Fender '69 Telecaster Thinline Reissue

I've got 50th Anniversary 69' Telecaster Thinline made in Japan in 1996/1997. It has 21 frets on maple neck, mahogan body with famous "f" hole and white pickguard. Pickups were changed to two passive DiMarzio Chopper T minihumbs on the neck and bridge position, changeable to singles when you pull volume control. The 3-saddle bridge was replaced with a 6-saddle one. I'm using 9-46 strings.

I won't give any rating there thanks to the fact, that my Tele has been customized a bit ;)

I play blues, progressive rock and metal. I tested this guitar on various amps, from cheap to expensive ones.
This Tele suits the best to play blues - the clean sound is warm, even on some heavy amps, and so overdriven sound is. Unfortunately, it's a great disadvantage when you want to play metal - distortion is not so hard as many guitarists want. But... I recommend it anyway, especially for hard rock players - I'm sure they would be satisfied :D

Personally I love this clean sound and I wouldn't exchange it for anything ;) 10/10 - If you do not play lots of metal. Otherwise - 6/10, but I know many metal players would be able to set something dark and heavy (just like I did).

Well... The only major drawback is, that at first you need to change your bridge, because it won't tune perfectly with 3 saddles. Apart from this, there's no more significant disadvantages.

I have no experience with previous pickups, but those minihumbs are great.

8/10 - bridge ;(

I haven't played on stage yet, but I have played so much on this Tele that I fully rely on it. I've got it for 2 years and nothing seemed wrong.

No experience, fortunately. :)

I don't own any other electric guitar - in fact I don't need other guitar, this Tele is good enough.

If I could change something, I would make sound much more agressive. But... everyone buys Telecaster for this warm tone, so I shouldn't complain ;)

The Thinline Telecasters were, in part, Fender???s attempt to capitalise on their biggest rival, Gibson???s success in the hollowbody guitar market. Rather than making an entirely new guitar, they took one of their flagship models, the Telecaster and converted it to hollowbodied specs, with the f-hole cutout in the upper ???wing??? of the guitar, though the centre of the guitar remained a solid block of wood. The '69 model was the first of the Thinlines, and generally seems to be less well recieved than the later model '72, which featured twin humbuckers instead of single coils. I picked this particular model up for a steal when an online auction with a low resever backfired on the seller, to my good luck.

My particular telecaster is Mexican model, finished in three-colour sunburst (magnificent), on an ash body, which would be responsible for the extremely light weight of the guitar ??? I???ve traditionally found Telecasters to be more solid, heavy axes (no Les Paul, but still imposing) whereas the thinlines are much less weighted and easier on the shoulder. The neck is a 21-fret maple job, with vintage frets in a rather round U-shaped profile, which I find a bit different to my other guitars, but comfortable regardless, possibly due to the satin finish. The neck feels rather fat, and almost reminds me of Gibson '50's style neck profile, but is still small enough for me to barre chords with my thumbs if required. I would of preferred a 22 fret neck for asthetics sake, but I can cope on this one, as it is quite playable. It makes a nice change from the feel of my Gibson SG, which at times is more of a stretch to make chord shapes on times given the scale length and neck joint placement.

The guitar as stock, features two single coil pickups, master volume and tone knobs and a three-way switch placed on an angle much like a strat switch. However, mine has been modified as follows:

- Pearloid pickgaurd has been replaced by a custom-made black one, which I believe actually looks better - gives it that very 70's look.
- Neck pickup has been replaced with a Seymour Duncan Stratocaster single coil, which is quite jpt and loud, leading me to believe it is a hot Strat bridge pickup
- Bridge pickup has been replaced with a Seymour Duncan Lil '59 Stacked humbucker, which has been set up for coil tapping.
- Guitar has been set up for a single volume knob (with a coil tap on the Lil '59 that works in the bridge and middle positions), 3-way switch and master tone knob.

Telecasters, as a general rule, have never been super-heavy on features - more or less a two pickup, 3-way switch, single volume and tone control style setup is common amongst them. I've always liked the sound and playability of standard Telecasters, but like the options presented on the Thinline and Custom tele's of the 70's - having a tele body with a humbucker has always appealed to me. This one would of started out like any normal Telecaster, save having an F-hole. With the mods I've had done, I believe it is more versatile in terms of tonality that previously and that is is perhaps a more unique guitar than previously.

I play 50/50 lead/rhythm guitar in a five-piece indie-rock band influenced by artists like Bloc Party, No Doubt, The Cure, Modest Mouse, The Shins, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Racontuers and many more - our style would be best described a indie-pop'n'roll. My own style of guitar was fundamentally formed around blues-based rock/grunge and classic rock, though I often accomodate funk, pop and ska influences. I'm strongly influenced in my playing style by guitarists such as Russell Lissack (Bloc Party), Andy Summers (The Police), Rivers Cuomo (Weezer), Josh Homme (Queens Of The Stone Age) Nick Rivera (The Strokes), Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead), Stone Gossard & Mike McCready (Pearl Jam), Angus Young (ACDC), Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), J Mascis (Dinosaur Jr), Johnny Marr (The Smiths/Modest Mouse), Noel Gallagher (Oasis), Slash, Page, Clapton and Tom Morello.

I play through a BOSS ME-50 unit into a Rivera Knucklehead 100 and Marshall 1965A cab 4x10 or a Marshall DSL100 and Marshall TSL 2x12 cab (vintage 30/heritage 30). I generally have my amps set up for a sparkly clean channel (clean that will break up with pick attack), a medium-gain overdrive and a high gain sound for solo boost. I would describe my tone as sounding rather hot-rodded vintage - using anywhere between 1/3 - 2/3 of the gain available on the amp, with a lot of mids, bass and and less treble as adding a good level of master volume will bring out a lot of high end in the tone. At the heaviest, it woud sound somewhere between Guns'n'Roses, early Van Halen & Weezer.

