Fender '52 Reissue Telecaster

Thi review is for a 2009 Fender American Vintage Reissue 52 Telecaster. Features? It's as basic as you'll find, but to
those who play seriously, it has proven to be the most versatile
electric ever made.

Unlike all the Strats and Les Pauls, this guitar can easily
sound: woody, twangy, extremely clean, or dangerously over-driven
with ease. It's no question why Fender has continued to make this guitar.
As it comes stock, the #3 position on the toggle (neck pickup only)
w/no tone control does sound dark and muddy, BUT, when the toggle is
wedged between position #3 and the middle, you get a TOTALLY
UNIQUE out-of-phase sound that a Strat will NOT deliver. So much for
converting to the modern wiring. I love the way it sounds now, so I'm not changing a thing.
It's common knowledge that Page used his 58 Tele on
"Whole-Lotta-love", but most aren't aware that it was the same axe used on "Stairway to Heaven", (original albums).
Finally, a tele can't rock? Tell that to Jeff Beck, Rory Gallagher,
and a list too long to continue!

Absolutely perfect, and that's saying something these days,
considering I've seen Custom Shop guitars come off the line
that were God awful.

If you can break a Tele, you belong in the WWF!

Every time I've called Carona, they were courteous and
helpfull.

A thought to remember: SIMPLE IS BEST! Ask any of your Guitar
Heros, and that's what you'll hear. Better to have a simple, clean
sounding, comfortable, and durable axe, (that with) different
amps, effects, and playing styles, can DO IT ALL.

My guitar is a 2009 model. Stanard features for a Tele; 2 piece ash body (butterscotch w/black pickguard), fat maple neck/fingerboard, 2 Fender single coil pickups, volume and tone control, and a 3 way pickup switch. It doesn't get much more simple than this. Standard Fender tuners and hardware (3 saddle bridge is installed). Came with the tweed case, 6 saddle bridge, capacitor for modern style wiring (which I have done), guitar cable, and strap. This is a very simple guitar, but extremely versitle.

This is why I bought this guitar - the sound is fantastic! I have had several Telecasters in the past (as well as other single coil pickup guitars) and was never satisfied with the bridge pickup. Single coil bridge pickups always sounded thin to me, and I never liked the way they sounded when the amp was overdriven (kind of fuzzy and hi-fi sounding). This guitar is much different. It certainly does all of the things a Tele should do - the twang, the clean, bright, articulate sounds, but, it also can sound HUGE when overdriven. It becomes thick and fat, but still maintains clarity. This is the first Tele I have had that could produce this sound. I'm mainly a humbucker player (Gibsons, PRS...), but I wanted something that was more bright sounding and could cut through a mix, but still had a big sound. This guitar does that easily. The bridge pickup sounds big and clear, the middle position (set up for modern wiring) sounds thinner and brighter, and the neck pickup sounds deep and smooth. I use this guitar with a Mesa/Boogie F-30 combo amp, with a few basic effects, or a Vox Tonelab SE for headphone practicing and it sounds great through either.

The guitar was set up perfectly from the factory. My dealer (Long and McQuade in Burlington, Ontario - GREAT guys to deal with!) ordered it in for me (they have a difficult time keeping this model in stock), and it was perfect right out of the case! Fretwork, pickup adjustment, action...everything was great. It was set up for 10's and sounds and feels great with that guage.

It's been pretty much been proven over time that a Tele is one of the most durable and reliable guitars you could play. The only thing I have changed (other than re-wiring the electronics to modern specs) is the strap buttons, which were replaced by strap locks. I do this on all of my guitars. I would use this guitar live without a backup with no reservations at all.

I have never needed to deal with Fender, so I can't really offer an opinion here. I don't really expect that I would ever have to deal with them in regards to this guitar.

I have been playing for more than 30 years now, and I have owned a lot of guitars over the years. I currently own 2 Gibson '58 Les Paul reissues, a Gibson Howard Roberts Fusion, a Gibson EDS-1275 doubleneck, a PRS Custom 24, a Washburn WP-50, an F Bass, and several acoustics. I am totally happy with the way this guitar sounds, plays, and feels and would not change a thing. Before I decided on the '52 Reissue, I was considering the '51 Nocaster. I love the sound and feel of the Nocaster, and prefer the HUGE neck, but I didn't feel that there was enough of a difference in sound and feel to justify the substantial extra cost, especially since I am primarily a Gibson player and the Tele is not used nearly as much. The longer I play, the more I appreciate a simple, great sounding guitar plugged into a great sounding, responsive amp, and this guitar is ideal for that. For me, this guitar is everything a good Tele should be. I do feel that this guitar is a little overpriced, but I feel this way about pretty much all guitars!

This is a review for '82. & '00. I'll try to compare those two. This is ultimat guitar, so simple beautifull and sounds amazing, but... No rating... Its 1 and 10, wood and strings, rest is up to you!!!

First I got ,00. model and I could use ia in any situacion soundig cleanes cleen but handeled distortion better than my 81. strat (ocd + 79. marshall SL MK2).
And then I got '82 model. The unplugged sound was amazing, like an accoustic!!! But squeeeelling on dist I cane to conclution thah this was a bit different from the other, more Vintage. Both have that buzz from PUs, its a part of the deal -1... So I'll give them 9

'00. neck is faaat U shape, but more naturall then my '57 LP gold top, ond '82. war something between U and C. I like action a litlle bit high no buzz with 009 strings.

You can get in fight with it and YWANG on in tune after that! FOREVER!

No Idea, no need for that...

I've been playing since 10 years old, 32 now, and as a pro for last decade and more I think this is the guitar to carry on a desert island.
It is great soudding and you can play every cind of music with it, except metal, put a humbucker in bridge and there you go.
My main guitars ane EBMM Van Halen, and '57.RI strat and and these two beauties! This is the ultimate classic for a reasonable price! 10

* 2008 '52 American Vintage Reissue Telecaster (USA)
* 21 frets, vintage-style
* Controls: 2 knobs (Volume, Tone Control), 3-position pickup selector
* Pickup configuration (S/S) (Position 1: Bridge only, Position 2: Neck only with tone control, Position 3: Neck only with no tone control)
* Pickups: American Vintage Tele Single-Coil Pickups
* Passive Electronics
* Body wood: Ash
* Vintage bridge with three-piece brass saddles
* Gotoh vintage-style tuners
* Neck: One piece maple, 7.25" radius U shaped neck
* Accessories: Vintage-style tweed hardshell case, vintage bridge with six piece saddles, vintage leather strap (useless!), wiring kit for modern three-way switching

Using a Tonelab LE mostly, and also played through Fender Twin Reverb or Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. This guitar is very versatile!

I must chime in here and comment on what a lot of reviewers have been saying about the neck pickup. A lot of reviewers here (who have been knocking on the neck pickup) are gravely mistaken about their own 52 reissue teles! The factory pickup configurations for the '52 AVRI 3-position selector does not have a neck and bridge combined setting! Position 1 is bridge only, positions 2 and 3 are the neck only, with position 3 having NO TONE CONTROL!!!

People have been erroneously saying that the neck pickup is weak and muddy and dark sounding! Yes, the neck pickup is weak, but it is sounding that way because it is in position 3. Position 2 give you full tone control and you can dial in your tone for the neck pickup!

Trust Fender and other players out there! Would they put out a neck pickup setting that lame? It was done because the 52s had this setting. Anyways, the neck pickup is great! I hardly use position 3 because I personally find it useless too, but in position 2 the neck only with tone control gives me such a beautiful sweet buttery sound. Sounds particularly great when paired with tremelo on Fender amps (called erroneously called "Vibrato" by Fender)

The bridge pickup is very bright and gives you great lead tones, has real balls! The Tone control gives you the ability to dial in the tone you need.

I am going to switch to the modern 3-way switching soon (bridge only, bridge and neck, neck only). Again, the guys here who say they are going to grab a American Std or American Deluxe because the neck pickup sounds better have no idea what they are talking about. Position 3 on those guitars = position 2 on the '52 reissue!!! Position 2 on those new guitars is neck and bridge together, which is not in the vintage wiring scheme of the '52 reissue.

There is a bit of hum on the pickups of these guitars, but I can live with them. The sound is just too good on these guitars for me to change anything. I do have a Fender Custom Shop Twisted Tele neck pickup that I may put in in the future, but I like the neck pickup on this tele so much, it may never get done!

Impeccable workmanship. The nitrocellulose finish is beautifully done. The neck may be a little sticky for some people, and I experienced it in the beginning, but this goes away after you play it a while. The neck has a 7.25" radius, giving a more rounder neck profile. People says this can cause you the fret out on bends, but I think this is a bit overblown. Once you get accustomed to the neck, you can bend notes just fine, regardless of the register you are in. Sure, a 9.5" radius makes things easier, but I personally find the rounder fretboard much more handier to fret and grab chords on.

The factor setup is pretty good, but of course, I have to tweak it to my liking. But it was good enough for me to play before buying it.

The only knock here is the nitrocellulose finish. It gives you a beautiful gloss finish that is relatively thin compared to the newer finishes, but it does require a bit more babying. It is relatively a softer finish and it does react to vinyl and other foams or plastics, so you do have to take precautions on the guitar stands you use and the straps you use.

It is OK, since I baby my guitars anyways.

Haven't had to have any service yet

Been playing for 15 years. I have a Taylor 514 and use a Les Paul Studio also.

I did a lot of research before pulling the trigger on this guitar, so there is nothing I wish I asked before buying this guitar. I can't stress enough for people out there to know what they are playing before making opinions on it. Hey, I wondered too why position 3 sucked so bad on this guitar and wondered why it was better on the American Std and Deluxe teles!!! That is why I researched the guitar!!! When I found out why, it made so much sense to me and I knew I could deal with it by simply requiring the pickup selector!

This guitar plays like a dream. It is extremely well-made. Although the MIM Fenders are relatively well-made and in general guitars made in countries like Korea are now of very respectable quality, there is something about American made Fenders that make me proud of American workmanship. In my opinion, Fender American made guitars exceed Gibsons by a mile.

The reason I went with the '52 reissue rather than the American Standard or Deluxe was many reasons. The look and sound of the '52 reissue was the biggest factor. The one piece maple neck with the 7.25" radius is another reason.

Fender American 52' vintage reissue. Only one spec, vintage pickups, ash body, maple vintage neck (ticker, u shaped), 21 vintage frets (thin / not jumbo) and came with a tweed case and various bits and bobs (lead, bridge cover). Guitar is ash bodied, ash has a nicer wood grain than alder etc so they typically come natural or hinted with a colour. The butterscotch hint is nice, its fairly strong so the 100% natural woodyness look is gone but the grain is still preserved and comes through well.

Thankfully is a decent reissue so no horrible S-1 switching system or other milarky.

Body is a little thicker than other guitars I have played (gibson, strat, prs) which adds to the weight (which I thnk a few people have complained about) - but it really adds to the sound.

Feature wise it has exactly what a guitar needs and will ever need, wood + pickups with a few metal gangly bits - simple, no thrills. I have a growing dislike for modern guitars with S-1 systems, auto-tuners etc, especially on a tele given what its typically used for.

The body is a fairly large chunk of wood and it definitely makes a good difference to the sound.

Bridge pickup is unsurprisingly very bright but has a nice sound / ring to it. Neck pickup is also quite bright but very sweet. Gentle chords ring well + sparkle. Can get some good tele sounds from it, (I play mostly blues on it) also some nice / interseting jazz sounds on the neck pickup. The 3rd selection is the neck pickup without the tone control, this comes across extremely bassy + muddy. I believe is was put on the original '52 so a player could fake bass playing, this was before fender released their first electric bass. Its quite a specialist use (set the amp up right or throw on loads of distortion you can get usable sounds) so it probably will be mostly useless. Fender send a capacitor with the guitar to hook it to the tone control and instructions to rewire it to how the modern teles are. Did not subtract this from my rating because this was expected, its how the original '52 teles were.

The guitar is very responsive to how hard you play it and the picking position between neck and bridge. I play through a valve amp and you can get a great range of sounds, especially if you put the preamp or postamp around the breaking point - you can get gentle sounds that ring to well overdriven. It takes well to a bit of distortion. I also threw the gain + preamp quite high and scooped the mid, and it had a fair good shot at a metal sound, albeit with a blues/country twang.

Only downside I have noticed is there is some hiss and when I remove my hands from the metal on the guitar a slight buzz / hum (sounds like a grounding issue) but when I touch the metal the buzz completely disappears. Its to be expected to some degree with single coils although I am unsure about the buzz. Either way, it does not interfere with the sound when playing (even on gentle chords) and shutting of the volume control when not playing is good practice, especially with single coils + feedback.

Guitar is build like most fenders, to a good high quality with a certain cheapness about it. But thats what they and it contributes to their sound, so the build it good.

Had no sharp edges on the frets. Everything seems to of fit together properly, no scratches or other problems.

Shop assistant gave it a basic setup before I got my hands on it so I cant comment on the factory setup. My action is setup nicely so the guitar did not require a fret stoning/polishing (unlike my gibson...).

Did not snap any strings on it (i.e. at the nut, bridge etc)

Only had it a couple months but the guitar is built like a brick. It is literally a chunk of wood with a fat neck bolted on - no thrills. I doubt you could get anything that would seem more simple / reliable. I can see why this guitar suited so well in early elctric blues.

Never contacted them.

I've been playing just over 10 years now, most styles of music (metal, rock, blues, jazz, folk) and I try use and combine them like the typical instrumental players do.

I bought this guitar as I was looking for a guitar with a proper blues sound. I own a fender strat, but it doesnt have the extreme twang teles do. I love the strat for blues, hendrix, funk but bought the tele for the older slighty more traditional blues and to give me some new sounds with bluesy jazz.

I've never liked fender teles, I thought they were ugly and sounded cheap, but as I've explored blues I wanted that sound more. I originally set my sights on a modern tele in an ugly colour (sky blue), but reading specs they all now come with S-1 switching systems, hot pickups and thought this just is not what a tele should be, especially for blues. Noticed this '52 reissue and am really happy with it, its a no thrills hunk of wood that sound/plays great and with the ash finish and stylish black scratch plate + inlays, I actually even think it looks a very nice guitar! - how perceptions can change.

Guitar is 3/4 the price of a standard gibson, 1/2 the price of a top of the range gibson, and a 1/5th the price of fancier prs's etc. This guitar sounds great, feels great and looks great - so it is very good value for money in my opinion.

Tone, volume and three pickup switch with good old vintage pickups at neck and bridge. for guys like me who doesn't want to jot down all combinations between ten dials and equally impressive pickup switch combo, it's easy to dime it and get the tone you want.

I played my guitars through an Egnater and a Fender 65 Princeton Reverb RI. I fell in love with Fender on Fender combo i have and sold my Gibson and Egnater and got myself a few pedals. With the right combination of pedals you can get pretty wide range of rock sound out of this. But then the tone that pretty much everyone here is amazed about comes out if you put it straight through a fender reverb amp with some vibro. If you play blues or jazz, you have to play this guitar before you put down your 1500 for another guitar.

Personally i like high action with a set of slightly thicker strings. I noticed though the neck is not the easiest neck you can play fast riffs and solos but you get used to the neck and frets. It all depends on what you are looking for i guess.

As for finish, i can't complain about the finish. This guitar looks great new, even better with a few scratches and pick marks in my opinion. One of the guitars that i would like to hand down to my kid in the future. Hope my kids play real guitar instead of playing the fake GuitarHero guitars... that's just sad.

It's a tele. you can probably drop it a few times without harming it internally, but don't try it. I baby mine. But it won't crap out on you. Ask those guys who have the original 52's.

Didn't have to contact them for any thing, hope i won't have to in the future.

I had it for a year now and I LOVE IT! I wouldn't trade it for anything else. This guitar is my work horse and will remain in my guitar collection for a while.

2003/2004 American vintage telecaster 52 butterscotch warnish
Second hand but realy " under the bed" condition .
heu ... , how is a Telecaster please ?
very good work, and nice for the fingerboard.
Maybe the warnish is too thick ... maybe...

I play as a professional musican many things between blues and "electric modern jazz", over 30 years of practice, my main guitar is a 64 strat and now i use an USA G&l Comanche as my "horseworking" guitar, i have also other good guitars .
My amps : fender tube amps and one old peavey tube amp. Even if i have a more "top end" amps my favorite is the fender Blues Junior cause : the weight ( easy to play in stereo), the nice sound, also with effects,and the power enough for any situation ( big stage? put a mic in front...)

So,for this tele : Is a singer axe, a screaming rock & rool axe, a "electro acoustic" like axe, a jazz axe, a country axe, a blues axe, a funk machine axe... ! in fact THE MOTHER ELECTRIC AXE REISSUE
Ok some time i do deal the sound with some "Hum... Not an active pickup guitar, back to the roots here ! Not for every body and not a easy guitar. But just for this sound... :D

OH OH ! i think that : Many guitarists, many setups, but for this one only one way : UP ! And dont take care for your fingers if your nickname is "Big bend Man" it hurts the fingers, because the old radius "asked" a very hight action for a modern guitarist , like an acoustic guitar in fact and with the little "banjo" frets... Good for the shred training ! lol
Apart for that, the neck is perfectly shaped and with a flat fingerboard can draw a smile on the face on any shredder ( but the flat fingerboard is a dream eh eh ) .
More up is the string, more the sound is big, and what gift!
You must be present when you play this guitar, otherwise it will remind you to order . And to make good music you must be present! A good music teacher in fact ! For that 10

maple used for pickaxe handle...
ash used for baseball bat... !:D

Like a tank !

Fender dealers are Ok

It is often said that a guitarist who does not have a telecaster in its arsenal is not a serious guitarist,it is also true that a guitarist who has only a good telecaster can do "almost" everything seriously . And this one is a GOOD telecaster .
I don't fall in love too easily ( and not so fast :) for a guitar, but for this one... You can find one for $1000 and an good original for $30,000 , not a good value ?
Hard for the fingers, honey for the ears ...
Please Santa, the same in sonic blues, and one in coral pink :D

I think everything in this category is extremely well done. This guitar has everything to make the owner feel like they've got a very special guitar!

I purchased my 52 tele a few days ago, and I honestly feel like this guitar was made for me. I also purchased a fender supersonic combo along with it, and after some dialing in, the tone is unreal! I've never been so happy with my sound! I play in rock bands and never thought a tele would be the guitar of choice for me, let alone a fender amplifier. I've played Buddas, Boogies, Marshalls, and even some Silvertones...usually with a Les Paul, and this guitar/amp combo tops them all! I'm shocked by the abundance of sounds that can be extracted from such a simple guitar!

When I play this guitar I feel like I'm playing a work of art...it feels that good. The intonation is flawless, the action is perfect, the pickups are set perfectly. I'm also amazed at how well it stays in tune. I could never get my other guitars to hold a tune after aggressively playing, but this guitar seems to be locked in.

It's built like a tank, but we'll see how well she endures.

Best guitar I've ever played...hands down!! I feel like I have a world class guitar that will last me a lifetime...for the price, there is no better value on the market. I highly recommend it to anyone who has an understanding of guitar tone because you will love it!

YEAR MADE: 1989
MADE IN: USA
PICKUP CONFIGURATION: S-S
PICKUP SWITCH: 3-WAY (neck dark, neck, bridge.... or WITH MOD neck, both, bridge)
FINISH: BUTTERSCOTCH BLOND WITH NITROCELULOSE LAQUER
TUNERS: VINTAGE KLUSON TYPE TUNERS (great stuff)
BRIDGE: 50s' TELE BRIDGE WITH THREE BRASS SADDLES (what else could ya ask for?)
NECK SHAPE: FAT 50s' U SHAPE
CASE: FENDER TWEED WITH ORANGE-ISH INTERIOR

This guitar suites what i do very very well. I play blues, rock, country, and jazz. Sort of a Danny Gatton, Roy Buchanan, Jimmy Page, and the Allman Brothers all rolled into one dude. This Telecaster is as good as any custom Shop Telecaster that is in existance and I own a few of them. Try owning ten FCS Telecasters and then selling nine of them because you only have one that is worthy of being this 52 RI's backup guitar! I am that impressed!!! Besides I dont need that many teles laying around unplayed and neglected. I will be buying another one of these guitars and selling my last custom shop tele on ebay!
This is a very rich and warm telecaster. I had modern wiring put into my tele and it is more versitile now. I still have the old wiring and selector switch in a baggy for pot dating for eventual value. you can get everything from LED ZEPP 1 to Folsom Prison Blues to I wanna check you for ticks!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Action is very adjustable for any need you may or may not have. The pickups are adjusted very easily as long as you can work a screw driver. Very rarley is any guitar a one piece body. Telecaster bodies in the 50s' were usually 2-3 pieces so dont be alarmed if you see 3 pieces of wood showing ..... it is normal. Every thing is perfectly routed out and is as clean and as smooth as greased marble. (FIGURE OF SPEECH)

This guitar os a tank. My bassist refers to my tele as the chunk. He has a Gibson Les Paul Bass and calls my guitar a chunk! Wow your back better be healthy if you wanna stand up with it! Even then you will want to invest in a better strap. like a Levy's Wide and Padded Leather Strap or something of the sort! If you sit down then you have no worries. The strap pins are solid and they fold out close enough to the body that it eliminates the need for strap locks. I would deffinatley sell all my guitars and keep only this one!

NEVER HAD ANY PROBLEMS TO TAKE TO THEM!

I am a semi proffessional musician that gigs about 20-40 shows a year (which is insane if you have to travel a lot by road) I wish I had a whole bunk full of these guitars to keep me company!

Well, it may not have 14 or 15 switches, knobs, toggles, etc. like a vintage B.C. Rich, but it's what I want.

When I think of the most unique electric guitar sound in the world, I know it to be the Fender Telecaster. As unique in its tone generated, as a Rickenbacker 4001, Martin D-28, Mu-tron III or Moog Taurus 1 bass pedals' (for you fellow synthesists'). For what it's worth, most of the Harmony Central reviewers here have enlightened me with their thoughts on equipment via this forum, which are informative in their analysis, and why I always come here. However, there are the occasional guys who express a need to give us all THE LIST of their musical gear. This immediately signals to me that they???re underage and probably believe rap and hip-hop are just as valid as any other musical form. I skip those reviews???.

I first purchased the MIM Fender Standard Telecaster for 300 bucks. The price was an important factor, however, after a 2 hour session of recording with it, I noticed the high E and B strings not staying in-tune. I then sent it back to G.C. here in CA, and tried out the American Standard & Deluxe model Telecasters. They were around 600 to 800 bucks more, but they stayed in-tune. I then forgot about my current economic situation entirely for a brief moment and tried the ???52 Telecaster reissue. 1100 bucks more than the Tijuana version. We all have that moment of self-analysis when we ponder: Should I do this???that???s 12 tanks of gasoline in my vehicle lately.
Pro???s & con???s??? yeh, that???s it???. Do a pro???s & con???s on this guitar to be clear-headed about this.

Con???s: 1400 bucks??? though with nice case.

Pro???s: Widest differential in tone of all the Tele???s I tried out.
The feel of the neck is smooth, unlike the MIM version where I can feel every fret on the side of the fret-board as my hand travels up & down the neck.
The machine heads look very similar to the MIM version, but the ones??? on the ???52 feel as if the machinery knows its purpose for existence, the few times you need to use them.
Finally, a rather esoteric remark I feel needs to be in here from, myself, a guy who DID NOT have the money to lay down for the ???52: The Telecaster ???52 Reissue feels warmer when just playing acoustically. Try sitting in a quiet room with the MIM version and the ???52. There???s an organic side to these electric guitars. Many may not catch it, but it???s there none-the-less.

Well it looks exactly like a Chrissie Hynde/Bruce Springsteen clone guitar. The tint and hue' of it's butterscotch finish are next to perfect in this reissue. At least the one I bought is.

As long as I don't allow a guy with an oversized belt-buckle to play my Telecaster; it's durability should stand the test of time.

None needed.

I give it one point away from a 10. I???m a person who would buy an instrument even if it was made in an Indonesian tree-house, if the quality was sufficient. The MIM and Squier versions that Fender put out, are for your daughter when she puts down her cell-phone and says: Mom??? Dad??? I want to be a guitar player. You buy her one of those. Get your son a quality instrument because he stands more chance to stick with it.

AV RI 52 tele. lightweight and resonant ash body, one pieve maple neck, old school hardware. I had the electronics changed right in the shop into a modern telecaster wiring. everything feels solid.
a lot of case candy comes with it, IMO the only usable beeing the strap which is a nice vintage design.

I am playing jazz, soul and blues. the guitar suits all of these styles. A tele is a versatile guitar 'cause it pretty much puts out what the player puts in. this one is a very sensitive guitar.
I took it to the studio the day after I bought it and it did a good job. the sound is inspiring and versatile.
be sure to have the right amp for the job. I use a polytone and fender tube amps.

the guitar was not set up well at the factory so I had it set up at the store. they fixed the saddle, intonation and the neck-screws and adjusted the pickups. most of the fenders I saw (even the MIM) are properly built but have a poor setup.
don't mailorder and have the shop set it up!

It's a tele!

-

I play guitar now for 30 years and had a lot of guitars come and go. this is a keeper!

