sent him a couple of "aged"
blackguards for a friend's old Tele. Jay and I had known each other for years, so he was familiar
with my work making repro Tele bodies and pickguards, as well as the "aged" Fender replicas I'd
built for myself.
Jay and I reasoned that if people bought distressed leather jacket, jeans and reproduction antiques,
why not guitars? I sent one of my personal "relics" to Jay, who showed it to John Page. Being the
bright guy he is, John saw the potential of the project and gave us permission to go ahead with
building some samples to see what we'd get. I started receiving parts and painting the prototypes in
my garage!
By the end of December 1994 or early January '95, I'd finished a couple of prototypes that Page
liked. He took a risk on this "wacky" idea and, without telling anyone, gave Jay and I approval to
show them at '95 NAMM. We finished the final show prototypes in January '95 in just in time for
NAMM.
With a great deal of surprise to many Fender folks, The two Relic prototypes were specially
presented "center stage" under custom-made glass displays. It was a blast for John, Jay and myself.
We smiled more than several times when we'd hear dealers comment on "how cool it was that we
included real old Fender's as a tribute" as their reps toured displays with them and wrote orders. It
was even more fun when we'd see the dealer's jaws drop as the rep would reply "Cool old guitars,
huh? How many would you like?"
Now we had to figure out how to make them, and keep them "real" on a production basis.
After a few failed attempts at Custom Shop and a serious business proposal, I convinced John that
the best thing for the project would be for me to set up a company as an outside vendor to specialize
in doing nothing but the Relics. This wasn't such a stretch for Custom Shop, as they were used to
using vendors for special engraving, aluminum bodies, carvings and a lot of the intricate "artwork"
that went into many of the Custom Shop pieces. We saw the artwork required for the Relics as
being no different'
On a handshake with John Page, in April of '95, I moved my family to my wife's hometown of
Bolivar, Missouri, near Springfield, to set up shop under the banner of Cunetto Creative Resources,
Inc., the consulting company I operated in Colorado. I found a building, set up booths and
equipment and hired and trained employees. We began to receive raw bodies, necks and parts at
the end of May 1995. The first shipment from the new facility, 20 Relic Nocasters, went on the truck
on June 27, 1995.
As a matter of course, we'd receive raw necks and bodies and all parts from Custom Shop. Our
work involved complete prep, finishing and cosmetic distressing of necks and bodies. We also aged
and distressed all hardware, pickguards and metal parts. We got it down to a 20 piece per week
schedule, and every Friday we'd lay out the week's guitars on a large, 24-foot padded table.
Every single part on the guitar was then matched for visual consistency and appearance. We'd match
necks to bodies, wear on guards to wear patterns on necks, hardware to body wear and on and on.
Each part of each guitar was then labeled so that they'd be sure to be assembled as a unit after being
packed and sent to Corona for final assembly.
Relic order numbers continued to grow, as did the number of custom and one-off orders. In May of
'96, we moved the company to a larger, better-equipped facility and continued production. As
efficiency and employee training improved, so did our shipping numbers. We also upped the number
of customs and one-offs produced.
Production continued in the new facility. Over the course of '97, as orders for the regular Relics
began to stabilize and taper, we began work on a new idea for the Relics, which we dubbed "The
Relic Classic". The concept was simple: a nicely "aged" guitar in good shape. We'd had requests for
pieces like this in custom orders and had done a few prototypes for Custom Shop, which were well
received. In late '97, the "Relic Classic" became the "Closet Classic", but Fender decided that it
was a little late to get it ready for January '98 NAMM. Plans had already been made to re-tool and
change the specs of the "Time Machine" Custom Shop guitars over the course of '98, and the new
Relic model would be put off until later.
By the latter part of '98, Custom Shop had seen a lot of changes. John Page had left to run the
Fender Museum. Because of new Custom Shop management and corporate policies, it was decided
that the Closet Classics would be done in-house at Custom Shop. We continued to do the majority
of the "standard" Relics during '98, although there were a few done "in-house" as Custom Shop
honed their "relicing" chops.
By early '99, things at Custom Shop had changed quite a bit, and I had a pretty strong feeling that
they'd changed enough that using an outside vendor didn't make sense for Custom Shop. In March
of this year, I got a call from Mike Eldred, the new Custom Shop manager, informing me that they
intended to do all Relics in-house after we finished the then-current back order. That was it, and we
shipped the last "Cunetto Relics" in May of 1999.
From June of '95 to May of '99, 860 "line" (not including custom) Nocasters were shipped to
Fender, with a total of 44 Nocasters shipped from us from January to May of this year.
