John 5’s Supernatural Telecaster Collection

Welcome to the wild and wondrous world of John 5’s supernatural Telecasters. Since his childhood days watching the old country/western TV show Hee Haw, John 5’s obsessive love of the Telecaster has never wavered. For years, John 5 has used his expert Tele skills to bridge the gap between country music, hard rock, metal, and even Spanish guitar. A listen to his solo albums shows his jaw-dropping chops, love of monsters, and continuing admiration for those classic country riffs.

As of today, the guitarist, who has played with greats like Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie, David Lee Roth, Alice Cooper, Paul Stanley, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and so many more, boasts a Telecaster collection that ranges from the weird and wacky to the vintage and rare. Join me on a journey through some of his most insane axes. John 5’s incredible talent and work ethic, as well as his mighty Tele collection, just might inspire you to pick up the instrument yourself.

Goldy – John 5’s Right-hand Axe

The greatest love story ever told: John 5 and his gold Telecaster. Seriously, he even buys it a seat on the plane when he flies. John 5 commissioned this guitar from Fender’s Alex Perez after he shredded his prior black workhorse to pieces. That’s pretty metal.

On this Tele, you’ll find the classic Shoreline Gold color, a vintage throwback to early finishes and the days when guitar colors had heavy ties to the automotive industry. Based on a Fender Custom, Goldy sports a ’63 neck as well as white binding. As far as the John 5 elements go, you’ll find his classic dual volume knob combination accompanied by a kill switch. A toggle switch sits up top, and the pickups deliver some biting tone with plenty of clarity for his beloved arpeggiations.

Check out the video below to see this axe in action. Right off the bat, you can see a silver smudge on the otherwise gilded pickguard — it’s actually an indentation in the metal that’s all from pick wear! Whether soloing onstage, chicken pickin’ in the studio, or relaxing at home, this guitar and John 5 are a golden match made in heaven. In a few Sweetwater interviews, you can see this guitar in John 5’s hands.

The Light-up LED Telecaster

You may be surprised I didn’t save this Tele for last. This LED monster, made by genius guitar builder Ken Meyer, heaps up the wow factor with dazzling illumination and acts as a great accompaniment to John 5’s quick-witted technical capabilities onstage. In fact, this is John 5’s way of honoring KISS’s Ace Frehley, specifically his light-up guitar on the Dynasty tour. KISS has always been a major inspiration for John 5, and you can see how it permeates his musical presence — especially when it comes to outfits.

The lights go down, John 5 hits the switch, and the whole theater lights up. On this axe, the cool white LEDs can go from a continuous light to a strobing effect that really ups the ante. The first inception of this axe featured a set of LEDs covered by lacquer. When some of the LEDs broke, John 5 had no way of getting the guitar fixed. So, Meyer made John 5 a second version, the one he uses now. Meyer covered the LEDs with a removable plastic shield on the new model so that they can be easily repaired when they break. Surprisingly, it runs on an RC car battery and only lasts for a range of one to two songs. Then it’s back to Goldy or something with an even stronger visual bite.

This video prominently features John 5 shredding on the LED Telecaster, but you can also catch a glimpse of a Telecaster that we’ll discuss later. This medley features covers of some of 5’s favorite songs and greatest inspirations — perhaps you can catch an earful of one of your favorites.

The Bowling Ball Telecaster

John 5 all but burned his retinas out searching for a 1983 Bowling Ball Telecaster. Unfortunately, he never found one. That’s where Fender had his back. During a walk through the Fender factory, John 5 spotted a production of bowling ball Stratocasters. In that moment, he knew he could make his dream finally come to fruition. So it happened that, on Halloween night, John 5 received his bowling ball Telecaster like a Christmas Day present, proceeding to rock the living daylights out of it on Jimmy Kimmel Live! with a cover of “We’re an American Band.”

The Stained Glass Telecaster

You may not be aware the Fender Custom Shop built a stained glass Tele. But when Master Builder Dale Wilson found inspiration in the stained glass art form, he had to find a way to make one. John 5 played this guitar for a brief time with Rob Zombie — who better to wield an insane and artfully crafted Telecaster than the Tele king himself? John 5 played this axe so briefly it’s hard to find media of him with it, but you can learn all about the production of the guitar in this Fender video below.

The Monstrous Painted Teles

It’s no secret John 5 is a massive fan of all things horrific. Since he was a kid, he has filled his waking hours, outside of guitar practice, with classic horror films, shows, books, and, of course, some KISS thrown in on the side.

Exclusive painted Telecasters, done by artist Jason Oberly, have graced John 5’s hands with his favorite classic Universal horror monsters: Lon Chaney Jr.’s Wolf Man, Claude Rains’s Invisible Man, Bela Lugosi’s Dracula, Boris Karloff’s Frankenstein’s monster, and the Gill-man. Apart from Universal horror films, John 5 also plays a guitar embellished with the likes of the Munsters. Oberly also painted John 5’s nebula laser guitar. (Intrigued? Stay tuned.) This series is the perfect merger of John 5’s two loves: Telecasters and monsters!

