Fender Standard Telecaster - Brown Sunburst with Maple Fingerboard Reviews

This is really a good guitar. I had played both the MIM and American versions in the past, and quite honestly I cannot tell the difference in the two, except for the price and resale possibilities. This guitar sounds so good through a 1979 Princeton Reverb that it is breathtaking. Thank you, Sweetwater. The shipping was prompt and the guitar was here in two days. What more could I want?

No one needs a 12th guitar, but I sure wanted this one. Sweetwater was easy to buy from - a low friction experience from start to finish. Proactive help, easy to use web site for shopping and choosing, fast delivery and engaging follow-up. I'll be back.

The entire process was outstanding! Easy to use and comprehensive website, great pricing, terrific engagement from Maryann Shirley who tracked the purchase from start to finish. Overall, a superior experience from start to finish. I'll be buying here again.

Got this Tele in 2017 and had it for several months now. It came from Sweetwater completely set up. I haven"t had to do anything to it except change strings. They take care of you, for sure. Plays great, sounds great. This Mexican Tele and its Mexican Strat counterpart are my two favorite guitars.

I was reluctant like you may be with making such a big purchase without even touching the guitar.
I've never owned a Tele myself. I've been a very happy SG owner and player for 12+ years.
I've always played alt-rock, 70's heavy rock, real dirty and loud stuff. I'm very used to that humbucker sound.
I'm getting into playing 50/60's rock-n-roll and ...chicken pick'n? and wanted a guitar that I could keep tuned standard cause the SG is always in C#.
So, naturally I'm thinking a single coil, perhaps Fender or Squire started narrowing down guitars and got down to the Squire Deluxe Tele, the Modern Player, and the Standard Tele, ...so after that I was comparing pictures looking for slight imperfections or this bridge style over this style.
I love how you can narrow down exactly what I wanted in a guitar on the Sweetwater.com website, like it had to be maple fingerboard, fender, squire, single coil. This is a very awesome way of narrowing down the decision making process.
In the past I've purchased speakers and an combo amp (the Boss Katana, just buy one!!) and now this guitar along with a new tuner and a big fat strap and every purchase has arrived packaged amazingly (double boxed) so that everything arrives in great condition.
Thanks Sweetwater!!
-Mark, Kansas City, MO

My wife bought this for me as a Christmas present. It arrived the day after Thanksgiving and she let me go ahead and have it. I've wanted a Tele for a while and this one is perfect. Love the feel, the weight and most important, the sound. When Leo Fender started making electric guitars, every guitar maker knew that you do not put a maple neck on a guitar. Leo didn't know that and the maple necks is what makes these guitars. Love the feel of the neck and it's just a very pretty guitar. Love it.

Ordering anything online can have it's risks, but a friend that has done business with Sweetwater for quite awhile showed me a new standard stratacaster he had just ordered and it was beautiful. I'd always wanted a tele so I ordered the made in Mexico standard and am glad I did. It's everything I'd hoped it would be. It has great sound, feels good and is beautiful. I can't imagine ever changing anything on it. It appears very well put together to me and I am completely satisfied with it. It was ready to plug in and play when it got here.

I have a 2004 model of this awesome guitar upgraded with vintage noiseless pups, I play mine daily through a Mustang III amp and this guitar can do it all from blues, country, rock and jazz at very high speeds thanks to the maple fretboard that comes with this 21 fret wonder, only death will separate me from mine!
If you can think it, you can play it on this 5 star guitar, nothing but the Best.

I am very happy with this beauty. The intonation is perfect and the finish is fantastic. Sweetwater's service is unmatched!

This MIM Fender tele is a wonderful guitar. I have the brown sunburst finish and I need to say that Sweetwaters pictures are a better representation of the true color and wood grain coming through than you will find on any other website, including Fender. Sweetwater customer service (Robert Williams, my sales engineer) is second to none! They answer any questions you may have, no matter how ridiculous the question may seem. Also, don't let the MIM scare you. It keeps the price lower obviously, but the quality is really, did i mention REALLY good! The bottom line for me is that fender really has a great product here with this MIM tele, great standard tele tone, and sweetwater is the only place I can recommend because they try their very best to ensure you have a great experience shopping/working with them! If you are on the fence, hop on over that thing and get this guitar!

If you want s telecaster and can't afford the american verison , say thank you, for saving money.This tele can do it all ,nice pickups and really good neck, save your dollars and buy this one, you can also thank sweetwater for the setup was excellant and truly plug and play and its cheap enough to have cash to upgrade pickup if you feel the need to.Thank Matt and the rest of sweetwater crew execellant job as always very satified customer Jordy.

Exceptional setup. My guitar showed up with some really low action with zero fret buzz. The intonation was almost perfect, I found 1 string that needed a minor adjustment.
The fretwork was really well done, and level. I checked for high spots with a rocker, I found the neck was nearly perfect. To be critical, the only negative I can say about the neck is the fret ends were not polished to a shine. Other than that the neck about flawless, I was surprised by the quality of the craftsmanship at this price.
The finish on the body was nearly flawless, I found 1 spot in the clear that easily buffed out.
The pickups sound good, but I will be looking to try something a little more high end.
The machine heads hold tune well, an upgrade here wouldn't hurt.

Overall I am really impressed with the craftsmanship at this price. This ax is a player right out the box.
A few upgrades and this thing is a #1.

