Confused about a Nocaster-Cunetto?

[Rick W]

Hey Guys,
Sorry to ask this question cuz I know it's been asked alot. I did a search on "Cunetto" here and read about a million posts but ended up more confused than ever. A friend of mine is looking at a Nocaster. The certificate has been lost. My friend received the pics below. My understanding from reading all the posts is that Cunetto's:
1) Don't have the body "lip"
2) Have phillips screws
3) Have the serial number on the neck plate
This guitar has slot screws, serial number on the bridge plate and has the "lip". The thing that gets me confused is this guitar has the Custom Shop stamped on the back of the headstock instead of a decal. What do y'all think...Also, it's not advertised as a Cunetto...

[Mark Davis]

Looks like a Cunetto era neck on a Nocaster ri body.

[Ron Garson]

It would be interesting to know the date of that neck. I agree with Mark that it's probably a Cunetto era neck on a later body! While the body has all slotted screws, the tuners have Phillips screws. Later Nocasters have slotted screws on the tuners too. And there's the neck pocket lip, of course.
And Cunettos are all reliced quite obviously on the pickguard, and this one doesn't appear to be.

But if it's not being sold as a Cunetto, that's fine.

[Mark Davis]

Another clue is most of the Cunettos had highly figured maple necks and this one does too.

[Rick W]

Thanks for the input guys. If you look at the back shot of the guitar it looks like it has a one piece body.
Do all Cunettos have their serial number on the neck plate?
Thanks again....
R

[Telemarkman]

Originally Posted by Rick W

If you look at the back shot of the guitar it looks like it has a one piece body.

I wouldn't bet on it. The front and/or back of the body are not the places to look for seams. (Even my '52 RI has no visible seam in those places).

The bottom end edge of the body is the place to look.

[imsilly]

The Body is nothing like a Cunetto.

Here is mine:



Mine also didn't come with a COA, so I was given the contact details of the Fender Custom Shop from someone (thanks) here on this forum. I sent them photos of my Nocaster and it's Serial they confirmed it was a Cunetto. If you take it apart it will have specific numbers and signatures that will also confirm this. Vince Cunetto essentially finished the guitars so Fender sent him parts with serials so they could all be matched up. The guitar if original will have matching serials on all it's parts and the name of the luthier who finally assembled them all again.

[Joisey]

Originally Posted by imsilly

If you take it apart it will have specific numbers and signatures that will also confirm this. Vince Cunetto essentially finished the guitars so Fender sent him parts with serials so they could all be matched up. The guitar if original will have matching serials on all it's parts and the name of the luthier who finally assembled them all again.

False.

Vince stated:

As a matter of course, we'd receive raw necks and bodies and all parts from Custom Shop. Our work involved complete prep, finishing and cosmetic distressing of necks and bodies. We also aged and distressed all hardware, pickguards and metal parts. We got it down to a 20 piece per week
schedule, and every Friday we'd lay out the week's guitars on a large, 24-foot padded table. Every single part on the guitar was then matched for visual consistency and appearance. We'd match necks to bodies, wear on guards to wear patterns on necks, hardware to body wear and on and on.
Each part of each guitar was then labeled so that they'd be sure to be assembled as a unit after being packed and sent to Corona for final assembly.

[imsilly]

Originally Posted by Joisey

False.:

This isn't actually false, but I should have made myself more clear though.

Cunetto Relics or the ones I have seen have a Luthier's name, a serial number and a custom shop logo printed on them. The Luthier's name is usually a person involved in either making the parts, selecting which ones went to Cunetto or finally assembled the guitar (I don't think they mean anything too specific) and the serial number details the batch of the parts (so they should correspond to each other) and the date the parts were finished. There are also other numbers on the guitars indicating special orders and colours, etc. I maybe mistaken on who eventually added serials to the parts, but they do exist and will help tell you if you have a Cunetto because above all they can give you a date when the guitar was finished.

[Mark Davis]

Keep in mind ths guitar wasnt listed for sale as a Cunetto and we didnt think it was.

The OP was just asking why the bpdy had all the features of a newer Nocaster and the neck was like a Cunetto.

[Joisey]

Originally Posted by imsilly

This isn't actually false, but I should have made myself more clear though.