New '06 model, got it in March '07. US made, no certificate in the case candy unfortunately. You know the drill for Teles as far as colour, pickups, hardware etc.

I've had it and played it for over a year now, so have held off sharing this until then. Objectivity.

It is pretty understandable that you either 'get' teles or you don't. It is a hard guitar to play, a demanding one. It is NOT an Ibanez Vai or Satriani. Uh-uh.

But it is also brilliant in its aloof simplicity.

I play lots of stuff, and have played a fair bit in my time. I'm not professional any more, but still have lots of gear including some very nice guitars.

Now, to 'Roy' (my nickname for this one - Roy Buchanan, you see). It is unmistakeable in its sound. Yep, the 50-60 htz hum is there. Yep, the bridge pup could peel paint. Yep, get the neck pup modification as it's unusable in the 'vintage' wiring. Yep, the neck is sticky when it's new. That passes after about 8 months - well, it did for me and my sweat residue pattern. Maybe others' sweat types may make that longer or shorter. Seems to dry after a while, It is off-putting.

If you like the tele sound then this is nirvana/El Dorado. If you don't no amount of tweaking and other stuff is gonna help. Fair enough, but I agree with other reviews that this is very much a tele thing.

I do dislike on teles generally the round switch knob, that makes it difficult to switch pups on the fly. But hey, You can put a later version toggle tip on it if you like.

The set up out of the (tweed) hardcase was excellent - haven't really altered anything. Intonation great, action good for me, pickups at good height for that sweetspot sound. You know a good guitar when it stays in tune when you take it off the hanger, and it's been different weather; ie got cold overnight, or hotted up.

It sounds rich when strummed accoustically - another telltale sign of a good'un.

Can't find a factory fault in the workmanship - and I wasn't expecting to. Not disappointed on that score. Fender USA is why. Mex and CIJ can vary greatly with Leo's kiddies. Beware; we've all had a Leo Dog fron Japan or Mexico.

I have always loved the butterscotch blonde, but not to the extent that I have mythologised it and can't see the flaws in this guitar. Simply beautiful. You will notice that the one-ply bakelite scratchboard will buckle a bit over time; the newer teles have more screws.

After a year now the maple is starting to birdseye beautifully.

This thing is - trying to think of a better epithet than 'tank', but I can't, it's a good descriptor - a tank. Tough, substantial, solid.

No doubt you could gig it; so many have. Backup axe? Of course. It does not do everything. It is not a shredder, it doesn't do strat sounds, it has no trem (of course, unless you fit a Bigsby or something), and it has its own distinctive way with overdrive pedals; it likes some, and some it doesn't. Ones that sound excellent with Gibs or strats don't sound good at all with this tele. Nothing mystical there.

Never dealt with them; I do all my own stuff as far as possible and there is great music shop around the corner anyway for stuff I can't. I have heard horror stories about Fender though; but that's hearsay as it hasn't been me. Besides, the store is the point of sale, and in Australia, at least, they are the deemed manufacturer - get your stuff fixed by them and let them deal with finding the sales people of Neptunian Guitar Company located somewhere in China.

Been playing quite a while now (over 30 years....time for my nap, thank you nurse).

Ya gotta have a tele in ya collection - this is the one to have. Maybe the rosewood neck sunburst and bound Nashville one, too (to keep it company!)

I have other guitars that what I play on them suits them; and vice versa. But, I feel I could passably play anything on it if I had to (but I do like tremelo arms, so strats are a must have).

I don't think this guitar is 'overrated' like some here do; but I reiterate you either get teles or you don't , and I don't mean that in any smart-alec or patronising way. No, it's not good for some things - but my Satriani sounds stupid on some things at times too.

This is a classic guitar - it is not The Guitar That Does Everything by any stretch of the imagination. Get used to that.

Nice swamp ash, with immaculate nitro cellulose gloss. The neck's fat but I think this adds to the tone.

The first position (bridge pick-up)on the selector switch has an additional capacitor which makes the sound muddy and bassy - pretty nasty basically!. Whilst authentic, I couldn't see myself using this setting, so I had the guitar re-wired with a 4-way switch allowing both pickups to be combined in series and in paralell (as well as independently) and was blown-over with the results: using the pups in parallel replicates a humbucker - louder and more overdriving (just crank up the trebble gain and presence a bit - instant Keef!).

I also replaced the bridge with a Callahan bridge which has a lower lip so you don't catch your pick on the trebble side. These are very high quality steel and thicker than the standard. This is a pro' tele upgrade which cost about ??70 but gave the guitar greater ring and sustain and a noticable improvement in sound quality. Also reduces squeal at v.high volume/gain settings.

I've owned a range of expensive US guitars, and the '52's are tonally very good indeed. They sound great acoustically - especially after the bridge upgrade mentioned above. Very versatile sounds are possible with the 4-way switch from bluesy to woody/nutty twang. Supprisingly powerful full/rich sounds are possible (think Page on Zep1!)

These guitars are pretty noisy (poorly earthed hummy and buzzy and occassionally the odd pop). This could be cleaned up by changing the pups but hey - these are gun-slinger's axes: not for clean freeks!

The high 7" curvature of the finger board means the action is going to be on the high side, so don't expect to be shreding! The glossy butter-scotch finish on top of grey-grained ash is really lovely - these bodies simply look better than any other Teles! Note, there a bit or rounding at the edge of the finger board which gives a less new feel.

One downer with brand new Teles is whilst they're v.beautiful, part of you wishes you had a battered up old work-horse like Francis Rossy! So who cares if it wears out a bit - love it while it's immaculate, then love it even more as it gets battered to bits - all the better!

No idea.

These aren't to everyone's taste, but if you know ya'onions and have the skill to handle it, and you want that classic tele Bigstar look and sound, nothing else will do it quite as well as one of these bad boys!
(I'd highly recommend the 4-way switch upgrade though, you loose nothing and gain so much more!)

i'd just like to remind people that the selector switch goes (bridge)(neck pickup)(neck pickup with "bass boost") so it will sound muddy on the latter setting. it was designed so people could use the guitar as a bass guitar before fender invented the precision bass. if you want to use the neck pickup i beleive you use the middle position on the selector, unlike the newer models which go (bridge)(bridge and neck)(neck)

Before I start, I want to say that I do like Fender Telecasters, and even copy telecasters. But I bought a Japanese Telecaster years and years ago, and I was not happy with it. In fact I went back to the store with it after two weeks of owning it, to trade it for a Strat.

Here it goes :

I had bought this '52 Reissue, made in Japan. Solid wood, a very heavy wood, Agathis maybe ? Butterscotch blonde, maple neck, black pickguard. 21 small frets. Chrome hardware. Ashtray bridge, brass saddles. Stock pickups, passive type, single neck, single bridge. Vintage tuners. It looked very nice, and was made very nice. Sound was so-so, in the store. Very nice reissue of a very nice guitar. Came with a new black hard fender case that would take a strat or tele.

I soon found for practical use it was all wrong. I don't know the wood, but it was heavy, and felt heavier the more I played. I was in a band, sort of, and it was hard to play for extended periods of time. The pickups sounded, well, weak. They just didn't have any b***s to them. They were noisy, unless I held the guitar in a certain way. On the other hand, the guitar looked good, and I did like the classic features like that ashtray bridge, and the old style tuners. The neck was a nice shape, but the finish felt sticky.

It was set up good, and Don from Ed's Music was a great guy to deal with. The guitar was well made, no question about that, except it was too damn heavy !

If you dropped this on someone's head they'd be dead for sure. The finish was great except the old fashioned varnish on the neck. The strap buttons were not a problem. You could depend on it for it's sturdiness, but it didn't stay in tune for long even after being set up, and checked over. Get a backup with this one if you're playing gigs. Your neck will beg for it.

I bought the guitar from a Fender dealer, who was very knowledgeable. He was good to deal with but I never called Fender for help.

I bought a new one while my Epiphone Les Paul Custom is in the shop getting new p'ups put in. I was reminded of that Japan Fender that disgruntled me years and years ago. I'm liking the options on guitars we didn't have before, like lighter weight bodies, etc. so I can make sounder choices than I once did.
I don't care who bought THAT guitar, they can have it.

This is an update on my previous review - have owned this instrument for a few months now and its been played live on many occassions. This is a terrific guitar - don't be taken in by the muddlesome nonsense that Joel was spouting - if you want a guitar that looks and sounds exactly as they did in 1952, then this is the one. if you don't choose something else - its that simple. Joel has noone to blame but himself for not doing adequate research. As for what was so good about 1952, he should maybe drop Keef a line and others....For what it is, it does the job very well. Also, being a Tele with a nice clubby neck, it challenges your technique, if you have any, that is.

Having taken it out and used it live, it does the job very well. I play an eclectic blend of jazz-funk, jazz and blues and this guitar has an answer to all of these styles. Vintage Tele twang, cuts through the mix very nicely

And the neck p/u is NOT dead.....its a low output single coil with the highs rolled off for rythym work, again, exactly how it was meant to be. if this is not to your liking, get a modern Tele, but its totally missing the point of '52 Reissue

Have had the opportunity to examine this guitar at close quarters and its flawless, just like everything else that flows out of Fender US these days. I also an eight-year old US Delux Strat and OK, its was a costly-ish guitar, but everything is as it should be well done Fender.

Also, for something which is a vintage accurate guitar, the tuning stability is just amazing....

No concerns, built like a tank

Some improvement of late, lets hope it continues

30 years + a player, have PRS Custom Artists, Les Pauls (and other Fenders) + all Mesa Boogie amps.

This guitar is NOT overrated - gives Custom Shop customers (like me) pause for thought - its cheaper and totally accurate...and of course, Fender didn;t have a Custom Shop back in 1952, no did they?

This guitar may not suit all styles, thats fine, but if it doesn't suite yours, there's not need to childishly assasinate it.

How does it suit your music style (and what is that style)?

Not well. And I don't even have a style.

What amps and effects are you using it with?

Fender 65 Deluxe Reverb RI, assorted BOSS pedals

Is it noisy? On what settings?

It is very noisy on all settings

Rich/Full sound? Bright sound?

The sound is about as rich as an ethiopian peasant, scraping fingernails on a blackboard whilst throwing shards of glass in a blender

What kind of sounds can the guitar make? How much variety?

Nothing useable that i've found yet. and what was so good about 1952 anyway? did buddy holly fart that year? if so i bet it sounded better than the sound this guitar makes.

Can't complain, very nicely put together. Actually printing the serial number on the certificate of authenticity would have been a nice touch, mine looks like it has been hand scrawled by a 5yo child with a blue texta!

But no flaws on the instrument, very well put together.

Will this guitar withstand live playing?

The immense 60-cycle hum will drive away any audience in seconds so I doubt I'll ever find out

Would you use it on a gig without a backup?

i wouldn't even use this guitar as a backup

How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?

10 years. Several high-end stratocasters, BOSS pedals and Fender DRRI amp.

I have never been so disappointed in my life. For the last 3 years I have been idolising this guitar, and scrimped and saved for the whole time to buy it. I'm not sure what sound this guitar is supposed to produce, but it suits NOTHING that I play, and I'm in a 60s-00s cover band. Perhaps some country player could use the sound, Im not sure. 'Heart of Gold' is about as country as I get, and it evens sounds bad for that.

The neck pup sounds muddy and dead. The bridge pup is completely unuseable as far as I'm concerned. Some reviews here talk about using it to 'cut through the mix'. I have no doubt it can do that. It is so bright and sharp it could cut through the walls of fort knox. Doesn't mean it sounds good though.

My biggest complaint though is the playability of this guitar. I could go outside and find a piece of 2x4, attach some strings and a pickup and it would be more comfortable to play than this hunk o' junk. I have honestly never felt a more uncomfortable and difficult to play neck in my life.

I am amused by all the reviews here that brush over this problem by describing it as 'a players guitar'. LOL! What does that even mean? As opposed to a guitar you hang on your wall to make yourself look cool? I suspect this is a means of assuaging ones ego over the fact that they forked out big $$$, suppressing the knowledge that this is horrible, horrible, horrible feeling guitar to play.

i really feel let down by the reviews here, that I have been reading in good faith for years.

and for the record, no, I'm not a particularly stunning guitar player, probably a 5 / 10. im just a battler looking for a good sound. this boat paddle brings a tear to my eye every time I play it, and they're not tears of joy. they are tears of rage thinking of all the beers, smoke and girls (in that order) i could of spent money on rather than save up for this.

and im not a 'shredder'. i would rather poke a fork in my eye than listen to metal.

AVOID THIS MASSIVELY OVERRATED GUITAR AT ALL COSTS

This is 2007-manufactured US Telecaster '52 Re-issue. Being a reproduction of one of the iconic guitars from the very dawning of the solid body electric era, this is clearly not modern guitar (it obviously wasn't intended to be), features are not its strong suit. What you do get is as others have said, everything you need and nothing you don't. The controls may be basic, but its INCREDIBLY responsive to even small changes, making it a real professional's tool and no wonder so many use it.

Having had experience of the vintage instruments that this is based on, its a VERY faithful recreation, in terms of feel, tone and playability (the important bits), its also superbly put together and a real credit to Fender - you often read of cosmetic flaws on Gibsons, but nothing on the sort on this guitar, or any other recent Fender guitar I've come across. So, on the basis that it does have everything a Telecaster needs and does it so well, it gets a 10 - something this good deserves it.

The classic tele twang - but you can do alot with it besides. Its essentially a vintage-voiced guitar and thats where there the potential for problems lie. Two points. First, people will buy this expecting it to instantly unlock amazing tone - well, it does, but theres much more to it than that. You actually need to BE ABLE TO PLAY THE GUITAR...its not a shredders guitar, nor is it designed to work with today's thrash metal/heavy rock styles - if thats you, buy something else. In otherwords, you need to work with it, a Telecaster an unforgiving guitar and this '52 has a very vintage-accurate chuncky neck (a 'U' profile, as opposed to the modern 'C' profile) and will expose all shortcomings in technique.

Second point concerns the sound - its vintage and if thats what you're looking for, then trust me, there's nothing better. But the neck pickup is very low output (no thrash metal in 52, remember...) and is very muddy and best suited to delicate jazz playing. I have heard stories of buyers returning thier instruments in the belief the pickup was faulty - well, it isn't - thats how the originals sound. The middle and bridge settings have a rich and lush Telecaster honk, which with a bit of overdrive, creates an amazing blues/lead tone, but played 'neat' is spangly clean tone which is more than enough easily enough to cut through any mix. And all this from such a simple control layout....unbelievable.

I play a variety of styles from jazz to funk blues and
I use it with a Mesa Boogie Lone Star (a 2007 model) and dial in the tweed setting and switched down to Class A, you have guitar heaven. The 50w and 100w settings just give other equally gorgeous textures. This guitar seems to love 6L6 equipped amps like my Mesa. Also use a small pedal board containing a Keeley compressor, a volume pedal and a wah, but not much else.

Ths guitar totally meets my requirements and on that basis, it gets another ten

No cosmetic gliches at all, buttersctotch blond finish is beautiful and its all impressively put together, the frets are nicely done and it even sounds nice when strummed accoustically, a testimony to the 'rightness' of the who thing.

No problems so far, you can bash it, its built like a tank, only far easier to the eye, will stand up to anything. Probably wouldn't gig without other guitars......but only because this occupies the same stable as my Les Paul Standard, Custom Shop Strat and PRS Custom 22 Artist, Martin 0028EC...obviously not all at the same gig, but how on earth could I not want to play that lot?!!!

This is where Fender fall down...never been that good - I've had many Fender products over the years but found the support is not as good as might be expected. I emailed the UK website a few days ago, still waiting a resonse. By contrast, have emailed PRS many times on my Custom and have rarely waited more than a few hours. QED.

Have been playing for more than 30 years, have Boogies, PRS, Gibson and other Fenders. This guitar is every bit in the same league as the Gibson & PRS and probably ahead of other Fenders I've owned and on a par with the C/Shop Strat - praise indeed.

This is a brilliant guitar which covers so many bases. Its often been said that if you were allowed only one guitar, most would choose a Telecaster, which is about as good as it gets. Its well put together, sounds, feels and plays wonderfully. Its almost as though I've discovered the secret of time travel, gone back to '52 and brought a brand new one back - makes those Custom Shop instruments which are marketed in this way seem rather expensive.....

This guitar is amazingly good value.

Completely stock left handed 2007 "butterscotch blond" american reissue of a '52 tele. Neck pocket and neck butt are stamped may 2007 and july 2007, so this guitar was made just a few months ago and shipped brand squeaky new from Musician's Friend still in the Fender shipping box. This is the best '52 reissue I've owned.
Nitrocellulous color and clear coats over poly undercoat. Almost invisible seam on the two piece ash body; it took me a while to find where the seam was. The water slide decal on the headstock just says "Fender", not "Fender telecaster", just like the other left handed '52 reissues I've owned.
Came in a G & G tweed case w/ all the case candy except for the certificate of authenticity, but this is my third '52 r.i. tele bought new and I've never recieved one with a certificate. Perhaps Fender doesn't ship the lefties with it(?).
In any case, it's not missed. Came stock w/ the pre '70s wiring, which was immediately rewired for the modern selector switch positions: switch pushed to the front is the neck, middle is both pickups, and rear is the bridge pickup. The stock wiring, although true to the original, is useless. I find it interesting that Fender keeps this as a standard feature for the reissues yet doesn't keep the base coat nitro like the originals.
The color and neck profile on this is much better than the older reissues, being a much lighter and yellower color. The previous reissues had a thicker orange tint. The neck profile is also a bit meatier, but still very comfortable and nowhere near a "baseball" neck. This new one is also lighter in weight than its predecessors. I believe the side of the body where the input jack is installed has also been shaved a bit flatter to compensate for the jack, which I love.
The action and setup were near perfect out of the box; no adjustments were necessary, even when switching to a lighter guage of strings. I wish I could say the same for my '57 and '62 r.i. strats.
My only quibble is the sloppy fret slots on frets 14 to 16. You can see the slots were cut just a hair too deep for the frets. Although it doesn't affect playability or sound, I think Fender shouldn't let this minor workmanship flaw pass on such an expensive guitar. I'm giving it a 9 because of this fact.

The stock pickups sound great(albeit the 60 cycle hum) just like a proper early '50s tele and don't require a pickup swap. This should be the case on any reissue of a classic guitar that is touted as being an "accurate reproduction".
The chrome covered neck pickup has the glassy mellow tone of a classic tele, the middle position is the familiar Fender "quack", and of course the bridge pickup is the heart of the guitar, with its full treble that doesn't sound thin or brittle, just a beautiful rich twang that only teles deliver. Pinch harmonics are a breeze on this pickup.
I'm playing it through the only amps I currently own: 2 early('69 and '71) Marshall 50 watt aluminum panel heads through either a slant or straight Marshall 4-12 cab, both loaded w/ G12H-30 Celestions, the best speakers for these early heads.
I don't use any effects, just a Peterson Strobostomp floor tuner. No overdrive is necessary. I like the true character of the tele's tone to come through, and adding any overdrive just sets the bridge pickup into microphonic annoyance.
The Marshalls can get well into natural overdriven territory easily, and I enjoy manipulating the tone knob for wah wah-type effects and the volume knob for pedal steel swells. I find this "less is more" mentality to be both challenging and rewarding, as it forces me to just play the damn thing and test my technical limits without the aid of any gadgets or toys to cover up poor playing.
One day I'd like to get another amp with reverb and a tube rectifier for more of a Roy Buchanan sound, as well as a softer attack, whereas the Marshalls have a much harder "clang", for lack of a better word. Not better or worse, just different flavors and I'd like to have that variety.

As stated previously, the action was great out of the box, which I've never experienced on a guitar straight from the factory. Whole step+ bends with the light E string on a 7 1/4" neck radius usually are a recipe for choked notes; not so here. Unfortunately, there's also the sloppy fret job I mentioned.
Other than that, the neck/body joint is air tight and the ash grain peeking through the transparent finish is gorgeous.

It's a tele. Reliability and durability are synonymous with this guitar. Still, a backup for gigs when a string breaks is a given no matter how roadworthy the mighty tele may be.

Never dealt w/ Fender directly, and I'm sure the fact that they're a huge corporation churning out guitars by the forestload will prevent me from ever contacting them.

Been playing since high school for 16 years, off and on in bands. Teles are, along with strats, my favorite guitars of all time. Although I was sans telecaster for 4 years, I'm glad I've gotten reaquainted with it. I actually can't believe I lived without one for that long.
Its simplicity(the '52 in particular with its primitive 3 brass barrel bridge) border on genius. You can't beat it for its ruggedness, cutting tone, and basic utilitarian features. It should be regarded as a beakthrough in modern design.

Completely stock left handed 2007 "butterscotch blond" american reissue of a '52 tele. Neck pocket and neck butt are stamped may 2007 and july 2007, so this guitar was made just a few months ago and shipped brand squeaky new from Musician's Friend still in the Fender shipping box. This is the third and best '52 reissue I've owned.
Nitrocellulous color and clear coats over poly undercoat. Almost invisible seam on the two piece ash body; it took me a while to find where the seam was.
Came in a G & G tweed case w/ all the case candy except for the certificate of authenticity, but this is my third '52 r.i. tele bought new and I've nver recieved one with a certificate. Perhaps Fender doesn't ship the lefties with it(?).
In any case, it's not missed. Came stock w/ the pre '70s wiring, which was immediately rewired for the modern selector switch positions: switch pushed to the front is the neck, middle is both pickups, and rear is the bridge pickup. The stock wiring, although true to the original, is useless. I find it interesting that Fender keeps this as a standard feature for the reissues yet doesn't keep the base coat nitro like the originals.
The color and neck profile on this is much better than the older ones I had, being a much lighter and yellower color than the previous reissues that had more of a thicker orange tint. The neck profile is also a bit thicker, but still very comfortable and nowhere near a "baseball" neck. This new one is also lighter in weight than its predecessors. I believe the side of the body where the input jack is installed has also been shaved a bit flatter to compensate for the jack, which I love.
The action and setup were near perfect out of the box; no adjustments were necessary, even when switching to a lighter guage of strings. I wish I could say the same for my '57 and '62 r.i. strats.
My only quibble is the sloppy fret slots on frets 14 to 16. You can see the slots were cut just a hair too deep for the frets. Although it doesn't affect playability or sound, I think Fender shouldn't let this minor workmanship flaw pass on such an expensive guitar. I'm giving this a 9 because of this fact.

The stock pickups sound great, albeit the 60 cycle hum noise, just like a proper early '50s tele and don't require a pickup swap. This should be the case on any reissue of a classic guitar that is touted as being an "accurate reproduction".
The chrome covered neck pickup has the glassy mellow tone of a classic tele, the middle position is the familiar Fender "quack", and of course the bridge pickup is the heart of the guitar, with its full treble that doesn't sound thin or brittle, just a beautiful rich twang that only teles deliver. Pinch harmonics are a breeze on this pickup.
I'm playing it through the only amps I currently own: 2 early('69 and '71) Marshall 50 watt aluminum panel heads through either a slant or straight Marshall 4-12 cab, both loaded w/ G12H-30 Celestions, the best speakers for these early heads.
I don't use any effects, just a Peterson Strobostomp floor tuner. No overdrive is necessary. I like the true character of the tele's tone to come through, and adding any overdrive just sets the bridge pickup into microphonic annoyance.
The tone with the Marshalls can get well into natural overdriven territory easily, and I enjoy manipulating the tone knob for wah wah-type effects and the volume knob for pedal steel swells. I find this "less is more" mentality to be both challenging and rewarding, as it forces me to just play the damn thing and test my limits as a player.
One day I'd like to get another amp with reverb and a tube rectifier for more of a Roy Buchanan sound, as well as a softer attack, whereas the Marshalls have a much harder "clang", for lack of a better word. Not better or worse, just different flavors and I'd like to have that variety.

As stated previously, the action was great out of the box, which I've never experienced on a guitar straight from the factory. Whole step+ bends with the light E string on a 7 1/4" neck radius usually are a recipe for choked notes; not so here. Unfortunately, there's also the sloppy fret job I mentioned.
Other than that, the neck/body joint is air tight and the ash grain peeking through the transparent finish is gorgeous.

It's a tele. Reliability and durability are synonymous with this guitar. Still, a backup for gigs when a string breaks is a given no matter how roadworthy the mighty tele may be.

Never dealt w/ Fender directly, and I'm sure the fact that they're a huge corporation churning out guitars by the forestload will prevent me from ever contacting them.

Been playing since high school for 16 years, off and on in bands. Teles are, along with strats, my favorite guitars of all time. Although I was sans telecaster for 4 years, I'm glad I've gotten reaquainted with it. I actually can't believe I lived without one for that long.
Its simplicity(the '52 in particular with its primitive 3 brass barrel bridge) border on genius. You can't beat it for its ruggedness, cutting tone, and basic utilitarian features. It should be regarded as a beakthrough in modern design.

Features are what u expect. Volume, Tone, and 2 pick ups. Thats all u need baby.