I am more than pleased. The guitar was well balanced out of the box with nice new strings. I dont even have to adjust the action for buzzing, etc. I owned a MIM standard a decade ago and was worried this one wouldnt be as good. No problem, this one is excellent and even has some a small amount of laquor on the neck(old one was more dry). If you never owned a tele they are a middle ground between strats and gibsons. Not so trebly and biting as a strat but not so bassy as a les paul. The middle position is so tele twang I love it. Black sabbath to johny cash with a flick of switch(and turing off my Rat of course). They have slender necks which i love with my smaller hands. Also, the bridge pickup is small but for whaterver reason is more mellow than a strat if your have never owned a tele before. Fast delivery also. A keeper!!

I was very surprised how well this guitar played and sounded right out of the box. Fast shipping and great customer service. Highly recommend this guitar from Sweetwater

The Standard Tele is above my expectations. I assumed I would have to spend money & time getting it to feel & play to my taste. Much to my amazement, this one played like a custom shop guitar out of the the box. As always, great product & service from the folks at Sweetwater.

A Young Man came in My Store an ask Me About a Guitar ,When I ask what stile of Axe He was Looking For He discribed The Tele I inded up ordering from You at Sweetwater Now I find out He is 16 had been saving for A Harley But desided to Buy His Dad a Guitar He's always Wanted it Brought some Kind a Tear to My glass EYE the Good Son and He did this before His own needs for His bike He needed a Tire for His Transportation .thought You Guys came to the Rescue Thanks Matt

Some 20 years ago, I bought a MIM Strat - What a disappointment. The guitar just didn't have a good tone and it just felt like the cheap guitar that it was. I ended up selling it, and I thought to myself "never again".
Let me tell you folks, the times have changed!!! I don't like to review products until I have been able to spend some time getting to know them, but I have literally played this guitar for 10 minutes, and I can say without hesitation that this is a very nice professional quality guitar. It compares very well to my American Special Strat that costs almost twice as much. No joke.
The finish is beautiful, it is extremely well made, the hardware is of very good quality, and the tone and playability is everything I hoped for and more! If you have any doubts about the quality of this import, you can lay them to rest. I highly recommend!!

Love the feel, tones, overall quality of the instrument. Can't stop playing this classic. Love looking at it. The neck is smooth and enhances my abilities.

This guitar is awesome. I love the tone and how easily it stays in tune. If you like telecasters, this is a no-brainer.

Love the smooth Tele tone. I bought this with the Fender Pro Jr. III tube amp and the tone just makes me excited to play every time I plug it in! If you haven't gotten a chance to try a Fender Tele through a Fender amp, it's definitely something that everyone should have a listen to. That smooth Tele neck tone, the distinct middle position, and that signature Tele twang sound at the bridge pickup. WIN!

I love this guitar. I have never owned a Telecaster before, though I do own and have owned many other electric guitars. This guitar sounds better to me and seems more versatile than any other guitar I own.

I would recommend this guitar to anyone.

These are VERY nice guitars. I have several high end Fenders and I am consistantly picking up this one.

I did buy a micro file set and fixed a couple of fret ends but my high end fenders have had similar or worse issues right out of the box.

The frets are nice modern Medium Jumbo frets.
The bridge is nice and heavy duty chrome.
My 2-Tone burst has beautiful grain showing through
on front and back - Solid Alder - nice high gloss finish. The tone is great - very comperable to my high end Fender Ash Strat.
The electronics, pots and switch seem to be high quality - no issues.

A few things to I considered when deciding on purchasing this Tele...


Right out of the box I replaced the pickups with the
Fender Vintage Noiseless set offered here at Sweetwater at a very reasonable price. I would have done the same if buying a Highway 1 or American Series anyway.

I personally love the Vintage Noisless Tele pickups.
They do have a more modern sound. The Alnico V magnets really cut through.


I also bought a set of Schaller Tuners off of ebay for $20. The Ping and Schaller look almost identical except the Schallers have a more refined string post and stay in tune MUCH better. BTW, the Highway 1's have Ping also - you have to go to the American Series to get the Schallers.


I also bought a Fender molded case. Highway ones come with a gigbag too. Again, you have to get into the American Series to get a hardshell case.

Just one more thought..
I've always been a Rosewood kind-of-guy and had no choice but Maple on this one. I truely love this Maple neck. Also the 1.650" nut had me a little worried, but it is just perfect!

Bottom line is you get a nice instrument that may or may not require upgrades - depending on your preferences. I think Fender has stepped up the Standard Series to compete with the import market and they have done a great job on this one.

I've been playing for 35 years and have had MANY guitars - this tele is just plain enjoyable.

Great Tele for the price, will eventually get a nice case. Great action and neck

Been wanting a telecaster. Bought this one because of the price and reviews. It's an awesome guitar. Great telecaster sound. Looks beautiful. Great quality. Played amazing right out of the box. Only thing I'd change is the bridge pickup to something hotter. Once that's done it'll be a 5 star guitar! Save your money and buy this tele.

Classic Tele vibe and twang. A lot of versitile sounds to be had with this guitar. I'm really happy with it. The gloss finish on the maple fret board, and the highly polished frets are both excellent. Came from Sweetwater with a FANTASTIC set-up. Action and intonation were very good. Great guitar.

This guitar is awesome in every angle, the whole body and fretboard are smooth, great finishing and design.
This guitar is best for Jazz and pop.

I just got this guitar today and I'm in love with it. I owned a MIM strat and i thought it was the best. I stand corrected. I can get all the same sounds out of the tele and it just looks amazing. My only complaint is that the neck is a little thinner than my strats and when playing fast licks my hand starts to cramp up. Other than that I cannot complain. I'm running it through a Digitech RP70 into a fender front man 25R and i can get anything from Voodoo Child to Psychosocial to Zeppelin. Great job Fender.