1995 Fender Relic Cunetto Stratocaster First Year Mary Kaye W/ Case & Paperwork - White Blonde
Description
No sales tax for US customers outside California.
In January 1995, two guitars were displayed in glass cases at the Winter NAMM show in Anaheim. Every dealer who walked past them assumed they were vintage instruments from the 1950s. Nobody noticed the trick. One was a Nocaster in aged butterscotch blonde. The other was a Stratocaster in White Blonde with gold hardware — a Mary Kaye. When John Page, manager of the Fender Custom Shop, revealed that both were new guitars artificially aged to look vintage, the orders flooded in. That moment is the beginning of the entire relic guitar market as it exists today.
This guitar is not one of the display prototypes, but a first-year 1995 production Cunetto Relic Stratocaster in the Mary Kaye configuration — the same specification that Vince Cunetto had been working toward, the same finish, the same hardware, from the same year that the concept was unveiled to the world. The first batch of aged components left Cunetto's Missouri workshop on June 27, 1995, bound for the Fender Custom Shop in Corona. This guitar is from that first year of production. The body date on this guitar is Aug 15 1995. This is a very early example.
The Cunetto arrangement was unusual and has never been replicated. Fender manufactured the bodies, necks, and parts in Corona and shipped them to Cunetto Creative Resources, Inc. in Bolivar, Missouri — a 2,000-square-foot facility Vince Cunetto had established specifically for this purpose, staffed with a crew he had personally trained. Cunetto hand-sanded out the orbital-sander marks, applied nitrocellulose lacquer — which Fender itself was not permitted to spray at the Corona factory — aged the finish, aged the hardware, and matched components that looked like they belonged together. The aged kits were then shipped back to California, where Custom Shop completed assembly, fret dressing, setup, and testing. The Cunetto era ended in May 1999 when Fender brought the operation in-house. Every Cunetto Relic that exists was made between June 1995 and May 1999.
The guitar itself is a first-rate instrument by any measure, not merely a historical artifact. Swamp ash body, quartersawn maple neck with the Custom Shop's medium C profile at .861" at the first fret and .993" at the twelfth, maple fretboard with dot inlays, three Fender Custom Shop '50s single-coil pickups reading 6.01k bridge, 5.74k middle, and 5.73k neck — original and fully working. Vintage-style synchronized tremolo, gold Kluson-style tuners, original pots and switch. Action set at 2/32" on both strings at the twelfth fret. White Blonde finish over swamp ash with gold hardware is the correct Mary Kaye specification. The original hardshell case is included, as is the original paperwork — documentation that adds provenance to an instrument that is already as documented as any Fender Custom Shop guitar of the era.
It would be hard to argue that this guitar is in anything but mint condition. The frets show little to no wear and the whole package looks much like it likely did when it left Fender. There are no changes, repairs, or issues whatsoever.
SPECS:
Color: White Blonde
Weight: 7lbs 6oz
Body: Swamp Ash
Body Date/Code: See Pics
Neck: Quartersawn maple
Neck Profile: Medium C
Neck Date/Code: See Pics
Fretboard: Maple
Inlays: Dot
Frets: Original
Fret Count: 21
Nut: Original
Nut width: 1-5/8"
Radius: 9.5"
Scale: 25.5"
Neck thickness at 1st Fret: .861"
Neck thickness at 12th Fret: .993"
Action 1st String at 12th Fret: 2/32"
Action 6th String at 12th Fret: 2/32"
Overall length: 38-3/8"
Lower bout: 12-5/8"
Waist: 9-1/4"
Upper bout: 11"
Body depth/thickness: 1-3/4"
String gauge: .010-.046
Hardware Color: Gold
Pickguard: Original
Bridge Pickup/Brand: Fender Custom Shop '50s single-coil
Pickup Reading: 6.01k
Original?: Yes
Middle Pickup/Brand: Fender Custom Shop '50s single-coil
Pickup Reading: 5.74k
Original?: Yes
Neck Pickup/Brand: Fender Custom Shop '50s single-coil
Pickup Reading: 5.73k
Original?: Yes
Bridge: Original vintage-style synchronized tremolo
Tuners: Original Vintage-style Gold Kluson-style
Knobs: Original
Switch: 5 Way
Pots/Codes: Original
Case: OHSC
Notes:
Shipping policy:
There are multiple shipping cost options for purchases made on our site. Select Ground, 3 Day, 2 Day, or Next Day Air Saver. For Reverb purchases, there is one cost option for Eastern states - customers from any state that is more than a 3 day UPS ground shipment from our shop will get their shipment via UPS 3 day air. Otherwise, ground shipping will be used. Shipments will require signature on delivery, no exceptions. If there is damage, the buyer must retain all packing materials intact and picture them immediately and send them to . Less than 1% of our shipments are damaged in transit, and we are committed to making sure your item arrives safely, but we are taking these additional measures to make sure you are happy with your purchase.