John 5 would often play these guitars in shows with Rob Zombie, but today you can find these guitars touring the world, stopping in at places like the Hard Rock Café in Spain.

The Buck Owens Tribute, or “Buck 5”

If you know John 5 as a monster-loving, hard-rocking Tele wielder, then this next guitar might surprise you. On the other hand, John 5 isn’t shy about sporting his love of Hee Haw just as quickly as his love for KISS, monsters, and Telecasters themselves. In fact, they go hand in hand. Therefore, this custom Buck Owens tribute Telecaster proved a logical decision.

John 5’s guitar sports a red, white, and blue sparkle finish with silver on the back. It also sports the familiar John 5 headstock — a massive paddle of wood inspired by the Fender Maverick from the 1960s. This headstock appoints many of his signature models. John 5 thought it looked awesome, and I’m inclined to say he was right. Instead of white or gold, John 5’s model wears a shiny chrome pickguard. And, unlike Owens’s Telecaster, John 5’s version sports a humbucker in the bridge position and a single-coil up at the neck. 5 lovingly refers to this Telecaster as the “Buck 5” due to the merger of his custom appointments and the classic Buck Owens look.

In this Vintage Guitar video below, you can catch John 5 talking all about this guitar and several of his other Teles. Don’t worry about the background music; that’s just Korn at their soundcheck. This video from 2013 already shows quite an amount of pick wear on the Buck 5 chrome. No guitar is safe!

The Fender J5 Signature (Triple Tele Deluxe)

To be honest, this isn’t just one guitar. Throughout his partnership with Fender, John 5 has nonstop modified, revamped, and renewed his Telecaster designs to craft unique guitars, each with their own personality. While the Telecaster base remains unchanged, the appointments on the guitars vary from Custom Shop models to Artist Series to a Squier model. Since John 5 first brought his signature model to the masses, his main driving force was getting an incredibly playable guitar into the hands of the public without a massive price tag. That’s also pretty metal.

The Fender J5 Triple Tele Deluxe poses as the most supernaturally decked-out Telecaster in his signature range. You’ll find the master tone and volume knobs on the body with John 5’s classic upper bout–mounted toggle switch. A chrome pickguard weaves its way from the top of the body to the opposite lower side for a killer look. The raddest part of this signature model? A trio of high-output Enforcer humbuckers that don’t mess around. Also, for the headstock, you’ll find a ’70s-era Stratocaster headstock instead of a Telecaster headstock or John 5’s “boat paddle” (his words) headstock. John 5 went all out with this gorgeous instrument, capping it off with a white binding that perfectly contrasts its black body and chrome accents. *Chef’s kiss*

The Double-neck J5 Custom Model Telecaster

You’ve heard of Jimmy Page with a double-neck SG and Geddy Lee with a double-neck Rickenbacker, now get ready for John 5 with a double-neck Telecaster! That’s right; double the Tele still can’t contain this voracious guitarist. Talk about overindulgence we never knew we needed.

On this titanic Telecaster, the upper-bout toggle switches between a baritone and a regularly tuned guitar, allowing John 5 to solo or dig deep depending on what the song calls for. One side sports John 5’s signature headstock while the other sports the J5 ’70s Stratocaster headstock, providing an even more customized feel to this already unique guitar. You’ll find a Twisted Tele single-coil on the joined body in good company with three rocking humbuckers.

See John 5 talking about this guitar and others from his 2009 setup in the video clip below. Keep your eyes peeled on this video and spot the J5 guitar John 5 used before he got Goldy.

The Nebula Laser Telecaster

Continuing the list of John 5 guitars built by Ken Meyer, next we have the eye-piercing (but not really; John 5 holds it away from your eyes) Nebula Laser! This guitar brings the classic Tele body to otherworldly proportions with inset red lasers. This guitar is more of a mercurial beast, and you won’t see John 5 break it out of hiding very much. When the lasers aren’t splicing the air, you can see some really rad Nebula art done by artist Jason Oberly.

Check out the clip below to catch John 5 showing off this work of art.

The 1950 Blonde Fender Blackguard Broadcaster

Ask John 5, a huge Telecaster history buff, what he thinks is the greatest guitar ever built, and he’ll probably say the 1950 Fender Broadcaster — perhaps even the one he owns. Telecaster enthusiasts on John 5’s par know the Broadcaster was the Telecaster before it was renamed the Telecaster; Leo Fender’s first production-line solidbody guitar built with two pickups. John 5 manifested this Broadcaster out of the woodwork, imagining his own so hard he eventually got a call from Norman’s Rare Guitars about a Broadcaster beaut that just came in.