I've been playing a Gibson SG ('61 Reissue) with Seymour Duncan Custom (bridge) and Kent Armstrong Hot Rod Vintage (neck) for the past four years, and never faltered from it, but I've always had a thing for the jangle of a Telecaster and how their tone is altered with the application of more gain - many guitars seem to sound the same with more amounts of gain, but to me, a Tele has this ability to vary immensely depending on how much overdrive is going through it. Having grown up around the sounds of artists like Graham Coxon, Jonny Greenwood, Jeff Buckley and Andy Summers I'd always been enticed by owning a Telecaster and went through a couple of cheapo Squires in the my younger days. However, when my tastes changed away from straight up hard rock to more indie-inspired sounds, I found that I was more keen on a Tele twang for newer material more so than the growl of my SG.

When I first got the guitar, it had been set up with all the mods save the Lil '59 - the bridge pickup was a Tele single coil, but from an American stanard Tele - it didn't sound as trebly as I know Mex pickups can be. After about six or seven assorted gigs and band practises, I found the the bridge pickup was good for rhythm (though the middle positiion is better) but lacked for really strong leads and became all ice-pick trebly. I had the guitar modded to put in a the SD Lil '59 after I was told it would get a hot humbucking sound for leads, but did a good coil tap to single mode as well, better than many other tapped humbuckers. The Lil '59 is a much better choice for the bridge, and coupled with the coil tapping pot on the volume knob, I can now get the best of the both worlds.

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The guitar has a lovely acoustic reasonance and is very loud unamplified - when jamming unplugged with my band, I can use this guitar to keep up with the other guitarists acoustic guitar without much problem. When played clean, the middle position has a nice bouncy feel about it, whereas the neck is slightly darker and more foreboding - a good jazz sound with a tone knob rolled off about 1/3. The bridge is quite versatile and I am able to play all my bands songs on one guitar now, leaving my SG & Explorer sitting on the rack a bit more lately!

I tried an identical Thinline Telecaster in a local guitar store about three weeks ago and found it to be fairly average in sounds; there is a general consensus that the Mexican Fenders are of less quality than their Jap or US counterparts, and I would say that is fairly true in about 75% of the cases, though I have played a Mex strat or two that sounds at least as good as Jap or low end US models. I feel this guitar is let down by the poor quality electronics which are not well matched to the acoustic sound produced by the insturment due to the design. It's small wonder that the '72 Thinline is a far better recieved instrument amongst players.

As stock guitars, I would not rate them above 5 or so - they retain a good accoustic and clean sound, but they're not really very dynamic, and sound thin and anemic on on selections. The poor quality pickups don't handle more than mild gain well without feeding back in a nasty way and they wouldn't be suitable for modern high gain sounds in the slightest. However, after my mods, I feel that it is a far better sounding guitar and easily on par, if not exceeding a '72 Thinline or Custom. It's just a pity they didn't come standard with good pickups, but I tend to replace most of mine with Seymour Duncans anyway, given my preference for their tone.

It's an interesting side note that these sound quite a bit different to a nomal telecaster - there's a reasonance and 'airy' feeling that the Thinline has, as opposed to the occasional bluntness of a stock solidbodied guitar. I would say that played clean, even with stock pickups, it would be hard for anyone to not like the tone - I managed to make my Marshall DSL 100 sound like it has the best clean channel on earth, given the reputation of Marshall's have for clarity (or lack thereof) on their clean settings. When played dirty, the single coil setting of the bridge retains a warmth despite the spiky sound of the tele bridge and when set to full bucker, there's a nice compresion whcih allows for a solo boost and good, but not ridiculous jump in volume. One thing I did note was that despite having an f-hole, which can traditionally cause a bit of feedback at high volumes, with the gain on my amp dialed in above 2/3, there was no major feedback or screaming guitars, which I attribute to the aftermarket pickups. It's probably not the ideal sort of guitar to be playing high-gain with though, but will suit the indie-rock I play currently quite well.

I can't quote much on the factory setup on this guitar, but an identical one I played recently in a shop did have a much higher action, which I found awkward. The overall attention to quality on this particular guitar is above what I would expect on a Mexican produced guitar, but I can see a few spots on it where the finish is a little poor and could well wear out with time. The guitar appears to be well constructed and I can't seem to note many imperfections on it, though it's not 100% perfect as there is a significant chip near the controls which may cause the affected area to wear down over time.

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The input jack seems solid and there is a resounding click when a lead is inserted, no problems with conductivity. I would attribute most of the setup to my luthier, who knows I have a low-action preference, but will balance that with a feel of playability that will not compromise on organic tone, as having too low an action on some guitars can cause them to lose their natural reasonance.

Frets seem decent, though I would of preferred them to be larger in order to last longer, though I don't think that will be much of an issue. The satin-finished neck is quite unique to play and doesn't feel like many other Telecasters to play. As I've stated before, the U-shaped profile doesn't feel like a modern Fender neck, but has a uniqueness about it that lends tot he appeal of this guitar. It's not going to feel righ for high-speed playing but for mid-tempo rock, funk and pop, it fits quite nicely.

I am fond of the tuners though - I find that despite them being to bit hard to restring as the strings can slip out at times, they hold well, even if the guitar is not played all that regularly - I left it for a week in a room with a fairly atlernating temperature and it was almost perfectly in tune when I next picked it up.

I can't comment - I've never dealt with Fender. I prefer to deal with local luthiers and techs whom I trust more based on their handiwork and as I don't often (maybe once or twice) buy new guitars, warranties and the like don't apply.

These are good quality guitars in terms of material, but suffer from being assembled carelessly in some cases and using very poor electronics and hardware. Again, the '72 Thinline is a much better playing and sounding item in stock form. I've made a few mods to my '69 Thinline to bring it up to being a much more playable guitar, though I'm still not 100% satisfied and may eventually go the whole-hog and replace the neck pickup with a PAF style humubcker, as the neck pickup still doesn't win me over completely. The bridge pickup is pretty decent though and for the most part, I could get away with using that and the middle position - the coil tapping gives me plenty of options.

