Fender '72 Telecaster Custom

This is '85-'86 mod. re-issue made in Japan. Black with bridge singlecoil and neck widerange bucker.
Maple, thin neck with small '70s like frets (21)

I use this for open G tuning and the bridge pickup sounds like a std. Tele which is very nice. The widerange bucker alone is way too muddy for my liking, but with the switch in middle position and the volume on the bucker a little lower it adds som thickness to the middle twang.
All in all i like the sound of it apart from when playing the bucker alone.
Played through a Marshall JTM60.

Bought the guitar second hand and did the adjustments myself to get it the way I want it, and is a really nice player.

It's a Fender and could be run over by a buss and still play.

Been playing for 20+ years and about 15 of those semi-pro.
Beside this I have two Les Pauls, a Strat and an am. std. Tele.
Bought for open-G tuning so that my other Tele can stay standard tuned. It works very well.
Love the cool looks of it and the playability.
Only thing I don't like is the muddy "widerange" bucker. Would have loved getting my hands on an original Wide Range, but I guess that's not gonna happen.
As most Japanese Fenders, this features good craftsmanship. A really nice instrument all in all.

2007 Mexican,

everything stock (pickups, maple neck, bridge, etc...)
Black finish

2 volume and 2 tone dials really good for getting a wide variety of styles but the pickup selector can seize up a bit.

I play jazz, pop, rock and metal and this telecaster is easily capable of sounding great at all of them. I use a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amp but I do have an MXR distortion pedal to really drive the sound through when playing heavier styles.

If only the bridge pickup is in use, the telecaster jangle can really ring through but this can be limiting on styles so I usually have both pickups selected with the humbucker turned down slightly lower but loud enough to add depth to sound.

I really like the maple neck and the chipped paint on the body is my fault, not Fender's.

The only real flaw, in my opinion, is the bridge. Depending on how the action is set up, the screws at the saddles can catch your arm when playing but nothing apart from that.

My guitar is two years old now and has been dropped a couple more times than it should have done. Despite the fact that one incident led to the G string tuning peg being bent, it still works and the guitar as a whole retains tuning well.

I had the guitar fitted with straplocks as it fell off a couple of times before but I have a feeling that was mainly down to the strap I had at the time.

I have not had to contact Fender.

I've been playing about five years now and the versatility this telecaster offers means I don't feel the need for many other guitars at the moment.

Great guitar and the only reason I have another at a gig is for different tunings.

you??ve probably have read this several times. Mine is a Black one. Still in doubt if it??s alder or poplar. Maple neck just refretted with medium Jumbos. Everything else stock.

I indeed find the HB a little muddy but it seems that replacing the 250K pot for a 500K one would help getting the HB Brighter.

Any way, the middle position is awesome for Blues and the separated controls give lots of flexibility. Even the bridge pup sounds piercing but with plenty of twang after raising it a little.

Killer axe. I??ve got a american stardard stratocaster that is very jellous now

after putting 10??s and a pro set up, it??s lovely. Love the slick maple neck

so far so good

not used

I bought used frm a old good friend. He is selling several guitars and couldn??t let this one pass.

Mine is a 2007 Made in Mexico ??72 Custom Telecaster I bought off Ebay, brand new. The features on this guitar are listed in the Fender web, anyway here comes a brief description: solid top alder body, finished in black (not nitro lacquer), maple fretboard and neck in polyurethan finish, stock pickups are a Fender Wide Range humbucker in the neck and a standard tele pickup in the bridge, vintage"F" Schaller tuning heads, vintage 3-saddle bridge, 3 positions switch.

I play almost every kind of music but I am mainly a rock-blues and also jazz player. The sound in this guitar, as it comes from stock, is rather fair: the humbucker is clear but muddy at the same time, I mean, every note you play is going to have a clear output but it??s not the brightest humbucker in the market. The stock bridge pickup is simply rubbish, hasn??t got decent output and if compared to the humbucker there is a lack of balance, being the bridge pup weak, and producing a rather thin sound.
Plenty of noise in all three positions, that shouldn??t be expected at least in the neck or intermediate position, but this is a box of noise, indeed (it also depends on the amp you??re playing with).

