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Ron Thorn – The First Ever ‘Principle Master Builder’ for Fender…

Very few luthiers in the world will get to call themselves a Fender Custom Shop Master Builder, which is a title that is reserved for the best in the bolt-on biz. To say that they are Fender’s equivalent to a Navy Seal wouldn’t be a bad analogy… And then there is Ron Thorn. A man with super-hero-level luthiery talent that inspired Fender to create the position of “Principal Master Builder” just for him. In their storied 75 year history, this is a first.

Long before being tapped for his current role within Fender Musical Instruments Corp, he built instruments as ‘Thorn Guitars’ and achieved a cult following. All it takes is a quick Google search to reveal countless forum threads singing his praises. It took just a brief moment with this guitar to realize that the hype he’s created is real and well deserved. If Ron Thorn is on the job, a very special instrument will be the outcome.

A Very Special Ron Thorn Thinline Telecaster:

Here at Eddie’s Guitars

This Ron Thorn Western-themed masterbuilt Fender Custom Shop Limited Edition Tele Thinline is much more than just another Custom Shop telecaster; one of Leo’s iconic solid body electric guitar designs, much more than it’s Mocha stain and tooled leather pickguard… It would take a real Fender connoisseur to point out Ron’s subtle touches, but the execution and improvements will be more than apparent to the hands and ears of any player.

Thoughtful design is one of Ron’s calling cards and a great example is his decision to remove the string posts from the Bigsby B-5’s string bar and drill out the holes to create what we would refer to as a string-thru Bigsby. Not only does this make restrings a breeze, but it offers a substantial improvement in tone as it’s acoustic volume and resonance are substantially improved upon. Sometimes, you can have your cake and eat it too.

One may notice that the F-hole has been carefully repositioned as well, this is due to the rearrangement of the innards to provide a more stable mounting location for the Bigsby. This is subtle, but something that was done so well it could go unnoticed. This increases stability and gives the Bigsby the most sturdy mounting point possible.

And the rest of the specs? All classic Fender love! A beautiful Rosewood fingerboard on a maple neck adorns your playing area. The electronics package entails a hand-wound ’51 Nocaster bridge pick-up and one of the newly refreshed (and excellent) CuNife Wide-Range humbuckers residing in the neck pickup position.

For Fender collectors or Tele Thinline fans that might be looking for the guitar to rule them all, this one-of-one Ron Thorn Master Built piece is not one to sleep on! And while we hate to gush and admit our fan boy-dom here, we are big fans of on all things Thorn. We are ecstatic to offer this masterbuilt instrument through our store – Please reach out with any questions!

CHECK OUT the Ron Thorn Fender Custom Shop Master Built Ron Thorn Custom Thinline Relic – Mocha / 2020 Fender Online 2020 Custom Shop Event HERE!

It won’t be here long!

Look at some shots of this amazing Telecaster below!
(Click on each image to open a new window/tab with a large view!)

 

If your looking for an incredible reproduction of one of the most iconic guitars of all time, Fender Custom Shop has you covered with this Master Built Heavy Relic 1974/1951 Nocaster Blonde. Beyond the journeyman relic; Heavy relic presents an instrument with the essence of decades of stage and studio love without going 100% battle-worn abuse with a super heavy relic. With an exceptionally resonant 2-piece ash body, vintage frets/3 saddle bridge, 1.650″ nut width, 1950 blackguard neck profile, and Fender/Gotoh® Vintage Style tuners this guitar harkens back to a legendary era of Fender tone and feel. Supporting this are the hand wound neck pickup and bridge pickups; The Wide Range HB CuNiFe Rel Neck/Josefina HW 50-51 Blackguard Relic Bridge pickup respectively.

There are other visual aesthetics of the guitar that reinforce it’s era-specific mojo beyond the custom heavy relic treatment. It may not be the Custom Journeyman Relic in Candy Apple Red, or the Deluxe in 2-Color Sunburst, but it’s even better. The neck is aged natural maple. A vintage white pickguard and Chrome knobs/hardware bring the classic, iconic presentation home. It’s all wrapped up in a Fender Custom Shop LTD hardshell case with all of the candy inside; which should be expected regardless of it being a Custom Shop Telecaster, Esquire, or Stratocaster.