Fender '69 Telecaster Thinline Reissue

You know what the features are, silly.

Only items of note are the kind of funny-shaped neck (which I got used to quick).

I am using Tele > Varidrive/DL6/Budda Wah > Laney VC30 2x12 (like a wimpy vox).

It is a great guitar for clean sounds. Good chime. Semi-hollow sound really comes thru.
For distortion sounds, forget it. This is not a guitar for shreaders. It can do the slightly overdriven "brownish" sounds OK, but not great.
The G and B strings really are noisy on this guitar, and it produces a kind of unwelcome 'chime' to go along with the nice 'chime'.

I replaced the neck pickup with a Lindy Fralin, which has some more bite and character. It is a nice pickup, and I play in the neck position most all of the time. Anything else is a little too much trebble for me.

It is built well. Easy to disassemble or reassemble (NO Disasemble!).

A nice guitar for it's purpose. Use it for clean chime. Put a little bit of overdrive on it, but DONT use it like a Les Paul. It just doesn't do that very well.

Its a '00 Thinline reissue, made in Mexico. Standard tele setup, three way switch and single coil pickups. Pickups are Tex-Mex, as standard on this guitar. Passive electronics, volume and tone as tele standard.
I chose the red finish, with that classic fractal looking white scratch plate.
Very well made guitar, for a MIM. The f-hole seems not to have suffered the same fate as other peoples; no glue fragments and nice looking ash inside.
Gorgeous maple neck, with old-style fender tuners (with the little F on the back).
Weirdly enough, on the vintage bridge piece, there are sets of little scratches down the side. I looked at loads of different thinlines in about ten shops, and saw them on most of them. Doesn't seem to have damaged the metal too much, but still.

I play a lot of post/prog rock stuff. Think Mogwai, Godspeed, Sigur Ros, Pink Floyd.. lots of delay, reverse, and fairly macho solo distortion through a Marshall Shredmaster.
First thing is, the tone is really bright and warm on the neck pickup, perfect for that Mogwai-esque riff - it's not so hot under distortion tho. The rear pickup seems to have cut off some of the heavy twang I got from other solid teles, and it makes the sound a lot more controllable.
Through the Boss DD-6 and Marshall Shredmaster into a Marshall Valvestate I 100W amp, it sounds beautiful. In the middle position, I can get wonderful singing solos just like Pink Floyd. Rolling off the tone just a little on the rear pickup gives a good Godspeed or Mogwai growl with some fat distortion; perfect for when the quiet/loud sections turn into REALLY LOUD sections.
As with most tele's, really heavy distortion kills the guitar totally. Clean, the sustain is a little less than a solid tele, but the hollowness of the guitar makes the sound more "whole". Listen to one and you'll see.
Pickups are very noisy tho; near my amp I get some bad humming, but its not uncontrollable. My pickups didn't seem earthed, and I get that characteristic crackle when I put my hand to the strings - simple solution is keep your hand on a metal part of the guitar.
This guitar has a very sweet sound, but if you're looking to use serious overdrive or distortion, forget it. This guitar has bags of tone and its not worth wasting it under a wall of fuzz.
Overall then, very versitile.

Factory setting was okay-ish. The pickups were the right height, but the saddle was really badly adjusted, requiring an hours work to elimanate the damn fret buzz on the lower strings. No flaws that I can see, except the weird scratching on the bridge piece that I mentioned above.
The action on the guitar is beautiful, and the neck makes bending easy. Having said that, you've got be careful to avoid fret buzz, as the action is very low on the factory setup. Probably just my heavy playing in this case.
Bear in mind the 7 rating is just for the factory setup - get it sorted for you and you'll find its absolutely wonderful to play.

One of the first things you notice about this guitar is the weight; it seems to weigh almost nothing. While this encourages you to throw it about while playing, its probably not a good idea. The controls are solid enough, but as we all know Tele jacks are a serious weakpoint and the Thinline is no exception. Already, i've had the jack replaced once.
Strap buttons are solid enough, but still, replace them with straplocks - you dont want to drop this thing.
Finish seems strong and undamagable, but I've got doubts about how easily it would chip.
Overall, a fragile looking guitar thats probably fairly durable, but I'd be careful anyway as its so light. I have and will continue to gig without backup, as I've never had a problem (except the jack socket, but thats happened on all my teles).

