~1996 Fender Nocaster (1951 reissue) Nocaster Yellow

Moe's Guitars, Our philosophy: If we wouldn't play it, we wouldn't sell it; it's that simple.

'96 based up the COA, but the instruments stamp shows 1995, which makes it one of the earlier examples that Vince Cunetto himself worked on.

This ​96 Cunetto Relic Nocaster ​weighs just 7 lbs 5.7 ozs with Beautifully grained Old Growth Ash with a Birdseye Maple Neck.

The instrument is 100% original without alterations. The instrument plays without Dead Spots. The neck is a comfortable C and shows minimum fret wear.

The instrument ships in its original CS Tweed case along with its Original COA from Fender. Also included is the Ash Tray Cover, Strap,Hang Tags and Polishing Cloth.

Neck dimensions

Width
Width at nut 1.653

Width at 12th fret 2.045

Depth
1st fret 0.83

12th fret 0.94

This neck pocket dates July 31, 1995.

Fender Custom Shop History

95-96 Cunetto Relics were not CNC Machined. They were crafted the old school way with band saw, rasp and sanding. That process makes each instrument unique. The first CNC Machine was obtained in 1998 by the Custom Shop. Those interested in the read I can forward the link by request.

95-96 Cunetto Relics from the Tone Quest Report

How many people hire initially?
" Two. It was myself and one guy and my sister-in-law at the time. She was working for someone else, and she knew this guy was a guitar player who was interested in the whole idea and we started setting everything up. For quite awhile it was me, Tony Morford, and my then sister-in-law, Terri Shaw. I’d prep, paint, do the aging and the body and neck relic’ing, and Tony would do some of the final sanding and wear spots. He started with the less intricate stuff until he started getting his chops down, then he started doing more and more. Terri was handling the parts. She was aging the plastic and the all the hardware, all the while keeping meticulous production notes so we could improve our production and the look of the guitars."

This neck pocket dates July 31, 1995.

Spring of 96 the staff expanded. (Tone Quest Report)
In the spring of ‘96, we found another facility that had a nice open area, a good office area we fixed up, and lots of room. I bought a very nice state of the art spray booth and we were set. That’s when we really got our production up, and by that time the concept had really taken off. So I hired five people plus some part-timers.

In short the instruments that Cunetto's hands touched the most are 95-to Spring of 96. This instrument dates 1995.