I play this though a blues junior, bit of reverb and a distortion boss petal when required. They say that the Tele ain't good on Distortion; what a load of cr$p. Roll off the tone on the bride or other settings with a petal and see how it sounds. It can play Metal, Jazz, anything. More importantly you be the judge. This guitar with a wah wah is also amazing. I personally hate country music; never thought this guitar was so versitile.I previously had a Ibanez Jem 77FP [yes i admit it; steve vai wannabe] and swap it for this Tele 52 reissue. The other guitar felt like a toy [toneless]; best decision i've ever made. I sometimes feel sorry for the other guy......nah!!

suits me perfectly. Can't complain. Best Guitar i've ever felt. Tried strats, gibson...etc. Doesn't have the feel of this Tele.

C'mon; its a Tele.

Never needed to call them.

Look you can be like everyone else and buy a strat or a gibson LP. I say if everybody betting one way; bet the otherway [quote taken from GlenGaryGlenRoss]. I give the 52 reissue my blessing; A 10.

52 RI tele. We all know the features by now. Everything you need and nothing you don't.

AS many people have noted, its a warmer and darker instument than you would expect, but in a good way. It really sound great, even with the stock pickups. Great twangy bridge and warm jazzy neck. Much better sound from the stock pickups than my American Standard tele. Really excellent sounding guitar.

Finish on mine is flawless. Electronics and fretwork are excellent for a production guitar. Close to, but not quite a match for custom shop Fender Teles.

Its a telecaster. If its not runnig well in 50 year i'll be surprised.

An excellent telecaster, truly vintage sound and quality. A real standout in the current Fender lineup.

This guitar has all the features needed in a Telecaster; no more and no less. I guess some things are just gotten right the first time, like the Tele, the Strat, and the Shure SM57.

I play rock and blues with a smattering of rockabilly and reggae. The Telecaster is well suited for all these styles. 99% of my playing is in my home studio with the rare solo gig. I've settled on a rig that has treated me well for a few years now: Tele (previously a highly modded Mexican model; now this lovely '52 RI - into a Duncan tube-driven two-channel overdrive pedal, an Electro-Harmonix reverb pedal, and an RNC compressor, and finally into a Clark Lil' Bit tube combo w/Eminence Redcoat speaker, which also drives a 12" Celestion in an old Boogie cab.
The sound? As close to perfection as my highly subjective ears have found. I'm totally happy with my tone, after a mere 30 years of tweaking it. Jimmy Vaughan and Keith Richards had a baby, and it's name is "My Rig".

Fit and finish are as good as I've seen. I love the Butterscotch Blonde color. Action was a tad buzzy, but installing Slinky 010's in place of the factory 009's brought it up just right. I slightly adjusted the intonation on the D and G strings and it plays like buttah. I don't blame Fender; any new instrument that gets shipped anywhere is going to shift around some. However, those who do not do their own work should have it set up properly. So many people will shell out fifteen hundred bucks or more on an electric...and then not spend the lousy seventy-five for a nice setup. What a waste. My friend, for instance, bought a Jeff Beck Strat several years ago and pulled this negligence. Come on! The nicest Strat I've ever seen in person and it's never even been tuned up. Or had the strings changed, for that matter. What a crying shame. Oh well. I can only tend my own garden...and if I'm gonna drop a considerable wad of cash on an instrument, I want it performing its best.

I would use this guitar w/o a backup for a gig. Well-built and solid.

Not yet applicable

I've been playing for thirty years and this is the nicest electric I've owned. I would replace it if lost or stolen, right after finding and pistol whipping the thief. A true modern classic, right from the case.

Fender Japan "Keef" type tele. Blonde, maple neck, bucker in neck, SC @ bridge. Brass bridge.

I judge features by what use they are. This has everything you need, nothing you don't.

I was prepared to repleace the PU's when i got this guitar, however no issues at all, they sound very good. The bridge is very vintage tele. The neck is ballsy, bright enough to cut through, like an SG in tone.

I've owned a number of high end guitars. I wanted something that you can bash around, that sounded good and you get a few tones from it. This is it.

My set up is Fender Vibrolux- Marshall Reverb pedal- Boss DD3- Fuzz pedal- Boss TU. I play punky,fuzzy, rock, this set up beats the hell out of any badass amps like jcm 800 etc. Much bigger and better in my opinion!

Outstanding. The wood work is amazing. Would beat many USA vintage models. Mine is a non export model though, search them out, they are alot better. The action was spot on, the finish excellent.

One thing i did have a couple of issues with was the wiring and the pots. The volume pot i replaced and also all the wiring. Had a few crackles etc. To be fair though i worked the guitar very hard!!!

Build like stone.

Not dealt with them.

Outstanding.

Tele isn't about features, but... Medium light (3.8 kg), Butterscotch colour (beautiful). Three piece vintage brass saddles, 7.5 radius. Mine has a not too fat neck, between medium and fat. Vintage frets of course

Acoustically it has a very full, a bit dark tone, rather loud. Plugged in that feeling is even more apparent, it sounds like a vintage tele, the tone is really full and a bit darker than other teles I'v tried. Makes very useful! I always change pickups on my Fender guitars (have replacement picks from my old tele ready to mount) but this time there's really no need for a change. It sounds perfect. Not too much output of course, but quite enuogh and a perfect tone, not too bright.
Had a Tele 50's MIM before, same style. On that one I tried putting on a 6 piece saddle - it totally ruined the tele twang. Amazing how the small details can change things.

OK setup, lowered the string a bit and hightend the pickups. Intonates well despite the three piece vintage saddles.

I would think it's dependable

Been playing a long time, currently have 6 guitars - Strats, a Tele, a Gretsch...
I traded this one with a Mex Tele 50's, which wasn't a bad guitar but, there's a big difference in sound - both from the guitar and the pickups. This one has a special mojo in the sound, Teleish but not too bright

I scratched the back with my belt buckle, and saw that there is a hard layer (poly?) beneath the nitro lacquer finish coat. The neck feels great with round board (7.25"), rolled edges, and small frets. The body has a nice weight to it, but not too heavy.

I like rockabilly and country so this is THE guitar for me. I add echo and tremelo and play clean through a fender and I am good to go.

Round radius (7.25) is so comfortable to me. This is the only guitar I know of that has such a small radius, and I think it is a large part of how nice the neck feels. Rolled edges are also excellent. Small frets are great too.
The only thing I might do is reverse the control plate, so the volume is closer to do swells. Otherwise, perfect.

Had it for one year so far and haven't had to touch it once.
I just wipe it down occassionally and change the strings.

I used to think rosewood board with humbuckers was the only way. Now I like the Tele sound. If you are considering a Tele this is the one in my opinion. If you think the price is too high, at least try one in the store for a good while to make sure you know what you're not getting when you buy a less expensive one.

p.s. I also like the 69 reissue because it has the same radius and playability, but it doesn't have the nice heft or punch of this one.

Standard 1952 Telecaster. Ash body, small frets, nitro finish, two stock 1952 pickups, volume, tone. Beauty in simplicity. Time-tested perfection. If you want a guitar that does your work for you, don't buy it. If you actually know how to play, and don't feel the need to hide behind effects, buy it. It does not do well with effects, but then again, picture yourself in 1952...

Sounds like a Telecaster would have sounded in 1952. Fender makes no claims to the contrary. Don't buy this guitar expecting something else. The only mod I made was to re-wire with the kit that was included. The old wiring set-up just does not suit anything that is happening or has happened musically in the last 50 years. If you read Fender history, Fender changed the wiring with next production run of the Tele for that very reason. Otherwise, the three-barrel bridge is perfect-and stays perfectly intonated. And it looks cool...

My rig is fairly simple--I play through a Boss Blues Driver into a Vox AC30. The Blues Driver only comes on when I need a volume boost, as the Vox has the necessary snarl already built into it's Top Boost circuit. As I do play in a cover band that mainly does pop hits from the 60's - now, I don't need to enhance the already mojo tone I get from this rig. I also use a Boss CE5 Chorus Ensemble once and a while.

Yes--the pickups are noisy. Oh well. If you can't handle that, don't buy a 52 reissue. Buy an American Deluxe.

I purchased mine brand new and set up was typical for a new guitar. I set the intonation, action, pickup height, and put new strings on, and it is perfect.

As for quality out of the box, it is what I would expect from a $1300.00 guitar. All accessories were included, such as ash-tray cover, period-correct cord, polish, etc. along with a certificate of authenticity. Case is a beautiful orange plush tweed. Great vibe overall.

I have now used this guitar for six-months of heavy gigging. I expected a 52 Telecaster, and I got one. This guitar should be in the Smithsonian--you just cannot improve on this simple, utilitatrian design.

As many reviewers have mentioned, the nitro finish is thin, and will make those with sweaty hands stick to the neck. I have gotten around this problem by lightly rubbing the finest possible grade steel wool on the neck periodically. This is MY WAY of dealing with the stickiness problem, and I don't recommend anyone steel wool any guitar!! It just works for me and the neck is MUCH smoother as a result. Your hand will eventually accomplish the same thing. As for the thin skin on the body, it is starting to rub away, especially where my arm contacts the upper body. But I don't really care. That's the nature of the nitro finish, and I was expecting that to happen.

I would and do use it without a backup. It is my number one guitar, and night after night, this Tele delivers in all settings. Smokey bars, outdoor festivals, county fairs--no problems.

As for tuning, once I set the tuning for a gig I rarely have to retune. This Tele stays in tune like a rick, and the tuners are solid and dependable.

The pickguard does scratch easily, and mine is already completely dull from use. But again, I expect that, and it all contributes to the "well used" look the guitar has.

Never needed it.

I have been playing professionally for the better part of 35 years. Up until two years ago, I was a devout Les Paul fan, but the gig I now do requires the tone of a Tele. I have taken my 78 Les Paul Gold Top out to some gigs lately, and I don't think I will ever go back (It's just too heavy!!). I love the Tele!!! Simplicity of design, beauty of tone, mouth-watering looks. Plus, there's something to be said about playing the guitar that has probably graced more recordings of popular music through history than any other.

Again, my gear line-up is pretty straight forward: Tele=>Blues Driver=>Chorus=>Boos Chromatic Tuner (Floor pedal version)=>Vox AC30CC2. I also own a 78 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top, a 2005 Martin DM Acoustic, and a 1972 Yamaki Deluxe Acoustic.

If it were stolen or lost it would be replaced in a heartbeat. This is the finest guitar I have ever owned. Sometimes I think about how it might be improved (like many guitar players, I'm a sucker for upgrades and toys)but this one just cannot be improved.

The only other thing to share is advice for any players out there considering this guitar. If you are just learning to play, buy it! Because the Tele will never hide a lack of talent or experience like many other guitars through effects will, you will learn to play correctly from the start. Too often I see young players learning to "shred," yet when you actually make them play a guitar where you can hear them, they fail. If you are looking for a guitar that drips with distorted, chunky tone, this is not your guitar. But if you are a true player, in need of a real, time tested, quality instrument, run, don't walk to your nearest dealer and pick one up.

My 52 reissue Telecaster was manufactured on 18 October 1994 accoring to the stamp on the neck recess on the body,as with the other posts the guitar is butterscotch,7.25 radius maple neck, the body is made of two pieces of super light ash, 21 vintage-style frets, 25.5" scale, vintage-style tuners. Came with a tweed covered case
I love the butterscotch blonde colour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The guitar sounds great with the pots wide open, It sounds like a vintage Tele should. That is, the bridge pickup is full and twangy sounding, the middle position is great for rock/blues/country rhythm work and the neck pickup isn't all that useful.
I play all styles with this guitar: Blues, R&B, Rock, country and put it in my Vox AC15 2x10 made in england( i also play a original 1966 Fender Mustang and a Martin d28)

The guitar is solid and well made with no problems !!!!!!!!!!

ok!!!

ok!

I love this guitar. After playing the Mustang for a year, I wanted a new sound, and it looks like I found it.It is a very good and versatile guitar. Sounds Excellent, plays great.

You don't buy a Telecaster for features. It's supposed to be as simple and workmanlike as they come. Still, this guitar wins out for me. The vintage vibe is all over this guitars features, from the way the Fender name is applied to the headstock, to the vintage frets and radius, to the tone of the neck pickup.
The body is ash. Mine appears to be two peices. If it's three, I can't find the seam.
American made reissue.
Came with all the case candy, vintage strap and cord and all that. Great deal.

I play early rock, some blues and current indie stuff, and this guitar covers it all.
Tele's have their own sound, so didn't go in expecting it to sound like my strat, but I was unprepared for just how different and unique this guitar is.
The bridge pickup is very bright and twangy (not harsh), and it took me some time to figure out how to use it right. What I mean is this...the guitar is clear and clean, it really exposes any mistakes in your playing. It's unmerciful in this respect. You really have to be on your game when playing it.
I just play for myself and am no master, by any means, but this guitar has really made me buckle down and stop being sloppy.
A lot of people don't like the vintage frets, but I took to them very fast. I would love this guitar if it had a modern radius and medium-jumbo frets, but this guitar was very fun to get to know, and now feels natural in my hands.

The guitar came with a fantastic setup, and strung with .10's, which I usually have to do myself. I loved having it ready to play right out of the box.
Maybe it was a fluke, but everything was set just the way I like it. The finish is nitro over poly, it it's simply gorgeous.
The only 'flaw' I was able to find was the route for the bridge pickup is slightly noticeable coming out from beneath the underside of the bridge. From what I understand, though, this is not a flaw so much as a purposeful thing that pops up on these reissues because it stays in line with the way the teles were really made in the 50's. Who cares if it is really true? I don't. You can only notice it if you're looking, and even then, so what?
I've played custom shop teles before, and this feels just like them to me.

Tele's are meant to be ridden hard and put away wet. I don't have any worries about this guitars durability at all. The finish seems like it will age the way it's supposed to, and hold up just fine.

I've been playing 9 years. I have an american strat, a rickenbacker 620, a grestch 6120dsw, and a martin dr. I use fender tube amps. This guitar is the real deal. I love the vintage vibe and sound. The neck pickup is to die for.
I don't even mind the vintage neck pickup. Haven't update it yet, even though Fender provides the ability to do so. I never stray from the bridge anyway. It's fantastic.
Makes me kind of feel like Springsteen or something, playing it. :)

Ash 2 piece telecaster body, nitro fin. with a poly undercoat/so they say/.
1pc maple nitro finished neck. I wouldnt call it an U shape, but then I just might be crazy, ehehhe.I was expcting a huge huge neck but tis one fits my smallishhands perfectly.
Made in the USA.
Weight: 3.5.kg.
You know the features of this one, no need to go thru it again, right?

I play original blues, fingerstyle, and also write popish kind of tunes. So have to say it covers a lot of ground.
It is a bit noisy but for now i dont mind, I still have it wired from the factory and I will change that, but this is just such a beautiful instrument you just have to respect it for what it is.
The sound is amazingly rich. The whole guitar is very very loud and resonant unplugged. It has this natural comresion thing going on. Every note blossoms. Very nice!
One thing that truly surprised me is that it has absolutely no "icepick" in the tone. The neck pickup is not muddy and the bridge pickup is not piercingly trebly! I love that.
I measured my pups and they read:
bridge 7.28KOhms
neck 7.30KOhms
My likes is the sound of this guitar, my dislikes r :
I would like to have the humcancelling/both pups on option.

From the factory..... it came setup with 10's and it was perfect, I played it like that 4 the 1st week or so then switched to 9's. I also tightened to truss rod just a bit. The overall setup was great, it was the only playable axe in the store! If fender setup all of their stuff like this.....eh.
The only thing that kinda pissed me is, when i changed the strings- 3 out of 6 ferrules just popped out. I mean cmon guys, superglue aint that expensive.
Everything else on this instrument is perfect, the frets, the neck, the pickups.
If it werent 4 the ferrule thing i would have given it a 10 so:

No real comment here. I mean if teles r not reliable, I dont know what is!
I cant wait seeing this beaut age!!!!

Hope i wont have the need to deal with them.

I am 26 now, been playin snce I was 8. You do the math. Ive always played strats and could never get nto tles. My friend changed that a couple of years ago. Borrowed me his cheap tele and from there on I was hooked on to the simplicity and the tone. This is truly a versatile instrument! If you got any ears you can pull out a million of tones just from the bridhe pup, let alone all 3 combinations.
The thing is, I wasnt even into buying this exact tele model, but when I played it I said to myself .....man it doesnt get any better than this. I tinkered with the action 4 a day or 2. But thats just because I have always played low action. f you want tone with this one, get the strings a bit higher and youre off.
All in all, I love this one, I believe its a keeper, but its not an ALL purpose instrument, I mean it could be but then MODDING hits the scene. No use in doing that.

Basic (very) Telecaster layout with original wiring scheme and setup. Very true to '52 specs. If you need features, this is not your guitar.

Pigeon holed as "thin and twangy", most would dismiss this insturment straight away based on the Telecasters reputation over the years. It will definately do "thin and twangy", but the real magic of this guitar reveals itself when pushed through a good valve amplifier and proper use of the volume and tone pots. The bridge pickup is not a high output affair by any means, but will provide a complex throaty growl when played hard. The original wiring scheme, which I can't bring myself to change, does not give and option for bridge/middle PU combination, but the neck pickup alone is nice and round without being weak sounding. On all settings besides the 3rd position, the top end sizzle is intact and would please any Tele-phile.

Set-up was superb from the shop. The laquer on the back of the neck felt sticky until worn in which took a couple of months. The period correct frets are great for intonation of first position chords but require quite a bit more effort for big bends at the far end of the neck. I raised the action a fuzz which helped considerably. The finish is beautiful and flawless.

This finish will most definately wear over time, it is not going to hold up like a typical modern insturment. The guitar is solidly built and is even "field servicable" if there is a problem.

NA

This is my 5th Telecaster. I have others that play better and have more tonal options, but none that sound as good as this one. I usually play about a set and a half per night with it and switch up to give my hands a rest, but it is my main guitar. I would buy it again in a heartbeat

The main feature - That classic tele look. When ever you see anything to do with the telecaster you see a butterscotch blonde ash body, black pickguard and maple neck. This is THE telecaster look. Mine is an American made (cc. 2000) reissue which i bought secondhand it hasn't been touched as far as i know except for some minor setup adjustments.

heres a run down of the electronics: volume and tone control, and a 3 way switch for bridge, neck and both pickups. Thats it really, thats all any real guitarist needs.

This simple looking guitar has an awesome sound no matter what amp you put it through. I played through a reissue bassman and a marshall 1962 bluesbreaker at the shop i bought it from and loved the sound of it straight away (by the way, the bluesbreaker shat on the bassman as far as sound quality goes). When i got it home i tried it in my crappy 15 watt marshal mg series...this is where you really apreciate the difference between a american made instrument and a copy... it made my crappy amp sound great and left my epiphone les paul gathering dust. My gigging amp is a solidstate fender, but im definitely getting me a vintage style valve amp to go with it if not for the sound but to make my room look better...;)

Hooking this thing up with a vintage style valve amp really lets you apreciate that classic tone heard on early rock, country and blues records. the bridge pickups let out a great bright sharp tone while the neck pickups gives a cool bluesy bassier tone. I prefer to play rock and blues but have tried a few other types of music on it and it holds up well with all of them.

As for the pickups...i have not been around long enough or devoted much of my time to telling the difference between a 'vintage style' pickup and a standard type. All i can say are that these pickups are pretty good if not some of the best you can get. But what one considers 'good' differs as much as ones musical tastes...so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

If i was to give a one word description of the sound i would call this a very versitile instrument. It is a very simple guitar but with a incredible range.

I had it setup up at the shop so it was perfect. There was no flaws or faults in the manufacturing, as should be expected from a american fender. Mine was so well adjusted that im afraid tto change the strings on it..:p

Now heres the tricky bit. it is a solid instrument and i believe it could last forever on stage. Im not particulary picky about my guitars at gigs...i only carry one guitar, never change the settings of my amp...only on my guitar (and on rarely).

I am however a bit worried about the coesmetics after a long period. Original fenders of the fifties and sixties show considerable wear and tear especially those with maple top necks. Whether fender have developed new techniques to counter the wear the older models show (just look for a picture of a original tele, esquire or strat) i am not sure. I can only hope mine doesn't looklike a customshop 'relic' to soon.

never dealt with.

Im a very simple 'vintage' person (im actually 22 years old although i sound about 65 from this review). The less buttons and gizmos the better. This guitar suits me perfectly and i wouldn't trade it for anything (except maybe a REAL 52 telecaster). However just because it suits me doesn't mean it will do the same for you. If your thinking about buying a tele...try it out first...see for yourself don't depend on some freak on a website. If your into vintage guitars and amps and effects...you will probably love it.



"Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid." - Frank Zappa

Finish is perfect.
one of the tuners is sort of hard to move.
Year: 2006. American.

A perfect Telecaster sound. You do not need to buy vintage Teles.

Set up from factory was good enough. Normally I set up my guitars without any problem, but this one is hard to get less relief from moving the truss rod, i need an action of 3/64" on the 12th fret. I had to send it to an specialist. Another thing is that i think is very unconfortable to move the truss rod, it is a hassle like the old ones.

I wish it had a trus rod like the new Fender guitars. The logo shoudn t be a sticker.

The most classic tele you can figure out.

Made in USA, premium Ash body, butterscotch Blonde, one piece maple neck, 21 vintage (small) frets, two American Vintage single coils, vintage tuners, particular fretboard radius etc, you know the deal. It comes stock with a bone nut. I don't know the year because I'm too lazy to take off the neck right now.

Rating actually would be a 5 since one Master Volume and one Master Tone don't sound like versatility and actually it's not. I personally miss a second Vol knob because I like switching from clean to overdriven tone between songs without stepping on stomps and so on. By the way I can do something similiar with the dark vintage circuit option, but that's another story.

But it goes up to 7 because of the $#*tload of accessories (among them a replacement bridge with six vintage steel saddles instead of three brass ones, a cap to go from vintage to modern wiring etc.) it comes with. Very nice (even if I didn't feel like needing the majority of them).

First off - I'm into rock n roll, punk rock, hard rock, some old style metal. I'm not interested in any gain situation that goes beyond Master of Puppets lead tone. It's a lot, but it's not that much afterall. The guitar STOCK can really do the cleanest riff up to Hard-rockish stuff. I can play Talk Dirty to Me with it. It's not the best guitar to do that, I'll always prefer a humbucker equipped guitar for those gainy situations but it CAN handle it if you need so. For everything I play except the higer gain situation it suitsmy needs very well - again STOCK. I'm considering putting Bareknuckle Piledriver into it 'cause they say that rolling back the volume you don't loose the "normal" Tele tone, but I can't find clips of them and Right now I decided I'm happy this way.

Acoustically the guitar is beyond every other guitar I've ever played. It sounds so good that almost everyone that heard me strumming on it unplugged noticed the difference compared to other guitars, non musicians too, and unasked of giving opinions.

Plugged in it's bright, as you'd expect out of a Fender. I usually keep the tone knob at 2/5 of the range and if feels great there except for neck clean tones, in which case I like it on 10.

The variety of styles it can handle is impressing, however that's because the tone is great and fits well because it sounds good (remeber mr PRS? you only need 4 tones: good clean, good clean with chorus, good dirty, good dirty with chorus), it's not that it's a particularly versatile guitar as far as variety of tones produced is concerned. However I like if for both rhitmics and lead tones, both cleans and dirty, and I've never been a fan of those jack-of-all-trades kind of guitars. In any case, a Lester is a more versatile guitar IMO.

The guitar IS noisy. I understand NOTHING of wiring etc, but I guess it's not grounded because lots of the background noise expires when I touch the knobs with a finger. Unnoticeable during playing though. It's not a great issue for me and I guess is easily fixable, but this may bother someone.

I've left the "dark vintage circuit" right now. It means that of the three position switch the first gives a bassy sound, that's because back in '52 there was no electric basses around and so there was this option too. I find it useful for those guitarless moment where you can wheter do nothing and smoke a cigarette or add some barely udible riffs flowing with the bass line. I'd use it like a "always clean" position but it doesn't sound good to me for rhitmics - if the sound's clean you can barely hear it, if the sound's overdriven chords sound simply bad.

I use it through a Vintage Rat and a ENGL Classic tube combo. Great combination.

Overalyy the rating's a 9 I love it for what it's supposed to do, but it can't do everything. You know, single coils aren't 'buckers. With the proper pickups (thinking about Bareknuckel Piledrivers from the description) it may be a 10. I know that nobody would expect a Tele to be able to do extreme styles and maybe I should rate if for what it's made to sound like (and that would be a 10), but I decided to be more objective about it. Afterall you still can find a guitar which sounds like heaven both drty clean and in between at moderate and high gain situations...somewhere.

Ok, let me start by saying that this guitar feels PERFECT to me. No flaws (except the tone knob wich was screwed too down and was touching the control metal plate, fixed in 30 seconds with a touch of the screwdriver), stunning nut work, it felt right from the start like my Les Paul, same action, the neck is very close too. I don't mind about tiny frets, You can shred and tap with it if you've got the skills.

The pickups where properly set, but I made minor adjustments myself and that's pretty obvious afterall - I mean, you've just got a new toy, you HAVE to mess with it!

THe action was quite low but the intonation was a little bit off, I can't put the blame on Fender for that anyway because I had the guy at the shop do a string change before the "final try" and first it had 11's on I guess, so that's pretty obvious. the string weren't perfectly spaced too but again, I can't blame Fender for this. I can't remember how it was before the string change, And in any case it may not have been the factory's setup.