Not had to deal with Fender yet, thank god.

I've been playing for about 5 to 6 years in various bands.
Personally, I'd have liked for the salesman to warn me about the pickup noise. I'd believe that a lot of people play the Thinline in the shop, go home and try it through their Mesa Boogie or whatever, and say "Damn its just so noisy".
I love the gorgeous clean sound, and the fact that the F-hole makes the guitar playable unplugged - you can feel the resonance of the body and that makes a whole lot of difference to the sound. What I dislike is the feeling of fragility, and also the pickup noise - at some point I'll have to change them.
A beautiful guitar, not for beginners at all, but ideal for someone looking to move on to something with a little more variety in sound. Its an almost perfect Tele, with just the right amount of twang and a full, warm sound.

2003 MIM Thin line 3-tone burst with ash body. What a Tele! Swapped a LP. Studio in near mint condition to get this honey. The LP was too damn heavy and sounded like like a big mud fight. Recieved a Fender hardshell case in place of the flimsey gig bag. Fit and finnish are very good but not great with glue found in the F-hole. I have several top end guitars including a custom shop strat and a great PRS but don't want to take them gigging and that's exactly where this guitar shines. It's very light, versital, and sings like an angel when pushed but a bit noisey. It's a Tele not supposed to have bells and whistles.

I play mostly classic rock, blues, country cross-over swing jazz and this thing delivers. Not as twangy as a solid Tele but oh boy does it cover more ground. For cording the sound is rich and full with excellent string to string response. For lead work it sustains for days and has a veriety of useful tones just tweak the tone control and find your favorite flavor. The pickups are noisey, but deal with it cause these are very very nice sounding. Been playing since since the 50's played 100's of axes and know what I know about them.

Guitar was set up perfect for my style and even enjoy the small vintage frets. I find my lead work and cord changes are much better period! Who says you can't bend on vintage frets, I do like a demon folks. The nicely grained ash is beautiful with the 3-tine sunburst. the neck profile is so comfortable with my only slight complaint being I wish the fretboard edges where a bit more rounded. Tuners are period correct with no tuning problems.

Poly finish should insure it a long life with care. Hardware is good and should stand up to years of playing. This guitar was designed for live playing and will probably use it daily. Always have a back up regardless of what your main guitar is.

don't know-never had to use it.

If this guitar where lost or stolen I would have another one by the next week. Great guitar for the money-has a magical mojo thing going for it.

This guitar was purchased new 12/03. It is a semi-holllow mahogony body with natural finish and near excellent bookmatching. Made in Mexico. The manual calls the finish polyester. In the time I've had the guitar, the finish has held up well against moisture, sweat, smoke, etc. Wipe it down with a damp cloth after a gig, and it's good as new. It has a maple U neck, with a 21 fret scale. I've always preferred Fender's C neck, but I'm adapting. It has a vintage ash tray bridge with three saddles. People complain about this in other reviews, but I haven't had problems keeping it set up. It has through the body strings, and standard-issue Gotoh tuners. It stays in tune. It came with a nice gig-bag, as gig-bags go. I'd prefer a cheap hard shell over the best of gig-bags, if they want to throw something in for free. Standard Tele stuff - 2 single coil pickups referred to only as "vintage" in Fender literature (the neck one's a lipstick, the bridge one looks like the old open-coil pickups); two knobs, volume & tone; 3-way switch. They also make a '72 reissue with dual-coil pups. Tele-shaped body, with f-hole cutout in upper wing. Pearloid four piece laminated pickguard