I would say that these are good guitars for modding and it's not hard to get some hum-sized single coils today that will give it a better tone immediately. I wouldn't expect anyone to be particularly fond of the stock pickups unless they really into a whispy clean sound. The biggest advantages that this model of Telecaster has going for it are the lovely clean sounds and nice acoustic translation as well as a relatively uncommon look. Amongst the bands I play with regularly, there is a strong following for 'vintage' instruments like old Teles, Strats, 335's and the odd Jag/Jazzmaster or Rickenbacker. No one else I know seems to own a Thinline tele as with the mods I've made, I often get a lot of comments on how cool my gutiar is, despite the connotations of being a Mexican produced instrument.

I'd suggest that these are good guitars for someone who is wanting a bit of unique Tele, but can't afford either a '72 Thinline or Custom (a-la Keef!). Both of those instruments will be composed of better quality hardware and electronics but could cost significantly more. It worked out to be about $600 NZ cheaper for me to buy this '69 Thinline and have all the mods done to get a better range of sounds out of it - I recently compared it to a '72 Thinline in a local guitar shop and they were very similar - the '72 probably sounded a bit more 'authentic' but was not quite as versatile in my opinion.

My '69 Telecaster Thinline is a 2007 MIM ash model in sunburst that was already in stock at a local store. What caught my immediate attenetion was the playability of the neck. I also play an American Dlx Strat and I found the finish work on the neck and frets of the Tele to be surprisingly well done. I purchased it with the intention of building it up into a blues guitar along the lines of the G&L Blues Boy.

I have added a Callaham bridge with compensated brass saddles, Fralin Blues Special tele pickups and the Torres BluesTone Deluxe wiring kit. In addition to upgrading the pots, this kit adds a stacked knob with standard tone and mid-range cut/boost(no battery)as well as the master volume. It also features a 4 way switch allows the pickups to run in series.

I also upgraded the pickup to a 4 layer tortoise. Even after all the mods the project came it at around $1,000 and saved me quite a bit over the G&L I was looking at with additional features.

I primarily use the Tele for blues and some classic rock songs. I have a hand built Deluxe (5E3) that really seems made to go with this guitar. It does well through any Fender but not so much through my AC4.

I play it straight through the Deluxe or put a G2D CreamTone and AnalogMan analog delay in front.

The Fralin pickups give you the usual range of Tele sounds but they are overwound about 5% so can bring on a little heat when I want them to.

With the Torres wiring kit I have a full range of blues sounds out of this guitar and it's pretty much what I was aiming for.

As I said above the finish of the neck is what first made me look at this Tele seriously. The only real complaint I have is a small drip inside the sound hole.

Since I swapped out the bridge and pickups and then had it professionally setup I never really played with the factory setup.

Well, it is a semi hollow body so needs a little care but otherwise I expect it will stand up just fine. The slot tuners do a great job of staying in tune so I don't plan to replace them for now. With the tortoise pickguard it is a real eye catcher on stage. I always have my Strat Dlx with me so never thought about another backup.

No opinion

I played through college and started playing again seriously 2 years ago. I play with friends and in pickup bands.

I also play an American Dlx. Strat, Ovation T-series acoustic and Epiphone Elitist '65 Casino.

The way I have it set up I love it. Would definately replace it if stolen.

I paid $600.00 mine new and in that price range I was pleasantly surprised with the quality. I planned to swap out hardware from the beginning so I was looking for the right "base" guitar to take on the project. This was definately it!

Rating this a 7 because, being a MIM, Fender had to cut costs somewhere, and they chose componentry. I can't say I blame them, but putting 1meg pots in this guitar, while maybe a little truer to the original, was a silly design choice. Other hardware stuff could have been better. And I'd love it if this thick poly finish was nitro, but then again this would have been a much more expensive guitar had that been the case.

Okay, so here's the deal. Off the shelf, this guitar sounds OK. Now I think we all have that friend who will only use cryogenically frozen pots, or replaces the nut on every guitar he buys, or insists that the tuners need to be upgraded or the guitar will sound like crap. I have a friend like this, and he's a nice guy, but sometimes I think he claims to hear more than he really can based on this sort of stuff. So, when he told me this guitar would sound way better if I replaced the saddles and the pots, I kind of blew him off, until months later I did some research and found that he was actually dead-on this time.

So, here's my layman's explanation of what happened after I made these changes: first of all, I do not really believe that pots affect the tone. Crappy pots might scratch when you turn the knobs, but 250K vs 500K isn't going to make much of a noticeable difference, supposedly the former is a little warmer and more vintage-sounding. Maybe only something you can hear in an A/B test. However! The 1meg pots they put in this guitar will definitely taper differently than anything else, and that's what I was really going for when I swapped them out for 250K's. I wasn't getting a huge change in anything 80% around the dial on the volume knob, but once I got past that point the volume and treble started coming on like gangbusters all the way to 10 (actually, my guitar goes to eleven, but that's a whole 'nother thing). I found this especially difficult to deal with while playing live. After swapping out the pots it's even all the way up from 0 to dimed, and there's no ice-pick shrillness anywhere.

Second, I replaced the stock saddles with standard Allparts brass ones. This was about $40 and I really didn't think it was going to make that big a difference but I was experimenting so I figured, why not? Well, it was a wise move. Everything tightened up in the sound. Much snappier attack, way way better sustained sound. Everything was much clearer. Probably for two reasons - 1, the brass transfers tone better due to its physical qualities compared to the old saddles, and 2, they are much bigger in circumference, which means each string has much more contact area on the saddle. After doing this mod and getting a good setup, this guitar's tonal potential has really started to materialize. As far as I can tell, these pickups are the same ones as they put in the venerable '52 RI, so they didn't slack there and the potential is just waiting to be unleashed. It's all that you'd expect from a true-to-form classic Tele in terms of twang and bite, but somehow thicker and woodier, no doubt due to the Mahogany semi-hollow body. I honestly feel like you could use this guitar for just about any kind of music, from jazz to country to blues to rock to pop to funk... you probably won't get metal out of this axe, but that's about it.

