"Born in the USA" (Fender American Standard Telecaster)

Member Name: spudzy123

Product:	Fender American Standard Telecaster
Date:	08/10/09 (350 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: quality original hand built American guitar with solid feel, very understated in design

Disadvantages: not everyone's cup of tea as you either love it or hate it's 'form follows function' design.

Almost everyone has heard of the Gibson Les Paul and Fender Stratocaster guitars and can probably name a few guitarists who have used them to carve their own style in the music business; but what about the fender Telecaster? Sure we've got Bruce Springsteen and Keith Richards from the Rolling Stones, but what about the rest. Well after you have read my review on the Telecaster, why not take a look for yourself and you will be surprised at the number of people and different styles of those that played one.

From the very start of my guitar drooling days, I always found the shape a little odd looking because it didn't really have a place amongst the bright flashy flying V's and the thrash metal axes with lots of pointed edges and reversed headstocks. At the time (early 90's) it was all about having Floyd Rose whammy bars and having as many double pick-ups as you could possibly fit.

I don't actually know how it came about but after a few years of guitar swapping, I ended up with a Standard American Telecaster. I'm not sure whether the guitar grew on me or whether I grew into it; but what I do know is that I got bored of whammy bars and too many pick-ups. I just needed something simpler and something different.

What's all the fuss about?

The moment that you see an American Standard Telecaster, you will instantly notice the clean lines and lack of fuss. Everything appears to sit just perfectly and uncomplicated with beautiful harmony. No sharp edges here either, just purposeful flowing lines crafted to its own very unique design of 'form follows function'. Oh and one more thing, there's no whammy bar on this model.

When I first picked up this particular Telecaster, I loved the weight of it; not too heavy to cause discomfort and just light enough to still retain a feel of quality and robustness.
My guitar was a solid glossy black which had the most amazing finish; it felt like looking into a moonlit pool with what seemed like really thick layers of quality paint.

Born in the USA

The fact that this particular model is hand built in America seems to be rather important to me and adds authenticity to the whole deal. Without wanting to offend anyone here I can only compare it to buying a German Audi car and finding out that it was made in Russia. Now it's not that the overall quality would be any less, but rather that you are paying for the quality associated with German engineering. Ok. I guess that you get the picture now, so lets' have a look at what really matters which is the sound.

It's really hard for me to put into words how a genuine American Standard Telecaster sounds, especially through a Marshal valve Amp which is what I use. But if you really must know then first pop the amp on clean and select the 3 position selector blade towards the bridge and now you get the jangly and twangy country sound; close your eyes and you might as well be holding a banjo. Pop the selector towards the bridge to release the smooth yet crisp sounds, not quite as bluesy as a Gibson Les Paul but something very unique to the Telecaster.

Turn off the clean mode on your amp and you would at first be fooled into thinking that the two American Tele® Single-Coil Pickups would struggle to cope with such power, but let me tell you that it's like driving a rocket powered skateboard down a steep hill. Yes you will get it distorting, screaming and squealing back at you; but that's the whole point, combine this with the choppy, chunky sound that it releases and you are into a whole different game. The feeling you get after playing is like the first 5 minutes after being on a rollercoaster ride with a slight satisfying tingly feeling that makes you want to go back and do it all over again. It had me thinking, why did I not discover this sooner? But I guess that I just wasn't ready at the time.

I find that the Tele works best with 9 gauge strings but that's just my personal opinion, it's really easy to string up too, feeding from the back of the body and winding up with the Fender® Deluxe Staggered Cast/Sealed Tuning Machines which are great for keeping your Tele in tune.

Choose your weapon

Before I go into the technical spec, let me tell you that the Standard American Telecaster comes with a maple 'C' shaped neck with options of a rosewood fingerboard. I love the satin feel of the maple neck, but I don't like rosewood fingerboards for 2 main reasons: the first being that I like the simplicity of having just the one solid piece of wood, and the second reason being that I am not keen on having 2 different types of wood glued together as they act in different ways; on some older guitars I have noticed that rosewood fingerboards have warped or separated from the neck. (Don't worry if you have a rosewood fingerboard because it's probably just me being a purist, and besides, it may be because those guitars were neglected or have endured extreme changes in temperature). It is good to know that if things do go wrong that there will be plenty of spares available, so if you do break your neck (the guitar's that is) you can simply bolt on another one yourself and away you go.

Unlike most ageing rockers, the Telecaster gets better with age so there's no need to rush out for the touch up stick if wood starts to come through the solid painted finish; it just means that your instrument is well played and is not afraid to go out of the house once in a while.

What's the damage £££

If you are lucky enough to consider buying new, then make sure that you shop around because prices do seem to vary massively, especially when buying online where they can be anywhere between £400 and £800. If you decide to go through a dealer, then why not ask them to beat some of the online prices and/or chuck in some extras (cables, guitar straps, effect pedals are always a good starting point).

And now for the Technical stuff...

The Body: Alder on: 3-Color Sunburst, Black, Candy Cola and Blizzard Pearl
Ash on: 2-Color Sunburst, Natural and Crimson Red Transparent

Neck: Maple, Modern "C" Shape (Gloss Headstock Face with Satin Urethane
Finish on Back of Neck)

Fingerboard: Rosewood (p/n 011-0500) or Maple (p/n 011-0502), 9.5" Radius (241 mm)

Number of frets: 22 Medium Jumbo Frets

Pickups: 2 American Tele® Single-Coil Pickups (Neck & Bridge)

Controls: Master Volume, Master Delta ToneTM
("Delta Tone" system includes high output bridge pickup and special
No-Load tone control)

Pickup Switching: 3-Position Blade (Bridge Pickup, Bridge and Neck Pickups, Neck
Pickup)

Bridge: American Tele with New American Standard Bent Steel Saddles and
Stamped Brass Plate.

Machine Heads: Fender® Deluxe Staggered Cast/Sealed Tuning Machines.

Spudzy's final thoughts

The telecaster may not be everyone's cup of tea and you either love em or hate em with their unique looks and characteristic sound, and some people may find Telecasters a little heavy and chunky for their frame; but I love the whole understated appeal of the guitar and wouldn't part with mine for anything.

Summary: A brilliant guitar that you either love or hate.