I play in a trio with an acoustic guitarist/singer and a bass. We are occasionally joined by a drummer. We play a variety of music ranging from country to blues to rockabilly to jazz numbers from the 30's & 40's. I have played this amp through a solid-state Fender Princeton, and recently bought a Peavey Delta Blues, a thirty-watt tuber with a 15 inch speaker. This guitar will get great sounds, and a good variety of them, through either amp, but given the choice, get tubes. They enhance the axe's natural warmth, which is it's strong point. I've played acoustic guitars, my old Strat, and a solid body Tele in my years with the above-mentioned trio, and nothing has coverd the ground of our set list like this guitar. The front pick up is great for a jazzy sound, and with overdrive a good vintage fuzz sound. Played clean, it has provided some good acoustic sounds on stuff I've recorded. The bridge pickup adds the twang and bite. I was blown away by the sound of this guitar the first time I played one. After playing it daily for about nine months, I'm still amazed. It has elements of classic Fender tone, you can tell you're playing a Tele, but the semi-hollow mahogany body gives provides a whole new ball game. It has a heavier bottom end, and a woodier, more natural sound. It can cover the ground from folk to jazz to hard rock. If you just play hard rock, go for a Strat, but for versatility, this is your ticket. The drawback here is single-coil noise, but that's what you get with single coil pickups. I tried the dual coil version, but it souded too refined..

Action was great, set-up was fine. This is a beatutiful guitar, and appears to have excellent workmanship. Bookmatching is impressive , by any standards. The wood is straight-grained mahogany, and the finish brings out the beauty of the grain. The hardware, mechanical, and eletrical parts were all in excellent condition, and of good quality. The inexplicable flaw here is the sloppy job of finishing the edge f-hole cutout. I see in other reviews thi is an ongoing problem. In an instrument that so much obvious attention to detail and workmanship has gone into, can we assume there is a good reason for this? Until I hear one, I'm taking off points. This is a serious blemish in an otherwise world-class guitar

I have played daily for the past nine months. Between practice and gigs, the guitar spends some time being hauled around, and fequently spends the day in the trunk of my car in South Texas summer temperatures. It has held up well to this. I play more or less without a backup. There's usually an extra acoustic around, but it just wouldn't be the same. The guitar is showing some fret wear in spots where I bend the strings a lot, and developing some buzz. I raised the saddle a little and it took care of it for now. I don't think my Strat showed wear this soon. My other Tele is a couple of years old and not showing any wear, and it's been played quite a bit. I'm taking off points!

Haven't needed 'em. Maybe I should talk to them aboiut this fret wear thing, though.

I've been playing for longer than I care to count (over 30 years), and have played a variety of guitars, but have leaned mostly toward Fender electrics. This guitar fits the sound I need better than anything else I've found. I played an Epiphone Dot and a Gibson Blues Hawk prior to buying this, aned have no regrets about passing them up for the Thinline. It fits in perfectly with an acoutic and a bass. I also have a Strat and two solid Teles that I have barely touched since getting this guitar. They just don't fit our sound as well. If this guitar were lost, stolen, or otherwise incapacitated, I'd pretty much have to get another one. There's a lot to like here. It's a well crafted guitar made of quality materials. I've heard nothing but good news about Mexican manufactured Fenders, and expect the prices to raise with the acceptance of these products. I expect that in 20 years MIM stuff will be much-sought vintage gear.

02 Daphne Blue, alnico pickups, steel saddles on a traditional (read REAL) Tele bridge. Supposed to be mahogany but it doesn't look like mahogany (could be, but looks more like swamp ash in the grain). Chunky but comfortable maple one piece neck (Surprise #1). Tiny frets, vintage 7 1/4 radius. Fret level and fretwork is very good.

Sounded ok out of the box. Very bright. Was surprised to find that the F-hole actually affects the sound (cover it and play, uncover it and play, you'll see what I mean). Cool sound. It's Tele but more airy. Less Tele beef, more woody and fatter and open. Twangy but less twangy, less bounce, more complexity and shimmer.

The low strings lack that low mid tele beef. They still snarl on top but they aren't as authoritative when popped, especially through the stock pickups. That's the lighter, semi hollow design. You get woodier tones in the mids and airy highs but loose some nut in the lows.

I swapped the steel saddles for brass saddles. The brass ones are fatter sounding and I definitely prefer them. I may try putting the steel back on the E and A to see if it tightens the lows.

