This Telecaster was inspired by a 308-year-old Stradivarius violin

And now for something very different - a new Fender Custom Shop Telecaster guitar inspired by one of the finest violins ever made. 

Renowned American musician Joshua Bell has been the owner of the 1713 'Gibson ex-Huberman' Stradivarius violin since 2001. An instrument that has been in the possession of a number of talented violinists since the 1700s. Fender Custom Shop Master Builder Yuriy Shishkov made it his muse for his latest Fender Custom Shop creation. 

“When I started designing the Violinmaster, I had to include as many violin elements in the guitar as possible,” says Shishkov. “With a Telecaster ‘backdrop’ platform, I was able to include violin-style arched carved profiles in the back and top, violin purfling, a newly designed 'floating' bridge, strings tailpiece, and most importantly a proportionally scaled copy of the Huberman Stradivarius violin “F” Holes. 

“In the 'Violinmaster' concept, I wanted to 'blend' the violin and classic Telecaster guitar together without adding something that a guitar player wouldn’t ever need," the luthier adds. "For me, innovation is a never-ending process which is a part of my job. It helps me make something better, new, or even the impossible.” 

The Fender Patent Pending Floating bridge has interchangeable four saddles (Bronze, Ocean Coral, Buffalo Horn and Ebony) that will come in a small “violin case” made from leftovers of the body’s 'core' flame maple. The Violinmaster also features  a custom made Ebony/brass tailpiece. 

"I was simply blown away by the beauty of the Fender Custom Shop guitar and amazed at how Yuriy managed to capture the spirit and aesthetic of my 1713 Stradivarius violin, while creating something entirely unique,” said Joshua Bell.

The hollow flame maple body has a carved 'Stradivari' spruce top from northern Italy’s Fiemme Valley, with proportionately scaled Stradivarius violin f-holes and purfling. The neck is constructed of Bosnian flame maple with an oval 'C'-shaped profile, headstock truss rod adjustment and no skunk stripe. The 9.5”-radius round-laminated ebony fingerboard has 22 medium jumbo frets. Both neck and body feature an authentic European hand-polished violin varnish “Antiqued” finish.

The Violinmaster is a versatile guitar too with three passive piezo pickups and two TV Jones Thunder’Blade pickups and three-way pickup switching. 

Additional features include black tuning machines with ebony buttons, graphite nut and disc string tree. Just 60 Custom Shop Fender Violinmaster Telecaster Relic guitars will be available globally.  

More info at Fender Custom Shop