Description

Offered for your consideration in this early Masterbuilt Custom Telecaster by the now retired (2021) Chris Flemming. This guitar is #002 built in 2001 and was one of Chris’ earliest efforts as a Masterbuilder for the Custom Shop.

This guitar has an alder body bound on both sides. It has a maple neck with a 25.5” string scale and a 60’s oval C-shape measuring .80” at the first fret increasing to .91” at the twelfth fret. The rosewood fingerboard has a 7.25” radius, 21 vintage size frets and clay dot inlays. The bone nut measures 1.640”. It sports a vintage style Tele bridge with three threaded steel saddles. It features Custom Shop Tele pickups with traditional controls and modern wiring (no muddy “rhythm” circuit). It is finished in “Chocolate Sunburst” nitrocellulose lacquer and has been given mild “Closet Classic” aging consisting of very fine finish checking on the guitar’s body. The guitar has a total weight of just 7 pounds, 2 ounces.

I’ve read that Telecasters have always been Chris’ favorite Fender model and this guitar represents an early best effort to reproduce a 1960 Custom Telecaster down to the smallest detail. The resulting instrument is exquisite IMHO. It faithfully replicates the feel and look of a vintage early 60’s Tele while the playability of this hand-built one-off is certainly better than most any vintage Tele I’ve ever come across. The sound is classic Tele twang without being piercing and the pickup outputs measure 7.4 ohms at the bridge and 7.5 ohms at the neck. A brief sound sample is included below. There is no mistaking this for anything but the classic Tele that it is.

This guitar remains in near mint condition with just the light aging Chris applied. I find no other flaws of any significance aside from light playing wear on the pickguard. The frets show no observable wear. It comes in its original brown G&G case with the certificate of authenticity.

Fender Masterbuilt guitar prices now start around $9K and go up from there. This early and arguably better 2001 effort can be yours for thousands of $ less. Make this incredible hand-built Tele yours today. You will be quite glad that you did!

Capital Guitars

Capital Guitars

2001
Fender Custom Shop
Excellent
Chocolate Sunburst
Original Hard
15 Years
$6,499
Capital Guitars
Charlie Hughes
518-222-6099
Online Only
6:48 AM
We monitor email nearly 24/7. Should we be tardy in responding to your phone calls or voicemail, please shoot us an email at capitalguitars@gmail.com

Capital Guitars accepts payment via PayPal, credit cars via PayPal, wire transfer, or via bank check. Guitars ship only after payment clears. See something you wish to purchase? To pay via Paypal, just click the 'Buy Now' button, or send an email to capitalguitars@gmail.com indicating the guitar you wish to purchase, where you live (for calculating the shipping cost and NYS sales tax if applicable) and confirm the email address you use for Paypal. We will send you a Paypal invoice referencing the specific guitar being purchased. Just follow the prompts in the Paypal email to pay for your guitar. Once we receive your cleared payment we will contact you with tracking information and a paid invoice. That is all there is to it! Shipments to locations within the State of New York are subject to imposition of applicable New York Sales taxes. Trade proposals involving quality gear are welcomed! Email me a pic or two of your proposed trade and a brief description of its condition and we will let you know what we can allow you in trade. We also do LAYAWAYS! All layaways require a non-refundable up-front payment equal to 20% of the purchase price. Your deposit holds the guitar for you, with 60 days to pay the balance. Contact us via email for more details.

Shipping to Continental US addresses is via FedEx Ground, with flat rate shipping of $60 to Eastern time zones, $70 Central and $80 Mountain/Pacific. Shipping to Alaska and Hawaii is $100. A phone number at the shipping destination is required. ​ Other shipping services, including express services and international shipping are available at our discretion, just contact us for a quote.

Refunds of the original purchase price less shipping and a 10% restocking fee may be requested within 48 hours of delivery. Exchanges within one (1) week of the original date of purchase may be made for an item of equal or greater value at the discretion of Capital Guitars. Where permitted herein, items must be promptly returned at the buyer's expense, in the same condition as received with all accessories and paperwork included. Sale items, purchases that are made via layaway, those involving trades and/or international shipping are considered final except upon an error by and at the discretion of Capital Guitars. All deposits are non-returnable. Our apologies, but we are a very small operation and returns are extremely time consuming and costly.