RELIC NOCASTER SPECS: Original Series:
- 9.5 neck radius
- Wider gear spacing
- Slightly inaccurate body shape
- Serial Number stamped on neckplate
- Hot bridge pickup (Broadcaster) around 9.5 to 10 k
- Phillips screws
- Pressed jackcup
RELIC NOCASTER SPECS: New Series
- 7.25 radius
- Correct peghead shape and gear spacing with stepped-off tuner holes
- Accurate body shape with "hump" in cutaway
- Serial number beginning with "R" stamped on BRIDGEPLATE. The new bridgeplate system
started over at "R0001" and YES, these numbers were duplicated with neck plate numbers that had
already been used.
- Slotted screws and milled jackcup (to the best of my knowledge)
RELIC RUMOURS CLARIFIED:
RUMOR: Relic production began in January of 1995: FALSE. The first production batch of Relics
shipped from my facility on June 27, 1995. They probably shipped to dealers from Custom Shop by
mid July.
RUMOR: Until this year, the Relic "aging process" was not done at Custom Shop, but farmed out to
an out of state vendor: TRUE
RUMOR: Those Relics were painted with a true old-fashioned 100% top-to-bottom nitrocellulose
lacquer finish: TRUE and FALSE… The color coats of the metallics and and some plain custom
colors were DuPont LUCITE acrylic lacquer (just like the later, post "DUCO" originals!) over a
nitro basecoat and finished with a nitro clear coat. All blonde and sunburst finishes, as well as Fiesta
Red, Oly White and Daphne Blue are 100% Nitro.
RUMOR: Relic body wood was specially baked to improve dryness and resonance: FALSE
RUMOR: Relics were dragged behind trucks to age them: FALSE
RUMOR: The ultra-thin relic finish has a great deal to do with the tone of the instruments: TRUE
RUMOR: Many famous rock and country stars use Relics regularly: TRUE… but we can't tell you
who they are!
There you have (some) of it folks! Post any other rumors and I'll clarify as many as I can.
The Real Relic Story and Rumor Clarified...
Posted by Vince Cunetto on November 05, 1999 at 15:40:39:
Since there seem to be questions out there regarding the who, what when and were of the Relics, I
thought I'd do my best to try to set the story straight in a nutshell. I'd be happy to respond to any
posts that come up regarding anything in here!
The concept of the Relics came out of conversations between my good friend Jay Black (Custom
Shop Master Builder at the time) and myself in late 1994 after I'd sent him a couple of "aged"
blackguards for a friend's old Tele. Jay and I had known each other for years, so he was familiar
with my work making repro Tele bodies and pickguards, as well as the "aged" Fender replicas I'd
built for myself.
Jay and I reasoned that if people bought distressed leather jacket, jeans and reproduction antiques,
why not guitars? I sent one of my personal "relics" to Jay, who showed it to John Page. Being the
bright guy he is, John saw the potential of the project and gave us permission to go ahead with
building some samples to see what we'd get. I started receiving parts and painting the prototypes in
my garage!
By the end of December 1994 or early January '95, I'd finished a couple of prototypes that Page
liked. He took a risk on this "wacky" idea and, without telling anyone, gave Jay and I approval to
show them at '95 NAMM. We finished the final show prototypes in January '95 in just in time for
NAMM.
With a great deal of surprise to many Fender folks, The two Relic prototypes were specially
presented "center stage" under custom-made glass displays. It was a blast for John, Jay and myself.
We smiled more than several times when we'd hear dealers comment on "how cool it was that we
included real old Fender's as a tribute" as their reps toured displays with them and wrote orders. It
was even more fun when we'd see the dealer's jaws drop as the rep would reply "Cool old guitars,
huh? How many would you like?"
Now we had to figure out how to make them, and keep them "real" on a production basis.
After a few failed attempts at Custom Shop and a serious business proposal, I convinced John that
the best thing for the project would be for me to set up a company as an outside vendor to specialize
in doing nothing but the Relics. This wasn't such a stretch for Custom Shop, as they were used to
using vendors for special engraving, aluminum bodies, carvings and a lot of the intricate "artwork"
that went into many of the Custom Shop pieces. We saw the artwork required for the Relics as
being no different'
On a handshake with John Page, in April of '95, I moved my family to my wife's hometown of
Bolivar, Missouri, near Springfield, to set up shop under the banner of Cunetto Creative Resources,
Inc., the consulting company I operated in Colorado. I found a building, set up booths and
equipment and hired and trained employees. We began to receive raw bodies, necks and parts at
the end of May 1995. The first shipment from the new facility, 20 Relic Nocasters, went on the truck
on June 27, 1995.