Right down to the tone pots, pickups, and tuners, John 5’s Fender Broadcaster has seen minimal wear and no modifications other than changed strings. This incredible piece of history is still as playable today as it was when it first left the factory way back in 1950. Check out John 5’s song “Cactus Flower” to hear this instrument in use. It’s a lovely piece that is a beautiful tribute to a guitar that means the world to John 5. It goes without saying that John 5 never takes this axe on tour.

Easy to repair, easy to manufacture, easy to maintain — Fender hit the nail on the head with the Broadcaster, and John 5 can attest to that with his model. I’m sure Leo Fender would be proud to know one of his original Broadcasters landed in the hands of one of today’s most hardworking guitarists. As for the rest of John 5’s vintage collection, it contains beasts like a 1952 Esquire, a 1953 Telecaster (in oh-so-perfect condition), and many more spanning all years of production, so John 5 reports.

You can see John 5 giving his Broadcaster some love in the video below, another example of a great technique re-creating the sound of a lap steel guitar — Hee Haw never stops inspiring John 5 to create and innovate.

The Fender Ghost Telecaster

Before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, forcing shutdowns and closures of guitar workshops and factories, John 5 had developed the prototype of a new signature Telecaster with the help of Fender. John 5 calls this guitar the Ghost. Its all-white fretboard, inspired by a recent all-white Supreme Stratocaster, combines with John 5’s classic Telecaster appointments like his dual volume knobs and pickup toggle switch. Red binding and a chrome pickguard set it off for a seriously supernatural guitar that screams John 5. Currently, the Ghost axe that John 5 takes with him onstage sports a pair of red-robed DiMarzio pickups with plenty of bite, growl, and classic John 5 clarity.

You can see John 5 rocking out with his Fender Ghost in this music video with the Creatures and Dave Mustaine.

The Metal Bolt Telecaster with Floyd Rose

John 5 says he breaks out this bucket of bolts (not really; it’s partly made of wood, obviously) for old White Zombie songs or when he needs to kill it with some whammy bar maneuvers. This Fender Telecaster comes outfitted with John 5’s signature headstock design and nitty-gritty Floyd Rose for intense string bending. The tried-and-true combination of single-coil neck pickup and humbucking bridge pickup offers John 5 all he needs to nail hard rock and heavy metal.

Below, you can see John 5 performing “Beat It” in the studio with several other talented folks! You don’t often see John 5 bending with a Floyd Rose, but this video shows he’s no stranger to forging a great bending technique.

The Mirror Telecaster

Forget about a flamed wood guitar; we’ve never seen a guitar like John 5’s mirror Telecaster! Jimmy Page and Syd Barrett flirted with the mirror circles on their Telecaster and Esquire, respectively, but John 5 goes all out with a full-blown mirror. This Telecaster features a classic Tele headstock with John 5’s upper-bout toggle switch accompanied by a duo of humbuckers. When this guitar catches the light, it causes a visual uproar almost like that of John 5’s LED or laser guitar.

You can catch John 5 showing off his mirror Tele and a host of his other gear in the video below.

The Emerald Green Lava Telecaster

Perhaps John 5’s wildest telecaster? You may have to decide that for yourself, but, for many, it’s none other than this emerald-green lava Telecaster. Birthed from the minds of John 5 and Ken Meyer, this insane guitar features a plexiglass cage full of lava lamp–like liquid (actually antifreeze) that glows in the dark. This guitar even wears matching green strings to boot while a lone humbucker floats above the lava. The instrument can steal the show by itself, but John 5 knows how to keep the liquid in play while riffing, shredding, and jamming like nobody’s business.

You probably saw it in some of the earlier videos, but now you can have a glimpse of this supernatural Telecaster in all its green, gooey glory. Jimmy Page fans will appreciate that violin bow!

A push-pull knob lights up the guitar to get the glowing lava effect of the immiscible liquid, courtesy of Hughes Wave Motion Machines LLC. John 5 also says that the guitar resists cracking, thanks to the antifreeze liquid — a lesson learned the hard way with the first draft of this guitar. How much does it weigh? Only John 5 knows, but it’s heavy enough to cause discomfort after just one song.

Tele Lover Yet?

It’s easy to see that fantastic musicians often have fantastic artisans and craftsmen behind them. The merger of John 5’s masterful shredding and some truly wild and supernatural guitars makes him a unique blend of musical art in today’s hard rock, metal, and country-picking world. It’s easy to see why audiences, and many of us here at Sweetwater, admire him and his dedication to his favorite instrument: the Telecaster.

Give your Sweetwater Sales Engineer a call at (800) 222-4700 if you’ve got your eyes on a Tele yourself! We’ve got a massive stock of them just waiting for you to take one or two or 10 home. From custom models to signatures to vintage re-creations, your Sweetwater Sales Engineer can help you find the one that truly fits your style. Plus, our 55-point Inspection means you can play your guitar right out of the box — and have your own John 5 bowling ball Tele moment.