My guitar came with 1M pots. wTF!? The day I got it I put in the proper Fender/Tele value: 250K for both volume and tone. Wired up the Kinman volume pot treble bleeder. Wired it for '50s' Gibson style (tone cap comes off the output not input of the volume so the sound dosn't turn to 50 pounds of cotton in your ears when at lower volume settings). Replaced the switch.

The 250K pots sound SOOO much better. The 1M are bright and thin. They sound cool, but they're not Tele. The 250Ks make this guitar fat and warm, but still with plenty of Tele bite.

Surprise #2: these pickups are actually really good! I will be swapping them for Rio Grande Tallboys, but stock are quite good considering. The 250Ks are a highly recommended and cheap mod that will completely revoice your instrument to what - IMO - it should sound like.

Overall, an airy, woody variation on the tele. I like it a lot.

Laminate top? People are talking about a "laminate" top? Like plywood? I don't think so. It's two pieces (probably more, glued, but solid), the back and the front. The back is routed out in semi hollow fashion. The top is also solid wood that has an F-hole and control cavity route. These are glued together to make a body.

Bought this online on clearance for $499 shipped, but without trying it out. Honestly, I would not have chosen this one. The neck pocket doesn't fit all that well. I've seen worse but I've seen better. I'm sure I could have found one amongst the bunch that was better in the fit and finish. The F-hole paint was sloppy and the finish cured with plenty of burs and crap. Color is more of a mix between Daphne and Sonic blue, unfortunately. With the bright white shell pickguard, this all adds up to one positively fruity looking guitar. For $700, I'm thinking they could have done better in all these avenues. Still, I could have sent it back. But I kept this one because it sounds, plays, and feels great. It seems like it would be a dog but for some reason it's not. I like it and I'm pretty hard to please. I've seen some extremely nice Teles made in Mexico that were perfectly put together, but didn't sound anywhere as good.

Plenty durable, very solid. Very light and comfortable, although it's headstock heavy, so if you take your hands off, it sags. Which is annoying, but tough shit.

Surprise #2: The tuners actually stay in tune! This is big bonus for me, because I don't have to butcher the headstock to install Schaller locking tuners. And also, the Schallers weigh three times more than the stock tuners, which would make the guitar unbearably headstock-heavy.

My personal preference: I hate 7 1/4 inch radius. I hate vintage size frets more. People who say they can play with this setup either play 9s, are lying, or can't play. There are exceptions of course, but not many. I just can't play with the control and precision I need on these setups. But hey, I can't play with control or precision on my prefered setup either. Regardless I will be shelling out big bucks to get this thing refretted, renutted, reradiused. I will lose the fretboard finish in the process, but I'm ok with that. I usually get cheaper guitars and customize them and am happy. I've learned that I can have as much fun on a $500 guitar as on the $4000 Gibson Historic 59 Reissue Les Paul I once owned (or which once owned me).

Fender is a corporation. I voided the 5 year warranty within two hours of owning it when I replaced the shit 1M pots that don't belong in there in the first place. No wonder they put in 1M pots, useless frets, and a turd nut (actually nut was darn good) - you can basically have a turd with a warranty or a decent guitar with no warranty, your choice (this is America, after all).

Good value. I wouldn't have bought it at the full price. $500 is pretty much my limit on guitars these days. I'm cheap and usually spend another 75% more on customization. Kind of stupid, right? I like cheaper guitars that I can get refretted and replace the electronics, etc. For the price (discount or normal), this is a good, solid, fun guitar and will be gigged. It stays in tune, it sounds good (better with new pickups), and plays fantastically (best with a refret and reradius).

Made in Mexico 2003 limited edition Daphne blue, mahogany body maple neck. Seems pretty true to the original

I play this through a few different rigs, a soldano atomic through a marshall 4x12 jcm800 cab, a hotrodded marshall JCM800 through the same cab, and an Egnater TOL 50 2x12. I run it through a few effects awah, a HAO Rustdreiver overdrive, an Yngwei(however you spell it) DOD overdrive, an Electroharmonix smallstone and a Rotovibe,a Homebrew Electronics Germania treble booster and finally into a DD5 digital delay. The guitar sounds good just with the amp and no effects as well. I use it to play fusion, blues and occasionally with a hard rock band. The pickups sound a little weaker than my custom shop 52 Tele but I feel it has a more authentic tele sound and its so light big change from the PRS's and Les Pauls I usually play. It has the typical single coil hum which can get a little annoying but it comes with the territotry.I wouldn'change the pickups,they are pretty evenly balanced.