In January 1995, two guitars were displayed in glass cases at the Winter NAMM show in Anaheim. Every dealer who walked past them assumed they were vintage instruments from the 1950s. Nobody noticed the trick. One was a Nocaster in aged butterscotch blonde. The other was a Stratocaster in White Blonde with gold hardware — a Mary Kaye. When John Page, manager of the Fender Custom Shop, revealed that both were new guitars artificially aged to look vintage, the orders flooded in. That moment is the beginning of the entire relic guitar market as it exists today.
This guitar is not one of the display prototypes, but a first-year 1995 production Cunetto Relic Stratocaster in the Mary Kaye configuration — the same specification that Vince Cunetto had been working toward, the same finish, the same hardware, from the same year that the concept was unveiled to the world. The first batch of aged components left Cunetto's Missouri workshop on June 27, 1995, bound for the Fender Custom Shop in Corona. This guitar is from that first year of production. The body date on this guitar is Aug 15 1995. This is a very early example.
The Cunetto arrangement was unusual and has never been replicated. Fender manufactured the bodies, necks, and parts in Corona and shipped them to Cunetto Creative Resources, Inc. in Bolivar, Missouri — a 2,000-square-foot facility Vince Cunetto had established specifically for this purpose, staffed with a crew he had personally trained. Cunetto hand-sanded out the orbital-sander marks, applied nitrocellulose lacquer — which Fender itself was not permitted to spray at the Corona factory — aged the finish, aged the hardware, and matched components that looked like they belonged together. The aged kits were then shipped back to California, where Custom Shop completed assembly, fret dressing, setup, and testing. The Cunetto era ended in May 1999 when Fender brought the operation in-house. Every Cunetto Relic that exists was made between June 1995 and May 1999.
The guitar itself is a first-rate instrument by any measure, not merely a historical artifact. Swamp ash body, quartersawn maple neck with the Custom Shop's medium C profile at .861" at the first fret and .993" at the twelfth, maple fretboard with dot inlays, three Fender Custom Shop '50s single-coil pickups reading 6.01k bridge, 5.74k middle, and 5.73k neck — original and fully working. Vintage-style synchronized tremolo, gold Kluson-style tuners, original pots and switch. Action set at 2/32" on both strings at the twelfth fret. White Blonde finish over swamp ash with gold hardware is the correct Mary Kaye specification. The original hardshell case is included, as is the original paperwork — documentation that adds provenance to an instrument that is already as documented as any Fender Custom Shop guitar of the era.
It would be hard to argue that this guitar is in anything but mint condition. The frets show little to no wear and the whole package looks much like it likely did when it left Fender. There are no changes, repairs, or issues whatsoever.
SPECS:
Color: White Blonde
Weight: 7lbs 6oz
Body: Swamp Ash
Body Date/Code: See Pics
Neck: Quartersawn maple
Neck Profile: Medium C
Neck Date/Code: See Pics
Fretboard: Maple
Inlays: Dot
Frets: Original
Fret Count: 21
Nut: Original
Nut width: 1-5/8"
Radius: 9.5"
Scale: 25.5"
Neck thickness at 1st Fret: .861"
Neck thickness at 12th Fret: .993"
Action 1st String at 12th Fret: 2/32"
Action 6th String at 12th Fret: 2/32"
Overall length: 38-3/8"
Lower bout: 12-5/8"
Waist: 9-1/4"
Upper bout: 11"
Body depth/thickness: 1-3/4"
String gauge: .010-.046
Hardware Color: Gold
Pickguard: Original
Bridge Pickup/Brand: Fender Custom Shop '50s single-coil
Pickup Reading: 6.01k
Original?: Yes
Middle Pickup/Brand: Fender Custom Shop '50s single-coil
Pickup Reading: 5.74k
Original?: Yes
Neck Pickup/Brand: Fender Custom Shop '50s single-coil
Pickup Reading: 5.73k
Original?: Yes
Bridge: Original vintage-style synchronized tremolo
Tuners: Original Vintage-style Gold Kluson-style
Knobs: Original
Switch: 5 Way
Pots/Codes: Original
Case: OHSC
Notes:
Shipping policy:
There are multiple shipping cost options for purchases made on our site. Select Ground, 3 Day, 2 Day, or Next Day Air Saver. For Reverb purchases, there is one cost option for Eastern states - customers from any state that is more than a 3 day UPS ground shipment from our shop will get their shipment via UPS 3 day air. Otherwise, ground shipping will be used. Shipments will require signature on delivery, no exceptions. If there is damage, the buyer must retain all packing materials intact and picture them immediately and send them to . Less than 1% of our shipments are damaged in transit, and we are committed to making sure your item arrives safely, but we are taking these additional measures to make sure you are happy with your purchase.