The guitar feels very solid. Also, having no trems, I kinda feel like I can depend on it more. I like Bigsby's and other trem devices but they make me feel less confident in the guitar overall stability and so on. It stays in tune well.

It's very very uncommon for me to break strings, but I bring backups anyway, you never know. Plus, you can't do everything at the best with just one guitar.

The finish is on the thin side and it's supposed to be so, you know, vintage specs etc. I personally like that because I hope the guitar will naturally relic sooner. Right now I find it's a nice guitar, but Leters looks 1000 times better, a perfectly clean tele lacks a bit of character IMO, but fenders look better once heavily aged than gibsons.

I changed the strap buttons to locking Shallers, as I don on all my guitars. The stock ones were nothing special, cerainly bigger than Gibson's but definitely not dependable on.

I don't know how long is the warranty. I remember it IS long, but not how much so I'm not going to give informations I'm not sure about. I haven't had the need to deal with Fender, so no rating here.

I've been playing for 17 years spanish guitar, and electrics for 6 years. The only other guitar worth mentioning I own is a particularly nice '95 Gibson Les Paul Studio. Graet on it's own, but I admit it doesn't stand a chance against the tele for everything clean up to moderate distortion.

Overall, the guitar's a 10 for me.

I know that sound should be the most important category and that I didn't gave a 10 on it, but I explained why.

I like this guitar so much because it's really well built. I really like the one piece neck with no glued fretboard - it's one piece of wood. And the body resonates beautifully, and it sustains A LOT.

Again, acoustically this guitar is PERFECTION for me.

I'd like it to be able to handle some more gain, but right now I don't want to change anything.

If stolen or lost I'd be really pissed. I've heard that some AV '52 are dogs and that scares me because down here in Italy you can't find lots of them, I don't think it's The Perfect Guitar but it comes close and I've really bonded with her so I'm afraid it would be difficult to replace properly.

I'd wish it had another kvolume knob, but you can add it without drilling anything.

My advice is: try this guitar. If you're looking for something fit to play rock, or just for a guitar with no particular purpose in mind, this could be a great purchase to make. Plus, gibsons and fenders hold their value wellover time.

I'm really really happy to have saved my money and have bought this guitar.

Beautifully made guitar. Very light (it weights about 6.5 pounds) and you can see the guys from Fender spend a good deal of time doing this one right.

It sounds great for country, jazz or blues. A friend of mine has one that he uses in his progressive funk band it he also makes it sound really good. Very bright and well defined sound. A very good match with my Boss Cs3 compressor modified by Pedaldoc.

The action was a bit too high when I bought it. The shop owner spend a couple of hours working on the guitar and now it plays like a dream. Very well made thing.

Is a Fender guitar and many pro musitians use Fenders don??t they? I haven??t had any problem with it and I think if I am a bit careful my sons will probably inherit it in a very playable shape.

Never had to contact Fender thanks God.

Great guitar. Nicely made. Great sound. What else can I say?

Same old tele stuff - you know - USA vintage pickups though - I think these make a real difference!!

Very tight, ballsy sound with the USA vintage pickups. Definate tele grunt and twang for the bridge pickup both mellow on the neck pickup.
Using the guitar wityh a Fender Stage 112SE tube emulator and minimal effects

Excellent finish straight from the Fender Japan factory. I really cant fault the workmanship on this instrument. Only really needed to adjust the action slightly

Compared to other Fenders I have owned, This is the best. I have only owned three 4 Fenders but have experienced Japan, USA, and Mexican guitars. I

Have used Fender in Australia once. After some polite coercing I went straight to their office in Sydney. I had a neck alignment with a Mexican issue strat and the store I bought it from said there was no problem....Took it to Fender and their tech/luthier looked at it rectified the problem (yes there was one).
They make take a bagging sometimes but I give them a 10. They were very polit and friendly too

Compared to other Fenders I have owned, This is the best. I have only owned three 4 Fenders but have experienced Japan, USA, and Mexican guitars. I cant see why people buy Mexican. There RRP is around $1100 AU. I bought this Japan tele over the web for the equivalent of $935 AU DELIVERED!!!. And the quality is just so much better.
ALL AUSSIE - GIVE HIROAKI A CALL AT ISHIBASHI MUSIC IN JAPAN!!!
HE IS YOUR TRUE PATH TO A LEGEND INSTRUMENT!!!!

Awesome features.

Let me start off this review by saying that I am a stratocaster player. That is what I thought all rockers were suppose to play, except maybe a gibson. But oh was I wrong. The telecaster is an amazingly versatile guitar. A stratocaster is also. But not as much as this thing. You can play almost any style of music on it. Blues, Bluegrass, Funk, Latin, Opera, and ofcourse Rock n Fugging Roll!

This thing is top o the line production guitar. Top of the line everything. Not custom, but production. Simple yet refined. Very shiny and pleasing to look at.

I just hammered a few nails in and works great. Doesn't sand the floor too well but Mr Miyagi will have to look elsewhere. Built like a tank and will probably survive longer than me as long as a guitar chop shop or fire get in the way.

Fender------

Overall Im going to give this guitar a 9. It probably is a 10 but nothing is perfect.

2005, made in USA, California...Left-handed
21 frets, solid body (Ash), 2 Fender vintage pups, 1 volume, 1 tone, One switch, 3 positions.
one piece tinted maple neck.
Finish is nitrocellulose vernish in butterscotch blonde. It is a tele...vintage bridge, vintage tuner, vintage pup, vintage vibe.
Vintage case, vintage ashtray bridge cover, 6 saddles bridge, modern wiring kit.
A cleanning cloth and cleanning spray. One vintage jack and a certificate of anthenticity.

Well, actually, I changed the bridge to a new one , I changed the neck to a custom build one, I changed the pups to seymour and the tuners to sperzel. Since I didn't like the color, I changed the body with a Custom special texas killer extra magical top with incorporated humidifier and 3 USB connections just in case.

Just kidding... I kept it stock, vintage wiring etc...

I play Blues, jazz, funk, ethnic and everything in between. This guitar is fantastic! It got a magical vibe!
I play it through a Musicman amp and the clean sounds are really shinning! The sound is really rich, vintage, organic, special, difficult to explain. This is a guitar with a special Mojo.
It suits blues, jazz and rock very well. I assume this is not a metal guitar?
Playing with the tone and the volume pots give you quite a lot of variety in the kind of sound this guitar can make.

The guitar is really well finished. The nitrocellulose finish will be getting a worn-out look faster that the new "plastic" one, I like that!
The tinted neck is very nice!
I did try the MIM, the US standard and the '52 tele's. The Us standard is "easier" to play than the '52, certainly due to the radius. But the '52 got something more organic.
I tried very good MIM, US, and Japanese tele's, but this particular '52, made in USA, has something special(IMHO).

a telecaster is the strongest guitar in the world IMHO

Well, I was on the market for an archtop... being a lefty, it is not always easy to get the right instrument for you...In the shops, they just do have cheap lefty guitars, and all the rest is on order, if it exists...
So, this great guy in Belgium (leftyguitars.BE) did open a shop with only lefty guitars!
What a dream for a lefty!!!
I tried different guitars, gretch, gibson and guild archtop. Then I tried the Telecaster '52, and I directly know it was the right guitar for me!
I know it is everything but an archtop, but I can play everything I want with a very nice vintage vibe in it. I love this guitar. More I play her, more I love her.
The "jazz" tone you can get with this guitar are suprisingly very convincing. very woody for a solid body.
I would buy it again and again and again... really, this is my guitar.

made in 90's, USA
everybody knows what is a 52 telecaster will know the features, a simple guitar, that's why i like it, but i think the reissue should change to modern wiring in the factory

i play blues, classic rock by this guitar, perfect tele sound, i use it with a blues junior, nice combination, with a overdrive pedal that's enough
the bridge pickup is very bright,i don't use it too much, i like the neck always, but once the original pickup broke, i don't know why, after testing they said the wire is broken in the pickup, so i bought a duncun stk-t1n to replace it, i 'm very miserable. i wish i can buy a custome shop Nocaster with all the stock pickup later.

action is fine, but the neck is sticky, hard to play very fast
the pickup selector head is loose,that's a pity for fender

the finish is easy to go off, but the wear off is a kind of magic
she is dependable except my miserable experience of the neck pickup, ofcourse i use it with other guitars on stage, my band is a all-style rock band and at least 2-3 guitar is required

i'm in shanghai, seems to be no support from fender, i wish i could be the fender staff to support others,:)

i'd be playing for 10+years, i also had a YAMAHA SG, fender tube amp, BOSS stompboxes, BOSS GS10 with FCB1010 which is great for live stage
i'm always a fender telecaster fan, and especially the 52, she will stay with me all my life, if she's lost i will search all the world to find her and take her home

Made in 2006 in USA. Made of plywood. Just kidding (it's ash), one-piece maple neck, Fender Vintage noiseless pups, 250k pots, tweed case. I bought the parts on ebay and made the body myself.

Sounds great for jazz, the blues, country, anything clean. Bright, articulated, twangy.

Lots of fret buzz when action is lowered. Body is two piece, but not bookmatched, so is kinda wierd looking. Not Fender's fault, I made it myself, so I didn't do something right.

Great for live playing. The whole friggin thing only weighs 6.5 pounds. My Mexican tele weighs in at a hefty 8.5 pounds. Something to consider if you are standing for 2 or 3 hours a night holding it.

Who ya gonna call? I have no customer support.

I have been playing for over 30 years, since me and Keith Richards jammed back in '75. He gave me my first guitar, a tele. He threw it on the stage because it kept going out of tune, so I picked it up, had it ever since then. Anyway, this home made jobby should last way past the end of my life. I like everything about this guitar. Very simple, extremely easy to work on. It took about 2 months to complete, but worth every second.

I bought this guitar new in 1992, if I recall correctly, and I treasure it even more today than when I carried it out of the store. Made in the USA, it's a butterscotch with a maple neck. The guitar came with the three-saddle bridge and the original 1952 Tele pickup wiring, but I opted to change the bridge for the six-saddle version(which was also included) and wire the pickups conventionally. The guitar also came with the necessary electronics to update the wiring. So, it's a basic guitar, but therein lies its beauty.

I am exceptionally pleased with the sound of the guitar. I play it with either a Fender Pro Junior or a Mesa Boogie Mark IV combo, and the guitar works well with both amps. It's great for doing Stonesy stuff, alt-country fare, and pretty much whatever I throw at it. Its single-coil pickups prevent it from being a metal monster, but for down-and-dirty rock 'n' roll, you'd be hard pressed to arm yourself with a more willing and effective weapon.

With one exception, which I note below, I have been extremely happy with all of the guitar's components, its finish, and its ease of playing. In fact, this is one of those guitars that just "feels right." It's light and responsive, and one can get around the fretboard easily. It truly is an exceptional instrument. I once owned a mid-70s Tele Deluxe--the black one with the humbuckers--and that was one hurtin' guitar compared to the '52 Reissue. Fender did this one right.

My only criticism is that I had to replace the neck pickup. A guitar tech who set the guitar up for me early in its life said that the pickup was wound poorly and that it therefore lacked volume. I took his word for it and replaced the pickup with a Seymour Duncan. I hadn't noticed that the neck pickup was particularly anemic, largely because I seldom use that pickup anyway, but this chap knew what he was talking about, and he wasn't the type to feed me B.S. to sell me a replacement pickup either. I believe that the tech also insulated the pickups to reduce the guitar's hum.

I've gigged with this guitar, and it's more than capable of standing up to life on the road. I've worn some of the finish off the body where my right arm rubs the guitar, but such wear is to be expected over time. I much appreciate this guitar's ability to stay in tune. Once I tune up, rarely do I have to touch the machine heads again; they are exceptional. In fact, I can leave the guitar in its case for a couple of months, pick it up, and it will be EXACTLY in tune. Whereas if I look at my 1996 Les Paul the wrong way, it goes out of tune. I break too many strings to gig without a backup guitar, but I'm not worried about the neck falling off my Tele.

The guitar tech that I mentioned above said that he tried to get in touch with Fender to complain about the sloppy quality of the neck pickup, but he didn't get any kind of response from them. That said, I have never dealt with Fender myself and cannot therefore offer an opinion about their customer support.

I have been playing guitar since 1973 and have owned a 1960s Gibson ES 120-T, a '72 Gibson SG, a '75 Gibson Les Paul Custom, a '76 Gibson Les Paul Deluxe, a mid-70s Fender Telecaster Deluxe, an '80s Ibanez Roadstar Strat copy, a '96 Gibson Les Paul Standard Plus, a fairly recent Axl Johnson strat copy, and of course the '52 Reissue Tele. The '52 is a pure gem, and I would without question get another one were it to disappear. In short, with the exception of the pickup problem, I could not be happier with this guitar. It sounds wonderful, it plays smoothly and feels right, it stays in tune, and it's lightweight; hard to ask more.

2005 Model American Vintage '52 reissue Telecaster. Light ash body, (mine is 6.75 lbs) -impeccable- nitrocellulose lacquer finish, vintage '52 reissue pickups that friggin' HONK. What can I say? After a few nights of loosing sleep, and figuring how I can score one of these babies, I did it. I traded my BELOVED American Standard old faithful, hot-rodded '93 and some cash. Simple, classic design. No features really, it's a Tele, but DAMN IS IT COOL! How do you rate 'features' for a vintage tele? There are none, until I install the Floyd Rose locking trem, and the PAF humbucker. I'm KIDDING. I would not change a THING on this amazing old fart-inspired reissue.

An easy 10. I play it through a modified Peavey Classic 30 that I preamp with (believe it or not) a Marshall MG10CD. (try it, it's awesome). This guitar has GOT IT. Snappy, sparkly, snarly in the bridge PU. Just like they used to sound. Well defined but not too trebly. The neck pickup is amazing for 'broken blues' tone. Think 'the sky is crying' or 'red house'. It will simply send shivers up your spine.

Spectacular 'honey blonde' nitrocellulose finish. Not 1 noticable flaw. I must admit, the neck gets a bit 'sticky' due to the nitro (after playing a semi-glossed poly finish for so long) but it doesn't take long to get used to it an truly appreciate how the neck feels and the strings 'stick' to your fingertips. Feels 'dirty' but in a very cool way. Fender, you got it right. I did have to 'tweak' the truss a bit. A little too much relief in the neck for my tastes, but strung it up and it all fell into place. This guitar is a challenge to play in a VERY positive way, if you've been playing the 'new' stuff. It feels like what it is. A meticulous recreation of a classic. Think going from your 2005 Impala to driving a '57 Chevy. A bit more challenging, but OH SO REWARDING and FUN!

It's a Telecaster! It'll be around long after the second coming.

Never dealt with Fender on a 'customer support' level.

Playing since '76. NEVER DREAMED I'd part with my hot-rodded, fat fretted, Joe Barden'ed '93 American Std. Tele. I had A LOT of thinking to do before I did. But, after HEARING and PLAYING this bad-ass mofo, I have no regrets. It'll take a little getting used to, but everything in time. I can't wait to see the finish check and the neck get that 'old' feel. Only with the vintage stuff. Great job, Fender!

I give it a ten for a Vintage RI Tele by modern standards it would get a 0, but in 1952, this was cutting edge stuff. Two very good pickups, a 3 saddle brass saddled bridge, 21 frets, and a volume and tone control.

I play jazz, rock, and blues. This is the worst sounding guitar I have ever played, it is very muddy and lacks definition. Just kidding, you should have seen the look on your face. Anyway it sounds drop dead amazing, I raised the pickups and it wants to sound like a Les Paul, so I had to lower them to get it to sound like a Tele again, VERY versitile guitar. It is the holy grail of telecasters, it can sound cool and twangy or thick and crunchy.

I bought the guitar used, it was set up great. I keep the action just high enough to play slide (BTW, this is a amazing slide guitar), but the intonation on the high E went quite flat, I fixed it myself to a reasonable level, but I'll get that fixed by a tech.

Probably this is my fault, as a I bang this guitar around A LOT, the finish is holding up great. Smooth neck to me, my hand gets crap on it though but I dont mind.

Built like a brick shithouse. I can't see myself destroying it no matter how hard I bash it.

n/a I got it used.

If you are thinking about buying this guitar, buy it. It is a very good and versatile guitar. Sounds Excellent, plays great. Just watch the intonation, it gets tricky with 3 saddles.

According to the serialnr it is a 2001, ordered it from ishibashi japan. Texas special pickups, vintage style small frets, maple neck, ash body. Came with a crappy gigbag.

I play rock music mainly and I REALLy like the pickups..I play it through a Fender Blues Jr, I use only one pedal and that is a Carl Martin Hot drive MK2..Very versatile guitar..neck pickup can be very mellow and I like to use it when i play slide guitar..I give it a 9 cause it can always be better but I am very pleased..it is very resonate when strumming it unplugged.

I asked koichi for a low action and it was quite good. Not as good as my squier strat but ok. It was even almost in tune when it arrived from japan! I have since put on a six saddle modern gotoh bridge cause i didn't like hitting the edge of the bridge with my hand..I know some have replaced the vintage bridge with a "shaved lip" type but I like the modern one. It was an 8 and after the mods it's a 9

It's a tele! this will last forever. So will the polyurethane finish too..sadly. nop issues here

Never dealt with them, ishibashi was VERY good though!

Been playing for 10 years. Own a 80's MIJ tele thinline, Squier strat and takamine Ef-341SC. If it was stolen I would buy a new one from Ishibashi, definately. I love it because the look, the feel and that it will be with me forever, age with me. Really liked the price too. Saw a "real" MIA 52 used here in finland for 1600? so I am not complaining.

All the Bit's and Pieces; Deluxe Case, Certificate, Ash Tray etc. etc.

I play country, rockabilly, blues, pop. This Guitar does everything I want. I've had it for 4 months now and I find it hard to put it down. The finish is perfect. The action and intonation, ex factory, and landed in Australia needed no attention whatsover. My only critisism is leveled at the sticky neck and I'm hoping as I play it in the nitro-cellulose (or whatever !) will wear off.
There's the usual Vintage PU Noise (Doesn't worry me)The tones through both my Blues Junior and Deluxe Reverb R.I. are just beautiful. Clean biting true tones with that Tele overlay, you know what I mean. With the amps cranked up (Fat on the BJ) Full reverb, I can get that "Texas Twang" I love this Guitar.

Flawless, I cannot pick a joint in the body I'd swear it is one piece. I have a Korean Lite-Ash Tele and putting them side by side is like comparing a Rolls Royce to a Daewoo.
I will not change the 3 saddle bridge nor will I change to Modern wiring. I like it just the way it is.

I play live with this Guitar, my other (and many) Guitars have taken a back seat. Also my Ovation Balladeer and Takamine EN20 Jumbo accoustics are gathering dust. I'VE FOUND A MATE FOR LIFE.
The Finish looks great, I read all the reviews and can understand some of the complaints, it appears that all these models are 'individual' all I can say is that I'm more than happy with mine. Once again, the neck's a bit sticky after a hour or so playing I find I've got a sort of resiny deposit over the neck so I wipe it down with a damp cloth. In time that should wear off.

My local bloke is a Licensed Fender Dealer, I've had great support from him over the years and will continue to have any work done on any of my equipment from him. He's already replaced a faulty AMP, the Fender Blues Junior, with no hesitation (Faulty reverb unit)
Apart from that I can't see anything going wrong with the '52. It's built to last longer than I am, my grandkids will be playing it.

Playing 40 years, Retired professionally 15 years ago, just play rhythm/lead guitar with a Country Music Club at present plus the occasional solo gig.
Other Guitars; At present: Les Paul Custom, Maton Pro 58/80 (335 Dot look alike)
Lite-Ash Tele. Accoustics as mentioned before plus a Maton Classical guitar.
I Insured this Guitar 3 Days after it arrived. If stolen I would buy another and pray that it sounds and is finished the way mine is.
I love everything about it. My only regret is the years I have wasted playing accoustic guitars and the money I have spent and wasted on other equipment. Being mainly a vocalist I've looked at the guitar as an accessory. I was wrong !!!!

Here's the site by Fender that tells what the nut is made of...it is bone! http://www.fender.com/support/diagrams/pdfs/AV52TELE/SD0100202CPg3.pdf

It is either a 02' or 03'. You know what it looks like - they only make them one way. Did update the pickup thing. Although I spent a long time with the stock set up (I mainly use the bridge position anyway) like just about eveyone else I mondern-ize it. I also put a bone nut on it. Other than that - Stock. I give it a 9 because, IMO, you don't need anything else on an electric guitar like a Telecaster and, if your reading this then you're probably considering buying one or something. As far as Telecasters go... well it's a classic looking one. And if you find one that plays well in your hands then buy it.

Sound-wise I love it. It's a workhorse and pretty versitile (especially if you update the pickup thing). I mean, of course there isn't a whammy bar, locking system, active pickups or anything. But what do you want? It's a Telecaster.

I added the bone nut, which I highly recommend anyone do. It will open it up and give you some great sustain. It just brought mine more to life. (Plastic machine cut ones are usually cut too deep and don't really fit the strings. I sort of recommend custom cutting the nut on any guitar. Its cheap and easy and can really improve the sound of any guitar. IMO)

Its a great clean guitar. Can be twangy or fat. You can strum or pick it and it just works. I will say that overall the 52 RI Telecaster is bright sounding. What is great about bright guitars, like this one, is that you can get some really rich overdrive sounds out of them. And it responds well to overdrives and distortion pedals - Lots of cool presence and harmonic overtones and such.

I don't recommend trying to play too heavy with it - You ain't gettin' no Slayer tones here. That said - Jimmy Page is rummored to have played most of the Zep albums on a Telecaster in the studio. So, you can surely ROCK this guitar. And that it what I usually do and it always comes through.

I also love the way it's single coil bridge pickup works with tremolo and delay effects. It really brings them out and adds a great character.

I use it with either a Fender RI Bassman or a Marshall JCM 800 2X12 Combo and it sounds great with both of them.

It took me a long time to find this guitar because of one thing - Piss poor factory set up. Mine is one of only two that I've ever played that felt natural. Normally when I play this model in a store there are two very big issues:

1. High E string feels like it is on the edge of then neck.
2. Intonation is way off.

The one I bought wasn't that way, a fluke I'm sure. There are some limitations with the saddle. If you can't find one close to perfect then there are some opotions: Replace it. OR - find someone who knows how to bend it. This is wierd to me but I take mine to this guy here in STL that bends the saddle to get the intonation perfect. It's amazing.

It's a beautiful guitar to look at. And it wears well too - the more you bang it up the cooler it looks.

"Live to play. Play to live." The Telecaster moto, IMO. Who cares if the fisish is good enough to last? It's gonna look better all beat up anyway. Do whatever you want to this guitar. It will take it.

Don't deal with them. I've never bough a guitar that I didn't like. If you can't tell a Lemmon in the store then you probably don't know how to play enough to buy a guitar like this. What I mean is - It's a pretty expensive guitar for how well Fender builds them. You can't just pick one up, drop $1200.00 and expect it to be good. That's why I'm actually rating this category. Fender should make a better guitar for the money. I've always wanted this guitar but, it took me 3 years to find the perfect one. Why? Because they just don't build them like they use to. (If you want the look without the looking around, try
G&L, they build a pretty flawless version and will costomize it for about the same amount of cash).

I've been playing for over 15 years and this is one of my favorites. I like very basic guitars. I also own an American Standard Strat and a Gibson Les Paul JR. If it were stolen I would go and buy another - and hopefully it wouldn't take three years to find. I love it's sound. The Telecaster bridge pick up is a classic, unique and original sound. It does a lot.

I did compare this one to a G&L Asat. I would have bought the Asat except for one thing - it was Orange. Well, you have to feel comfortable behind your guitar and, for me, Orange just wansn't right. And I didn't feel right about custom ordering one in a color I could deal with.

Anyway, it an amazing guitar if you find one that fits you.

I am now a proud owner of a new 2005 american made 52 reissue telecaster. You all know what it looks like so I won't bother with that. As for features, what can I say it's a 52 reissue tele.

I've been playing a lot more rock/country shows lately steering me away from my strats and my super. Opting for a tele and a twin. I don't overdue it with effects, a tube screamer and an analog delay.

The bridge pickup has the right amount of twang but it's not peircing like a lot of telecasters that I have played.

The guitar was set up pretty good out of the store. It's needs a radius adjustment but it plays well. The neck is sticky like the orginals. I don't know what to do about that. I don't want to sand it out but may not have a choice if it's something that I don't grow accustom to.

Pickups will need to wired to the modern wiring. I have no use for the old wiring. That's just my preference.

As well I'll have to see how the vintage saddles work out. At the moment the guitar is intonated. The guitar stayed in tune after three sets of heavy playing.

Like all Fender guitars it's a workhorse. It's well put together and will be kicking as long as I am. I'm sure of that.

Don't know. Never dealt with Fender support.

I've been playing for about twelve years and for most of that I've been a loyal strat player. In the last couple of years though I've moved in different directions musically and a telecaster has appealed to me. I really wanted one but didn't want to settle for a knock off or anything that wasn't american made.