I got this guitar in a trade, so I don't know what it was like brand new. I'd assume okay, but not great. You should always get a setup whenever you get a new guitar, though, unless it feels perfect, which it usually won't be. Fit and finish issues have been covered here already - better components would have been nice, and a nitro finish too, but it is what it is, and for the price point I cannot really complain.

It's a Fender. You don't need to worry about that. I haven't had any problems with this guitar, and I don't expect to have any that I don't cause myself, even with the amount of use it's getting.

Never dealt with them.

I'm a professional working musician and I've been playing about 20 years. I know tone when I hear it, and my goal in life is to make every other guitar player who hears me play jealous of my awesome sound. If I keep playing this Tele I don't think I'll have too much trouble accomplishing that. It's my main guitar, and I use it for just about every gig, usually straight into a '72 Traynor YBA-2B Bass Mate with a JBL D130. Occasionally I'll throw pedals into the mix if they're necessary, but that guitar into that amp is really all I need. Also in the bullpen is an Epiphone Casino, a John Mayer Sig Strat, a Gibson Les Paul Faded Double-Cutaway, and there's a Classic Players '60s Strat on the way. I've also got a Vibrolux Reverb, which definitely sounds best with this guitar. If this guitar were ever to be lost or stolen, I would replace it in a heartbeat with another MIM model. I'm not as wild about the MIJ, although they're certainly quality instruments, but even as it is I kind of want one or two more of these so I can sand off the finish and see how that sounds, and maybe add a Bigsby to one.

The features are pretty much standard for a telecaster, one piece maple neck with skunk stripe, slotted tuners, 21 frets, three saddle adjustable bridge, volume and tone controls. My thinline is the natural mahogany finish (don't be fooled by the pics at MF that look suspiciously "ash" on the natural model)which is actually carved out from the back on both sides of the center block, then capped with anothe thin layer of mahogany. stanard fender style "f hole" on the upper bout, pearloid pickguard.

I had wanted a thinline to add to my two other teles (a '96 american standard with a glendale bridge and compensated brass saddles, and a '72 custom reissue, again with glendale compensated brass saddles)for a while, since hearing some of the great sounds bill frisell is able to get with one. like most teles, it has that familiar snap and twang on the bridge pickup and a beefy, sweeter tone on the neck. The middle position with the stock pickups doesn't do much for me, and seems to suffer from a dip in volume. this isn't a sound i use anyway, so no big deal to me. the single coils are somewhat noisy, but not unexpectedly so. I am currently using it with both a blues junior and a roland cube 60, and i'm able to get nice tones out of both. I am a jazz player (yes, you can play jazz on teles, and it doesn't have to sound like mike stern) so i play predominantly clean, but the thinline will take nicely to a little dirt. In comparison to my other teles, the low end doesn't seem quite as "tight," and the overall tone seems a little more open and woody. you won't be playing hard rock, punk, or meta on this guitar, but for me, rolling the tone knob back a bit and using the neck pickup i am able to get all the sounds i need.

i was a little dissapointed with the overall finish-- i ordered this guitar sight unseen after not being able to find a natural finish in stock in my area. after playing some others, the quality seemed quite consistent, so i ordered with confidence. the problems were essentially all cosmetic, none affecting the overall playability: there was some excess glue residue in the f-hone, as well as a little bubble in the finish right inside the f-holes lip. the brown mahogany stain seems to have somehow stained the rims of the cutouts in the pickguard, and there was a little waxy residue on some of the frets. the string tree was also loose, as was the bushing of one of the tuners. the top was not grain matched as nicely as many i've seen. all of this, aside from the grain match, was easily cleaned/corrected, but my last MIM fender was SPOTLESS, hence, a little dissapointment.

the guitar was set up with .09 gauge strings, and since i use .11's, inevitably i needed to do a little set up. the huge U shape neck didn't budge under the added tension of the thicker strings, and i was able to intonate it rather well with low action and no buzzes using the stock steel saddles-- however, i still changed to a set of brass compensated because i like the softer attack of brass an the improved intonation. very high marks for this end of the category, but points off for the cosmetic issues.

seems very solid, however, being seni hollow, it could never be as "bullet proof" as a regular tele. i have no worries about its overall durability, however, having had great experiences with MIM Fenders in the past.

have not dealt with fender. probably won't have to...telecasters are the most user servicable instruments ever created, so any problems that come up i sould be able to tackle myself.

this is a great guitar overall-- it's really a PLAYER. the big maple neck is easy on chords and feels good during longer playing sessions. Something to keep in mind is that this guitar is fitted with small, vintage style frets and sports a quite round 7.25 fretboard radius. because of this, string bending with low action is difficult-- there needs to be a tradeoff of higher action if you're a big bender. i'm not-- so this doesn't bother me.

if it were stolen (how the hell do you LOSE a guitar?) i would definitle look into buying another. the light weight and playability make it a joy to play, and it's a welcome addition to my tlecaster family:)

Do not play this guitar through a Marshall- It won't do it any justice at all. Previous reviews have noted it's lack of sustain and a particular lack in the clear mid tone which is particularly vulnerable to unforgiving Marshall amps. This guitar would be better off with just a two way selector switch as the middle setting looses volume, tone and sustain which is thoroughly annoying! However- played through a fender hotrod, hughes and ketner or similar warm 'mid' enhancing amps, I feel that there is an addictively smooth blues style tone that can be achieved using the neck pickup. I would recomend this Guitar to someone who enjoys playing with an undistorted sound; it lends it self perfectly to tight, clean, funky riff work. I have replaced the bridge pickup with a Kent Armstrong hot rail which livens it up somewhat. It is not very versatile so I am inclinded to give it a lower score.

Yes- the bridge is rough, unshapely and is severely prone to rusting, especially around the embossed 'FENDER' logo- but perhaps this is an intended quirk in order to retain it's consistency with the 1969 original. No problems with the machine heads. However, the poor quality of the bridge and bridge saddles respectively, do not compliment the ditinct lack of ability to intonate the guitar. This is especially apparent when using a capo. Having three saddles to control six strings was a flaw from conception but is an unfortunate must for keeping it accurate to the original. - it is definately a guitar for the purist but does not suit being a 'main' instrument.

