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.

(continued below)

(from above)

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.

(continued below)

(from above)

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).

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.

This is a 1986 Japanese made tele. It has a natural wood finish, perloid pickguard, 1 volume, 1 tone, and to single coil pickups. The key difference with this guitar than the other teles out there is that it is partially hollow with an f-hole. The tuners were replaced when I bought it, and they work great. I wouldn't trade this guitar for anything!

For most all styles of play, this guitar sounds great. It is a little noisy, but it is an old guitar that i have to do some work on. I use it mostly with a Marshall tube combo, and it has that nice american sound. My biggest complaint is that for some ballsier styles, it doesn't get quite enough gain, but it is a tele, so i didn't really expect that. This is a great blues, emo, or rock guitar.

I bought it used and the guitar had just been set up. The finish is really nice. The pickup selector is messed up, so I have to take it to the shop, but other than that, this is an awesome guitar.

I would depend on this for any gig w/o a backup. The hardware is all good, but of course, put on straplocks as a precautionarry measure.

n/a

If you're considering this, get it.

Japanese-made. The serial on this one dates 1986: Sem-Hollow Tele; vintage-style bridge (which i love for some reason - the new tele bridges confuse me after having played this one for going on five years now), Gotoh tuners (these may have been an after-market touch), mahogany body, natural finish. Standard "vinatge" (aka cheapie) Tele Pikcups.
The neck on this is very thin and has a very small radius. I know a lot of players who find it akward and a little weak, but for my style (which includes a lot of bending of minor thirds and more), it's a dream. Maple neck with maple fretboard, both dyed to look a little older. okay enough babble - other than the f-hole, this guitar is pretty standard, but extremely functional.

I play a lot of blues / rock, and many many solos. I've been on an SRV kick for the last year or so, so this poor baby's been kinda shelved, since my Strat is much more suited to that sound (of course). This guitar gets a really apt Jimmy Page kinda sound (keeping in mind he used Teles in the studio extensively), which is right up my alley since Jimmy is one of my heros.
But this guitar gets a really wide range of sounds. It really squeals on the bridge pickup (and i mean that in a good way) - I usually use the bridge for lead tones, and when i'm putting it through lots of overdrive. It's not always great for clean sounds, but whne you want that twang, it's always there.
The neck pickup is great for clean rhythm sounds - and it shines! I use this position more than any others. It's also incredible for distorted leads, since it gets that squishy, single coil attack sound when it goes through my Big Muff.
THe middle position is awesome too, but enough on that.
I play through a varying array of effects pedals into a crappy amp that i plan on replacing with something better very soon. However, when playing live, I mostly borrow my buddy's Hot Rod DeVille, which brings the nuances of this guitar out really well (though i don't think I'd get a Hot Rod for myself). THis guitar plays just about everything I want it to, though it's worth noting that I don't play an metal. This guitar is NOT a metal guitar (though the bridge pup's tone might be apt in some cases for metal-kinda leads).
This guitar is MUCH less noisy than my strat, but the pickups could use a little more balls. I'm considering putting some Lace pup's in to get rid of the noise and for more clarity. But this guitar has served me SO well for the four or five year's i've been playing it.

I got this guitar used, and after i had it set up it played incredibly. I have to get it set up again (it's been a very long time), but i'm dead broke. This might be another part of the reason i'm not playing it as often - it's turning into a lot of work. But when it's well-adjusted, this thing is my best friend.
The body and finish are all fine, except for the big ding i put in the top (i won't explain because i'm still ashamed). I can't complain about the beauty of this guitar.

The only problem I can say I've had with this guitar is the pickup switch crapped out on me about a year after i got it. But this problem is definitely endemic to the Japanese made strats. WHen i got my 50's re-issue Strat (Japanese made), the first thing i did was replace the pup switch.
This guitar is a MACHINE. I play the hell out of it, and it keeps coming back for more.
I put strap-locks on it, and since then i haven't had any trouble (i blame all strap problems on the shitty straps i prefer to use).

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing for going on six years, and not to pat myself on the back, but I've done a hell of a lot in those six years. I consider myself versatile and most of all demanding. This guitar suits my needs very well. This was my first electric guitar - I picked it because it was unique and played well. I don't think i even plugged it in then.
If it were stolen or lost, I'd cry a lot. I woudln't replace it if it came up missing because i can't afford one, but I'd track down the piece of trash who stole it and teach him a hell of a lesson.
I just wish it had a beefier clean sound on the bridge. But that's the tele sound for you. The clean tone on the neck pup is more than enough to make up for this inadequacy.
In closing - I really love this guitar.

Japanese, '97... Semi-acoustic in natural finish (Ash, I think), single F-hole, maple neck, and pearloid pickguard. Two single coils, 3-way-selecter, tone volume.

No extra features... the bare minimum for a guitar, but the fact that it's a semi-acoustic evolution of the very earliest Fenders (like the tele-like Nocaster) give it a uniqueness.

I've mainly seen this guitar used by country and blues players... I play an electic mix of stuff, and already having a rock guitar, wanted a smoother, cleaner sound. Unplugged, it's fairly quiet for a semi, but louder than a solid body and very well balanced, giving a nice rich sound.

Plugged in, clean, you can probably get away with using it in place of an acoustic on the rythm setting with a little tone rolled off - it hasn't got the same ring, but the smoothness and body and the fact it's a semi using single coils not humbuckers make for an interesting sound that can certainly be used in a band situation and sounds better than most electrics do clean.

Of course, this means that cranking the thing up for a heavy rythm sound is a challenge. The middle setting is probably best for this as the bridge pick-up is rather clangy on it's own, but there's not enough edge on the neck pick-up.

For lead, both neck and bridge are interesting, the neck for a smooth jazz sound and the bridge for more traditional, but warmer, Tele kind of sound.

Very warm, fairly versatile, but not one for heavy rockers and punks. I personally love it as it's just so smooth, without being too bassy.

FANTASTIC build... the finish is superb, although can chip but it's not noticable and the small dings in the varnish could probably be easily touched up. Everything appears to be seated well and the neck is gorgeous to play, with the frets finished to perfection. Only cosmetic gripe is inside the F-hole, where the finish on the inside edge could be neater.