I walked in to a local music store and saw it on the shelf and had to have it. I knew I wanted a butterscotch blonde tele and this one was well made, detailed and american made. I didn't even try it through my amp. I knew it would sound great. It smokes. I suspect I am officially converted to the telecaster.

I picked up this baby Feb of 2005, it was made a month earlier. Ash body, butterscotch blond with Nitro-cell finish. American Vitnage pickups, neck 7.5rad U shaped. Comes with vintage tweed case and various guitar candy. Wasn't too impressed with case because the gold plush interior likes to shed on the guitar, so I sold it on Ebay and just use Fender's standard black HSC.

I play a rock/country mix and this baby plays like a dream. I run it through a Cybertwin head, and I have since forgotten about my wife. I have played many different brands and types of guitars and this 52' RI is by far the best sounding guitar to date. The American Vintage pickups matched with a 0.047 cap used in the vintage wiring is something I cannot describe, you have to play it. It comes with a modern wiring kit (to change to a 0.022 cap which is more bright) but I would never do it. I did change to the modern bridge which comes with the guitar just because I am not a fan of that style. The 3rd or the neck postion with the vintage wiring is pretty much useless unless you want to play bass. That is what it was used for back in the day when dudes couldn't afford a bass so they just played in the neck position on a Tele which uses a 0.10 cap which is found on a bass. But the second poistion is a must if you are a blues player that loves thick milky tone. The first position is so versitile, and you can play this guitar with any genre of music, but I wouldn't reccomend thrash-punk-felon metal unless you shield it or have a noise reducer.

It came with the 3 saddle brass bridge from the factory. I immediately changed it to the modern 6 saddle bridge for looks and individual string adjusting. I also put on a chrome pickguard and a flame Tele control plate to stand out from everybody else. The neck is a 7.5 radius U shaped, it took a little geting used to, but I love it just as much as the 7.5 C-shaped. There are no finish flaws or knots in the ash wood.I will never buy a guitar that isn't Ash ever again, the sustain is amazing.

When you pick this guitar up, you can tell it is solid. Maybe it is just me, but when I pick up a guitar with an alder body, it just isn't the same. Whenever I play a Mexican or Japanese made Fender, it just doesn't feel or play right. I have been sucked into Fender's merchandising scheme of buying cheap guitars and going up the ladder into the expensive ones. Do yourself a favor and buy an Amercian Ash Fender, you will not be dis-satisfied. It was expensive, $1259, but you get what you pay for. I tried other vintage RIs and they jsut don't match up to this guitar's pickups and tone, like the Fender 62' or the 67' Tele. This is what the pros play, look it up.

I have never dealt with Fender personally. Their high end guitars come set up perfect and with a warranty, so I see no reason to contact them. I bought mine from Music123.com, where I buy all my guitars because they come flawless. I always send back guitars I buy from Musiciansfriend because you always get a guitar that some grease-monkey used or sent back.

I have been playing for about 15 years. I also own a 52' reissue chambered Ash tele, which I use as a backup on stage in case I break a string. I would buy this guitar again and again if someone stole it or if I had to hit a fan with it. It is expensive, but worth every penny, I love it more than my wife (Sorry Honey) Nobody beats American made Fender guitars.

The '52 was set up so studio session players could use the Tele to play bass parts. This is done by puting the PU selector switch in the full neck position. Voila! Bass guitar! Now with the switch in center position, you have the neck PU on. With selector in bridge position you have the bridge PU on, of course.

So how does one blend the 2 PU's, you ask? Simple. Put the switch between the middle and bridge positions and you get the blend. POW! The closer to the mid the more neck PU and the closer to the bridge...you get the picture...

Now that you understand this concept, don't love the '52 even more?

Twang. Balls to the wall.

Sticky sweet finish like the old days.

Fender Teles can't be beat.

Fender support blows.

If you like to hear a real guitar, this is it.

I bought my `52 Telecaster R.I. in 2001, The Body was "Stamped" January 2000,the neck dated March 2001.The neck felt like a Baseball Bat!!! It took me almost a year the become to like it even a bit.The first thing I did after a couple of months was, Take a 3M Scotchbrite Pad & Removed that "Sticky As Hell" Nitro-cellulose finish off of the back of the Back of Neck!!!!
When I got it home I played it for On & Off 7/8 Hours!!!What a good "Workin" I gave it.I changed the pick-up confiraration to the new Mod with the enclosed parts First!!!
The sound of this Tele gave me Goose-Bumps as I was "Jammin` Out!!!
The finish was so very "Sweet"...My My My...!!!Now after 4 years of perhaps 10 to 15 Hours a week Playing it has finish wear from sweat,bangs,dings,and a "Bent" 6th string tuner after falling against the wall one day a few months after purchasing this Beautiful Guitar!! It has such "Chariture & Soul" after 4 Years.
"Workmanship" was really "Sh...y". I don`t know how this guitar passed QC,the Pickguard screw hole was drilled a little off centre,so they just drilled another "Right Beside" there first attempt leaving a little too large "Hole" for the screw,so I had to put a couple of pieces of Tooth-Picks in the hole to have the screw tighten and seat "Flush" and Not Crooked a it was when it left the factory.It now needs a "Fret-Job" after 4 years!!! Those "Skinny" little Vintage frets have so many Low Spots,I`m getting a little fret buzz I can`t get rid of.Now... I`m not really putting the `52 Tele`s Down,because I "LOVE" my `52 Tele R.I. and you couldn`t get me to give it up now,It sounds better,plays better and gains more and more Character evey year!!!!
I would be interested in checking-out a 2006 model to see how the newer necks feel.

This is a '52 reissue under the Fender name made by the Fujigen Company between 1981-87. Has Gotoh tuners, maple fretboard, butterscotch body, two ply pickgaurd with five screws, standard pickups and switch. The bridge is different from the typical Tele bridge in that it has six barrel saddles and is not string-through.
Thus perfect intonation is easy. Nobody buys a Tele for the "features"!

This has the beautiful Tele sound, both the bridge and neck pickups are very useable. I use it through a Behringer GM108 practice amp, a Fender Bandmaster Reverb and a 1970 Traynor YBA3 Custom Special. The guitar is very quite. The only modification I made was to totally sheild the electrics - all the body cavities with copper foil, soldered, and a copper cutout under the pickgaurd. Afterwards I didn't notice any difference. I know most guitarists never touch the "tone" knobs but put this guitar on the bridge pickup and turn the tone knob all the way DOWN - you get exactly the tone Keith Richards had on the song "Luxury".

Most people are unfamiliar with Japanese Fenders and Fujigen guitars. I have a Fujigen guitar I imported from Japan as they are not sold in the U.S.A. ( Naoko Yamano Signature Model ). The workmanship is incredible - equivalent to the Fender Custom Shop. This guitar was bought used and the previous owner had not maintained it. Everything was loose - even the outlet jack. I tightened everthing up, adjusted the truss rod and intonation and it was perfect. It has no flaws.

I am primarily a bass player. The previous owner used this as his primary guitar for gigging for years. Everything is solid and well-made.

Never dealt with Fender.

I have been playing 49 years, own a 72 three pickup Les Paul Standard, the Fujigen electric I mentioned earlier, Taylor 300, '75 Precision Bass, Ernie Ball Musicman Stingray 5 bass, 3 guitar amps and 3 bass amps, too much other junk to list.
If I lost this guitar I would be very sad but wouldn't replace it - bass is what I play most of the time. I chose it because I knew how well Japanese guitars are made. There is no comparison with the Mexican or American Standard Fenders. If you want this quality you are going to have to pony up the money for a pre-CBS Fender or a custom shop guitar. Japanese Fenders from the 80's are a tremendous bargain and I see them becoming the next collectible Fenders once people learn about them. Most were sold in Japan so most American players have never tried one.

My guitar is a 2004 made in the USA. 22 frets, solid ash body, original specs w/original tele bridge, two single coil pickups(lipstick at the neck, open at the bridge), three way switch, volume, tone controls(bridge, neck, neck w/o tone control), ash tray cover for bridge, maple neck, tweed case and parts needed to switch to modern pickup options.

I play mine directly into a silver face Fender Champ with NOS tubes and a Weber 8a125 speaker. I've made the change to modern switching via the parts included after having the guitar with its traditional setup for 3 months. It now runs bridge, neck/bridge, neck. This makes more sense to me because the tonal options are more varied and the neck w/o tone option can be made almost exactly by rolling the tone knob all the way off. The tone knob does alot and can help achieve many different tones. This guitar can be and has been used to make every kind of electric guitar music.

The setup was fine, it is easly adjustable with the original tele bridge. The neck shape is comfortable and fast. The finish is a nice blonde that shows the wood's grain. The maple neck on mine has a light flame.

It's the original solid body guitar, it has not been improved upon yet.

1996 Black Finish, Maple Neck, orig Wiring. I noticed many folks are rewiring the Tele's to rid themselves of the muddy Neck position, but I have to admit I love that sound at the right time. Its just one more ambient sound I can use and depending upon the effect I run it makes a great filler on songs

Sounds great if I want twang, punchy, crunchy, clean or effect laden rock. No noise(yet), seems clean but I have gotten some feedback when I am jamming with the amp on 5 and turn off the EQ/Gate pedal - weird... now I know how to do that when I want to.

Setup was okay, I bought it used recently and it hasnt seen much action. I'll send it up to a pro to get it set after I have jammed on it a hundred times or so. Like all my fenders, it needs frequent attention.

Solid so far.

No need yet...

I run through a twin reverb, I use an SD-1, Tube Screamer, Comp, Chorus and Delay - it sounds great and like I mentioned before, the neck position can give me a muddy sound when I want to kick back and make ambient tones.

Paid $675 for Tele and extra for case
My beauty was born in the U.S.A.
Made by a fantastic builder I've found named Jim McMillan (Mcmillan Guitar Works). He assembles all his guitars to order, according to the customers desires or fantasies. I orginally called him to build a Strat and after asking me a bunch of questions, to figure out what sound I really wanted, He suggested a custom Thinline Tele. Man, was he right! I love this sucker! Mine has a fantastic '52 'C' kneck, finished in nitro, with rosewood fretboard, at my request(fast and super smooth - very easy to play), looks like bone nut, non-traditional tuners (I think Grover - I asked for this, beautiful Thinline body with F-hole, everything else set up like a '52 standard Tele, except, and here's the good part....... A super hot DiMarzio pickup in the neck position, with a overwound stinger in the bridge. All three switch positions are unique and kick major ass. The body is just BEAUTIFUL! The light butterscotch finish is transparrent enough to see the flame maple top underneath. The backside is very fine swampash. The whole thing is trimmed in a really cool, cream colored binding. If you look at Fender's Albert Collins '52 setup, and then swap with a thinline body with F-hole, you have my guitar(my pickups are hotter). Jim would have built the axe up anyway I wanted it, but I asked him to surpriae me, and he did! He shipped it in a very cool traditional tweed hard case, with very plush red velvet lining. I just love the whole dang thang! Well worth my money, and actually worth alot more. Oh... and it was finished in Nitro. Great look.
I'll buy from Jim... I'm getting two more (at least)
A HUGE 10 in this department!

I play alot of blues, but I do some standard rock, Hendrix style, Some Santana, some Jazz. I now play this axe more than my very fine Les Paul (with Lil '59's). The sound is unique and just magnificient in all switch positions. The way Jim set this thing up is brilliant. I've never botherd to use all switch positions before, and that includes when I owned my 1964 Gibson ES-335. The semi-hollow thinline body gives a beautiful warmth and resonance to the already powerfull, Telecaster sound. THe sustain is amazing. I compared fret for fret and string for string with my Les Paul and it kick ass every time. I can get a great variety of sound combos by playing with tone and volume knobs. I rarely use effects anymore. The Tele just sounds so great without it. I do use some fuzz, overdrive, crunch and reverb once in a while. A little light delay from time to time. Each note just rings like a bell. Clear, resonant tone. What more can I say... simply beautifull, clear tone, stays in tune... just great sound!
A big 10 here.

Wow! Silky smooth action. I think Jim calls it buttery smooth. He's damn right. Travel up and down the neck is like nothing I've ever felt, and I've played lots of great guitars in my 41 years of playing.
This neck is the best fit for me. The fit and finish is excellent. The pickups were mounted and adjusted perfectly. Usually I re-adjust new equipment, not with this one. I did have to tighten one bridge saddle, after hearing a light buzz. THis was easy to fix and took all of 1 minute or so. The top is bookmatched flame maple. All chrome was flawless and shined like a beacon. No flaws or gaps anywhere. Beautiful luster on the body. Just a fantastic finish. Oh, I forgot to say... Everything finished in Nitro, not poly-whatever.
A 9 here, due to having to turn one small screw 2 or 3 turns. Otherwise I'd say a 10 for sure.
This builder seems to be very good. I've also seen pictures of his relics and his look the most real I've ever seen. I'm not done getting guitars from him. I still want a standard Tele and a Strat and I'll get both of them from McMillan Guitar Works. I'm now a fan for life.

The thinline Telecaster is much lighter than the standard bod, since it's semi-hollow. But..... the way this baby was put together I believe it will hold together just fine. Feels very solid. My Les Paul is way heavier and also built solid, but the Tele feels just as solid, even with less overall mass. THis is a player's guitar for sure. Live gigs wouldn't be a problem here. All parts are very solid and of high quality. I played many Fenders in the local stores before ordering this axe online from Jim. I took a chance and it paid off big time. Better than anything I played in the shops. THIs guitar feels as solid as anything I played and better than many. I don't play live currently, and would always carry along a backup, no matter what I was using. It just makes good sence. If I was stuck, however and had only one guitar to use, I would feel fine with my Tele. I have complete faith in Jim's workmanship.
A 10 here as well.

Jim walked me through the ordering, assembly and testing process, everystep of the way. Whenever I have a problem, I call or email him. He gets back to me right away. THere's a 3 hour time difference between our locations. I'm in California and he's in Maryland. If I call and leave a message, or email late, I "always" hear back the next day. I not only felt comfortable and secure ordering from him, but I felt in control of the build, at all times. He went beyond the norm and educated me as well. I'd never paid much attention to a little know blues man named Roy Buchanan. I heard of him over the years, but never tuned in. If I was going to own a Tele, Jim "demanded" I get a certain book and DVD, featuring Mr. Buchanan's talents. It has changed my life. I started reading everything I could on the guy and have altered my playing as a result. Jim's a wealth of knowledge and professionalism. I would buy again and again from him.
Some of the best customer support I've ever had!
10 ... 10... 10 .. 10 for his customer support.

This is an '04 reissue that I brought home two days ago. You guys know the specs from previous posts so I won't waste your time repeating them.

Some comments: I haven't installed the modern pickup configuration yet, but I will ASAP, as the neck position pup as configured is basically useless. Cool (for novelty sake), but useless practically. The finish is flawless. The butterscotch color is, for me, an aquired taste I'm still trying to aquire. Nonetheless, this is a very sexy guitar. I've been playing an '89 American Standard Telecaster since, well, '89. As I'm primarily a bass player, this is the only guitar neck I've ever gotten used to. Consequently, I feel a bit awkward on the '52 - like I'm playing on the thick end of a baseball bat. However, after playing the '52, I am convinced that I will not be going back to the '89 any time soon. So - for features, per se, there are no bells and whistles - just as one would expect from a tele. However, the "feature" is the guitar itself.

After many years touring and recording as a bass player, I've made the move to singer/rhythm guitar in an alt-country band (think Son Volt, Old 97's, Jayhawks). The guitar is exactly what I was looking for: smooth, deep, chimey, rich (played through a vintage Fender Deluxe Reverb). Going A/B, it made my '89 sound like a TOY. No kidding. I'm no shredder, so I couldn't give it the workout some better guitarists might, but I really was stunned at the tonal quality. My preferred setting (thus far) is on the neck PUP (on this guitar as originally configured, this is the middle position) with the tone backed off to about "7". When turning up my amp to a slight overdrive it was heaven. I am really looking forward to gigging with this guitar.

Action a bit high, a slight bow in the neck that was taken care of with a truss rod adjustment. I'm not "super-low-action-shredder-guy." As I said, I'm primarily a bass player who plays his guitar too hard. Still - the action was too high on this guitar. Also, as I changed the strings, I noticed that the tuning pegs were a bit loose. they seemed to tighten up as the stings becamne taught - not sure if this is normal or not.

No opinion - I just got it! A little concerned about tuning pegs.

Time will tell if its a 10 ("fantastic value"). I had the money, I needed the guitar, it sounds amazing. I had originally purchased a new American Standard Deluxe w/ S-1 system. I returned it for this - no regrets.

Made in the USA and bought new 2003 with nice ash body seen thru butterscotch finish.U shape maple neck with 2 pickups and 3 sounds.Brilliant bridge sound and equally wonderful neck sound-3rd sound is bassy and pretty useless.

This is THE sound for me and it is the best guitar sound I know perhaps apart from more expensive custom Tele's.
Played through a good valve amp this is a real pleasure for lead,rhythm and everything in between-Ilove it!!
I have played numerous other guitars and always like this best-it is based on the original 1952 Tele so they got it right virtually first time-extraordinary.

The quality of workmanship on this guitar is miserable-I should have taken it back to Fender and asked them how they can make an expensive guitar so badly.
I guess I love it still for all its many faults-bad tuning,out of line drilling and bad joint of neck to body.
Guitar had a ding when I bought it which gave me a small reduction.

This guitar should last the distance-I look forward to seeing it get more character with age.

I played for a long time and own some fantastic guitars but apart from my Dave King Classic acoustic I love this guitar more than any-its the sound.
I would get a replacement if this one disappeared-it really sounds that good to me.
The only change would be to rewire it so that I could replace the awful bassy sound and have the 2 pickups playing together like normal Tele's-maybe one day.

Made in 1952. Mine is NOT a reissue. It's the real thing, given to me by my Dad, who bought it brand spanking new. Made of course in the good old USA. Standard Telecaster features, so no sense in being redundant. I have had this one refinished and have had several fretjobs done on it over the years. Vintage Telecaster bridge, string through body, vintage tuners, which are the originals and still stays in tune great, no skunk stripe down the neck, very fast maple neck. Still have the original case it came in. Both have some wear and tear on them, but this guitar and the case are absolutely priceless. Awesome guitar. I've seen the reissues, yeah, they look nice, but they are nothing compared to the real thing. They don't make guitars like this anymore.

Like most Americans living in the Philippines, I'm a retired military person, married to a Filipina, so I am quite a bit older than most of the people who review on Harmony Central. I was a teenager during the late 60's and still like the music from that era. I write some of my own stuff, which would probably be considered somewhere between blues, rockabilly, electric folk and classic rock, but I love old Cream, Blind Faith, Zeppelin, Sabbath, Stones, Beatles, you know the music of my era. I do like some of the 90's grunge rock, such as Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Creed and some punk stuff like Greenday. Now sound is where this fucker does indeed shine. This guitar was made the year I was born and is a kick ass guitar sound wise, the vintage single coil pickups sound incredible. This a heavy metal guitar, a rock guitar, a blues guitar, a jazz guitar, an electric folk guitar, reggae guitar, or a country guitar, you name it, it does it and does it superbly. The bridge pickup is bright with a vintage twang to it, the neck pickup is very mellow and excellent for "dirty" blues, and also on distortion gives a nice "dark" sound. I never use the in between. I gig with this guitar regularly still. The only amps I've use it on at home are my Marshall MG10CD, VOX Pathfinder 15R and VOX AD15VT (these are the amps most Americans here have, because these brands are all that are available here for the most part. You can get Peaveys but they are made in China and suck). This guitar sounds best on the VOX AD15VT at home but still sounds great on all three of my home amps. It is a versatile guitar by all means, and many people don't realize the versatility of a telecaster, not to mention there is a sound from a vintage telecaster that you simply cannot get on any other guitar. It can't be mimicked. It?s a sound all of its own. It isn't noisy just the normal single coil humm and I'm playing this through powerful amps at gigs. One place where I gig occasionally has a Carlsbro GLX100, which is a solid state amp and the other place has a Fender Super Reverb. This guitar does very well on the Fender, and ok on thye Carlsbro, but I don't particularly care for solid state amps. This is an excellent guitar sound wise and I have no trouble maxing it out in this department.

Don't know how it was setup at the factory. This guitar has been worked and reworked many times. It's 53 years old and still hangin in there. I keep it looking brand new, but it does have some dings on it, unavoidable after all these years.

I gig with this guitar at least 3 times a week. Yes to all questions except no one would gig without a backup.

Never dealt with Fender.

I started playing guitar when the Beatles came out in 1964, and I think I was 11. I am 52 now, so I guess I've been playing for 41 years. I have this guitar, the amps I mentioned above, a Fender made in Mexico Standard Fat Stratocaster, which I put a Duncan Invader humbucker at the bridge, and Vintage Noiseless Pickups at the middle and neck positions Pickups on, a stock, an Epiphone Les Paul Special II, a Squier Standard Stratocaster with Texas Special Pickups, a Squier Standard Telecaster, which I bought because I wanted a Vintage Blonde Telecaster with a Rosewood Fretboard, which I have put Vintage Noiseless Pickups on, a Gibson 56 Les Paul Goldtop with P-90's, an Ibanez GSA20, GSA60 and RG350, Rockstar Strat, Tele and Les Paul Copies and a Fernando Strat Copy. Like the last reviewer, I also have a Washburn X-21, which is inexpensive but a fuckin good guitar. I've got two Epiphone Acoustic Guitars, one Ibanez Acoustic Electric Guitar, a Washburn Acoustic and a bunch more. I'm addicted to collecting them, and sometimes it's a waste because most of them don't get played. I really love this guitar and wouldn't change a thing.

An early nineties '52 Tele. I bought it well used a year ago. The fretboard shows some wear and tear and the finnish is quite dull, haven't tried any solution for it yet, though. Looks like a tool more than anything else, but maybe that's what it actually is.

I guess every self-respecting guitarist knows the Tele specs, so I really don't have to go through them in detail. Ash body, 7,25" radius maple fretboard and three-piece brass saddles are the main features of this particular design I guess.

Mine has the original pickups and I've made a decision not to start the pick-up changing lottery at all with this one. The originals are good sounding and I don't see a point in changing them to something a little different and above all, brand new. All good things get better with age I think so I'm sticking with what I got. When I got it still had the original settings with the "bass-guitar"-sound on the first position, which is quite useless, or at least a lot less useable than the neck-bridge-combo setting which I configured. I also turned the control plate around so I have the volume control first, then tone and last the pick-up switch.

I play in a hill-country blues combo with just me and a percussionist and the Tele sure does suit our sound. I string it with D'addario 011 sets. Been playing through a Bassman reissue with a 5U4 rectifier and they seem to go together well. I've used some pedals as well, a TS9 with the TS808 mod and an old Ibanez analog delay. Sounds like rock-music. Another amp I've been playing is a finnish-made 9 watt Creamsound combo which is kind cross between a Fender Princeton and a old finnish Salora tube-radio. Really good thick distortion when you push it with the TS9.

What I really like about this guitar is the small frets that seem to give room to the sound of the wood of the neck. Would be totally spoiled with bigger frets I think. I guess this is the kind of guitar that lets your own personality to come through. The sound comes from the strings and fingers and the guitar is there to be played. I have a hunch that it would sound and feel better without the finish but I'm too much of a pussy to start scraping it off.

It can play whatever you can, and if you like it's sound there is nothing you can't do with it. I would give it a 10 but for the above reasons I (and the fact that I myself am the most important part of the sound) it gets just a niner. That's kind of unfair but hey,life's tough!

As I stated earlier mine is used so it had some cosmetic issues when I got it. The finish doesn't seem to hold it's gloss over time. I guess there are some solutions for this problem but I haven't bothered, not yet anyway.

Everything else about it is, in my opinion, top-notch. I've seen similar guitars that are more luxurious or better finished (like Tom Anderson or G&L), but hey, this is rock n' roll!Rock instruments shouldn't be so perfect. Sometimes you need something perfect, so you can mess it up yourself, but sometimes you get something that is just perfect as it is, with the minor flaws and everything.

There's nothing in it that couldn't be fixed. Been using without a backup for quite some time now since I don't have one. No problems!

No experience.

I've been playing for 16 years. I've had Strats and a couple Gibsons, a Les paul and a Explorer. My main guitar for years was a Music man Silhouette which I traded for the Bassman shortly after I got the Tele. Been going to a more traditional direction I think. I've been thinking about getting another Tele with maybe a bit more modern features like the 9,5" radius fretboard. Also interested in putting Filtertrons on a Tele, kind of cross between Brian Setzer and Danny Gatton. The 7,25" radius fretboard is good for chords but not the best for bending strings. If someone would be such a dick that would steal my guitar I don't know what to do, give up I suppose!

My Tele was made in 1991 so I've had it a few years. Mine is quite heavy and has a thick finish on it. Purists may hate this, I ground down the top of the guitar to decrease the pressure from the sharp edge on the forearm- big improvement ergonomically . I play live primarily and comfort is a big deal. I changed the bridge so it would intonate , an Anderson PU in the neck and SD lil 59 in the bridge.

The stock wiring seemed ridiculous for real use. Neck is rather small but comfortable. A bigger neck MIGHT mean a bigger tone.