Havin portrayed a fairly negative view of the guitar it does have a robust feel to it. Taking into consideration that it is effectively a semi-accoustic guitar, it does not have the same lightweight, membranous feel as perhaps a Gibson E335 has. I think, once the essential hardware issues have been accounted for, it does score well.

Follow up on earlier review.

Sounds better w/ Fender Samarium Noiseless pickups and S-1 switch, thank you ebay.

I think w/ bigger frets, this guitar might be a keeper.

Just voided the warranty...

With bigger frets, this guitar may turn out to be cool after all...

well documented elsewhere

the original p/u are ok, but it could be a much better guitar if the electronics were spec'd a bit better and higher quality components were use. the bridge is el cheapo, worth about 2 bucks wholesale (seriously). So i added a Torres bluestone deluxe and their 2% overwound tele pickups. Now it's a great guitar - the semi hollow sound mixed with better electronics makes this a real keeper.

no complaints save for the crappy bridge.

n/a

Olymic White w/ exposed (clear coated) wood flames on body and headstock. 69 reissue tele thinline. Two noisy single coils. Vintage tuners (read hard to change strings). Tinted neck w/ vintage frets (read 1 fret dress, then time for re-fret). One volume, one tone, and three selector switch that's hard to operate on the fly due to close proximity to volume knob and wrong angle. Mahogany body and maple neck. 5 for cool paint. 3 for crappy finishing job.

This guitar does not sound good. Playing through Marshall combo and Orange Rocker 30 combo w/ no effects. It just doesn't sound good. There isn't much sustain to it either. I play blues and classic rock.

When I first took it out of the gig bag, I though man, how cool is this guitar? Upon closer inspection, I concluded not very. The top wasn't completely finished when they were in the final buffing stages (I guess? I can see, not feel, some definite roughness in the finish in one location. It's like they missed a spot). The string ferrules on the back of the guitar are mismatched (i.e. different sizes)and crooked in their respective holes. The paint in the f-hole is rough and unfinished. Plays ok I guess.

I would compare the quality of this guitar to Wal-Mart's First Act series. Maybe not as good...

Won't have this guitar long enough to know.

Been playing 20 yrs. Own 2 Les Pauls, a PRS custom 22, 3 strats, a '72 tele reissue, a jazz bass, and other misc. guitars. I thought this would be a cool guitar that no one else had. The quality control on this axe was seriously lacking. There are definitely better guitars out there for $700.00.

2003 model Lake Placid blue, maple neck MIM very light weight . nice job on the finish ,have read others had drip edegs not mine . Sounds great with the stock pickups ,no nastys here

I play in both a country band and rock and blues band. Not a death metal machine but I would'nt be playing death metal anyway,Play through an original 65 deluxe reverb and this thing sounds great. Get a nice stinging lead on the bridge ,great rhythm in middle position,and that Johnny Cash do waka do waka in front.

Thing was setup great right from showroom. Played out last night with it and for some unknown reason broke my A string. Am pretty rough on my guitars playing wise so maybe it's me.No flaws as I can see or feel. Fender Mexico did a really great job on this baby.

Only time will tell. I was complimented on how great it sounds from the guys in the band . { which means alot}

Press 1 for customer support ,press 2 for bull$%^&. I have my own fender repairman no need to deal with this California attitude

I own about 35 guitars from Strats ,Tele's , Les Pauls , an ES 5 ,for the price ,sound and quality I think it will serve my needs well. Bought another one in pink , I put it away for my granddaughter.

Added Seymour Duncan Alnico 2 pickups and 4 way switch for parallel and series wiring of bridge and neck p/u. Added shielding though cannot shield all of cavity due to hollow body (but still she is quiet).
Mahogany body, all else is stock. Bought new in 2004
rated 9 only because stock pickups are noisy and body finish dripped into f hole a little. Does not affect sound!

Running through a Mesa Nomad 45. Played two years in a funk/soul/country/rock band. It is quiet with new pickups. It has a mellow but creamy distortion sound. I can play acoustic and very hard rock. I also have an american deluxe strat with EMG David Gilmour active pickups which cuts through but I still go back to this one because of the sweet sounds in all genres. Really the Alnico 2's are the ticket and makes this guitar a sweet machine. Like we have been fooling ourselves all these years with hotter pickups (alnico 5's)which is fine for a 1/2 hour then you wonder why you put your guitar down(too punchy)!

I set the action myself, factory was ok.
no real flaws except you get what you pay for.

dropped it once and fracture the finish but as it should with any guitar. No affect to the sound.

Playing for 25 years. I have money to buy any guitar I want and practically have, but there nothing more I want. Definitely would buy again.
I like that the U shaped neck helps promote pinky finger playing (forces thumb on back middle of neck so more reach) and I can feel it resonate (good fat maple may be plus). Body is light and is easy to throw around. Did not cost me a fortune. Since putting the SD alinco 2's i cannot tell if I lost the Fender sound. But I play acoustic Yes and currently I am learning Deep Purple Burn and all is sweet with the same guitar. I really like the smaller frets. My one concern is that it is creamy crunchy sitting in front of your amp at home. On the job it may not cut through because the mellower pickups blend the strings. This is something I noticed by having active pickups on my strat that they cut through well but are not pretty sounding. Don't get me wrong, I love my Van Halen sound on my tele, only the downfall of a sweet guitar is cutting through live IMO. Drool factor of 11. If I can answer more questions contact me at my e-mail below.

f hole actually effects the sound love the sound of this guitar

this guitar sounds so good one problem is the bridge p/u is kinda buzzy, thinking of getting a new set of pick ups possibly the vintage noiseless but i wanna hear them first, but anyways this guitar has shimmering highs and clear mids and a tight low end.

action is the best part of this guitar it is so easy to play, love the neck on it

havent had a single problem yet

love this guitar so much i choise it for my guitar crossed with a bass tattoo on my arm..such a pretty guitar and plays like a dream on complaint is its a bit noisy. i play reggea ska punk metal rock all kinds of music and granted i love this guitar more for reggea rock and ska than i do for metal or punk but it can deffenetly pull off metal and punk but if i were serious about those genres i would probally buy a les paul or sg

1999, MIM, mahogany semi-hollow body in natural finish. This guitar is really beautiful. Changed the pots to 250K(CTS), switched the SS saddles to compensated brass and switched the bridge pup to a GFS FAT TC Alnico that I found on ebay for really cheap. Has a sweet fat back C-style maple neck, 7.25 radius w/ vintage style frets. They threw in a cheap (non-original) gig bag. What I really like about this guitar is that it has all the 50's style appointments on a hollow body. Ashtray bridge and the original wiring set-up.

