All a Telecaster Should Be.....And Then Some More... 
by Tim C. from Northern NJ, USA, April 2007
Music Background:  Been playing guitar for 40 years. Formally jazz trained, but experiences range from garage bands to pro heavy metal and funk show bands.

Wow! From five feet away, this gorgeous instrument appears to be a vintage '52 Telecaster. Mine has highly figured ash grain with translucent honey blonde finish and amber tinted neck and old-school spaghetti 'Fender' logo.

But the Custom Shop added some genuinely excellent changes that take this classic Tele kit to the next level. Yes this one can get the classic twang and mid-pickup tones Tele's are known for. But with the 9.5 inch radius fretboard (flatter than a real vintage '52) and larger frets, you can bend notes and not fret out. There is also the 'S1' switching that kicks your pickups in/out of phase, as well as a fourth position on the pickup selector blade switch that can route both pickups in parallel for a fatter sound closer to a humbucker.

I am primarily a Stratocaster player, but found there was some range of tones I was not able to get since I sold my '66 Telecaster. This one gets them. Although with the Twisted Tele pickup in the bridge position, the treble pickup sounds in the Baja Tele are bright yet not ice-pick like.

Fit and finish on this instrument show a great deal of pride. The neck fits tightly in the body pocket, electronics work flawlessly and fret ends are finished smoooooth not rough, showing extra attention to detail. Mine arrived from Sweetwater with proper intonation and setup for nice low action. The neck is somewhat chunky and the body is heavy in weight. There are no buzzes or false harmonics anywhere. Unplugged, this Tele has a nice woody sustain, and plugged in, well it gets classic Tele and then some.

Simply put, this is one heck of a lot of Telecaster for the money, blending best of new school and actual versatility a player can use....into an old school looking Tele. A great instrument!

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