Stays in tune better than any guitar I've spent a lot of time with too... it can last a gig without anything more than the odd tweak. The Gotoh tuners are fantastic.

The scratchplate looks great, and the edges are finished to perfection, with no tabs. As usual with a lot of Teles though, the selector switch knob has gone walkabout...

All good apart from very tiny features. I haven't seen the american version, but apart from higher grade components, I can't see that there would be a large difference.

I've just cleaned it, and after four years of good (though little gigging) use, it looks fantastic... only very tiny dings, very little rust, too, with only one noticable tarnished screw to the top of the neck pickup. Considering a lot of showroom guitars are missing the Selector switch knobs, It looks better than some!

Never failed on me... the strap buttons aren't the most solid out there, but other than that, it seems pretty durable. Only problem I've had is I had to fix one of the tone pots as it proved to be a little delicate on removing the scratchplate, but it was fixable without having to by a new pot.

With a little care, I expect it to last a lifetime as a studio guitar, or have a good gigging career. I haven't dropped it, but I reckon it would survive... I've whacked it pretty hard and it's still working.

This isn't a rock guitar, but if you want something a little more mellow which can still sound good with moderate distortion, has a smooth clean rythm and a nice thick lead sound, this is a great guitar. If you love the feel of Teles, but want a different sound, then it's also great.

It won't be for everyone, as the sound is quite unique for a fender, and for a semi-acoustic - It's not as hollow as most, so don't be disappointed when it lacks the resonance of a Gibson semi. However, I love it. Don't compare it to other guitars and take it on it's own merit.

1990 model, mahogany, two single coils, Made in Japan. Fat maple neck with separate maple fretboard. rear skunk stripe for truss rod, gotoh tuners. Natural finish, white pearly pickguard. Str8 ahead three way tele switch, one vol and one tone knob.

I had played tele copies ranging from crap (Hondo) to nice (G&L) and wanted the real thing. This guitar disappointed me; I realize it is not the standard solid tele, but I did not even get the hollow body sound I wanted on blues or jazz tunes. the neck pickup was weak, the bridge pickup was thin and extremely prone to squealing. Overall it had an okay clean sound, rather pretty through the right amp with a little reverb, but not commensurate with the brand name hype or the price paid!
I also swapped the neck to a Carvin replacement for the bigger frets and flatter radius (see below) but this only made the sound more anemic.

The low vintage frets made it tough for me as I was used to the more modern G&Ls but that personal preference aside it did play very nicely. I soon put a Carvin wider & flatter neck with tall frets on it and it played better for my soloing but I put the original neck back on pretty quickly as that ruined the overall look and vibe of the guitar.
When purchasing it I spent a good 3-4 hours playing every Fender tele on the wall from Squiers to the expensive American Historic '52 model (this was pre-Custom shop and pre-Mexico). They all ranged from bad to worse. BUT- There were two identical Japanes thinline '69 reissues, both played perfectly. Beautiful wood, light weight, excellent set-up, they put both the Korean and USA- mades to shame. I couldn't even decide between the two, they were so consistent (I noticed this with most Japanese Fenders throughout the 80s). I closed my eyes and did an eenie meenie mannie moo.
The flamey wood grain and beautiful finish really got me a lot of compliments!

The guitar went dead the second time I used it, neccesitating a resolder as the studio clock ticked and my band's money went down the toilet. #%&$* Fender!!
Other than that I guess it was okay.

never dealt with

I guess this guitar is okay if you must have a thinline tele and can't afford the vintage models. However, this was about all that was around in 1990; now there are many psuedo-Teles (G&L, etc) form low priced to supre high end and I think you can do much better. I would NOT buy one again and I sold it to my band's singer for half of what I paid for it. ( No resale value on the Japanese Fenders although I feel that has slowly begun to change). At the very least I would encourage Fender enthusiasts to check out the 70s reissue with humbuckers; not quite the standard Tele sound, but you won't get that with the semi hollow body anyway. Perhaps those HB pups will give you a little extra pop! Mine certainly needed it!
About the only time I really enjoyed this guitar was when I set it up as a Nashville fake 12 string (using high string tuning to emulate a 12 string with 6 strings) A very nice sound I used on ballads to fill out my band's sound which I don't think I could have done with a solidbody as well.

1998, Japan, Mahogany, Wilkinson bridge, Tele texas Special pickups, natural finish, white pearly pickguard, maple neck

beautiful sound, more bass than your average solidbody Tele, I highly recommend swithing your stock pickups for fender texas Specials

I removed the Wilkinson bridge an installed a vintage 3-saddle bridge, so I set it up and reintonated it myself

check adrianesparza.com---I use it a lot for live work, plus, I am a session guitar player at El Paso's Rosewood Studios. I played it on a Mexican disco record last week. It was great!

Chris Grimmett--he is a super cool dude--see below

I love this guitar! Que viva el '69!!!!!!

Amazing reissue of a '69 Thinline Tele. Made in Mexico, I bought this guitar brand new, natural mahogany body, maple neck and fretborad. It came stock with 2 vintage Fender pickups (neck & bridge), through the body vintage 3-saddle bridge, vintage F-tuners, and pearloid pickguard. Semi-hollowbody, this thing feels like your could play for 8 hours straight without any cramping in your shoulder, man this thing is light. I've been playing Strats for some 8 years now, but I've always wanted a good quality Tele. Feature-wise this is thing is pretty simple 1-volume control, 1 tone control, just the way I like 'em. Bout the only thing I would add or change would be to install some locking tuners, not that it has problems staying in tune, it's just a good precautionary measure I think I'll take.

I play in a very eclectic band, mainly blues-rock, but we delve into a little harder rock, jazz, funk, and some acoustic-driven folk/country. I have to say this guitar keeps up pretty well. It's been played through a variety of amps, Marshall JCM 800, Fender Blue's Junior, a small Peavey, and some old Yamaha. My effects consist of a Crybaby, Danelectro Overdrive, Tube Screamer, and delay. No getting around it this guitar is noisy, clean, overdrive, it doesn't matter, but hey what do you expect from single coil pickups, set into a hollowbody? Deal with it, the tone is fabulous (learn to use your volume control). Running clean on the bridge you get that classic Tele twang, switch to the bridge, you get a real full bodied sound perfect for open chords, or a nice warm lead tone (I prefer playing lead in the bridge position), roll the tone back a bit and it seems to accentuate the hollowbody characteristic, nice for some sweet jazz chording, throw on some overdrive and a wah you can conjure up some sweet tones reminiscent of 60's Cream/Hendrix (no lie, try it out), this guitar sings. If you need a variety of tone and sound, but can't afford three of four separate guitars I highly recommend one of these babies.

