Fender James Burton Telecaster - Blue Paisley Flames Reviews
From serving as Elvis’ sideman for the better part of a decade to shredding up the studio with a 6-string southern twang, James Burton’s influence on the development of rock and country guitar is simply incalculable. The Fender James Burton Telecaster harnesses his half-century-plus of guitar mastery, resulting in an instrument with exceptional playability and unmatched tonal versatility. This guitar starts with an ultra-light basswood body, loaded with a trio of Specially Designed James Burton single-coil pickups, 5-way switching, and an S-1 series switch to provide a sweeping array of tones befitting a studio maestro like James. Next, the maple-on-maple neck’s vintage-style frets and modern 9.5-inch radius combine the best specs of old and new for a slick, speedy feel perfect for high-speed chicken pickin’ finesse. Finally, the James Burton is finished with a sleek Paisley Flame finish — a nod to James’ iconic Paisley Tele that he often played onstage with Elvis during his Las Vegas period.
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Highest Rated Reviews
James Burton Tele
I purchased my Burton Telecaster a few years ago. I was so surprised at how well set up it was. Your fingers will certainly appreciate how easily it plays. Liked it so much I bought one of each color. I have a matched set tele and strat built in the Fender custom shop in 1994. They are very nice and play so well. But I have to say my Burton Teles may be a little easier to play. Although the custom shop models have 10 gauge strings on them. The Burtons have 9s. Maybe the difference. Still Fender did a fantastic job on these Burton telecasters. They will go to my grandsons when I'm done with them.
A not well known GEM in the Fender lineup
I got the blue Burton Tele some years ago and the goal was to just use it now and then. I have an 89 PRS, American Deluxe Tele, a custom Gadow, a Les Paul Standard. Being a Burton fan when I tried the guitar, fell in love with it but still didn't wan to use it a ton ... that quickly changed. This guitar is AMAZING! If you need it sweet and gentle it does it. If you need to rock it out it does it. And everything in between. Over the years this guitar has become more and more the go-to guitar. Hard rock, southern rock, country, jazzy, classic rock, worship music ... this guitar does it all.
Have thought many times of having a 2nd of one of my guitars, seems I need the red version of this one. :-)
BTW, shout out to my SW rep, Ryan Clapper.
I have 4 MIA Tele's . They are great!!!!! However the options affecting tonality beat the stock Tele .
Most of all you are dealing with the #1 musical instrument dealer in America .
This is a well thought Fender amp . The 2 separate channels ar wonderful . Channel 1 has a differet tonality an channel 2 is pure chime. However
when the volume is turned to 10 it really growls .I played the with a James Burton Tele . WONDERFUL!!!!!!!
I have 3 MIAMERICA . The Burton offers more tonality options . The best part is you are dealing with the best musical retailer In America .
best fender ever
beautiful blue flames/paisley . flawless in every respect.{im very picky,too}. still experimenting with pick-ups and switches but sounds wonderful on my vox tube amp. so versatile i may let my strat rest. thank you .josh for your help.
JB Paisley telecaster
The first thing I have to say is I apologize for the misspelling of my favorite salesperson Shauna, this instrument performs just like a telecaster should, and with the s1 feature it's sounds like a Stratocaster. Anyway you look at it, and trust me people do... Feels great in your hands, and performs as advertised. I don't need no stinking pickguard. I bought it to play and play it does. This instrument will get a lot of road wear and is one of my primaries. Blues country rip and Rock whatever an all around good guitar with plenty of flash!!!
A Great guitar
I purchased the Fender James Burton guitar and it was love at first sight. I love everything about it. Play ability and sounds are awesome.
More importantly I would like to say that Ed Nyrstrom, my sales engineer, has helped me find the equipment I needed and helped me understand how to use it. For over a decade I have gone to him for my gear and advice. Thank you ed! couldn't of got through it without you. (-:
1997 James Burton signature Telecaster
Got the JB Tele in 97 , it's to this day the finest guitar I've ever played! Almost like two guitar's in one, with the 3 fender lace sensor 's and 5 way switch you can get a sound much like a start or the original tele tone but with a fatter sound and a killer bell like tone when playing clean! The versatility of this guitar is amazing, you can play rock,blues,country, Jazz and get the tone's your looking for! The amp I'm playing through right now with this guitar is a Soldano 50 watt lucky 13!!!!
James Burton Tele
REALLY LIKE THIS GUITAR. WISHED IT CAME WITH A CLEAR PIC GUARD THOUGH.
Love at first touch!
This guitar is the one. It's got spank, it's got fat round tone, it's got sublime jazz sounds all day long. Rockabilly, blues, fat rock, or country chicken pickin, if you can't get the right tone you need lessons. I am truly glad I pulled the trigger on this guitar. Sweetwater was great to deal with. I will deal with them a lot in the future. I got the guitar in one day with the extra shipping and it was perfect out of the box. Set up was perfect. No really, perfect. I was shocked, but very, very pleased. Brad Jahn was killer to work with. I would recommend Sweetwater to anyone! Playing this guitar through a 1978 Deluxe Reverb and it sounds incredible. Get this guitar and start bangin.
My favorite guitar ever.
I own 2 Strats, 2 Les Pauls and this is hands down my favorite. No matter where you play on the neck, you will get easy access to any fret and all with great sustain. It does not sound like a pure tele, but it is great for cover band work since it can produce tele-like and strat-like squawks as well as les paul-like growl with the right amp setting using just the bridge pickup. I used to swap out my strat and my Paul on the fly depending on the song, but lately I have been using this one exclusively because I really love the tone and the playability. A super axe. Only negative would be, I wish it had the locking tuners (although the existing tuners do not slip and work fine.) Comes with .09 super light strings, but really does the best for tone and playability with .10 light gauge strings.
Great Guitar...when the pickups work
I've never been a Fender guy, just don't like what the Strat and Teles look like. But when this guitar came out, I loved the look and eventually decided to try Fender after ditching them for Gibson 40 years ago. The guitar is great--love the feel and the neck/fretboard are excellent. Surprisingly, the sound is more smooth Gibson that bright Tele, but that's what I expected with these pickups. But that's the issue, the pickups--I purchased one from Sweetwater a few months ago and after playing it for a few hours, the bridge pickup started cutting out. I tried several things, thought it was the switch or a grounding issue. Sweetwater replaced it and the second guitar has the same problem--the bridge pickup cuts out, then stops altogether. I've read about others having the same issue too, but Fender claims that's not true and tried to blame it on my effects chain (which, ironically, is a Tone Master Pro). So, do I like the guitar, yes; if it worked properly it would be a 5. Totally disappointed in Fender customer service.