As a matter of course, we'd receive raw necks and bodies and all parts from Custom Shop. Our
work involved complete prep, finishing and cosmetic distressing of necks and bodies. We also aged
and distressed all hardware, pickguards and metal parts. We got it down to a 20 piece per week
schedule, and every Friday we'd lay out the week's guitars on a large, 24-foot padded table.
Every single part on the guitar was then matched for visual consistency and appearance. We'd match
necks to bodies, wear on guards to wear patterns on necks, hardware to body wear and on and on.
Each part of each guitar was then labeled so that they'd be sure to be assembled as a unit after being
packed and sent to Corona for final assembly.
Relic order numbers continued to grow, as did the number of custom and one-off orders. In May of
'96, we moved the company to a larger, better-equipped facility and continued production. As
efficiency and employee training improved, so did our shipping numbers. We also upped the number
of customs and one-offs produced.
Production continued in the new facility. Over the course of '97, as orders for the regular Relics
began to stabilize and taper, we began work on a new idea for the Relics, which we dubbed "The
Relic Classic". The concept was simple: a nicely "aged" guitar in good shape. We'd had requests for
pieces like this in custom orders and had done a few prototypes for Custom Shop, which were well
received. In late '97, the "Relic Classic" became the "Closet Classic", but Fender decided that it
was a little late to get it ready for January '98 NAMM. Plans had already been made to re-tool and
change the specs of the "Time Machine" Custom Shop guitars over the course of '98, and the new
Relic model would be put off until later.
By the latter part of '98, Custom Shop had seen a lot of changes. John Page had left to run the
Fender Museum. Because of new Custom Shop management and corporate policies, it was decided
that the Closet Classics would be done in-house at Custom Shop. We continued to do the majority
of the "standard" Relics during '98, although there were a few done "in-house" as Custom Shop
honed their "relicing" chops.
By early '99, things at Custom Shop had changed quite a bit, and I had a pretty strong feeling that
they'd changed enough that using an outside vendor didn't make sense for Custom Shop. In March
of this year, I got a call from Mike Eldred, the new Custom Shop manager, informing me that they
intended to do all Relics in-house after we finished the then-current back order. That was it, and we
shipped the last "Cunetto Relics" in May of 1999.
From June of '95 to May of '99, 860 "line" (not including custom) Nocasters were shipped to
Fender, with a total of 44 Nocasters shipped from us from January to May of this year.
RELIC NOCASTER SPECS: Original Series:
- 9.5 neck radius
- Wider gear spacing
- Slightly inaccurate body shape
- Serial Number stamped on neckplate
- Hot bridge pickup (Broadcaster) around 9.5 to 10 k
- Phillips screws
- Pressed jackcup
RELIC NOCASTER SPECS: New Series
- 7.25 radius
- Correct peghead shape and gear spacing with stepped-off tuner holes
- Accurate body shape with "hump" in cutaway
- Serial number beginning with "R" stamped on BRIDGEPLATE. The new bridgeplate system
started over at "R0001" and YES, these numbers were duplicated with neck plate numbers that had
already been used.
- Slotted screws and milled jackcup (to the best of my knowledge)
RELIC RUMOURS CLARIFIED:
RUMOR: Relic production began in January of 1995: FALSE. The first production batch of Relics
shipped from my facility on June 27, 1995. They probably shipped to dealers from Custom Shop by
mid July.
RUMOR: Until this year, the Relic "aging process" was not done at Custom Shop, but farmed out to
an out of state vendor: TRUE
RUMOR: Those Relics were painted with a true old-fashioned 100% top-to-bottom nitrocellulose
lacquer finish: TRUE and FALSE… The color coats of the metallics and and some plain custom
colors were DuPont LUCITE acrylic lacquer (just like the later, post "DUCO" originals!) over a
nitro basecoat and finished with a nitro clear coat. All blonde and sunburst finishes, as well as Fiesta
Red, Oly White and Daphne Blue are 100% Nitro.
RUMOR: Relic body wood was specially baked to improve dryness and resonance: FALSE
RUMOR: Relics were dragged behind trucks to age them: FALSE
RUMOR: The ultra-thin relic finish has a great deal to do with the tone of the instruments: TRUE
RUMOR: Many famous rock and country stars use Relics regularly: TRUE… but we can't tell you
who they are!
There you have (some) of it folks! Post any other rumors and I'll clarify as many as I can.
…