The guitar was set up great from the factory, paint and finish done very well, neck is nice, frets dressed very well. Pickups a little on the weak side, but no reason to change them. Over all relly good.

I have used this guitar in a live situation, it performed wonderfully. Seems to be very dependable, the couple of times I have used it out.

I called fender once to identify the year on my vintage 65 jaguar, and they were helpful, not as helpful as gibson, but helpful enough

I have been playing for 12 years, I own 25 guitas ranging from PRS Santana III and Mcarty (my main guitar no.1) to a couple of historic reissue Les Pauls a custom shop 52 tele, a jimmy vaughn strat also in Daphne blue, a Tom Anderson Cobra and some vintage stuff like a 65 jaguar and 67 SG. I like the tele sound from this better than my 52 tele the Mcarty will stay my number 1 guitar but I would use this when I want a nice tele sound, and its so light and ressonant. I wish the pickups had more output, but I wont change them. I think its a good deal I don't care that its made in mexico, its 20 miles or something from carona and they are all the same employees, I like the mexican stuff better than the american standard garbage from fender

MIM, 99 (NOS, bought 02). I've got one with the black finish and mother of dinette pickguard, so the body wood is mahogany. I usually play a G&L ASAT, so the smaller fretboard radius, smaller frets and larger neck are a trifle disorienting sometimes. (However, making the switch back and forth is easier than I thought it would be.) The tuners are not as stable as the G&L, but acceptable. The back of the neck is heavily finished, and perhaps some day I'll get around to polishing it down/off. Came with a decent gig bag.

I play blues, old rock and crippled jazz, using tube amps (Blues Jr. and an ancient, tiny Gretsch), usually with no effects. The Tele sounds good with both amps, but it's on the noisy side.

While many people seem to insist on changing the pickups, I like both the neck (decent though not outstanding jazz sound) and the bridge (pretty close to the classic bridge sound and not overbearingly icepicky). Although the overall sound is on the bright side, the tone control is pretty useful.

Some construction problems, i.e. medium-sized gaps in the neck pocket, some unpainted spots around the edge of the f-hole, polishing compound deposits in the body, and a couple of small finish flaws.

No problems with any of this. If anything, the finish is excessive.

No contact with Fender, dealer out of business.

Not as nicely made as the ASAT (but not as expensive), but I like the Tele's bridge pickup sound a little more than the ASAT.

Mexican Made, Shaller f tuners, maple neck(best neck i have ever played), upgraded fender noiseless pickups- had the oppertunity to get the japanese model but this one came with many more features

I play rock with a lot of harmony in a lot of alternate tunings like open G. I have an ADA mp-1 preamp, BBE 482 sonic maxamizer, Dean Markley DMC-80 amp(P.O.S.), and a hughes and kettner 412 cabinet(hopefully to get the triamp mkII head soon) and other misc. effects pedals. It is not noisy at all, especially with the noisless pickups. Many people think that you cant get good low end distortion, but i have been able to. Not completely detuned distortion, but mutch better rock distortion than you would ever expect from a telecaster.

Good set-up, glue blotches in f hole. Great natural finish, otherwise flawless!

Have only had it for about 3 months but is holding up well. Everything seems like it will last, have had no problems yet. I would and have used it without a backup while giging.

Bought it used but stil have origional warranty, have never had to use it.

Great guitar, more versitile than i thought it would be. Highly recomended.

Very sweet. Can get surprisingly aggressive, but not really to the point of metal. I would call it perfect if the scrapped the bridge pu for a humbucker from the '72 reissue. The neck lipstick, on the other hand, is beyond perfect, it has all the treble (and surprisingly - bass) that you expect from these things, but it has a character that strats and teles generally lack, and is anything but flat.

It has a laminated solid top, and a glued-on back. One F-hole, with unexplainable white glue stains, that take about 10 minutes to rub off with a wet q-tip. One thing that stands out is the fretboard-less maple neck, one piece (at least I can't see any cuts), and a headstock from the same piece of wood. Nice tuners. Thin frets, but they sound good for some reason.