I owned a '74 for a while (which was just alright, the pup we're way too dark and way too bright in tonal terms w/ each other) tried every Tele in the shop the day I bought this guitar, (w/ absolutely no intention of buying any this or any guitar). They had a couple late 60's and few early to mid 70's Tele's that were all so heavy and soooo mediocre. But, while leaving the shop I saw this guitar and just though, ah, what the heck, and picked her up... first off, she was SO light! Then I felt the neck and was amazed @ the beef she had. When I plugged her in I realized that she was very bright, but still had a nice ringing tone. I knew that these guitars had cheap pups and 1 meg pots in them that totally make the "ice-pick man cometh". But after switching the pots, saddles, bridge pup and putting on 11's this this is now 'da bomb'! I like the sound of the neck pup, sweet and mellow and it blends well w/ the GFS pup. I've been looking for an inexpensive guitar that would sound really good, be able take on the road and wouldn't have to worry about or cry over if it were banged up or stolen. (my main ax is a '56 Les Paul Special, that has seen far to much touring abuse). well this is the guitar! As well, a great repair guy / friend of mine told me that the ones MIM are made w/ Honduras mohagany?! Very cool!

After a bit of tweeking, pup adjustment and heavier strings, she's awesome.

This guit is ready for pretty much everything you want to give her. The hollow body gives it that woody sustain when you open your amp up. It's somewhere b/w a Tele and a 335, (Just what I was looking for). Had to super-glue the string ferrules as they fell out when changing strings, and there is a little finish spray in the F-hole, but who cares?). Original style late 60's poly finish, it ain't nitro, but it's true to vintage form and that's fine. Been using this guitar for a few different songer/sing-writer gigs and all I can say is... wow man, this guitar just SMOKES!

I'd deal w/ it myself before ever calling Fender.

After some tweeking, this guitar really rocks! great tones, super light and a total looker. I might try another bridge pup (thinking about the SD Jerry Donahue) to see if it could be a bit sweeter/fatter, but w/ good tone-pot manipulation she's bringing me lots of really really good tones and kickin' out the jams. If stolen, I'd be bummed but not devastated, and would definitely try to find another one as quickly as possible.

This is a semi hollow body of mahogany finished in Lake Placid Blue. There were only a few of this color in the country. I ordered mine through Morrison Music in Missisippi.
This guitar is absolutely beautiful. I replaced all pots to 250K(CTS),new guitar input jack and a 4 way PU selector switch. I changed the PU's to Lindy Fralin Broadcaster hybred stagger. I also shielded it. Now this guitar has multiple guitar tones from which to draw upon. A true tone stick deluxe.

When I recieved the guitar I was suprised by how bright it sounded, especially with a Mahogany , Semi hollow body. I was told that the 1meg pots brightened up the tone. The guitar unpluged sounded bright. I changed the parts as discribed and put on Fender nickle 150's 10 gage. I can't tell you how different this guitar sounds. This is a true professional instrument. It sounds clean as can be. The 4 way switch gives you the added Bridge/Neck PU in parraell just like a Humbucker with a touch of single coil. I have to say that this guitar gives back what you put into it. I now have to practice more to sound better! The fralin pick ups are very good but very different from the stock Tele Pick ups, a lot of head room. This sound can cut through the busiest mixes. It is the guitar eqivelent to a ferrari. Be cautious before you step on the gas petal.

There is No difference between this guitar and a American made Tele. The neck even has a little flame to it.
The difference is in the electronics and strings. The finish is beyond beautiful. yes it had some glue in the F hole but not noticable.The guitar plays every note perfect. Frets, neck joint are perfect.

This is my backup guitar on gigs and I belive it will cause me no problems now that the electronics are changed. My number 1 is a 52 Tele reissue is truely a great guitar and indestructable. I will treat my Blue baby with a little extra care because of the finish, But is a Tele and will outlast us all.

I don't need to deal with Fender, My guitar tech fixes all and sets up to perfection.

Very clean responsive guitar. Not a hollow body sound but a great Tele sound. Fralin pick ups are a great addition. This baby can do chicken picken to chords and all sounds in between.

1998 MIM natural finish mahogany body. Late 60s style slightly chunky 'C' neck with maple fretboard and vintage 7.25" radius. Thin frets. Ashtray style bridge with 3 steel saddles. MOTO scratchplate. Came with 1meg volume and tone pots. I replaced the volume pot with a 250K but I kept the 1meg pot for the tone, although I converted it to a no-load by opening it and scraping a bit of the carbon off.
I'd bought a Duncan Alnico2 bridge pickup assuming that it would need an upgrade (being MIM) but it sounded so good when it arrived I left the pickups alone. When I opened it up to shield it I found that the previous owner had put a USA Fender standard bridge pickup in. I can't tell if the neck pickup is stock or not, but I like it in any case.
Rating 'features' from 1 to 10 is irrelevent with a telecaster so I won't.