Beautiful guitar, this is a natural mahogany body, and the wood grain shows up really nice. Nice dark brown in color, everything was set pretty well, the neck, frets, really nice quality work, (like I said dont' be fooled by the "Made In Mexico" label). The action was nice, came with Bullet 9's on it, exchanged those with some Super 250's, setting the intonation is a little trickier than a 6-saddle bridge, but not a real hassle. The only real "flaw" is some overspray in the f-hole (which appears to be a common problem), and a little glue residue along the edge of the hole, it easily rubbed off. There were also some minor scratches along the sides of the bridge, almost like etches in the metal (???) Nothing major, not even noticable until you getting really close and go over the guitar, not sure if it was from the factory or from the store I bought it at (nothing that would have stopped me from buying it - I just expect it to be "perfect" if you buy it brand new)

Notched a nick in the headstock after banging it pretty hard on a cymbal stand, the thing didn't lose it's tuning, the neck held up fine. So I'll say it's pretty reliable, no problem with the electronics. I am going to put some strap locks on it, just to be safe. It seems to be a pretty solid chunk of wood though. I've played it live numerous times, and counltess hours at home, all I've had to do is change strings. I have played it live without a back-up, not a good thing, it's never wise to play without a back-up, changing a broken string during a harmonica solo is kind of tacky.

Never had any reason to call Fender. So I can't say how good customer support is.

Playing Strats for awhile, I was wanting something different. I tested several guitars, until I realized I wanted a Tele, I played a Deluxe Nashville, Muddy Waters Sig. Model, finally decided on a nice American Std,....until I picked up this '69 Thinline, it had a real "lively" sound. This guitar has quickly worked it's way as my "number one". It's got a beautiful sound, and I would definetly get another one if I lost it, in fact I hope to get another one as a back-up. Workmanship, and reliabilty aside (which themselves are high-quality) this guitar has a voice that's very unique, yet at times very familiar and for the versatility of tone and price you can't go wrong.

I just purchased this Tele, new. It is a Mexican Reissue of the original Telecaster Thinline. Maple Neck, Vintage (small)Frets, Dark Natural Finish Mahagony Body, Fender Tex-Mex Pick-ups, Three piece vintage Tele bridge. Having owned many tele's over the last 35 years, I can say this is very authentic.

Reissue or not, US, Mexico, Japan or whatever. This is the sweetest sounding Telecaster I've ever played. I picked it up and it made me sound better. The original thinline always combined some of the best Fender tone components and balanced the sweet fender tone with the bright and twangy tones. This one is, maybe, better. The Tex-Mex neck pick-up combined with the semi-hollow mahagony and the maple neck and thin frets, gives you a perfect balance. What is so amazing is the depth of the tone and the nuances. It's the kinda thing you pay thousands for in a vintage guitar. I could go on forever. In the neck position I get this really thick, creamy tone but still plenty of presence and snap. Think SRV tones. In the middle postion - it's twangy and funky but still fat. The bridge just screams. I play blues, R&B, and blues influenced jazz. I generally play pretty clean - this guitar really works for me.
The down side - NOISE. The pick-ups hum like crazy. At first I cranked my noise gate to get rid of it but it was really compressing the sound at that level. I'm just playing louder and letting the chips fall. It's worth it. One other thing - if you're not familiar with Teles you should know that the high E has somewhat less output on a tele than most any other guitars. The great Tele-masters play around it. Dig in on that E string and it sounds fine.

I ordered it fro Musicians friend. I came direct from Fender. Almost perfect. I did go in and loosen the neck a little. Warning, the truss rod can't be adjusted without removing the neck. But that was probably more my preference. The action is low. The frets are just beautifully finished. Overall finish is flawless. Well...there some overspray of some sort visible through the "f" hole.

Who knows? My experience with Mexican Fenders has been good. Until fender raised the bar on the Amewrican Series last year, I really couldn't tell the difference.
I buy guitars about as often as I buy Big Macs (a lot), but I gotta felling I'm gonna have this one for a long long time. If i could fine someone to do a cream binding on the body - this would be my dream guitar.

Fender's pretty good, in general, but usually not the best source for support.

What can I say - I love this guitar!

I believe it was made in '93 or '94. I purchased it new in the latter half of '94 about. 21 frets on a maple neck with chambered mahogany body and cool-looking f-hole. Volume, tone, three way selector and the three-barrel vinateg style bridge. This model was made in Japan.

This guitar has a great classic sound to it. I don't use the neck pickup too much, but it's fun to kick it for some really thick solo tones (doesn't sound too great on overdriven chords however). Can also get a great jazzy sound as well. This thing is a feedback machine, but I like that. Sounds great unplugged as well as plugged in. It's overall sound is best described as chunky/bright and perfect for classic rock and bluesy applications. I've used it in live setting for heavier sounds and does this fine as well. And like any Telecaster should, is got that great twangy snap.

The wood grain and finish look great on this guitar. It kind of almost looks like a classier version of regular telecaster, but it's still a chunky-sounding guitar no less. I've not needed to adjust the neck or action, because I'm not all that picky. The volume knob looks a little crooked and the selector feels kind of chintzy, but overall it's pretty solidly put together.

I think this thing will hold together pretty nicely. It feels a little more delicate because it is a chambered body, but this guitar has been dropped on the floor before and has not suffered at all. I've used it live and it performs like a champ.

I own other Fenders, and this guitar is one of my favorites. I will admit it's more of a backup live guitar, but I've done some really awesome things with it in the stuio, and have had no problems using it live. I love the feedbackiness of it...I know that will sound strange to a lot of people, but it really inspires me creatively. It feels more at home playing rhythm, and in that area it really shines. If I were playing as a living, this is guitar that would make it into my regular rig.