Cunetto Relics or the ones I have seen have a Luthier's name, a serial number and a custom shop logo printed on them. The Luthier's name is usually a person involved in either making the parts, selecting which ones went to Cunetto or finally assembled the guitar (I don't think they mean anything too specific) and the serial number details the batch of the parts (so they should correspond to each other) and the date the parts were finished. There are also other numbers on the guitars indicating special orders and colours, etc. I maybe mistaken on who eventually added serials to the parts, but they do exist and will help tell you if you have a Cunetto because above all they can give you a date when the guitar was finished.

Yes the batch numbers (added by Cunetto when they were recieved) should match on the neck and body and is the indicator of where in production the guitar fell. The body should also have a RELIC stamp and paint code number. The guitar above is adding up to be a partscaster sadly.

[Big Tex]

I've had a bunch of Cunettos and there is one easy way to tell if the body is original. Remove the the pickguard and look for black shielding paint in the pickup routes. Remove the neck pickup and the bridge plate. There should be a group of seven or eight digit numbers stamped into the pickup routes. There should also be a date somewhere in the neck pocket. It should pre-date early 1999....Also, Cunettos had the ser # on the neck plate. If the ser# is on the bridge plate and has a small dot under the digiits, that would be a US reissue #. Hope this helps/

[Rich H]

Rick W - from your pictures I'd say that the neck is from the Cunetto era but the body is not.

There are some transitional guitars that will have Cunetto era features and the later regular Custom Shop features from 1999.

Some earlier Cunetto guitars had slight variations in features like the one seen in the Fender Custom Shop Guitar Gallery book (page 74, 75).

My Cunetto Nocaster has the serial number on the neck plate, black paint in the cavities, rare slotted screws and the name J.Black on the underside of the pickguar as well as V. CUNETTO under the finish under the pickguard along with John Cruz and JB in the neck pocket and on the base of the neck.

[Rich H]

[Rich H]

Pics from the Fender Custom Shop Guitar Gallery book published in 1996 showing a Cunetto with slotted screws.

[david_lewis93]

That has got to be some of the tightest birds eye maple I have seen on a guitar in a very long time.Last good sample of wood I saw like that was on a Hatfield .36cal flintlock squriel rifle.where can you purchase just the neck in that type of maple?
I think it would look fine on a two color burst Highway1.

bend em tight and let er scream.

[Twang Tone]

Originally Posted by Rich H

Pics from the Fender Custom Shop Guitar Gallery book published in 1996 showing a Cunetto with slotted screws.

This thread is doing my Cunetto Nocaster GAS no good at all!!

Strange that the Fender Custom Shop Guitar Gallery book published in 1996 gets the date wrong: "RELIC: '50 NO-CASTER" - I thought the real Nocasters were made in '51??!

Thanks,

[Joisey]

Originally Posted by Rich H

There are some transitional guitars that will have Cunetto era features and the later regular Custom Shop features from 1999.

Great pics and info. I always suspected my tele (Dec 98) fell into the transitional category. I had the pick guard off recently and no markings there and no V. cunetto stamp on the body. It does have the embossed logo but it is a 60's style birds eye/rosewood neck. Never had the neck off so I do not know what markings are there.

[Rich H]

Originally Posted by david_lewis93

That has got to be some of the tightest birds eye maple I have seen on a guitar in a very long time.

The neck is a great piece of maple - it is unusual having slotted screws as well.

What's puzzling me is that the neck and body both date to early 1997 and the certificate is dated 1999.

I'm guessing it's either a replacement certificate and the original one got lost or that because it has a particularly nice looking neck Fender kept it for display at guitar shows and Custom Shop events until the new spec ones came out in late 1999?

[Twang Tone]

Originally Posted by Rich H

The neck is a great piece of maple - it is unusual having slotted screws as well.

What's puzzling me is that the neck and body both date to early 1997 and the certificate is dated 1999.

I'm guessing it's either a replacement certificate and the original one got lost or that because it has a particularly nice looking neck Fender kept it for display at guitar shows and Custom Shop events until the new spec ones came out in late 1999?

Well at £3,000 it's FAR too expensive for me!! I'm not saying it's not worth it, but I'd have trouble sleeping at night if I dropped 3 big ones on 1 Tele.

Thanks,