People, this is NOT your first electric, it should never have to be. Then you would quickly have a love/hate relationship with it, and that would suck. You need a hum/hum lp/sg, a fat strat, a ESP/Jackson, whatever, as your other guitar first. The sound on this is too unique to fit everything you might want to play.

The sound ranges from a bassy growl to a twang, with an acoustic singing thing somewhere in between. What it does not do is speed metal. Maybe because my roots include quite a bit of hardrock/metal, but this is the funnest toy I've played with in a while, but it is like an affair to me : fun, but not my main relationship. But that makes it all the more interesting.

It is kind of noisy near other equipment. Mainly it sings, but it does distortion ok, IF you keep the mids up AND really crank the amp till the speaker overdrives. Makes it *SCREAM*. OR if you use a Fender amp, it really loves em. Unfortunately I have a Marshall, which I am really starting to resent because it can be so boring and disappointing at times. Might try a Vox in the future, those seem nice.

The hum is strange, different from other singles I've seen. Somewhat hard to control with distortion, but it can actually help if you know how to play with, not against it. On low volumes (on the amp) the bass gets thin, but it is thick like butter on high volumes with some OD. And all that without losing the singing quality.

One thing I find you have to do is roll off the tone a bit (sometimes all the way for some interesting stuff), and ALWAYS roll off volume about 1/8 unless you want extreme quack or twang, which, while fun, gets old really fast when abused. I prefer the neck pickup, and will probably ditch the bridge pu for a noiseless or lace.

NICE. Neck fits tight, everything great. Just three really minor complaints.

1) Bridge is three-saddle, and made out of some pretty weird crap (not soft, just crap) metal. It has these weird parallel scratches on the sides (why does it even have sides?!) on ALL the copies I've seen. It isn't very perfect, but maybe thats for the vintage feel. I will probably ditch it for something else somewhere down the road.

2) There is a weird piece of foil or something about 1 or 2mm long sticking out from under the pickguard. At first I thought it was a photoflame edge, but it seems to be quite real wood. Weird. Also the F-hole has glue in it, takes 10 mins to clean.

3) Somebody tell all guitar makers out there to figure out that the low E saddle needs to be raised a bit. No buzz, but still feels weird. Also needs 10s, or 9s with a thick bottom end.

Otherwise nice. Pretty, maybe even too mellow for me, but I like.

Seems really solid, yet is extremely light. Hardware looks super solid, built like a goddamn tank.

The website is annoying, but hey, who cares?!

My favorite flirtation with mellowness. Although once I get my ESP 7string, customized with a DiMarzio hummer, back from the shop, that may all go to hell. Who knows, it's fun right now to play, and that matters. My previous choice of second guitar was an SG, but all that could do was growl, and i ditched it after two weeks. The tele is now 13 days in my home, and I think it may just last awhile, which is extreme compliment considering that I'm an angry overdriven heavy rhythm man. I think the lack of a Floyd may be a big part of the attraction; I effing hate those things. The melodic-ness of the tele just really appeals to me. Half the time I treat it as an acoustic, it can be made to sound just like one pretty easily. This one's made for power ballads, it just begs to be played. The '69 is for you guys who prefer a fun girl to a hottie : it isn't a superguitar, but it is extremely hard to put down. This is the kind of relationship you spend whole days playing with, even if your buddies might turn an eyebrow at her. She may not have the 36Ds, but you like her as is. She stands across a river from the crowd.

Mine was a '99 manufacture MIM. Standard Tele single/single coil with three way, one vol, one tone.

The only period incorrect external flaw I can pick is the chrome is too blue, not the softer yellowish nickel of the real deal. Back/back with a real CBS Tele the neck is a little too fat in profile - great, it's part of the sound I think. Not as fat-C backed as the 50's Classic series, but fatter than the 60's Classics. The tuners are hex-key Schallers, from the original machines in Germany like they never stopped making them. They are excellent quality.