Wonderful. I find this to be the best sounding telecaster I've ever had, and the other guys in my band agree. It sounds like you'd expect a tele to sound, but there is a sort of hollow 'something' to the tone as well. It's especially noticable on the neck pickup. It reminds me a little of the sound of an ES335 or a P90 equipped guitar. It's hard to describe but there's a clarity and tightness to the sound compared to my other conventional tele...but still with that woody openness you get with a hollow body. More harmonics and overtones it seems too. More 'musical'.
I play in a wedding band where we do several styles of music in the same gig and I find it will deal with everything. I play mostly clean straight into a Fender Blues Junior amp and all 3 pickup settings are excellent. Country, blues, rock, ballads....it's all there. And using a Tubescreamer as an overdrive boost it gets mean but still tight and not mushy at all. With high gain or high volume you'd probably get the same feedback problems you'd get with any hollow guitar, though.

I got it secondhand but in mint condition. The control cavities weren't shielded and there was no ground/earth on the bridge/strings. The nut was cut adequately but not incredibly well, but that's usual for Fender guitars I find. I shielded the guitar and set the nut and action to my liking and it's now as good to play as any guitar I've ever owned.

Everything seems A+ and solid. I would gig it without a backup.

N/A

I've played since 1969 and I've had lots of guitars. Gibson, Yamaha, Ibanez.....etc. But the past several years I've gone Fender, and then exclusively telecaster. They just work for me. Simple and straightforward but incredibly responsive and versatile. This thinline tele is undoubtably the best of the bunch so far. There's something 'refined' about its sound that I really like. I will definitely be keeping this, or replacing it with another it is is ever lost or stolen. No doubt at all.
Another bonus is the weight. It's incredibly light which is a help on long gigs. It means that it's a little bit neck heavy, but I find that using a strap that isn't too slick....ie, is made of a material with some friction...keeps it steady.

2003 "Made in Mexico" '69 Telecaster Thinline reissue. I bought it basically new from eBay (still had hangtags, etc). 3-tone sunburst model with semi-hollow body. I believe the wings are hollow and the center is solid. Not too light, not too heavy. Nice feel. Very pretty. The 3-tone sunburt (with red color) is ash, and the 2-tone is mahogany I believe. 2 single coil "vintage" Tele pickus, standard 5-way switch, volume & tone knobs. Basic Tele setup. Neck is maple and has a nice gloss to it. Tuners work well (period-correct "F" tuner, cool looking). I love the logo on the headstock. Came with deluxe gigbag. I give it a 10 because it is the most simple and effective design ever - just perfect.

The sound is very much like a standard '50s tele, but with a little more woodiness to the tone, especially the higher you go on the fretboard. Very bouncy, has great twang to it. Neck pickup alone sounds warm & rich, neck & bridge together is my favorite setting and is incredibly full. I fell in love with the sound & feel at a guitar store, you really must play one. The sound is a little harsh on the bridge pickup. I play through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe and this combo is great. Single coil hums are present, no biggie. Very bright & full sound. The guitar works well for any clean to mildly overdriven sounds, '60s rock, country, blues, etc. The reason I bought it is because it has a great, bright, bouncy surf sound with lots of reverb. The reviewer below wasn't kidding when he said this guitar is a surf machine. I only wish it has a bigsby unit for vibrato, but oh well. If you want me to prove it, go to this site and listen to the track "Rocketing Rhythms":

http://garageband.com/artist/ecchoingbleu

I used this guitar through my Hot Rod.

Well, I got it used but I have no complaints. Everything is simple and reliable. I love my other guitars (I have a Cyclone II and a Jazzmaster), but this is the workhorse. I'll usually grab this one first unless I need vibrato. The body style is a little uncomfortable (you can't beat the contours of a Jazzmaster), but I've gotten used to it. I didn't notice any flaws except a little of the paint in the F-hole, whatever.

Very reliable. Like any guitar, it needs to be setup and maintained. The tuning is as stable as anything else. Very solid overall.

I haven't dealt with Fender, but I bought it used anyway.

I've been playing for 10 years. I have a Jazzmaster and a Cyclone II. This one has the most versatile sound. I love this guitar as well as my other 2. I would buy it again without a doubt. They go for around $670 new, so look on eBay and look used - they sell for much cheaper. If you hunt, you might be able to get one for under $400.

2000 Thinline '69 Telcaster classic reissue series Hecho in Mexico. Stock neck pick up on this one is awesome (like a P90) I tried many guitars before I decided on this one and when I heard this neck pick up, I fell in love. I use all tube black face fender amps, so the neck pick up moans and groans perfectly. People constantly comment on the tone and sound. It's a tone monster. I put a Vintage 52 Symore Duncan in the lead/bridge position. The stock pick up was too harsh and bright for my taste. Maple neck, 21 fret, 3 tone sunburst (wanted the all black model, but this baby felt right). I replaced the steel saddles for brass, to warm this firecracker up. The tuners are stock and stay in tune, (better than my original '75 hardtail strat with the same style tuners). Came with a gig bag, great for transporting and storing from gig to home, better than the heavy cases etc. I really got used to the gig bags and now use them on all 5 of my guitars. I use (11's) power slinky strings and this baby is a rhythm machine. Neck pick up is smooth for blues/jazz rock, pop. middle position is perfect for country or chiming tones, while the lead is all tele. This is a very versital axe baby!

My band plays retro style Rock-Pop-Country and Soul music, so this baby makes the transition smoothly with the touch of the pick up selector switch. I play clean and use a Fulltone fat boost stomp box for a clean boost on the leads, and a fulltone fulldrive 2 for some dirt/distortion when needed. I primaraly use a '67 Deluxe Reverb, and it sounds like heaven. Lot's of hum and buzz near some electrical sources, in lead and neck position, but it stops when it's in the middle position (?) I love the weight, (under 7 pounds) but do not like the wierd buzz on the open high E string when strummed open. It also does not sustain as long as the other strings when played open. (?) I had to replace the pick up selector switch, it went bad after a year.

Every thing was changed to my specs. No problems with the neck. You can pick out a good one if you are worried about the finish and fit. No matter what, each guitar is different and should be judged on a one to one basis.

This guitar has been just fine live and jamming at home. It has been more than dependable with just the gig bag to transport it. It stays in tune at the gig and on breaks. Strap buttons are good, I would use it without a back up any day, but I break strings a lot because I play with a heavy hand, so I always have a back up.