Of the eight E. guitars I own, this is the BEST rhythm guitar. Lots of lows (due to the weight) and a great top end. The stock PUs were very fun cranked through a Marshall or any other amp. Very ratty sounding in a good way. Turn down and they cleaned up well. High gain microphonic feedback was unacceptable however hence the PU change. The Anderson PU is a stacked SC so much lower noise. Good PU in my opinion. I don't like the hum in the bridge but rarely play in that position. I think ash gets harsh with distortion and this guitar is no exception.

With a Boogie Mark 4 to harsh, the Marshall sound is a little harsh for me but the guitar worked well with it- through a 2X12 and 1X12 Fender amp and a Mesa Lonestar great. The rhy sound is incedible. Throwing open strings into bar chords really riiiings!! Single notes work well in the middle range and low but get spikey up high. This axe doesn't allow me execute many high end riffs with good tone. No guitar does everything.

I rarely play this live as I need a warmer tone for solos. i do play this one every time we have a horn section- horns and tele- highly recommended.

heavy but beautiful- neck a little small for me but it's easy. Would like the finish thinner and didn't like the ergos. My band has to work hard most of the time doing four sets- need comfort!! I just polished it for the first time with Fenders new stuff by Meguiars and it looks like a jewel. This guitar has it's quirks but it has VIBE in a big way. That's the most important thing ehhh.

I give it a 10 due to vibe. The tele tone is it for rhy or chord style lead playing. Clean solos work well and dist can be ok with the right amp. It's thin though. I just saw Robben Ford play with a tele and it's the same tone. Sounds great in studios just not good to solo on for me unles you stay in the fifth position or lower.

If you play solo tunes, you'll really love it!! My other guitars are all higher end so this one has some tough comp..

Finish very soft and will get "tatooed " by straps. high E gets lodged underneath the neck PU (no guard) when I play. I play hard though.

What's gonna break?? The wood is the same as a baseball bat and there's a lot of it!!!

I bought it from one of those old hippie shops that is long gone. I used to rely on my local music stores but they disappear.

Guitar SS's and internet shopping has ruined the once great gathering spot of neighborhood music stores where you could go and kill a few hours and maybe find a great drummer or bass player. I even found a '50s amp with an 8" speak that I got for forty- you won't find that at guitar center.

I break it- I fix it.

Love this guitar with the right amp. Having played a Boogie Mark 4 this guitar didn't work for me. With the Lonestar it's now competing with my PRSs. If I have a lot of guest soloists like harp and horns this is great. If I need to solo a lot then it doesn't work.

If you love tone and have all the usual strats, P90 axes, hum and so on. You have to have a high quality tele. This is the one. The weight is tiring but it gives it the tone. I generally think that to light or to heavy of a guitar is not good. This guitar has chnaged my mind a bit. I have a really light ash strat to compare this to and it's a very different sound. Geez sounds like a need a mid weight ash instrument. The quest doesn't end but thats the fun of it isn't it my friends.

I put a couple hundred into it but it's a great value- it's got the vibe that will get you to pick it up over other guitars. Around the house it's this or a hollowbody electric, or a Taylor. By the way if you love this sound and play acoustic, try a Taylor 614CE. They ring like crazy and sound bright like a Tele but with technique you have so much headroom. Like a Tele, you can get them to sound warm with careful technique. I've been playing my Taylor a lot and it's got me craving the tele sound when I play with my band. My band plays loud and I'm the only guitarist. I think the last phrase helps to explain how I can love this and not use it on stage a lot. I play all styles with an emphasis on latin rock- this is not Santana tone but I've done it and it actually works better than a strat. PRS is best of course. I use my PRSs more on stage but like this guitar better. It's a conundrum folks!!

'05 Butterscotch 10-0202 model.
This is my second one of these.
My first was a black & white '96 (10-1303 model), which was heavier and somewhat inert. This one is slightly lighter and has some body resonance, sharper body edges, and improved pickups (and sound).

21 vintage size frets on maple neck. No buzzes or fretting out. Medium action. Set up well for 0.010" - 0.046" strings (comes with Fender 250's: nickel plated steel wound strings).

The usual '52 RI stuff like ashtray bridge, vintage tuners, and a bag of parts, strap, cord, certificate of authenticity, and a USA tweed case w orange fuzz padding.

The finish is supposed to be one coat of poly as a sealer, then nitro on top of that. It's shiny! Doesn't seem goopy thick. Grain shows through pretty well.

Three piece body with good attempt to match up grains.
I'm not that big on butterscotch, but it looks fine.

Features: it is what it is: the original mass production plank and bolt-neck Leo Fender revolution, nicely represented as a reissue.

I play all styles except Classical (I can fake Malaguena tho).

The brass saddles give a good overall sound on this Tele. Great for Jazz, Country, Blues, Rock, Classic R&B and Soul. Whatever. Somewhat noisy for hum, but I just turn down between songs.

I find steel saddles on Tele's give more "pop" and "SKEERONK!" but also more icepick-in-your-ear highs if not careful with amp settings.

This is just plug in and play: sounds great. Good twang.

I leave the circuit alone. I can get both pickups by balancing the selector halfway between middle and back. I don't often use the forward "mud" position, but at low volumes it's kinda fun sometimes.

Pretty primitive design by today's standards, but well manufactured and set up. Today's production standards greatly help consistency.

Everything lines up and plays in tune.

The bridge is a compromise design: true to 1952 concept.
FMIC includes a six brass saddle bridge conversion in the case goodies, but the original works good enough for the way I play and hear.

The track record on Telecasters is legendary.

I have accidently dropped one on its face from standing height and merely retuned and gone on with the set.

I never deal with the companies, only the dealers.
Guitar Showcase is good.

Playing since summer 1960.
I keep some parts-o-caster projects around too (in various pieces, presently).
I love that its as authentic early Tele as I can afford.

Like I said, this is my second version of the '52 RI. The first one was ok, but this one is better. Has more character.

Love the maple neck, and am quite used to te vintage frets and curvature.
It's supposed to be a "U" shape, but it is not clubby at all. Seems to have a very slight "V" contour to the back. I like it fine.

I'm an old Tele kinda guy, and this suits me.

To me, a Tele with brass bridge saddles is the most versatile guitar there is, and fits me. Next best is steel saddles for a bit more "skronk!" But this is more well rounded overall, without being generic.
I love the "character" these have.

A well-made American Telecaster with true characteristics and materials used in the original 1952 version. The butterscotch finish seems to vary greatly from guitar to guitar, however. Some finishes are very thick and hardly transparent, while others are lighter and show much more wood grain. I am not sure why this is. Features are as others have stated. Pretty basic stuff. Great tweed case. Some parts included for updating the wiring and bridge if you so choose.

Sounds better through a tube amp than a solid state. Warmer than some Telecasters. Pickups aren't as hot as many after-market pickups or on some other Fender guitars, but do have a good, professional tone and see no reason to replace them, especially on a true reissue model, unless you are just one of those people who likes to tinker. I did change the wiring to the modern configuration. This guitar, with a good amp, should handle most any kind of music from country to rock. Rewiring the pickups provides a bit more variet of sound.

The more you play it and get to know the subtle things about this guitar, the more you will appreciate the quality and attention to detail. The fret work is fabulous and the fretboard is nicely rounded on the edges. The rounded maple neck (with a 7.5 radius) in general has a great feel to it. Essentially, this is a guitar where everything works as it should. No noisy switching, no tuners that slip, no sharp frets, etc. The action is a little touch the farther up the neck you go. I haven't messed with it that much thought because I don't want any buzzing. So, I kept the three-saddle bridge and lowered it a bit, along with truss rod adjustments, to make the action a bit easier. While the finish is very nice, I still am at a loss to explain why the density of the butterscotch color varies so much from guitar to guitar. Was this true in '52 also?

Can't find a thing wrong with this guitar that would make me think it might not last a lifetime or two. Everything is solid. Everything works.

Haven't needed it.

Been playing over 20 years. Own all the basic gear. Gibsons, Fenders and a variety of amps. The 52 reissue simply feels more solid than other Telecasters, not that other Teles aren't solid. This one is just better. The premium woods, special finish and beefier neck provide a feeling of confidence that this is one of the best Telecasters ever built. The thing stays in tune, is sophisticated in it's simplicity and looks great. If the vintage look of a three-saddle bridge bothers you, you can replace it (Fender provides a 6-saddle bridge), but I wouldn't recommend it. This guitar has so much character as is, I don't see any need to fuss with it that much. Make you minor adjustments, then just play it. I also suspect that this guitar will appreciate in value very nicely.

2004 model. My suggestion to fender is to drop all the other tele models. They got it right in 1952. This thing is void of features...but its extremely versitile.

All I changed was the wiring to the "modern" tele switching. Kept the 3 saddle bridge.

I went around to a couple stores and found the one that played the best..it just so happened it was the lightest weight also.

Here's where this baby shines. What it lacks in bells and whistles, it makes up in the tone dept. I use it with a Bad Cat Hot Cat 30 combo. I use a fulltone wah-fulltone deja vibe-a/b/y box and a fulltone fulldrive. I've heard some people complain that its noisy...I say check your ground. Its doesn't make any more noise than your average single coil guitar...way quieter than my mexi-strat.

What really blew me away with this guitar was the sustain. I never thought a bolt-on neck guitar could have this much sustain. It rings like a bell.

Tele's are pretty unforgiving as far as mistakes. there isn't anything to hide behind and if you hit a clunker...people are gonna hear it. The good thing is..this thing makes you want to practice ALOT !!!!

Like I said..I checked around and cherry-picked between a couple stores before I decided on this one. The neck pocket is very, very tight. the fit and finish is excellent.

Built like a Brick Sh@t-house. I've heard in the old days when they first came out, players were calling tele's "A toilet seat with pickups". They're not the most beautiful thing but the high-end american stuff is built to last.

Never dealt with them...I hope I never have to.

Fender got it right in 52. This thing is pure and simple...no frills..nothing here you can't use. I was a Les Paul man for quite some time...but this does everything the les paul did and much more. If it were stolen..I'd find another. I don't have the cash to buy a custom built tele like a Stonetree. But this thing does all I need it to....the Telecaster is my new best friend.

Not alot to mess with. Volume, tone, 3-way switch that has no both-pickups-at-same-time setting. But there is some piece of mind with a plug and just play instrument.

The neck is an acquired taste which I have acquired. The wood finish is beautiful. The guitar is also significantly lighter than a strat.

This is the best sounding Fender guitar I've ever played. Fender seems to really know what they're doing with these reissues. I liked the tone more than the '57 or '62 reissued strats. A great guitar for blues. If someone stole this guitar, I'd cry.

Factory action was really low, and bending notes would make it fret out. Had to adjust the bridge for higher action and re-set the neck. For a guitar with shallow fret wires, it can be set to never fret out. But you have to deal with higher-than-normal action, but this doesn't bother me. After setting it up, it's near perfection.

Also, you can't adjust the height of the neck pickup.

Hmm... lacquer finish is not known for it's longevity. I'm not expecting this thing to look like new in 20 years, but I've had it for 3 years now and it still looks new.

All the features you need for great tone.

The tone is to die for especially in the bridge position. I do not think the guitar is noisy at all considering it has single coil pickups. Maybe, the previous reviewer got a bad guitar. I fortunately did not.

The action was great with no fretting out whatsoever despite the 7.25" radius. The finish and fit was also great.

I believe this will be a very reliable and durable guitar.

N/A

I have been playing for over 15 years and hands down this is the finest guitar I have ever played. I A/B'd this guitar against an american tele, a highway tele, a korean lite-ash tele, and a mexican tele. The mexican tele was very good but a little noisy and thin in the bridge position, I did not like the neck on the korean lite-ash tele, the highway tele was great but the bridge position was a little too bright for me, and the american teles were also great but a little too bright for me.

2001 usa made peice of 1950s crap. two crappy-ass noisey pickups in unshelded cavities. a low budget crap bridge that cant be properly intonated. the only thing i like about this guitar is the neck, its to die for but the rest of the guitar sucks ass.

sounds awesome but the lack of properly sheilded cavities causes a loud buzz, adding to that of the pickups.

action was great when i got it. crappy vintage frets and 7 1/2" radius neck make for a disasterous fingerboard; you push the sixth string off the edge w/o trying.

if played on any type of regular basis the frets will need replacing in a few years and thats expensive on maple fingerboards.

these guitars are timeless but they are guitars meant to be built and sold and replaced as quickly as possible so leo fender could bring the electric guitar to the masses. so basically its not even state-of-the-art 1950's technology. leo used stock brass rod to make the saddles because it was cost effective. he didnt play the guitar or even care about intonation at the time. if you want a great fender guitar spend a few hundred more on a G&L ASAT that'll intonate properly and give you everything offered here and a hell of a lot more. i cant wait till mine comes!

Current. Simple and to the point. Absolutely, beautiful craftsmanship.

I use this guitar in a classic rock band and people can't compliment enough on how good it sounds. I'd like to take credit, but this guitar is just incredible. The tone and overall sound is to die for.

I like the action a little higher than most people. I made sure everything was set up perfectly before ever perchasing this guitar. There are no flaws on this guitar, whatsover. Every fret, nook and cranny was checked before buying this guitar.

It should last a lifetime. Some of the other reviews mention the nitro-celluose laquer as being sticky, but I don't have that problem for some reason. However, I would never recommend powder of any kind on the neck; it will only make it stickier. Think about it.

This is an incredible guitar, but not for the timid. It needs to be play with finess and authority. By the way, if you own one of these guitars don't bother changing the saddle or anything for that matter. It was done right the first time. That's just my opinion, of course. Rock on!

Current production, You know the rest.

Came set up well from the factory with 11's, ouch! Construction was
tight on this one.

I have an MIJ '59 reissue that has an alder body that sounds great that I still have, out of half a dozen or so Tele's of various
manufacture that have passed through my hands over the last ten years or so. I decided to try to find a Tele with an ash body
that I could use on stage. After playing dozens of guitars the last two weeks, it became obvious that A 52 RI was probably my best bet.
I had bought an American std. ash body at GC about a week ago that was the loudest acoustically and electrically, and had the lightest body and decided to swap up to the 52. There are 3 GC's within driving distance of me, and I found out that a shipment from Fender had come, and there were 7 examples of the 52 between the 3 stores.
There were also 3 more at used equipment stores within that driving radius. So I decided to cherry pick. I went out and played them all
within hours of each other. I picked the lightest one, which had the
second best neck joint, but it rang noticably better than all but one
of the others, and the pickups seemed to have a bit more bite too.
Most of the necks were pretty close in shape, but there was a noticable difference in some. Most of them sounded pretty good too,
but there again, there were noticable differences. If you shop, you
can get one with a chunky neck for chick'n pick'n tone or one with a
more C shaped neck and p90's tone. The one I chose has a subtle V
down by the nut, and opens up to a slim C on up. The factory wiring
is impractical for me, so I re-wired it to "current" spec. BUT! I
left the small factory cap in it instead of putting in the replacement that came with it. Folks, that must be the key, 'cause
this thing is a monster. The bridge pickup goes from that elusive
Tele spank with the tone all the way up, to sweet humbucker high
end rolled back to 7-8, to growling p90 honk at around 5, to woman-
tone rolled off all the way. All this with no drop in output. Same
thing in the middle. From Albert Collins wide open to just about
any middle position sound short of a Strat you could want. Then the
bonus. I was expecting to go through a small quantity of after-
market pups to find one that was adequate for blues in the neck hole,
but again, wow. Good bite on the high E with the tone all the way up,
and a wide range of usable tones all the way down. I'm blown away.
I don't normally write these things, but after this I could not resist sharing. A good Tele is hard to find cheap. This is as cheap
as you will get this type of Tele tone. They had a bunch of master
built Teles at the GC's that I played while I was out diond this,
and this one sounds and plays as good as those now. If you're shopping for a Tele and don't have 4 or 5 grand to plunk down, find
A couple of these to touch, and just get the lightest, loudest one
you can find and rewire it leaving the little cap in. Viola!

I wont be redundant here. It's as basic as you can get, a tele with a 3 saddle bridge. You get the six saddle bridge as an accessory, but trust me the fat glassy tone comes from this bridge.

Its basic but to the point and get the job done. I had it rewired for the modern wiring, didn seem to affect the tone much. I think its a little fatter and muddier/middier with the original set up (that has the dark vintage circuit), but hey the modern middle position give you the classic tele twang bite, so you gotta have it.

Amazing! I mean the more you wear it in the better it is. Very warm, glassy, and bassy. I would say that this is a 2004 Fender so it uses the American Vintage ALNICO 3 pickups. These pickups feedback really bad with too much distortion. I wouild recommend Dimarzio Virtuals or Kinmans as replacements, though I refuse to screw with this guitar.

Um the common argument that the finish has poly lacquer is probably true. My japanses strats have real nitro on them and they feel much smoother and it helps the sound. I would recommend having the neck refinished. The tone is so good I say who cares. Generally no guitar sounds good til its finish strips a bit. Anyway you ebtter bet pretty amazing to tell that much of a difference. As far as reflecting in light it looks like an old school finish and feels pretty good once youa re used to it. I play les pauls and paul reeds so hmmmm its different, almost sticky. Action hmmm teles will fret out and buzz, they are highly imperfect, but thats part of the sound. I had an amerian STD tele, it was soooo sterile for leads. So Ill take the hassles.

NOTHING IS TOUGHER OR MORE DURABLE. MINE FELL OVER ON STAGE AND NOT A SCRATCH. IT STAYS IN TUNE REALLY WELL,

ITS THE REAL DEAL, BASIC WORKING HORSE

I say 9 because the pickups are noisy (AS THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO BE), but I think aftermarkets (DUNCAN FRALIN DIMARZIO ) would do good or eliminate hum. I am wary that no humcancelling PU is perfect, but I can tell you the dimarzios are amazing. Also the finish is a cheat, but hey its still amazing. I mean these are minor criticisms. THE GUITAR IS SOOOOO SMOOTH AND SO GOOD THRU A FULLTONE 2 I GIG WITHOUT BACKUP. Hear me at www.olinmusic.com

A design classic, simplicity in itself.

Came with all the toys including a tweed case which shows you mean business when you turn up at the gig!

I was a Les Paul man playing a mix of blues, classic and modern rock and even some country. I decided to cross the great brand divide and haven't looked back. For me, this guitar does it all- (except metal which is very ok by me) the tone is so wonderfully distinct and punchy in the mix- clean and dirty. The 52 has the warmest, thickest yet most trademark biting bridge pup of any tele. Neck is lovely- transparent and vintagey with a woody note to it. The 2 pup combination has a very sweet airy feel. Simply wonderful. I am sure the nice light ash body helps and the sustain is absolutely excellent. I must stress I find this guitar more versatile than others have stated and is far more useful and distinct than my old Les Paul.

Excellent out of the case- first guitar that I haven't been compelled to have work done on the set-up (take note Gibson). Minus one point for the two very minor details below.

Hmmm the bass-cut neck tone..? It is very difficult to use effectively and I would prefer the conventional wiring.. as so many others have said. Although brand new, I got the rewiring diagram sans capacitor.. For me tinkering is a can of worms and as I am no soldering wizard I'll leave it as is.

The advertised nitro-cellulose finish is a bit of a cheat as there is a wodge of lacquer underneath. As the effect of finishes on the sound of a tonewood is very contentious and sparks debate to say the least, it's not a major problem.

As long as I don't abuse it, it will outlast me! It's a tele!

No opinion

Top notch woods, excellent pick ups, excellent craftmanship and a classic no frills design.
A versatile guitar made to be played with absolutely wonderful tones.

Used USA '52 telecaster reissue - butterscotch finish - nicely joined 3 piece ash body - maple neck - single ply black pickguard - single coils - 3 brass saddles - Gotoh-Kluson tuners - plush case

Things I had missing: strap, "ashtray" bridge cover, electronics conversion kit

I bought this used for only $400! I originally planned to sell it on eBay for a quick profit, but after playing it for a couple days I couldn't let it go. I have three other teles, and this one is the cream of the crop, hands down. Now I'm back to trying to play like my tele heroes... Steve Cropper, Danny Gatton, Albert Collins... TRYING is the key word there.

"Features" gets a 5... and that's not a bad thing. No frills about it... this guitar is straight up! Everything you need and nothing you don't. I have a hot-rodded tele with a humbucker and switches and a TBX tone pot... and after playing this, I'm wondering why. Too much to mess around with.

Feels like some very good wood. I think mine's a little heavier than others I've read about here, but I'm not complaining.

Down side: I can see where people who bought this guitar new would be bummed with the pseudo-nitro finish. Fender shouldn't cheat on a great guitar like this.

Beautiful tone! At first I wondered what was up with the neck pickup, but now I like it. I usually have the switch in the middle position anyway. I don't think I will change anything.

It's a little noisy. With no shielding, what do you expect? Another debate there for me... to shield or not? I may just go for a grounded copper sheet under the pickguard rather than a full cavity shield. I don't want to complicate this guitar. K.I.S.S.

I'm playing through a Peavey Classic 30 that has been upgraded with a Celestion Vintage 30 and NOS tubes. Very nice! I pretty much keep it on the clean channel and use a TS-9 to add some heat. I may try some cap mods on the Peavey to see if I can make the drive channel and the boost feature more usable.

This guitar was used, so it felt nice and broken-in from the start. The action is great! The neck is set pretty much straight and I've not had a single buzz.

The saddle adjustment screws stick out a bit high, though.

The other day I played a new '52 tele reissue in the store and I defenitely felt a difference. The neck profile felt different, too. Slight, but enough that I noticed it. I like mine better. I tried to check serial numbers to find a date of manufacture, but no luck yet... and I'm not about to remove the neck just to find out how old it is. Doesn't matter.

I've owned an 1982 JV '52 telecaster and it was nowhere near this quality. They did a very good job, but not a great job like the US reissues.

I would think it's safe to give this a "10" on reliability and durability. Everything about it feels solid... nothing flimsy or cheap about it.

Here's where the thicker finish may just be a benefit. There are a couple good nicks in the finish, but neither of them have gone down to the wood.

No expectations from Fender at this point.

One of the best guitar-for-the-money deals I've ever had. I'm a big pawn shop hound... always looking for the good deal. I've had some real steals to turnaround and make a quick buck, but this is one that I don't think I will let go of.

I give it a "10" just for deal I got. If I bought it new and paid over a grand for it, I would probably give it an 8 (and to me, that's a great guitar).

'52 Reissue Telecaster, build in March 2003. Typical Butterscotch Blonde finish. Old 3-way selector, 2 vintage single-coil pickups, brass saddles on bridge. Vintage-style tuners. U-shaped maple neck + premium Ash body, 21 vintage style frets. Vintage Tweed Case, Vintage strap, vintage cable 10 ft, 6-saddle bridge, polish cloth, wiring kit, bridge cover, instructions and Fender certificate were included. Bought it as "used", but this guitar is like 100% new.

This guitar is great!! Fits perfectly to Rockabilly/R+R music. I play it through a Fender Twin Reverb or a Hot rod Deville 212. The guitar's got a very!! nice twang, especially the bridge pickup. The sound of the neck pickup is very warm and full, need some time to get used to it when switched to position 3', but that's ok. The variety of sounds is-like most Telecaster models-not too big, but that's the nice thing about this kind of guitars. They are made to be played!!

The Action is great, no complains. Adjustment of the pickups is ok.The fretwire (1. fret) was not correctly filed. The blonde finish is in good condition. The vintage tuners and the two control knobs are working good. Pickup selector works without any noise.

I'll play this guitar on a gig whenever it is possible. It's got such a great tone, hardly to compare with my other two Fender Telecasters.
The hardware is solid enough for a lifetime, the finish needs some good care, since it is Nitro laquer. The vintage style strap buttons are not too dependable, I'll use an extra strong leather strap, so the guitar won't slip away on stage.

This guitar is probably the finest guitar I've ever bought. Great sound, great finish, good material. I would buy it again if it were stolen. Matches perfectly to my playing, I'm glad about the accessories included, although I would never change the installed 3-saddle bridge or make any changes on the wiring.

I bought my Tele on Halloween of 2003. It was made in 1999 and was in brilliant condition. The guitar store I bought it from said that it was the lightest Tele Reissue that they had ever seen weighing just less than 5 lbs!!! It has 2 great sound Fender American Vintage Tele pickups. It is finished in the one color you have to get in a Tele, Butterscotch Blonde. The tuners are vintage and work great. The neck is unbelievably comfortable and feels great. I was reading the reviews with the people complaining about the static issue and I'll tell you I haven't had that problem at all. This is a REAl reissue. It comes with every spec that was on the original 1952 Tele. It comes with a Fender Vintage Tweed case, strap, 10 ft cable, modern wiring kit, cloth, and ashtray bride cover. I got lucky that I found this one used with all the extrac parts.

The sound is tremendous. It is great for classic rock, blues, and of course country. I normally don't play country though. I'm an using it right now through a Marshall MG50DFX(I am going to upgrade soon to a tube amp) and it sounds awesome. The Clean sound is remarkable with this guitar. It is so full and warm and bright. It works well with the overdrive too, but it doesnt get the greatest feedback, but that's why I have a Les Paul(for harder songs).