Three barrel bridge which is not as easy to intonate, but with patience can get with a few cents - a tip is to vary the height of the end adjusters 1/4 turn or so to get you closer on the treble side of each saddle. The three barrel is IMO vital to the sound of the Tele - go to six barrels if you want a more generic sound like an Am Std. The twang is in the trad-type unit. The bridge pickup is missing the copper-clad plate on the bottom - I have one to try adding which will be interesting.

Sound for single coil afficionados is, in a word - fantastic, even stock. Don't jack the pickups too high, and ensure the bass side of the neck is dropped slightly. The bridge pickup really needs a wound G string to match the staggered poles, but the slight G emphasis adds a pleasant middiness. These alnico slug pickups are nice - back them off just a tad with vol and tone, and they clean up and smooth out nicely. Crank them, and you get a little more grind. The bridge measures over 7k DC which is hottish. Some might find the trebliness irksome - in that case change to 250K.

The really good thing about a Thinline compared to a solid Tele is it gets nearly the same cranked tones plus a very usable useable neck sound, which as someone noted, backed off almost goes jazz-boxish. There's hum there - keep a hand clamped to the strings when not playing. As per a real '69 there's no bridge grounding and vestigal shielding. Fluros and dimmerswitches are to be avoided if possible.

IMO a bridge ground wouldn't go astray, but the unshielded hummy nature is why these guits are so responsive so I wouldn't go bananas with copper tape or spray.

How oyu sound with any guitar is down to you, but this one sounds good to me through any amp, and everyone whose played it has said, what a nice sounding guitar.

Mine is mahogany with fantastic grain and colour, and appears one piece except for the 1/4" panel sealing the rear cavity. I am very, very impressed with the build and finish of this instrument. I have a CIJ '68RI Strat and this thing is actually superior fretwise, although the finish on the Strat is just ahead - not much though. The Strat needed a proud fret lightly dressed - the Tele has never even needed the trussrod adjusted despite several air trips in the cargo hold.

I just did a basic setup - nutslots, action, intonation - haven't touched it since, a year back except for changing strings. The pots and switch are the self-same units fitted to US-made Teles and no qualms there.

A few comments below say the MIJ ones are 'totally superior' - I would not agree. I played one recently which weighed a ton and was tonally quite dead. The L-shaped six-barrel thick-slab bridge didn't help in either respect. Slimmer neck would work for smaller hands but not me. Nicely finished, but not superior playing or soundwise to me - YMMV.

When picking mine I compared with another in the store which had no dings (mine had a slight ding in the back which discounted it by $60) and mine was louder and nicer acoustically. Plugged it into a Twin on the floor and yes - chime, spank, clang, twang. Back to back with a new Am Series Tele, sorry, the '69 was better for me in almost every way.

The first three frets are slightly marked after a LOT of playing - for six months I didn't pick up an other instruments, but nowhere near needing a dress. Keep the jackcup tight. I actually find I'm changing strings far less often, because it plays so nice. Finish is living fine - withstood a champagne flute upended on it with no blemish (don't ask). Solid - never hit yourself in the head with one. One year later, lotsa gigs and late night unplugged practices, it still looks new when I polish it.

Bought in the US on holidays, flew it back to Australia so voided any warranty. Fender seems one of the better companies re: info posted and customer relations. I think they are doing a good job with their reissue stuff, and it's great value for money.

Been playing 29 years (shudder). Guitar Center cut me a good deal - including a discount for a minor shop ding they threw in a genuine clamshell case for $70 on top of their already discount price. I love this guitar - I have a nice Strat which other people tell me has more sounds and is a nice thing itself, but I love the Tele more. All the Reissue Mexican stuff I've picked up - Teles, Strats - has all been excellent in finish, neck, weight and sound. The 'vintageness' of this guit won't suit everyone - the small frets and 7.5" radius, the 3-barrel bridge and hummy vintage-type wiring.

But there's a reason so many great players - Beck, Page, Buchanan, Gatton - made so much good music on these. Interestingly lotsa people are going back to them at the end of their careers.

When you're finished with the trendy, flashy, whizz-bang things the Tele is always there and pleased to see you. Nothing's perfect, so no '10' but a great value and great-playing instrument.