Slowly but surely, the 2023 Fender Custom Shop collection is coming in; with a lead time of at least a year on Custom Shop orders, we have to wait eagerly for guitars that were announced quite some time ago. Agony sometimes, but then when those guitars finaly arrive, it's a euphoric experience!
How totally awesome is this Limited Edition in every way. From the sound and feel to the looks and features; it's dripping with mojo!
And let's start with the essentials; sound. With its ash body, maple fingerboard and Custom Shop Twisted Tele pickups, this Tele has a very thick sound. With a remarkably fat low end and rich mid character, this is a Tele with a growling tone on the bridge pickup. Perhaps not the ultimate twangy country-caster because of this, but really a great rock guitar. The neck pickup has a slightly kinder character with a fresh and creamy tone. A very nice mix of these hand-wound pickups.
The one-piece rift sawn maple neck (fingerboard and neck are one piece and so the truss-rod is covered with a skunk stripe) has a solid '57 profile with a very slight V-shape and a pleasant 9.5" radius. This provides a comfortable "chunky" feel but you have to be comfortable with a slightly thicker neck.
Bigsby-style tremolos on a Telecaster is often a hit or miss situation. Well, we're happy to tell you that with this one, it is 100% hit! The tremolo is stable, gives no resonance issues and also does not compromise sustain (since the strings are not mounted through the body as is conventionally the case with a Telecaster). Weighing 3.65 kg / 8.04 lbs, this Tele is still very light and balanced.
The control plate is reversed so that the volume control is mounted up front and within easy reach. The treble bleed circuit provides a nice response when rolling back the volume control.
And last but not least; those killer looks! Aged Ocean Turquoise is probably one of our favorite classic Fender colors, but on this Tele everything is really spot-on; the double binding, the F-branded tremolo, the tinted neck, single-ply pickguard, the subtle Journeyman aged finish...really fantastic. Welcome to Classic Fender Heaven!
Included is the original hard case with case candy, floortraveler and certificate.