Features as below. I got the transparent natural one. MIM. I was having tuning problems; gears slipped and strings contantly binding in the nut. I quckly swapped the tuners for a set of Sperzel locking, the nut for a Graph-Tech. Solid. Maybe a bit over the top for a fixed-bridge guitar, but it NEVER goes out of tune now once the strings are broken in. And I loved the tone of the stock pickups but not the hum, so I put a set of Duncan Vintage Stacks. Slightly more powerful, but almost the exact same tone. BIG smiles. But it's a Tele so it shouldn't get a 10 in this category.

This thing sounds great. I use it with a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe. Very full tone. Goes from jazz to rock to blues to country to metal. Guess that covers it. I can't get enough of it. This guitar makes me WANT to play.

I couldn't belive how well it was set up when I picked it up off the rack. Until I played this, I always HATED Tele's. Glad I picked it up. Perfect for me in all aspects. Intonation is no problem. The finish is incredibly good (even the shop that installed my pickups was amazed.) Everything including the neck pocket and fretwork is perfect. The only 'flaw' is excess glue visible through the f-hole. Am I knocking it for THAT? No way! Just to be fair, I've tried others since I got mine and they were nowhere near the quality that mine was off the shelf.

Had it for almost two years now and it is still in near mint condition. Seriously. I generally play at least one show a week and practice with it for hours on end. NO finish wear yet, not even on the neck/fingerboard, and fretwear is so minimal it's not even worth mentioning. And I play hard and bend a LOT. I've gone through USA Jacksons and Fender Strats quicker. I depend on it daily with no probelm/no backup.

Contacted them once on an out-of-warranty Lone Star Strat. The neck was giving me problems but they still offered to fix it or replace it, for FREE. That was great. But I traded the Lone Star for this and haven't looked back. For this guitar, I haven't had to contact them, but their previous record with me leaves no doubt that they'll help.

I've been playing 15+ years. I was never satisfied, for one reason or another, with a stock guitar. And, even though I've altered it, this guitar grabbed me from day one. Did I mention I used to hate Tele's? Oh, yeah. Anyway, I've since played other Thinlines (Fender USA, Fernandes, Suhr) thinking I'll find something even "better," yet NONE of them made me ditch this cheap MIM beaut. I finally found my guitar- but others who play it agree that I picked a winner. And to think I was brought up on metal and shredders.

Everything you'll read in this review is "IMHO".

I've had two of these bad boys over the years. Both were MIJ's, which are totally superior to the MIM's. First was Bought at American Music in Seattle around '88-'89, second bought at "Skip's tent sale" at Skip's Music in Excremento.. uh, I mean SACRAmento in the late '90's. 21 frets on classic 25-1/2 inch scale. Clear finished Mahogony body and I forget whether the top or the back was glued on after routing out the sound pockets. Two wonderfully microphonic pickups, two knobs, one switch and one jack. The only weak link was the lightweight tin or stamped metal bridge.. it sounded good, but setting the intonation was maddening. Gotoh tuners. I give this a 9 because limited useful features are much better than a million cheap add-ons.

Hallelujah! The one I bought in Seattle was better of two but they both sounded great. I took some getting used to, low power pickups and around fretboard radius, but the rewards were clear. It either coincided with a big change in the way I play, or it CHANGED the way I play. Of course, single coil pickups buzz near the TV or a Neon beer sign. I got around that by turning the fuzz down on my real tube tube driver and letting the guitar and '64 bassman amp talk, it sounded great. For some reason, I think it's the hollow mahogony body that made notes "sing" in their decay, after they'd twang or jangle on initial pick attack (sorry for using "guitar player" verbage, I promise I won't use "snarky"). The neck pickup had a bulbous cover on it.. I think that extra air pocket increased microphonics.. and when you back down on your preamp or pedal gain, that just turned into tone. I've played MIM's that did not sound the same, the MIJ's for some reason have an extra intangible that makes them sound better. Single coil buzz stinks, and for now there's nothing anyone can do about it, although several companies now are making reasonable approximations of single coil-sounding pickups without buzz. That's another issue!

Variety? Rock blues country, probably never metal or goth or death or other kid rock, the Sterms play fenders for Jazz so I guess jazzers cound enjoy this.

The bridge on the Sacramento guitar seemed to have a misalligned on the two bass strings. A replaced the bridge on the Seattle guitar with a heavy Gotoh and a Duncan stack pickup, but it wasn't the same. It "hardened" the tone.. the springiness with which notes jumped out of the guitar was gone. I've picked up some MIM's in music stores in which you can see the bridge pickup routing peeking out from under the bridge, an instant turnoff. I've also been able to stick CREDIT CARDS in the sides of neck pockets on MIM's.. not so on my dearly departed MIJ's. I give this a high score, because I paid less than $600 for the first one, and $325 for the second! Value:Price in bth cases was right on.

Foolishly, I traded out both guitars, so I can't give a reasonable long-term "Reliability/Durability" analysis. But they're TELE's for crissakes, the mules of the guitar world! Nothing's going to happen to them!

Will this guitar withstand live playing? Lot's of players use them regularly.

Does the hardware seem like it will last? Didn't like the bridge, never found a suitable solution, but my quibble was minor.

Is the finish good enough to last, or does it seem thin and easy to wear off with lots of playing? Good finish.

Are the strap buttons solid? Never needed straplocks.

Can you depend on it? WIsh I still had'em!

Would you use it on a gig without a backup? I'd have two!

n/a

I've never been tempted to buy a MIM, once I pick up the instrument and see the problems close-up.

BUT... If I ran across a clean MIJ at below $550, I'd pick it up in a minute. The overall rating is linked to the price of the instrument.

Unfortunately, many dealers (the enemy of musicians, second only to collectors in greed) have picked up on the MIJ v. MIM quality issues, and they jack-up the price on the formers. Prices for MIJ's now seem to hover in the $500 - $600 range.

But consider the collector's pricing on old '70's Fenders. These were the butt of the CBS era, poorly made instruments. So bad, musicians wanting real good strats and teles were forced to look for pre-cbs Fenders in order to get playable instruments. Face it, most of the MIJ thinlines were better than the original issues! I remember one guy in St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, IL back in the late 70's had a brown thinline... on any given day, either the high-E or the low-E string would be hanging off the fretboard. One of those fender guitar history books from the '90's told of a passage where American employees inspected a Japanese copy, and CRIED, because CBS wouldn't let them make guitars that good.