The one reason I got into this guitar and looking around for it was because of Keith Richards. I saw that he played them and made them sound great so I wanted to try one. I tried a few but then I looked at the website for Willies Guitars and I knew that was the one. I went there and the color was beautiful. The action was remarkably and I was in awe that if I bought it, it would only be costing me $900. I fell in love with it before I even played it and once I played it... I loved it even more.

I bought mine used and it was 4 years old. It was in excellent condition and I was very happy with the condition of it. There wasn't a scratch on it!! I have only used it for one gig but I expect to have this guitar for a long, long time. It comes with a Fender Vintage Tweed case that it great, too.

Haven't had to deal with them yet.

I would definitly buy another one again if something happened to it and I would tell anyone who wants a Great guitar that this one is definitly worth the money.

Just an update on the static issue. I took it into another tech and my tele was as quiet as Toronto during a Stanley Cup parade. He suggested it might be a streetcar line (I'm right near one) or grounding issue in my apartment. I consulted with my landlord and lo' and behold... most of the outlets weren't properly grounded, the ones that were reduced the pops and buzz significantly. I can now happily rate this guitar a 10 for sound...

just wanted to state that Sid below is not the only one who has the static problem with telecasters. I have went through four of them including a breezy sound tokai and had the same static problem. would love to use a tele but have always used strats because of that problem. have experinced the static to some degree with a 57 usa reissue but nothing like with the typical telecaster.

2002 Model - 7.05 pounds. Unused when I bought it.

Static problems exploding faster than a Gaston Gingras slapshot. Tech says the guitar is par for the Tele course, and completely grounded... but geez... everytime I touch metal - pots, strings, bridge - it pops. Apparently there is a fix that involves either aluminum foil or static guard laundry sheets, so I'll be trying that. The sound is amazing, but I can't imagine recording in it's current state.

Very comfortable neck, nice and fat. Finish is gorgeous but cheapened now that Fender is releasing Strats in the same colour.

Seems solid, almost like a rock.

I've been playing for 13 years. Own an Eastwood Beatle Bass, a Norman acoustic. I'm playing the Tele through a '59 Ampeg Rocket. I'm not sure if I would buy it again, to that end, I might sell this one - I'll keep it if it turns out I'm some sort of abnormal static producer and Fender is not at all to blame for the pops and buzzes. Not yet sure this guitar is worth the extra mark-up.

I bought this guitar early in 2002. Same specs as all the other guitars on this page, so no need in repeating info. This guitar is SIMPLE... right to the point. It's literally plug in and play. Once you find that one sweet spot ( for me it's COMPLETELY in the bridge pickup) you never really have to change anything. I give this a 9 because although there's not many options, you don't need em. This guitar sounds good without having to sell more pointless bells and whistles.

perfect. To this day have yet to here a better sounding tele or even guitar for that matter, but that's just me

From the first time I picked it up I new it was for me. It is the fastest playing guitar I've seen. Chords shine though so easily due to the incredible action and fit.

Well, this guitar has seen a lot of abuse. Im a very aggressive player when performing live and this guitar gets hurled around or thrown on the ground a lot! Everything is still intact... not even a scratch on it. RELIABLE!

haven't dealt with em... no need to.

Ive been playing a long time and am a slight gear nerd. This guitar makes my sound. I can't imagine being a guitarist without it. It is my pride and joy. Love it!

Just a short comment on the post I wrote below,the 52 tele weighed nearly 9lbs assembled,the body weight was 6lbs not 7lbs and 5.8lbs after it had been dipped,special thanks to my friend Geoff whose help was invaluable in transforming an ugly duckling into a great guitar,sorry about spelling mistakes Iwas somewhat tired when I wrote the review.

The U.S. 52 reissue Telecaster I have was manufactured on 30 December 1985 accoring to the stamp on the neck recess on the body,as with the other posts the guitar is butterscotch,7.25 radius maple neck,replacement 6 saddle bridge,thin frets,tweed case etc.Personally having seen a few 50`s Tele`s I think the butterscotch colour of my guitar leaves a lot to be desired,most certanly only nitro cellulose on the topcoat.However this does not deny the genius of Leo Fenders design,a great design and extremely versitile,depending only on the players ability covers most styles comfortably,excelling in country,western swing,blues,roots,rock and to a degree jazz.The late great Rory Gallagher often professed that the Tele was his guiar of choice,however the Strat can perhaps cover more styles in general.

I have been playing as a semi pro for 20 odd years,from pubs,bars, weddings, dinner functions to the Glastonbury festival.Recorded on 3 albums.Currently own a 1970 strat,Lowden O32c,lap steel,Yamaha 12 string, mandolin and the 52,played throgh a Rivera designed Fender concert modded by Brinsley Schwartz,previously owned Gibson Les Pauls and many Marshalls(wish I had held on to a particular 1960`s 50 watt Marshall head}.This 52 Tele`s sound is on the whole good not great,however Tele`s are not thin spikey soundig guitars as sometimes portrayed,a good one is fat,muscular and gloriously punchy and extremely funky.

Now here`s the rub,I bought this Tele used on the rebound from a bad experience with a fraudulent 1972 Tele,initially thought great guitar untill I played a friend`s 1966 Esquire,I noticed that the Esquire had a glorious fat an cutting tone an in between pickup sound to rival Stax`s finest moments and the finish and weight differences were major.So wih a guitar repairer friend I stripped the 7lb/4kg body of the thick poly finish(guitar body weighed 6.8lbs after stripping) to find an unmatched 3 piece body of heavy northern ash which I immmediately substituted with an Allparts one piece swamp ash body,sprayed in transparent blonde all nitro-cellulose finish had the pickups rewound to true vintage spec,got rid of the tackey finish on the back of the neck,bone nut;NOW it`s more like an old Tele and you can do a gig or a session without chronic backache an the guitar has THAT tone.Nuff said.Opinion based on what the the guitar is supposed to be a C.B.S 52 reissue,NOT GOOD.

This rebuilt Tele is unquestionabley poptastic,much more like it should have been in it`s original state,having criticised my guiar it is fair to say that many of the current crop of reissues I have played are significantly true to original specs bar the nitro finish,so buyer beware of heavy C.B.S reissue Teles.

Never dealt with Fender,big corporation loads of dosh who gives a f**k about the low person on the totem pole?.However I`ll give them my 3 piece 6.8lb 52 reissue Tele body if they give me an unsprayed lightweight 52 replacement,some chance!;come to think of it I was at a Pink Floyd concert once and i`m sure Iseen pigs flying...

Need i say more?.

Manufactured 2003, 21 frets, vintage 1952 Fender Telecaster Specs. See Fender.com or reviews below for features. Ash body, maple neck, vintage 3 barrel bridge.

It's a no-nonsense two-pickup electric guitar. But when you consider all the vintage specs, it has plenty of features that distinguish it. If you like those combinations of specs, a high rating is deserved. Plenty of accessories also come with the guitar, including strap (not high quality), modern six saddle bridge, modern wiring capacitor, and certificate of authenticity,and G&G vintage case.

The sound of this guitar is outstanding. I play blues, classic rock and experiment with other styles of music. This guitar can go in any direction I want it to go. I dislike mainstream country music, and I too had the misconception of teles being strictly country twang guitars. I had always played a strat. Then last year a friend bought one of these and I got a chance to check it out. The tone was what first got my attention--the acoustic tone without amplification! It's sustain is comparable to a Les Paul. Though it's hard to describe tone, I would just say that it reminds me of a piano. Full and rich, with sparkling highs and plenty of bottom end. You'll notice a little noise as with all single coils, but only when using higher gain distortion. I shopped around after being impressed with my friend's 52, but no other models came close to it in terms of tone. I use the guitar through an all-tube dual rectifier mesa with digitech effects. I can get all manner of tones, including (even convincing heavy metal ones!) One drawback might be the "dark vintage" rolled back neck pickup sound this guitar comes with. I could see it being used for some jazz solos. It doesn't sound that good with chords. Using a distortion setting, you can get some interesting sounds with it, but I plan on switching to modern wiring soon.

This guitar came set up very well right out of the box, which is the first one I've ever ordered that arrived in that condition. The action is low and smooth. Bent notes do not fret out, as I've always heard about the 7.25" radius necks. I noticed what others have described here as being a stickiness to the back of the neck. But it's not severe, and doesn't affect playability. Over time, that layer of lacquer will naturally thin out. I found the neck to be a little thinner than I had remembered but there is some variation between guitars. The neck is very comfortable, not to thick or too thin.
I couldn't find any flaws on the guitar, and I've inspected it closely. No finish flaws, and all hardware was tight. The finish is beautiful, with the wood grain showing through. I was disappointed to learn in this posting about the coat of Poly U that's supposedly beneath the nitrocellulose. If that's true, then it's false advertising on Fender's part. Website says Nitro on the specs. The nitro gives the guitar a nice leathery odor.

I have not used this guitar extensively at live gigs, yet. But this is a telecaster-the orignal solidbody plank. It is most at home in a smokey bar. The finish is good enough to last and the hardware seems sturdy unlike some current American series models. I would use this guitar at a gig without a backup.

Not dealt with Fender yet.

I've been playing about eighteen years now. If it were stolen or lost, I would begin saving for another one. What I love about this guitar is that is so versatile and has such good tone. As I get older, I am becoming more interested in exploring different music and this guitar can go almost anywhere. It brings a sense of history and the legend of Leo Fender's original design (the first solid body). I appreciate its elegance and simplicity. It has a very vintage appeareance, but quality that makes it timeless. With this guitar, you can pretend that it's 1952 and Fender is not yet the giant corporation that it is now. Sure, it's a replication/simulation. Certainly for its price, it's a great guitar.

This guitar is my workhorse! The pickups range from fat, to BRASS... The neck fits in the palm of my hand perfectly. I have played along with other guitarists, and this Tele sings out above others, it is in a world of its own.

I play anything from blues to Modern rock, and depending on the strings, I can make her sound like anything I want. I currently play with GHS B52 Boomer 9's. Switch the hammer to the middle, and she soars. The sound of this Tele can really let you express yourself.

Although basic, Fender knew what they were doing. The finish is very thin, looks great.

I could run over this guitar with a HMMWV. I am in the Marine Corps, and wherever I go, she goes with me. This thing is tough.

This guitar is for beginners, and Pros'. I would recomend it to anyone who wants to even smell a guitar.

mine is sept-97 u.s.a.made 52 reissue tele in butterscotch,with the 52 wiring spec still intact. i-e.mailed a few dealers in the u.k. and peter cooks guitars in west london came back to me the same day 10 sept.03 "last week", with good news,a used 52 reissue tele complete with all the bits in mint condition at #849.00. plus, shipping to portugal. the guitar arrived 16-9-03.
i have a deluxe series tele with joe barden t-style twin blades and vintique hardware.i was going to refit the 52 with the bardens,then i played the 52 through my hot rod deluxe and changed my mind about the
refit.i play in a band here in portugal doing-r-n-r, blues, country, rockabilly, bluegrass,this guitar "out of the case" is for me-the
dogs bollocks. the deluxe tele with the bardens will be a good spare.
-fred portugal

02 Model. Typical features you all know by now. I think the finish plays a big part in the tone of this guitar. I did change to the modern wiring but left the rest of the equip tha same. (It was very simple to modify the wiring). The instructions make it very easy to understand. The original bridge is just way to cool looking to change and as far as the tuning and intonation goes, it works just fine. The look of this guitar reeks with class!

This is what the guitar is all about. First, I would disagree with some of the reviews below regaurding that this only sounds good clean and that it is not very easy to play. This thing will absolutly rock. I play through a Marshall JCM 800 and a Fender Vibroulux and it is loaded with tone. I would never consider changing the pu's, they sound better than sex. Are they noisey? Maybe a little, but very acceptable. You can play anything from old Van Halen, Skynyrd, SRV, Haggard or whatever. It has so much character. I also think you need to give it a chance to break in. It really make a difference. I also own Strats and LP's and this is my main sound. The term "twang" sounds brittle and bright to me so I would not describe the guitar like that. I would say Fat, clear, warm and in your face tone is more appropriate. I don't like using many affects but a Fulltone Fulldrive and coraflange can produce some great stuff. I love this guitar.

I have always used 10 gauges on my other guitars but found that using 10's on this was not for me. It is to stiff and difficult to get traction on the bending and started using 9's and that prob is history. The action is very easy to adjust to your liking. It came from the factory almost perfect. The finish on the neck is tacky and the thick finish on the fret board does grab hold of your fingers. I used a scotch brite pad and lightly smoothed the tacky stuff away. This did not change the look or feel in any way and now it feels more like it should. I was worried about doing that but I?m glad I did and it still looks original. I have read below that some think a tele is not comfortable. I don't understand that. I think it is a better fit when sitting than any LP and always a pleasure to play

This will last a lifetime.

n/a

Been playing for 18 years and own a Strat, LP and haved owned way to much gear and lost lots of $ trading and such. This guitar does it for me. I am fully satisfied and think this guitar is very versitle and is loaded a variety of sounds. This guitar sounds great through my JCM 800 (100w) and the Fender Vibroulux. Don't kill the tone with cheap effects and play through a real tube amp to get most out this guitar. Good luck

Mine is a 1999 bought used in excellent condition. The usual body / neck woods; ash and maple respectively. It's a reissue, ya know? I'm giving features a 9 because although it's minimalistic, it's really got all the features it needs. Hence the handle "Reissue" You need split coils, power boost and all that jazz, buy another guitar. People complain about the neck adjustment, but it's a vintage reissue- that's the way they were back in '52! This is as close to the real deal as you're gonna get without it being actual vintage. I love this guitar!

It does all things telecaster well. Sure it's noisy- it supposed to be. Fenders, and single coils in general, have a unique, cutting- through quality. They can be unforgiving (hit a clam and they know it in the next county) but when you play spot on they are a slice of musical heaven on earth. If ya only like humbuckers this isn't your axe! Use the tone knob and pickup configurations to get everything from jazzbox tones to icy screams, and everything in between. This axe, and a good amp, are in my opinion the most versatile rig in the world! Did I mention I love this guitar?

Most guitars need set up for personal taste. The neck is a gorgeous tinted vintage transparent, the body honey or butterscotch blonde transparent. Beautiful wood grain- nice wood all around. No flaws other than some minor dings due to it being used. Pups were adjusted well when I got it. Fit an finish were very good!

The cockroaches and telecasters will be the only things to survive nuclear holocaust. I suggest buying a dozen (telecasters, not roaches) and using them for a bomb shelter.

Here's the story. I bought the guitar used. Took the neck off, got the dates, serial number (located on on bridge plate btw) and other info. I called Fender. One of the guys in customer support working that day (wish I could remember his name-very cool guy) verified the originality of my axe via computer, told me where it was purchased originally,, told me a brief history on the 52 reissues, complemented me on getting a good deal and told me if I needed anything I should call and he or his partner would be happy to help.

Been playing over 30 years. I have owned numerous guitars, but currently a G&L Legacy, a Turner Renaissance Acoustic, a Martin HD28, A Paisley Tele, and the beloved 52 RI. I've been a tele convert since 1996 when I bought a CIJ 72 reissue. Converted to single coil guitars at that time. It the axe were stolen I'd retrieve it from the police evidence locker after my jail sentence was up for manslaughter. For me the guitar does not need anything besides what it has. If it did I wouldn't have bought it!

After all these other posts you'll know what features this guitar has to offer. I don't know what year it was made since I bought mine secondhand but it's probably from the late 1990's at a guess bearing in mind the condition. I didn't get all the bits and pieces you get when you buy new though I did get the ashtray cover. It has the three saddle bridge and the switch mod which I'm happy with, and it came in a custom shop case, which was nice. It has a few small dings here and there but nothing too bad.

On the downside, the tuners are a little stiff to operate and I tend to knock the selector switch and volume control when I get a bit too enthusiastic.

I play all sorts of styles from blues, rock & roll to pop, punk and everything in between, and my 52RI suits them all. It has that inherent Tele brightness which really cuts through the mix on the bridge pickup, and a smoky neck pickup that makes soloing a real pleasure. For my rythmn playing both pickups on together is spot on.

It works very well with my Fender Blues Junior 15w tube amp and the small amount of effects I play with (E-H Big Muff Pi, Boss Harmonist, Digitech X-series Delay and Marshall Bluesbreaker II & VibroTrem).

The guitar is solid and well made with no problems bearing in mind it was secondhand. A quick change of strings was all it needed.

What did Keef once say...'it's a sten gun'...'nuff said.

I would say that I'll keep it to hand on to my kids, but I'm selfish so it's going to be buried with me !

I've dealt with Fenders UK importer in the past and have received very good and helpful service. The shop where I bought it were quite good to deal with and I would buy from them again.

I'm primarily a rythmn guitarist / singer songwriter type of player. I knew that I wanted a Tele and had read as many reviews in the magazines and here on Harmony Central as I could. I really wanted a 52RI but new they were a little out of my budget. Coda Music had this one which I played off against a US Standard and a '50's Classic. The other two were very good but the 52RI was so much better in sound, feel and charisma. I did a demon deal with them swapping an immaculate Lowden O25c and a couple of old amps I no longer wanted. I came out of the shop with my Tele and a Blues Junior amp. Sorted !

I've been playing for some eight years or so now. I've got a variety of gear, electric, acoustic, bass, mandolin, pedals, recording gear etc...It would have been nice to have got the certificate with the guitar but I'm very happy with it overall.

I would definitely recommend a 52 RI to anyone wanting a good, solid Telecaster.

lefthand 52 reissue from 98 when they just started to make the lefthand models again, this has serial number 00045. The lefthand models only says Fender on the peghead like the No-caster. Two piece premium ash body, one piece maple neck, butterscotch blonde.

Use it on a Bassman thruogh a reverb tank to play blues. Very bright and open sound, but sometimes to noisy because of the bad wirring and almost no ground, has to chance that. It sounds very twangy or like a razorblade in the bridgeposition and very smooth-jazzy in the neck. In middle position it gets this 60'ies soul kind of sound, very nice. But be aware of that this is an ash-body guitar so it is very hard and bright sounding, good for some stuff but not all. It hasn't got the warm tone like an alder guitar.

Very nice neck, especially for rythm-playing and jazzy chords. I play on 11-50 strings and with that kind of strings you can't bend alot on it because of the radius on the fretboard, it's only 7,25. That can be a problem for a blues player with heavier strings if you wanna play Albert King or Byddy Guy like riffs, where you kind of overbend the strings. But for rythm this u- shaped neck just slips into your hand. The finish is beatifull, Can't see that it's being made of two-piece ash, the neck sparkles almost like a customshop birdseye or flame-maple. The wood seems like very lightweight, but still you can throw it from a bridge and it wouldn't break...very well crafted.

This is a guitar for life, but although that all this vintage hardvare looks so good, it's not the best. The tuners(kluson) is beatifull but reliability is nothing compared to a lot of the newer tuners like Sperzel, Schaller etc..etc. If you wanna make this guitar 100% in tune, you have to chance the three-saddle brigde with the six-saddle bridge (but i haven't done that, the three-saddle looks cool, and that's the thing about vintage it looks cool but technology today is so much better than in the 50'ies, so you have to go on some compromises).

Being playing for 11 or 12 years. Use a 93 lefty fender strat and a 70'ies Gibson Les paul deluxe. The strat is my main guitar, compared to the Tele you can use the strat for almost evrything, but i still love my Tele because it is so simple, and that's the thing about the tele the simplicity and the razorblade-twangy dirty sound!

This is a stock 1990 USA '52 Telecaster Re-issue. I've installed the included modern 3 way pick-up selector. It's a basic Tele; no mess, no fuss, no foolin' around. It's the original and all you really need.

I play pop, classic rock and country and play through any of a Mojotone 5FA6 boutique Fender Bassman clone, a Fender Cyber-Twin and a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe retrofitted with 2 Eminence 1028's (10"; 20 watts; alnico). This guitar gives you all the basic tones from 'ringin' a bell', glass shattering lead tones to T. Rex 'Get It On' fuzz.

I have been truly impressed with the quality of the American Vintage Series reissue group from Fender, especially the finishes on these guitars. I have a '62 Jazzmaster as well as this '52 Tele. Both were factory set up when I got them and they felt and played fine. It is as works of art that these babies really shine. All aspects of the finish (body wood, colour, tinting, etc.) are exceptional.

My Tele stays in tune which is of great importance to me. I hate having to re-tune all the time. Again, it's a Tele. It'll stand up to almost anything. I've gigged with and without a back-up and have never had any problems. Ever.

As an organization, Fender generally couldn't care less about their distributors and their customers, unless you have a signature artist model in their catalogue. It's a good thing that this guitar is nuclear proof.

I've been playing about 2.5 years now. I'm a confirmed Tele player. I have a '97 California Fat Tele and a 2002 '72 Thinline Re-Issue. I like the way that they look (the ugly duckling of the guitar world), their sound (read twang) but most importantly I like the way they feel (like holding a 2" X 8" plank). I particularly like the neck of the '52 (original "U" shape) and will probably retrofit my other Teles with '52 RI necks. The '52 is my main guitar. I could play nothing else for the rest of my life and be completely content. It would be nice if Fender made a '52 style available as a 'Fat Tele' (like the Fender Japan TL52-80SPL 'Keef' Richards model) and as a 'Double Fat Tele' (like the Strat of same). That would give me everything from Scotty Moore to Les Paul in 3 guitars. I'd love it if I could get them all cosmetically the same. If this guitar was lost or stolen I would replace it that day. They're not cheap but if you want to truly get the Tele look, feel and vibe, the '52 (a good example of one) is all you can ask for. I have yet to see a Gibson, PRS or similar 'reputation guitar' in the same price range ($1,800.00US List; $1,250.00US New Street) as the Tele that can hold a candle to it in terms of fit, finish, feel and playability. Granted I'm one of the Tele converted and a lover of the '52's contours (not for everyone) but the '52 I have is as magical as my Martin D18 and those 2 axes are the core of my sound.

It's got six strings, a volume knob, a tone knob, & a three way switch. It's mustard colored with crappy vintage hardware and a truss rod that's a pain in the ass to adjust. In other words, not only have I alway's hated teles' but i think vintage guitars in their original form suck! (I'm a player not a collector!) To clarify, the build quality of the major manufacturer's re-issues are far superior to that of their mass-production counterparts, except for the fact that certain technological advances in certain features are far superior to what is considered vintagely correct. In short, the guitar kicks butt, the pickups aren't bad, but the hardware sucks! Especially the fact that you have to take the damn neck off to adjust the truss rod! This fact alone is some proof that Gibson Engineers had their shit together fifty years ago! i.e. Les Pauls have always had the truss adjustment headstock accessible!

After reading my description regarding features, I'm sure you wondered? Then why the hell did you buy it? Well, first of all, I have to admit, I still to this day think Tele's are probably one of the ugliest, most uncomfortable, and in most cases crappy sounding guitars I have ever played! So why did I buy It? I bought it because this was the one Tele I've ever played that got that fat cowboy twang that I've always kind of liked! ( Even though I can't really stand country music, I've always liked that one guitar tone that the best of the cowboy picker's get!) And you know what? This model get's that tone without massive EQ adjustments and though twangy doesn't rip through your brain with the sharp harshness that most tele playing no tone cowtards get when they play these things! In otherwords, this baby's got back!

As far as my preferences go, the action and fit sucked off the shelf. I set it up to my liking and then it smoked! I don't much really give a crap about the finish. Although I must say that the gibson historics have a much woodier original feel with the thin nitro finish that they put on them. Although that's just a matter of preference.

Unless your a Pete Townsend type that has no respect for your tools for the sake of show and insanity then pretty much any piece of gear should be reliable. That is of course, unless you suck!

It's a huge company! Though I've never used it I'm sure it sucks! My dealer however does not suck and is who I always deal with regarding customer service issues!

I've been playing professionally for over twenty years and have owned, and currently own tons of stuff. In summary, I'll just say that if you've ever really dug that one tone that the tele can produce then this is your guitar. I would just make the suggestion that you should probably upgrade the hardware to what's available in our modern technology. The vintage hardware really does suck if your a player! If your a collector then who give's a crap. It'll only hang on your wall like a 3D painting!

This is my second Tele I own, after I got rid of a regular 1999 model featuring an alder body and a maple board. Features are what you expect from a "vintage" Tele, 2 single coil pickups sharing volume and tone control, 3-way switch which is hard to handle in playing situations, middle weight ash body, hardrock maple board and a tweed case which matches the guitar very well. There ain't no gimmicks like a whammy bar, coil splitting or phase reverse switches,
it's a straight Rock'n Roll or Country guitar. Texture of the ash shines through the butterscotch blonde color, and laquer coating could have been less, so far I agree with most of the guys which submitted a review.

I play mainly hard rock and was looking for a Tele sound, which should not be as "twangy" as the Tele I previously owned. Thus I checked some Nocasters and Relic Teles, which are excellent guitars but are on my opinion too overconditioned. For me a Tele has been always a one-trick-pony, just one but excellent sound, and never reaching the versatility of a Stratocaster guitar. By testing the 52 Reissue I was impressed by its straight into the face sound, which is warm and never harsh, but preserved the components, which made the Tele one of the frequently played guitars in rock history. Apart from the neck pickup sound, which could be easily altered by following the wiring diagramm, the bridge pickup has lots of power and sounds even good when you play in a high gain mode. The combination of ash body and maple board supports the development of the sound, thus the guitar has the best attack of all guitars I own.

