Fender teams up with Guitar Center for recreation of Joe Bonamassa’s Sunburst ’55 Telecaster
Ultra-rare early electric guitar now available as Custom Shop replica
Joe Bonamassa has one of the greatest guitar collections on Earth, and among his rarities is a Sunburst-finished 1955 Telecaster - a finish that was extremely hard to find at the time. Now, the Fender Custom Shop has teamed up with Guitar Center to put together a limited-edition replica of that very Telecaster.
Master Builder Yuriy Shiskov has built two versions of the guitar: the Vintage Collector Series 1955 Relic Telecaster with the 2-Tone Sunburst of Joe’s original, and the Vintage Collector Series Special Mod 1955 Relic Telecaster with a 3-Tone Sunburst finish, which was non-existent on Teles of the era.
Both models pack an ash body, soft 'V' neck shape with 7.25" radius maple fingerboard, 21 vintage frets, vintage bridge and a single-ply parchment pickguard, plus two hand-wound pickups.
Just 15 2-Tone Sunbursts will be produced, and 40 3-Tone Sunbursts - all models include a case, plus a Certificate Of Authenticity signed by Joe Bonamassa himself.
The Vintage Collector Series 1955 Relic Telecaster ($7,545) and Vintage Collector Series Special Mod 1955 Relic Telecaster ($4,650) are available now from Guitar Center - there's no word on international availability just yet.
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Mike is Editor-in-Chief of GuitarWorld.com, in addition to being an offset fiend and recovering pedal addict. He has a master's degree in journalism, and has spent the past decade writing and editing for guitar publications including MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitarist, as well as a decade-and-a-half performing in bands of variable genre (and quality). In his free time, you'll find him making progressive instrumental rock under the nom de plume Maebe.
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