Not needed.

I have been playing for 18 years, My main guitars are a Mexican Squire '92 strat, plays like a dream, and '50's silvertone Jupiter model. If stolen, or lost I would buy another in a second. My favorite thing about it is the light weight and the tone versatility for the price. I love the good sounding cheap guitars and this one is one of the best I have ever encountered for the money.

Mexican made (poorly at that).
Does not compare to Japanese or Korean made guitars.

Natural brown finish.
Excellent looking guitar.

1M pots do not belong in this guitar.

Wiring and grounding was not as good as it should have been.

Pickups are OK but not as good as American version.

I am a little biased because I play harder music than this guitar can put out.

I bought it to play some pop stuff, but it does not take distortion well at all. It feeds back and non-fretted strings vibrate with almost any distortion.

I replaced the pickups with noiseless pickups and completely rewired it, replacing the 1M post with american made pots and I shielded the cavities. I also grounded it correctly, according to Guitar Center, and this made a big difference in the noise level.

The finish was beautiful but the hardware and wiring sucked.

If you don't rewire it then it will probably not last as long as it should.

The body and neck seem as good as any non-American made guitar.

Who has customer service now-a-days?

I have no plans to wait on hold for an hour to be told that they can't help me.

I have to admit that it does have that "1,000 pound violin" quality on clean sounds or very, very low distortion.

It you are a country picker or maybe even a light blues player, then this would be a good guitar.

This guitar should come with a sticker that has a picture of some balls with a red cirlce and a line through it.
No balls in this guitar at all.

2001 Mexican, natural mahogany with pearloid pickguard and maple neck, originally had 2 single coils, but I modified them, replacing the neck pickup with a Fender '72 custom humbucker, and the bridge with a vintage noiseless. I replaced the bridge and put in a Bigsby.

I use this guitar for country, rockabilly, and a Stones' type sound. I play it through a Peavey Delta Blues 210, with A Line 6 FM4 filter modeler, a Uni-vibe, a Boss BD-2 Blues Driver, An electroharmonix small stone, and a Danelectro dan-echo for effects. I found the bridge pickup to be too noisy, so I replaced it with a Fender vintage noiseless tele bridge pickup. I replaced the neck p/u with a Fender '72 custom humbucker, to make the guitar more versatile a player. I wanted to make thi like a Fender custom shop guitar, without the price, so I bought the parts, and had a luthier/tech do the work. Now I can get classic tele tones and warm humbucker tones at the same time. The addition of the bigsby gives me a great rockabilly vibe, and gives the guitar a real curiosity factor when I take it out. The middle switch position gives me a real blended unique sound.

Plays well, set up perfectly when purchased, and an aesthetically beautiful guitar.

Great guitar, stays in tune, sounds great. I think this is probably the best Fender coming across the border. Nonetheless, I would never gig without a backup no matter what guitar I had.

I did have a bit of a hard time getting them to get back to me over the phone, and to send me just one pickup that was not available through their standard catalogue. My buddy at the local vintage shop was able to do this for me, but it was more of a hassle than necessary.

I have been playing for 21 years. After making the alterations I mentioned, I could not be happier about this guitar. It is pretty and it sounds great. However, onlly after taking it home did the weak neck p/u, and the hissy bridge pickup really stand out to me. I find the action to be the most appealing factor of this guitar, as it is a bigger neck than most Fenders, and you can really wrestle with it. I own several other guitars (teles, strat, Gibsons) but htis is my favorite to play out as it is uniquely my own.

Serial Number dates this thing to 98', Mexican (but don't let that fool you, this thing is a player.) Body is Mahogany -chambered semi-hollow and single f-hole on top.Natural Finish as well. Has your standard Tele Pickup configuration with vintage ashtray 3-saddle bridge (string-thru body) One piece maple neck. One of the things that stood out the most to me was the fact that this thing came with 1 meg pots! I had expected 250k just like most single coil guitars, but the 1 meg pots really give this thing a great classic tele tone.

I play a lot of blues stuff, and I have a few strats and a nashville tele, but I was looking for something to give me that classic tele twang. this guitar did not disapoint. The semi-hollow desing on this thing just projects the sound like no other. With the neck pickup I can get a rather smooth tone not unlike with my strats, but its the neck/bridge and bridge positions that I have fallen in love with on this thing. in the middle it gives you a nice crisp quack tone with a little bark (maybe due to the 1 meg pots). and I can get some good thick sounds out of the bridge with a bit of gain. I usually play through a Fender twin reverb, or direct through a POD depending on the gig. the one thing that I have discovered is, that when a give the amp a little gain and a ton of reverb, this thing is a regular surf machine. I can nail those dick dale-like tones with this tele probably better than with any of my strats. So to sum it up, this guitar seems to suit all my needs from, blues, rock, surf, country and then some.

Bought the guitar used on Ebay- setup was okay, but I did a little tweaking to suit my needs. The guitar seems to have been well taken care of and seems very solid. Since it is a semi-hollow, it is surprizingly light. have had no problems with in-put jack as other tele owners mentioned. Fender could have probably paid more attention to detail around the F-hole. there are some slight glue marks, but nother to affect the tone or my decision to purchase this thing. I did need to replace the pick-up selector switch knob but that is about it.

durable yes. I have gigged with this baby several times and she has never let me down. (keep in mind I don't get crazy on stage and throw it in the air or anything!) Its a mexican guitar so its got a poly finish, but It still looks great to me. as far as holding up over time. i see no reason it won't. This guitar is a step above any other mexian fender product I have played. perhaps because of the fact that its a reissue.

never had to use it

I have been playing for about 15 years and have owned everything from gibbys to fenders to danos, dearmond, and other I can't recall. I like just about anything, but there has always been a special place in my heart for Fender. This is only my second tele, but it has already got me gasing for another one. if you are looking for a solid semi-hollow body with a sexy vintage look and classic tele sound...look no further!

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).