The manufacturing standard of the Tele is excellent, action had to be changed a little bit, but that depends on my playing style (drop D tuning and .11 - .48 strings). What I really didn't like is the feel of the fretboard, which has a coating that makes it uncomfortable to play. Thus I used very fine grained steelwool to get rid of the coating and BINGO, now its great to play. Consequently the shape of the neck is not at an optimum for me, lets say 90 %. I suggest that it is a C shape and I'm much more familiar with D shaped necks, like Gibson is building. Anyway, there is nothing really to complain, so I'll give a good rating.

I guess its a reliable guitar, otherwise the Tele wouldn't have survived over such a long time. I looks and feels solide as a rock, and thats whats its buils for.

Haven't dealed with Fender, so no opinion.

I play since 1968 and own the following guitars: Music Man van Halen signature, Gibson '61 SG Reissue, Riemer Custom '62 Stratocaster, Gibson J-200, Fender Mexico Strat, Fender '52 Reissue Telecaster, PRS Custom 22 Artist Package, Gibson 55 Les Paul Special Reissue. I mainly play Hardrock and Metal, thus this Tele fits my style very well. Check www.coleslaw.de and you can figure out excactly what I'm playing.

It's got all the original hardware and wiring that the original did. That makes it near perfect.

It sounds like a real vintage Tele. I played it side by side with a friends 67 Tele and the pickups sound genuine.

I did the modern rewire, but I DID NOT CHANGE THE CAP to the modern one. This keeps the sound exactly the same and just adds the 2 pickups in parralel.

Mine came set up. I thought I would have to have it tweeked but it came perfect.

It was even in tune after five days with UPS.

The "nitro-cellulose" finish I suspect is just sprayed over polyurethane. It still looks an feels like the real deal, albeit the finish is a bit on the thick side.

Top quality. No worries.

They're morons at Fender. It's hard to get more than, "That's a rockin' guitar Dude" out of them.

I have a 96 Strat with EMG-SA's, a 64 Gibson ES-120T and a Takamine. I love this Tele.

It was made in 2002 in USA, with New American Vintage telecaster pickups, ash body, maple neck etc etc etc. A telecaster isn't about lots of features, it's about simplicity, and that's what I love most about it!

The sound could be used for a large variety of musical styles. I run the guitar through a Fender '65 reissue Deluxe Reverb, and the two are a perfect match. It has a fantastic sound when played acoustically, and when plugged in it is very rich and warm sounding, and definately not harsh. The pickups are extremely good quality, infact through my experience, I've never heard any better. The great thing about this guitar is the variety of sounds you can achieve from just two pickups, a volume, and a tone. The sound is extremely versatile.

The guitar received a free set up from the shop I bought it from (Regent Guitars), and so I have no idea how well it was setup when it arrived in the UK. The build quality of the guitar is outstanding, not a single flaw. It was built to perfection!

This is the most reliable and durable guitar I've ever played, it could withstand a beating against a brick wall! I always play with a backup at gigs because you never know what may go wrong, however I would be comfortable without a backup, knowing that it was that guitar I was playing.

N/A

I've been playing 10 years, and have been on a 10 year search for this guitar. I've owned dozens of telecasters, strats and les pauls, and the '52 reissue telecaster beats them all.

Made in 1999, with all the basic features that make the Tele what it is: a Classic.

Sounds like the ultimate Tele...fantastic for a large variety of sounds, but not perfect for ecerything. This is NOT an all-things-for-all-people kind of guitar. It was built to be it's own unique voice, and if you like the Tele sound, this is the next best thing to owning a real vintage instrument. I'll be honest...I've never owned a truly pro electric before. I have a vintage Takamine acoustic, and a Yamaha strat copy, so the sounds produced by this Tele really blow me away. I've stuck with the original pickups and wiring to get that vintage sound, and am quite happy with it, the minor exception being the lead pickup...it sounds somewhat weak in comparison to the massive sound produced by the neck pickup. I'm playing through a Pignose these days (I live in an apartment...give me a break), but even through that small amp, the tone is massive. I'm absolutely impressed.

I bought the guitar used, but the setup, action, and finish were still primo. I agree with the other posters that it would have been nice to get a TRUE nitro laquer, but the finish that's on the guitar is attractive and durable, if a little on the thick side. The neck is the perfect size for me, and the finish on the neck hasn't been a problem at all. I love the way the fretboard feels.

This guitar will outlive me. I'm going to be putting up a new fence this weekend, and was considering using it to drive the posts into the ground. :)

I don't know about direct support, but the Fender help site at mrgearhead.com has been a great help to me. They've posted schematics, wiring diagrams, parts lists, manuals...pretty much everything I've been looking for as a new owner of a used instrument.

I've always wanted one of these butterscotch beauties, and am 100% satisfied with my purchase. I absolutely love the Tele twang, and despite what others may say about the tele clones out there, none of them lives up to the tone of this guitar. If you'rre playing through FX, you probably wouldn't notice so much, but I love to play clean or only slightly dirty, and this is the guitar for me.

I BELIEVE I BOUGHT THE 52 TELE U.S. REISSUE IN 1994, BRAND NEW FOR $1350. CANADIAN. IT CAME WITH THE ELECTRONICS TO CONVERT THE PICK UP SWITCHING TO A MODERN SET UP. THIS CONVERSION REPLACES THE 52 NECK POSITION, WHICH GIVES YOU A ROLLED OFF HIGH EQ ON THE NECK PICK UP, WITH THE STANDARD NECK PICK UP BY ITSELF. THE MODERN SET UP ADDS THE NECK AND BRIDGE PICK UP TOGETHER IN THE MIDDLE POSITION. I HAVE KEPT IT ORIGINAL AS I ONLY USE THE BRIDGE PICK UP. A FAIRLY CLOSE REPRODUCTION, EXCEPT FOR THE LACQUER COATED, POLYURETHANE FINISH, WHICH FENDER IS DECEPTIVE ABOUT.

HAVING NEVER PLAYED AN AUTHENTIC 1952 TELECASTER, I HAVE TO GO BY MY CD COLLECTION AND TV PERFORMANCES FOR MY COMPARISON. I THINK THAT FENDER HAS DONE A GREAT JOB OF DUPLICATING THE TONE. IT HAS A VERY WARM MIDRANGE, YET STILL BRIGHT TONE, IN THE BRIDGE PICK UP. IT CUTS THROUGH OTHER GUITARS IN A MIX VERY EASILY WITHOUT BEING ANNOINGLY HARSH. IT DOES THE COUNTRY CHICKEN PICKN'STYLE JUSTICE BECAUSE THE BASS OUTPUT IS MATCHED TO PREVENT THE LOW STRINGS FROM OVERPOWERING THE TREBLE STRINGS. THIS GUITAR WORKS BEST IN CLEANER PERFORMANCES, BUT SOUNDS VERY 1970'S WARM THROUGH MY MESA MARK IV, WHEN I ATTEMPT ALLMAN BROS. TYPE HARMONY LINES.

WHEN I FIRST GOT THE GUITAR HOME I REALLY BECAME AWARE OF THE NECK HAVING SHIFTED IN THE POCKET, WITH THE RESULT BEING, THE LOW E STRING COMING DANGEROUSLY CLOSE TO FALLING OFF THE FINGERBOARD NEAR THE BODY.
I EASILY MANAGED TO REMOVE THE NECK SCREWS AND PROPERLY ALIGN THE NECK WITH NOTHING MORE THAN A SCREW DRIVER. NOT A BIG DEAL, BUT THIS SHOULD HAVE BEEN CAUGHT IN THE FACTORY. I APPRECIATED THE DISTRESSED, AGED LOOK OF THE BRIDGE SADDLES, BUT HAVE RECENTLY FOUND OUT THAT, WITH ALL THE POLYURETHANE UNDER THE LACQUER FINISH, THE BRIDGE SADDLE WILL BE THE ONLY THING TO EVER HAVE THE HEAVILY PLAYED LOOK. NOT THE FASTEST FEELING ACTION, NOT BAD THOUGH, BUT I BELIEVE IT MATCHES THE MORE CHUNKY VINTAGE NECKS.

I GUESS IF DURABILITY IS THE PRIME CONSIDERATION, THEN ALL THE POLYURETHANE UNDER THE LACQUER WILL KEEP THIS GUITAR GOING FOREVER, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF MAYBE SOME FRET WEAR. HARDWARE IS ALL WELL MADE.

NEVER REQUIRED.

I LIKE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS GUITAR EXCEPT FOR THE FINISH AND THE PRICE. IF THIS GUITAR WAS FINISHED IN 100% LACQUER, WHICH IS MORE EXPENSIVE TO APPLY THAN POLYURETHANE, YOU COULD JUSTIFY THE SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER THAN AN AMERICAN STANDARD PRICE. A BIG REASON I BOUGHT THIS GUITAR WAS BECAUSE I THOUGHT IT WAS 100% LACQUER THAT WOULD NICELY DISTRESS AFTER LOTS OF PLAYING, LIKE AN AUTHENTIC 52 TELE, OR THE REALLY PRICEY CUSTOM SHOP MODELS. FENDER IS TOTALLY MISLEADING ABOUT THEIR LACQUER ONLY FINISH, AND THIS HAS MADE ME QUESTION THE REST OF THEIR PRODUCT LINE. SOME OF THE GUITAR MAGS OUT THERE SHOULD TAKE THEM TO TASK FOR THIS.

This is a 2001 US-made 52 Re-issue with all the wonderful accessories and tweed case. The whole image of the butterscotch blonde guitar is marred only by flaws in the finishing on the front of the guitar above the bridge: the finish appears to have been applied unevenly or to have run as it dried. This is minor, and the wood grain that shows through is attractive. Overall, the guitar has this distinctive "early" look -- which is how it should be. It would have been nicer if the quality control had caught the uneven finish, hence the 9 for this category.

Playing mainly for a church band that covers contemporary songs, this guitar impressed me with something unexpected: TONE. Compared to the few other guitars that I use, this guitar has such a distinctive warmth (doesn't sound very Tele-like, huh?) and sustain. Comparing it to the Tele copy I have (an Aria) with Seymour Duncan pick-ups (Vintage Stack at the neck, Hot Rails at the bridge), the 52 RI stock pick-ups are clearly less powerful. But played over and over again, the "as is" set-up of the 52 RI imparts a distinct tone and timbre that is just what I want. It handles the quieter jazz lines, through a chunky rhythm, to that signature Tele twang. Very versatile indeed. But I will say that I do not care too much for the vintage position 1 setting (neck with attenuation) and will soon convert the settings to the "modern" set of neck-both-bridge, which I had resisted for some time just to preserve the vintage settings. But usefulness prevailed. My parting shot is that against my few other electric solid body guitars (the Aria Tele copy, and a '95 Parker Fly Deluxe), I LOVE the TONE of this guitar. When really pushed, there is a slight single coil hum, but our church system takes care of this and my home amps work this quietly.

I traded a 1982 Ibanez Geroge Benson GB-10 for this guitar. A few heartaches there, but really no regrets. The set-up is apparently as the guitar came from the factory and is just fine. In fact, using the 0.10 strings I have, they seem "lighter" and easier to play than the same set on my Parker. Minor issues: the brass saddles were oxidized (but don't affect the sound or intonation), and I've mentioned the finish defect earlier.

I am delighted with this guitar as it has always been a dream of mine to own a US Fender Tele. The overall presentation and appearance just says: I am so glad that I own an original Fender. Even at the age of 45....

No experience here at all, and if something does go wrong, it will be a true test. The reason is that I live in Singapore .. a long, long way from the US. I'd just like to receive the yearly Fender catalog in hold-me-in-your-hands-so-I-can-dream-further version and not have to navigate the very unsatisfying website they have.

I am a distinct amateur, and have played guitar for 30 years (try and figure that out...). My main playing is in church, where I play both guitar and bass. I am really happy to share the guitars that have survived the years of dreaming, indecision, trading, and sales. I currently hold dearly to a set-up that meets all of my church music needs (as well as my less-than-quiet personal moments): apart from this 52 RI, I have an Aria Tele copy (see above, in sunburst) bought for USD 150 including the SeymourDuncan pick-ups and coil-splitting push-pull pot; a '95 Parker Fly Deluxe; '70 Eko strat copy; Ovation Elite and classical guitars from 1986; and my Fender Marcus Miller Jazz Bass. But the 52 RI Tele is really special -- the prospect of it begin stolen is foreign: as foreign as the culprit would be if discovered. This is a truly special guitar and I would buy another one without hesitation -- but would demand more careful inspection of the finish.

2003 Fender '52 Reissue Telecaster. Specs for this guitar can be found at www.fender.com and in other reviews (I don't feel the need to repeat them). I switched the stock pickups to Kinman AVn-60's and changed the pickup swith to the modern configuration after a couple of weeks. I rate this guitar's sparse features 9 because of their high degree of quality. This is a guitar that has always represented genius in simplicity.

When I received this guitar I immediately fell in love with its rich, bright, twangy, vintage tone that gives the Fender Telecaster is solid reputation. As everyone knows, this guitar is best suited for clean tone playing, but it certainly does have the versatility to handle a reasonable amount of overdrive/ distortion very well. The bridge position has that spanky trademark Tele twang, and the neck position has a smooth, glossy sound that allows you to play more intimate passages. I've heard people comment that Telecasters are largely confined to rhythm, but I strongly disagree with this assertion. This guitar is absolutely capable of delivering compelling lead, it just depends on the style of music you wish to play. The only reason I (reluctantly) changed the stock pickups to the Kinman AVn-60's (both neck and bridge) was because of the typical single coil noise. Not only did the Kinman's eliminate ALL the noise (no lie!), I immediately noticed that they greatly improved upon the already excellent overall tone of this guitar. After installing the Kinmans, I noticed that the output of the stock neck pickup was a little weak, and that the stock bridge pickup had a little too much "bark". The most dramatic difference of installing the Kinmans, however, was the greatly enhanced tonal balance of both the neck and bridge positions which resulted in a more transparent tone with more articulate lows and sparkling highs. I play this guitar through a Fender Cyber Deluxe and get a crisp, stunning, delicate yet compelling clean tone - exactly the tonal flavor I was looking for. I rate the sound of this guitar a solid 9 based on the STOCK sound BEFORE I installed the Kinmans, because I was very pleased with its tone even before I installed them.

I was VERY impressed with the action, fit, and finish of this guitar when I received it. Fender set this guitar up flawlessly. It was perfectly in tune straight out of the case, and I did not notice any problems with the action, intonation, or anything else - I just unwrapped it, plugged it in, and played it while admiring the beautiful craftsmanship of the guitar. This is definitely one of those solid body electric guitars that sounds resonant even unplugged.

I haven't had this guitar for too long, so I really cannot comment on its realiability/ durability, but it certainly does seem to be made of tough, high-quality parts.

Have not had to contact Fender for support.

I've been playing guitar for about 8 yrs. now and own a MIM Fender Strat 60's Reissue, and a Martin D-15 acoustic. This '52 RI Tele is definitely my new fav! When I bought this guitar, I wanted an electric that could play beautiful, vintage, crystalline-like clean tones and this guitar delivered just about that even stock, but after installing the Kinman pickups, I get EXACTLY that and MUCH more. I'm going to give this guitar an overall rating of 9 based on its STOCK condition.

Fender '52 Vintage Reissue, American, Butterscotch Blonde, 2000 model year, etc., as described by others. Bought it near-mint used. The previous owner installed Fender Texas Special pups and a 4-way switch for series/parallel pup configuration.

The sound with the Texas Specials is wonderful. It has the most of the resonance and harmonics of my Dean Evo SS w/humbuckers but with that special twang, detail and ringing overtones of a Tele. I'm playing it through a Laney 50w tube head and a Fender 412 cab, which is a very unforgiving combination: no built-in 'verb or other sweetening, so it reveals every flaw in my beginner's playing mercilessly. I also have a BOSS ME-50 multiple FX pedal, which adds some nice chorus, 'verb and delay to the sound. I can't bring myself to engage the distortion on either the pedal or the amp--the clean tones are just so sweet. The guitar is surprisingly quiet considering the fact that I have not shielded it yet.

Can't talk about the factory setup 'cause I got it used. But the fit & finish is 1st rate. The body looks like 2-peice, but the seam is virtually invisible. I'm not a big fan of natural wood finishes but the minute I laid eyes on this honey, lying there in her orange-plush-lined Tweed case, I fell in love with its looks. I am slightly concerned about the glossy fretboard, but I think it just needs a little getting-used-to, and maybe to be worn in a bit.
I have no problem with the vintage bridge or 3-saddle configuration. Intonation is excellent despite this. In fact, I didn't want an updated Tele, with the modern cast nickel/steel bridge, because I figured Fender got it right 50 years ago and I wanted that type of sound--and, to be honest, look. So much of the modern stuff is devoid of character, but this guitar has character up the wazoo.
It's difficult to say how much the premium 2-piece ash body, nitro lacquer and vintage parts add to the tone, but I figure it must be a lot. I didn't mind paying almost a thousand bucks for this, but I would have felt ripped off had I plunked down almost as much for an American Standard.

It's a shame that to get something done right in this world, you have to buy into the top. Anything less is shoddy. Let's just say that this is the way all Fenders should be built but aren't.

I fell in love with Teles when I bought a Squier Affinity (which was surprisingly decent for the money), but I just couldn't get over the Squier logo, so I traded it away, even though I had put in some good aftermarket pups. This guitar, OTOH, is so lovely, both in appearance and sound, that the name I have given her, "Honey", describes her perfectly.
I have two other guitars: a Dean Evo Special Select, and a project Strat with an American neck and vintage Fender parts. This guitar is easily the best of the three, although I am frankly impressed with what Dean has produced (albeit in Korea) for a selling price of $450. My Strat really needs new pickups so I can't make a fair comparison with this Tele, except to say that Fender American is the way to go. I seriously doubt, after going through a bunch of so-so blah decent-but-nothing-special Asian guitars, I will ever buy anything but American again.
Speaking of which, I was going to buy an American Standard, but that would have cost me nearly what I paid for this guitar used. And the Standards are, well, standard--you know, run-of-the-mill. A good mill, maybe, but a mill nevertheless. This guitar, though not a custom shop item, has a lot of attention to detail applied to it that the Standards don't have. And it has far more character than any Standard.
I was also considering a Mexican, but, again, I did not want to buy another second- or third-rate guitar, even though they probably give a lot of bang for the modest buck.
I don't want to go into an hysterical rant about what a great guitar this is because (1) I have only been playing for a few months and (2) I have done so about other guitars which I soon became tired of and sold.
Certainly, an experienced player might prefer this type of neck or that, small frets, large frets, a specialized pickup, etc. But for me, I am awed to own an instrument like this.

Us Model - Very nice Mapple Neck - 3 ways switch - 2 pickup. Simply the must!

Very nice, Real "Twang" with the bridge pickup. Large sound with the both; Smooth and wide sound with the neck pickup. many sound with that , I don't know what style of music we can't play with this guitar.

! i don't know what i can say ! just try it and you 'll see !

every day all my life !

I'm french and it's not very cool to be an fender client. The price are too high in France. But if you are luky like me and you have to go the Us for the job, you MUST back home with a Fender or an Gibson!

FYI to all who have posted and all who will and all who read these.

THESE ARE POLY FINISHED! Nitro is sprayed on final layer to give tint and to say that there is a nitro finish.

I have had several luthiers examine the guitar and it is currently being stripped of the plastic finish to get a TRUE thin nitro finish like the origionals. The top layer of nitro was easily removed by typical chemicals but these and no other chemicals have been able to remove the thick plastic finish underneath. The luthier currently working on this guitar is removing the plastic coat slowly and carefully by hand, in small sheets, chips, or sanding carefully.

To see the more than a dimes thickness in plastic remove your pick gaurd.....look into one of the 5 screw holes at an angle and you will see a TREMENDOUSLY THICK plastic coat which is NOWHERE near resembling nitro.

Nice guitars but the "Nitro Finished" claim is marketing crap!

2000 or 2001 52 RI Tele, bought as new on ebay one year ago. Standard butterscotch/black combo. I have rewired the neck pickup back into the tone control, don't know why they didn't think it would be a good idea 50 years ago!

I have owned different strats, but never a Tele... as with other reviewers, I cannot believe how incredibly versatile this guitar is, especially considering it's origin! It's just a slab of wood with 40's era electronic parts, but, man, is it a beautiful thing! I can't put it down, and I have several other wonderful guitars that I love. With the tone control mod ( and soon to add the 4-way switch for series pickups) it does everything well, and in a way that I could never have imagined! With the treble rolled off to about 3, it is a great jazz guitar (albeit, with the classic kind of Jim Hall/ Ed Bickert dark tone)... even with light strings (10-46) it makes me want to play be-bop nearly as much as my L5! It screams with the right combination of pedals through a decent tube amp and speakers, has incredible sustain (second only to my 73 LP Custom, of all my other guitars) and is set up better than anything else I own, (with the exception of my dot 335 with Feiten Tuning system.) In short, I cannot believe that this plank from the 50's can do so much... you could almost throw everything else away, if you needed to. ( What a dumb idea.) Right now, I'm using it through a Hot Rod Deville with JJs and Weber VSTs, as well as a Peavey Custom 50 4x10... sounds excellent through both... pedals too numerous to mention, but likes straight into the amp with minimal signal alteration (i.e, a couple of pedals: AnalogMan Silver TS808/Marshall Shred Master/ and ED comp/ Boss DD-2, CE5/) as much as a heavier processing treatment (Boss GT-6, Zoom GFX-8, Zoom PS-02) Neck is wonderful, I usually like Gibson size and scale better than Fender, but this thing works well, feels good, just fits! No dead spots, no fretting out, stays in tune. Amazing. I don't like single coil noise and have thought about putting a set of Kinmans in, (I have them in one strat and really like them) but am afraid of losing all the spank, so may just leave well enough alone, for now (except for the 4-way switch... seems like a must have mod.)

See above... the only guitar I've ever purchased that didn't require a set-up (although I can't say if extra measures were taken by the guy I bought it from... a recording engineer in L.A. with good connections.) I don't see any of the lacquer flaking around the frets that some have complained of, so maybe it was set up post factory.

Haven't gigged with it, need the 4-way switch mod to make it work for that (I play in a fusion band and occasionally get out to play standards) but can't imagine anything could go wrong with it. It's as simple as dirt and as beautiful as the Taj Mahal. Short of fighting off a pack of SUV's, I don't think I would worry.... I guess single coil noise is the only other issue I would have with it. I like clean and quiet when needed.

Except for those crappy master volume SF amps from the 70's ( it was dumb to put up with them, but it was the thing to do at the time) my experience with Fender has always been good, no need for warranty repair, ever, from my '50 2 tone Champ to my first good SF twin ('71) to BF supers, blonde bandmaster (wish I still had those!)... always a good experience. I am picky, though, and tend to take very good care of my equipment... always seems to pay off.

I've been playing for 32 years, beginning like a lot of people with blues rock from the 70's, progressing into fusion and bebop. I love all styles, am best at jazz/blues/fusion. I currently own a 93 strat plus with Kinmans, a fat strat with Duncans and Floyd (custom built for a friend- origin unknown), '73 LP Custom (high school guitar), L5 Wes model, '95 335 Dot, Gibson Blues King Electro, Takamine nylon electric, Steinberger, Martin back packer and Supro 6 string lap steel. (No such thing as too many guitars.) The tele has become an important guitar for me, in a way I could not have imagined. Can't say enough good things about it. Absolutely would replace it if it were lost or stolen. Would even be nice to get one of the 63 custom RIs, with spankier pickups for a nice variation. The tone control mod from the historic wiring set up is a must, and I imagine I will really like the 4 way switch, when I get around to doing it. I might try swapping the pickups for Kinmans, but there is a definite, although very slight loss of spank with the Kinmans over standard single coils, don't know if I want to spend $200 to find out it isn't quite right. (They do sound good in my strat, though.) Recommendation: get one of these, particularly if you are NOT a country player, but want a great, new experience with a guitar. They are a piece of history, have a coolness factor of "11", and are amazing in their simplicity and versatility. Good equipment changes the way you play in a good way and can open doors to new ideas. This guitar has done that for me.

Early 90's reissue.

Bridge pickup too bright that makes it even annoying. I have to turn down the "high" button on my amp or this thing screams too much (not even distorted, just clean).
Appart from that, good resonant body and good accoustic sound.

I've been very deceived with this guitar:
- it has very uneven frets, something unbelievable for a guitar in this price range; it needed fret polishing a couple of times (you couldn't bend a string without hearing some buzz);
- oxidized bridge;
- high E string too close to the end of the fretboard;
- VERY sticky neck, it looks like someone made this finish too thick.

Solid guitar, as any tele. Sadly, just for rhythm stuff. Reliable if you're just gonna strum Springsteen chords, not much more. Not a real player's guitar, as it's very limited.

Just a rhythm guitar for an unbelievable high price. Useful if you want to look yourself in the mirror and pretend you're fronting the E Street Band, not for much more. Deceiving, could have been better made, specially the neck.