The Definitive Best Year for Stratocasters Like all offerings from Fender Custom Shop's Time Machine Series, the Late-1962 Stratocaster Relic was handcrafted using the same techniques and tooling as a '60s-era original. This solidbody electric guitar pulls out all the stops, sporting a lightweight 2-piece select alder body with a spotlight-ready Relic nitrocellulose lacquer finish and gleaming Closet Classic hardware. Its rock-solid rift-sawn maple neck boasts a supremely comfortable Oval "C" back shape and a lightning-fast 9.5-inch-radius round-lam rosewood fingerboard. The Late-1962 Strat Relic is your one-way ticket to vintage Fender tone by virtue of its Custom Shop hand-wound '60/'63 single-coil pickups, which are supported by Vintage Modified #2 wiring, a Tone-Saver Bleed circuit, and modern 5-way switching. You also get a vintage-style Synchronized Tremolo and tuning machines, a 3-ply mint green pickguard, and a wing-style string tree with a tall metal spacer. Most Strat aficionados display a definite partiality to '62 Strats, and the Fender Custom Shop Late-1962 Stratocaster Relic represents everything that makes those coveted instruments so exceptional.