Despite this, collectors and dealers have steadily been jacking-up the prices on '70's fenders.. a trip on gbase will show very few, I'm guessing none, for below $1,200-asking price! Obviously the market is there to support this. Already, I've seen some MIJ's listed for ridiculous prices, because some dealer decided the sum of a "matched set" of MIJ's in one color is worth more than if the instruments were sold separately.. to MUSICIANS who'd otherwise use them for PLAYING MUSIC.

It won't surprise me at all before the greed factor comes into play on these guitars.

** SO.. the highly subjective overall rating is a 9.0 - 10 for the MIJ's.. until dealers and collectors screw with these the way they screwed with older Fenders. "If" the day comes when you can't get one of these guitars for less than, let's say, $800.. I'll resist and go with Warmoth components... and pick and choose the parts I want. It'll cost more, but considering that you get to fine-tune every detail in the building process, it'll be worth it.

2000-Model, made in Mexico.
You know the rest.

As it was, it felt great to play, but some things niggled me. I fitted a Fender 6-saddle bridge to fix the intonation, and the guitar is at the shop at the moment, having some Fender Noiseless pickups fitted. With a bit of luck, the expense will be worth it in the end.

With the original pickups, it sounded great through my Fender Hotrod Deluxe, but the amp seemed to make the hum more obvious than when I'd tried the guitar in the shop. Also, the feedback was quite bad, and almost uncontrollable.

The finish of my guitar was quite superb for the money. I've played all kinds of guitars, but this one suited me just great.
There were no quality concerns, but the old Tele flaws of the 3-saddle bridge and single-coil hum bugged me.

I am quite scared to take this guitar gigging. I'm not sure that it would take the knocks. It does seem like it will last forever if I look after it, but I do keep it in it's flight case when I'm not playing it.

With the lifetime warranty not covering very much, I doubt that I'll ever have to trouble Fender with my problems.

I love the feel of the guitar, and with the Noiseless pickups fitted, I'm sure that I won't want another guitar until I can afford a PRS Santana II.
I've played a US Deluxe Tele, which was very nice, but I have made that guitar for about a third of the price, simply by taking advantage of the bizarrely low price of my guitar (#700 RRP).

Made in '94. I bought it used in '96. Made in Japan.
21 frets.
Mahogony Body, Maple neck & fingerboard.
I've added a 4 way toggle, switchcraft jack & cts pots.
2 standard single coil pickups that Wolftone rewound for Me.
typical tele bridge, I added Mann Made Compensated saddles.
Stock, it came with a Pearloid pickguard, replaced it with a tortoise shell pickguard from Warmoth.
Gotoh tuners, no need to replace those.
U shaped neck.

Stock, it was everything you'd expect from a Fender MIJ Reissue. After my mods, it's a whole different animal, and I'm reviewing it as such..... So, I give it a 10 (even though I'm gonna mod it some more).

I play '60s psychadellic-jazz wannabe-jam rock-southern rock-blues wannabe stuff, this guitar suits my needs.

Running it with my Blues Pearl "Texas Tornado" cranked to 7 is a joy.
Great Tele tones and then some. With the 4 way toggle, it opens up a whole new can of tones. Darker than the average tele, but still brighter than a strat.

Not sure about a big variety of tones, but I get what I'm after.

No dislikes, this instrument has been my #1 because I identify with it more than any other guitar (even though I've been favoring my '68 Strat RI for more than a year now, see my review of that one...).

What I love about "Made In Japan" Fenders is the construction. They don't skimp on the tonewood, and they make 'em solid and comfy. Granted, I've changed out the electronics (and then some), but that is typically the weak spot on MIJ Fenders. It's also what makes them great, half the fun is modding them.

Again, I got what I was after with this guitar... and even though I hate to gush, for that I give it a 10.....

Solid, rugged, it has already taken a beating. 40 gigs and hundreds of hours of play. It's got nics, dings and dents. I know how they all got there too......

I have giged without a backup. Though I don't recomend it (sucks to break a string MID SONG!!)

Fender has customer service? Never needed them......

This guitar is my #1.... nuff said....

Let's see,'98 year model,1 pc. maple neck,21 standard frets,ash body with sunburst finish and cool f-hole,2 single coils,3 way switch and 50's style ashtray bridge w/string thru body.Made in Mexico(very well, I might add).No accessories included,it was strung with Bullet "9's".The Tele is an honest simple guitar with relatively few features,but the features it has work well;the tuners are vintage style w/ the Fender "F" on the back and chrome volume @ tone nobs.

My setup consist of an ART T-28 amp,Crybaby wah and switcher-the amp has built-in chorus,reverb,compressor and gain boost,not exactly the "pro" rig,but good enough to bring out a good guitar's character.This guitar is the perfect semi-dirty axe;bright with lotsa clang and punch,very responsive to pick attack.The sound butters up and gets warmish when you bring in the neck pickup and even when running just the neck pickup,you get great note definition playing open chords.Being a single coil axe,mine gets feedback just about anywhere near a monitor or amp(think noise gate)no problem in clean channels.I think the "hollowness" shows itself more in the clean channel where the typical tele brightness gives way to a little more warmth-especially with the neck p/u,it reminds me of my SG with it's neck hummer going(laugh if want).If you're looking for a punchy, bright sound with great response, definition and maybe a little extra warmth over the normal Tele ,this one rocks.If you're planning to do Prong covers with serious gain settings,this guitar is probably not going to do Tommy proud...

Having previously owned an Am. std. Strat,I can attest to the quality of this one as being totally superior.Unlike the strat, the neck to pocket fit is perfect,fretwork neat and clean with no glue residue,the finish even all around-including the F hole,the controls aren't out of round and don't rub the pickguard-which,by the way,fits nicely on the body.My bitches are few;1)the saddle screws need loc-tite.2)Ashtray bridge is kinda "edgy" and 3)sits a little off the body.Not bad for 1/2 the price of an Am. Strat.

I've never gigged with my Tele,but wouldn't hesitate to.There's not a helluva lot to go wrong on this guitar besides string breakage,the finish seems more durable than my 'Paul's,the electronics are solid,so are the controls.I replaced the strap buttons almost immediately with Peavey strap-locks,so I guess I didn't trust the originals- same as my other guitars.I wouldn't gig w/o a backup with any make or model.It's kinda like guns,you may not need it,but what if...

Been playing for 11 years ,own four other guitars;two Gibsons,a Seagull and a classical of unknown make(to me).I would certainly replace this with another thinline Fender,for the price,this axe is an outstanding deal!If vintage sound and vibe are priorities in your next guitar ,I would highly reccommend this one.Definately don't be put off by the Mexican construction,it easily rivals the quality of the Am std. and Kalifornia series Fenders I've seen and owned.The only plan I have is maybe going to either Texas Hots or maybe Seymore Duncan stacked hummers with coil taps,Hmmmm...

2000 model '69 thinline reissue in natural mahogany made in Mexico. 21 frets, semi-hollow body, volume/tone/3way selector switch, single coil in bridge and neck (vintage style), passive electronics, maple neck, 3 saddle vintage style box bridge, vintage style tuners, thin vintage frets. Comes with gig bag. Rate it a 10 as it is very faithful reissue.

I've always been a stratocaster player. UNTIL NOW! I had always been a fan of Telecasters from afar. And it was time I figured I'd try one out and buy one that sounded good to me. I was searching for a nice solid body Telecaster originally. So I started to pick out all various Tele models to test out. Which included '52 reissues, American standard and series, '72 customs, Danny Gatton model, '72 thinlines, nashvilles, power teles, '90's thinlines, relic models, Tele sonic, etc, etc, I tried them all. And I played them all through various amps. But the main amp was what I have which is a Fender Hot Rod DeVille 4x10. The last thing I expected was for a semi-hollow tele to win the contest. But boy did IT! IT is the name I've given IT cause IT is soooo sweet! What I like about Telecasters are the ones that have a great airy, jangle and heavy twang in clean mode. Along with a nice dynamic range. Well this thing has all that in spades! It sounds absolutely fantastic with a bit of dirt on top for blues and rock. The bridge pickup is bright and twangy. Perfect teleness. The middle position is great for warm to bright tones. The neck is worth the price of admission my friends! I like it as much as the bridge for darker, bluesy stuff, and even jazzy chords and lines. Mucho tone all around. I think someone else here described it as a singing voice. Exactly right. The only thing is very high gain settings will create feedback. And not the good kind. So get a noise gate for that type of stuff. Although I doubt if your playing a semi-hollow Telecaster your gonna buy one for that type of music. I really could go on and on about the sound because IT has solved my missing desires honestly.

Action is flawless really. This was one of my major suprises. I haven't had to do anything to IT so far. I've had IT for about 2 months. The finish is beautifully applied. No visable blemishes anywhere. The only niggle I have is that inside the f-hole is some overspray. But I've notice that on all the thinlines I tried. Even some non-Fender ones. Also, the b string gets caught up in the string tree. Easily corrected with some graphite. I believe this is common on many Fender guitars.

I don't gig live but play with friends. So far so good. I've heard from others who gig and have thinlines that they stand up just fine in live situations. And like I said before IT has become my new #1 guitar in every situation.

Fender is a great company. Especially considering how big they are. I've called them personally on the phone before and asked them questions and always got friendly advice and support. My warranty is limited lifetime too.

Gets a 10 in my book. For a Telecaster tone and vibe it don't get much better. I also own a Stratocaster, Danelectro baritone, and have owned many more too many to mention here. If stolen or lost I'd buy another one in a heartbeat. What I love about IT most is the lively, responsive, dynamic, twang! What I hate about IT? (hate is such a strong word isn't it?) I don't hate anything really. My favorite feature besides the tone is the lightweigth and great vibe of owning a unique style of Telecaster.

this is a mexican made model from the 2000 model year. it is finished in a beautiful three color sunburst and has a slightly tinted maple neck. the stock pick-ups sounded fine, but buzzed way too much in some situatins so i replaced them with a set of fender texas specials. the hum was mostly gone, and the neck pickup grew 60 pound nuts. just your basic tele configuration, with the addition of an f hole.

My current setup consists of the 69 tele and a lonestar strat into a morley bad horsie into a ibanez reissue ts-9 into a danelectro cool cat chorus into a boss reverb/digital delay into a carvin vintage 33 1x12 class A 30 watt combo. the original speaker has been swapped for a celestion vintage 30. I play a mixture of rythum and lead guitar in a rock band. our sound is hard to describe, so i would suggest you checkout one of our mp3s on junction51.com if your curious. i play a lot of clean guitar, and the brightness of the tele is great for cutting through the mix. it also can produce that great semi dirty sound that the rolling stones seem to be so fond of. I can, and sometimes do use this guitar for the entire set, exclusivley on the neck pickup.

set-up was good, action was good. all in all not bad for a mexican made guitar.

seems to be well built. i gigged with it 5 times a week this summer and had no problems except with the occasional string break, which can probably be attributed to my heavy hand. i would never again gig without a backup just because it sucks to have to stop a show to restring your guitar.

never dealt with them

if i lost it, i would get another one. a very good guitar if you want a clean or semi dirty sound. great definition

This guitar has been sat around in a guitar shop for a few years now, mainly because they were asking over the retail price, and you'd have to be wrong in the head to buy it then! Anyway, it's a Japanese one, one of the last ones they made between 1998 and '99. 21 frets, solid mahogany body with F-hole and fairly large cavity under the controls, volume and tone, 3 way selector, maple fretboard etc etc. I give it 10, 'cause it's got everything you could want from a tele!

The sound is most impressive. I play mainly Zppelin, Black Crowes, blues/rock really. It's perfect for the Zep sounds. Through a fuzz pedal you can nail those early sounds, and rolling off the tone thickens the sound out. I#m amazed with the treble. I've always fought with my guitars to get enough, but with this, at times you find yourself rolling it off a touch! That's how I like it! Also the pickups seem extremely dynamic. You can be playing away through a fairly distorted amp, and simply by adjusting your picking attack, it cleans up! I reckon that the mahogany wood makes up for what you'd lose if you routed a whole in a standard tele/ It replaces the sustain that you'd normally get. The F-hole makes a handy feature for playing unplugged too!!!!!

It took me some time to figure out how they'd made this thing. But eventually I found a seam on the back, so the body is made and the xcavity routed outm, and the a 1/2 inch piece of mahogany stuck on the back. The finish I beleive is Polyester to the body and Polyeurathane to the nack. Nice glossy finish, although I'd like it to matt down in time - we'll see! The fret job seems good. There was lots of varnish on the frets from the fretboard, but I removed that with wire wool. I'd say the action is a touch low for my liking, but that can befixed!

I'll find out on Thursday whether it'll withstand live performance, but I'd imagine there will be no problems, unless you are one of those prats who delights in wrecking their guitar! All seems very solid to me!

Never dealt with them.

I've been playing form 5 years now. I've had Epiphone Les Pauls, custom built LP copies, Strats, and this is the best! Tele's rule!! I'd strongly recommend this guitar to anyone who likes tele's. All this USA crap pisses me off, at the end of the day, it's made by a human (hopefully!!), so although it may need more of a set-up than a USA one would, I belive they are of equal quality.

This is a 1969 Natural Mahogany Telecaster. It has 21 frets, 2 single coils, a vintage 3-saddle bridge and a maple neck. I think this one was made in '99. Made in Mexico. This guitar is really sharp looking. I picked the Natural finish, although I would have preferred the Sunburst finish,but they didn't have that so I got this one.

This guitar sounds awesome. Before I got this one I was trying out other Tele's like the American Standard and the Standard. I seen the salesman bring this guitar over to me and I thought why are you bringing me this one because I really didn't want to get a Thinline. Well I plugged it in and it blew me away. The pickups were louder than both Standards. It really had a bite and a growl to it. It's got attitude for such a 'nice looking' guitar. I fell in love with the sound. I play blues,country, rock and a bit of metal. This guitar suits all except for the metal. I just don't think it would be right playing Ramones or Metallica on it. Although I haven't tried it yet though. It fits all styles. You can get a variety of sounds from it. I tried the guitar on a Crate something or another and a Blues Junior. It sounded great on both. I haven't tried it yet through my Marshall and Princeton Chorus though I'm sure it'll sound awesome there to.

This guitar has got one fantastic neck. I was playing through an '89 Fender Amer. Std. Strat and the action seems like it's an inch off the neck. As soon as I laid my hand on this baby, I was in total heaven. I have small hands, and I struggled playing the Standard guitar and the American wasn't too bad. But when I played this guitar my hands moved on the neck like never before. I absolutely love it !! I was very surprised it came with that setup. The only drawback I have with it is the 3-saddle bridge. It looks kind of cheesey. But hey I can replace that. The finish is immaculate and the guitar is very light.

I'm sure this tele's reliable and durable. But it makes me a little scared knowing it's so light and hollow. I'm used to regular Fender's where you can beat the crap out of them and have them still sound great if not better. It's too early yet to tell if it will withstand live playing. Right now I'd use a backup, just until I find out differently.

Never dealt with Fender support. So don't know, but they do have an awesome forum for players to discuss Fender problems and topics.

Overall I love this guitar, the only thing I wish I could change would be the Finish and possibly make it out of a more solid wood. The lightness of the guitar just makes me a little on edge because I'm afraid I'll break it or worse somebody can easily knock it over and step on it. Don't let that deter you from buying one though. It sounds awesome and feels great. You can play a lot of different varieties of music on this one. If it were lost or stolen I would replace it with another one. Thanks, Lee for showing me this I probably would of ended up getting one that was less than what I wanted. I feel lucky to have found one guitar that suits my playing and style.

This is a 1969 reissue of a Fender Telecaster Thinline. It's got 21 frets, two single coil pickups (Neck & bridge), three-way selector switch, dot inlays, a vintage 3-saddle bridge (no ashtray), vintage tuners, one piece maple neck and a three-ply white pickguard that looks like it pearl or something. The pickguard is cool because it extends right down the side of the guitar and over the control knobs. There are two control knobs, one volume, one tone. I don't know when this was made (Presumably around '96-97), but it was made in Mexico. The body is string through, and is a piece of mahogany that was carved out, topped by another piece as the bottom. You should get a deluxe gig-bag with it.

As with all Teles, this guitar has a really twangy sound, but you can give it a lot more punch by using the neck pickup exclusivly. I'm running it through a Fender Deluxe 112 amp, and with full contour on the distortion your get a totally rich sound. The main problem is the line/feedback you get when facing the amp. It got so bad that I thought about getting a pair of noiseless pickups (also from Fender). Other than the feedback, however, the guitar is totally versatile, and gives a wide enough range without distortion so that you don't have to use it only for some country or Chubby Checker stuff.

The guitar had a great setup when I got it, and changing string gagues isn't such a big deal for the action because you can just adjust the saddles in the bridge. A six-saddle instead of three- would be better, but it still works. The pickups are pretty good, but if you have the neck too high and the HIGH-E string to low, you get this strange buzzing that isn't just fret noise.

This guitar is totally dependable and doesn't need a lot of maintenance. I've knocked it up a few times, and the finish still looks that same as when I got it. The only problem is the cord output jack, because like many guitars, it's a screw in type deal, and it can get unscrewed and rattle around a lot. other than that, it's got such a range that it could be the only guitar you use at a gig.

I've been playing for three years, and have a Fender Deluxe 112 amp, like I said. Coupled with this guitar, I don't need anything unless I want some different effects (Flange, Tremolo, etc.) I don't like rosewood necks, and the maple on this one is terrific. The best thing about this guitar is that it not only looks great, but it sounds good too. It's easy to play, and I liked it way better than what I compared it too (Gibson Les Paul & SG, Fender Mexican Tele, Ibanez Iceman) The pickups are the only thing on this guitar that could use some improvement, and it might be cool to get a middle on like on the tele-sonic. Other than that, this is a great guitar.

This is a pretty standard guitar with nothing really flashy about it. It comes with a few various finnishes (I picked some sort of see through red...which was cool) it has 2 pickups, which are pretty standard w/ the 3 way toggle switch. Its also got the semi-hallow f-hole in it which actualy does amplify the sound slightly..in comparison to other solid bodied guitars. For any of the specific specs like neck width and what not (I just go by what feels good) look at the ones above me I checked out earlier their detailed enough. I gave this a 7 just becasue it was totally standard which keep in mind isn't bad but it had no really outstanding features as the top line models do (but what do you expect for 500 bucks)

This is a great guitar for the price and the sound is wonderful. My guitar teacher who jams with me picks this guitar over my other high end strats and gibsons becasue he loves the feel and sound. And he's been playing for 40+ years. The pickups offer great range from the deep bluesy neck position, the middle average everything position, to the bridge twangy high end position. Also the the 1 tone knob allows even more sounds to come out of her which makes it good for everything. Blues, Rock, no metal really, jazz, fingerpicking, etc. Anything really but the really distortioned things which teles are never good for anyway. Also look around for the best guitar in this model cuz i was lucky that this was the last one they had and was on display and still sounded great.

The guitar was set up fine in the factory, with great strings which lasted my huge bends for a few months. The setup otherwise was great with fine action and whatnot. The pickups were in good position except the neck pickup could be a bit higher but i can't figure out how to elevate it...theres no screw there? Anyway the finnish is incredible and it really shows of the wood great. Otherwise Ive had this guitar for over a year and 1/2 and i might go back and get it set up again just cuz im picky like that.

This is a durable guitar. I haven't really banged it anywhere to badly but all the hardware and whatnot was in great shape and still is. The only real complaint I have is that the gold looking metal which covers the neck pickup, tuners, bridge, and knobs is tarnishing almost so I just used silver polish on it and it hasn't come back since. This is a fairly low maitenance guitar which is great for when your on the road. Otherwise this could be your main gig axe and you would be fine w/ little or no trouble.

I haven't had to deal with fender ever but from what ive heard their pretty good.

My overal rating of this guitar is a definite ten due to the amount of money and value of this guitar. In my experience its worth its weight in gold if not more. For 500 bucks I got the same quality and duribility as a guitar for a much greater price. Also the standardness of this guitars features doesn't hurt its score at all becasue the guitar works perfectly with out it. Buy this guitar if 500 bucks is your price range because you will like it.

A sweetheart of a reissue, Mexico made, two vintage Fender tele pickups (whatever that means) with the traditional three-way selector, single coils of course. This be a semi-hollow sunburst wrought from a very, very nice cut of ash. Bridge is old ash-tray style tele bridge, fundamentlly crude but good enought for some of the best '50s guitars ever made I guess. Neck is maple, also a nice piece of wood. Frets are vintage, 21 in number, thin is width. Radius is 7.25 (modern players take note; this is old style and not necessarily the right radii for speedsters. Note, however, that classic Strat and Teles from the golden 1950s were 7.25, so try and decide for yourself).

This is a lovely guitar. All three pickup positions sing, differently, and well. I repeat, this is a guitar with a singing voice, especially the neck position. I roll back the treble a bit and get lovely variations in tone. For this guitar, I prefer to use the word "voice" rather than tone. This particular one is quiet with no hum. Amp-wise, I'm playing through a practice amp, Marshall VS30-R, which is probably a poor match; when I get around to it, I'll pick up a Fender Pro Junior, which is what I used when I checked this ax out at the story. Yes, it sang. My playing style is bluesy/faux jazzy, essnetially I'm a former bass player/bluegrass Travis picker who has been playing guitar for about 30 years and taking lessons again for the past three years. I admit that I have more guitar than skill, but I appreciate nice axes.

The work and finish are first rate. I have noticed, however, other '69 reissues, both the sunburst and the natural mahogony, with somewhat lesser-quality finishes, so choose yours to please yourself. Since buying mine in September 1998, I came across an otherwise identical sunburst reissue whose top was put together from two poorly matched pieces of wood, with a blemmy stain job. Again, choose yours wisely. Action and setup: Very good from the story, though the action was high. I brought the ax to Scott at Macon's Backbeat Music (go there, a cool place, just stop by and visit) for a setup. Scott set it up FREE, meticulously and compared to an orginal '69 of his past acquaintance. His impartial verdict: a fine guitar. He lowered the action without messing with the truss rod and this ax has remained in tune through my frequent string changes. I'll say it again, this is a lovely guitar at a fair price.

Well, it's a semi-hollow, so don't bring this ax to softball practice. More seriously, I don't know whether this is a pro-grade performance instrument or a wonderful at-home ax. I have a Lone Star Strat that, because of its modern features, modern tuners etc., is clearly more professional. But ... this is a lovely sounding, fun to play and beautiful guitar.

Who knows?

This is not an ax for everyone, nor is it a good first guitar for young guys/gals who making the move through the garage/basement party circuit. This is terrific second electric, a fine addition to a collection large or small. In particular, be aware of the 7.25 radii neck (a more rounded neck that does not lend itself to bending or fast playing as readily as modern 9.5" or Gibsonish 12" and 15" inch necks). Again, this is a matter of personal preference. 7.25 isn't better or worse than other radii, but it is old-style and different. Keep in mind that Fender's 1952 tele reissue has a 7.25, and it is deservedly one of the best choices anyone could make for a tele or tele-style instrument. Your choice, your preference, your style should be the consideration. I own a number of acoustics, including a nice Taylor 510. I started shopping casually for an electric starting in 1997. I played uncounted dozens of instruments in new and vintage shops and shows all over Southern California and New York. I expected to buy Gibson ES type guitar. I played every kind of guitar on the market and almost bought several (a dozen salesmen will never know how easily they could have sold me on $1,000-plus axes, except they did not work to close the deal). I almost bought a George Benson model, several Guilds, and several Gibsons, including a particular ES-135 that stood out from the pack. I checked out Fenders only as an afterthought, since I was looking for a jazz box, not a solid body, and a Gibson style guitar, not a Fender. To my surprise, completely unexpected, I was seduced by the virtues of Strats and Teles, though I benefited from the advice of a guitar teacher who warned that "one in 10 fenders has magic." I came to see that was true as I checked out dozens of Fenders before, completely to my surprise, I found magic in the most completely unlikely guitar: a candy apple red Lone star strat with maple neck. I tell you, that Lone star is a far from what I expected to buy as two guitars can get, but that one particular strat had magic, and I bought it. Several months later, I saw the Tele '69, loved its looks, playe dit hard in the store and, on impulse, bought it. I continue to surprise myself, having gone from deliberately not checking out Fenders to owning two in six months. But, both are fine guitars (and better than other fenders in shops I'd played), and the Tele is a sweet, desirable second guitar. Check it out and enjoy.