Very well built guitar, the neck is sturdy and it won??t move an inch from the body (do not let the 3 bolt neckplate speak the opposite). The guys at the online shop where I bought it made a quick setup before shipping, so I guess the stock condition of the guitar without having any minor adjustments is, again, fair, correct, but not a wonder. Tuning pegs keep intonation very well, Schaller does good the job in high or medium end guitars. I am not a huge fan of the pickup selector, as it seems to be not so sturdily built. Tone and volume controls are very good fitted and do they job so well.

The guitar seems to be a rock. I don??t want to ever have to test it??s reliability as I am very aware of my gear, but it seems very solid. The strap buttons does not include the protection white piece it usually comes there. I would use it on a gig with no backup, sure.

I own 13 guitars at the moment, and this one is certainly a good medium range option. When compared to my Custom Shop ??60 Relic Strat or to my Gibson Les Paul Custom, it shows up that the price you pay is (more or less) the instrument you get, but this tellie is capable of offering a more than average performance. I like its stunning appearance, the style (it reminds me of U2??s first years or spanish rock band Heroes del Silencio??s style in their first and second cd era).
Perfect first-choice instrument, killer looking and "faithful" music partner.

It is a 2005 or so Japanese tele custom. It used to have two awful pickups on it that have gone the way all junk on my guitars. 21 fret board on an all maple neck, not sure what the wood in the body is. Used to have standard Fender tuners which are actually pretty good but it seems pretty good isn't good enough for me. Standard Japanese finish I guess. Looks like a tele ,sort of, the body shape is the same, the back pickup is the same, the old ashcan and stupid saddles, the front pickup used to be the biggest most terrible sounding humbucker I've ever seen. Three way switch, twin volumes, and twin tones finish off the hardware on this little beauty. Give it a 10 for the way it is now, about a 6 before because I just never played it, it sounded so terrible and I have 7 other guitars that I play regularly.

Not to belabor a point, I'll only describe it now that has Seymour Duncan's on it, front and rear. I got a pickguard from an SG,chopped her down on my 12" sliding compound miter, took about two minutes, and hot glued the piece under the existing pickguard and mounted the '59 to it. Had to chisel out about 3/16" underneath the SG cutout. The whole job took about 2 hours start to finish, no problem, and now its a guitar that sounds just marvelous, wonderful, you know, four stars. Nothing else sounds like that tele twang and I've got it in spades, its a classic tele pickup or something like that. Switch to the front and its just Dicky Betts, Dwayne Allman, Slash, all those guys, sounds sweet in the dirt channel and even sweeter clean and turned down for rhythmn. Then there's the middle. There is just so much tonal variation in between those two extremes, you can dial in how much aggression you want in your sweet sound, its just all there, and for just mean downlow and nasty blues, give the bridge a little extra, turn up the gain and just growl. Wow

I own a lot of Japanese guitars. In my opinion, nobody builds better and they don't cost a fortune. They are better built than Korean, Chinese, Canadian, or American guitars, excepting maybe some ridiculously expensive handmade ones. Everything is just wonderful but the neck is the thing, its terrific. I changed the tuners to Gotoh 510 Delta, 21 to 1 little beauties.

Its as solid as a solid hunk wood of wood. I think you'd have to work at it to break it. I changed the strap locks to snap ons, I have no problems with it all.

Don't know, never contacted them for any reason.

Been playing for 17 years. Have an Orville Les Paul Custom with Pearly Gates, Gibson Les Paul Studio with Lawrence single coils, MIJ Gretsch White Falcon with T.V. Jones, MIJ strat with Fender Lawrence noiseless, an Agile Cool Cat Prestige with Pearly Gates, a MIJ Epiphone Riviera with Gibson '57 classics, and L'Arrivee D03 RVE, that I play quite regularly and with the changes I made, this is right up with any of them, except for the Orville which is a 10. I have a Fender "The Twin", an ancient Fender bassman, and a Traynor YCV 20. I have a Crybaby wah. I really like this guitar. Nothing but nothing sounds like a tele and I love the front humbucker and individual volume and tone pots as well.

My 72 Telecaster Custom Re-Issue is black with black pickguard and maple fretboard with a polyurethane finish. MIM in 2005. Nice fat neck, fits like a glove. 1 volume and tone knob for each pickup and a 3-way selector. I had the bridge single coil replaced with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rail Humbucker. I'm glad they kept the vintage tuner posts. The guy gave me a Fender USA hard case with it.

This guitar is great for pretty much anything. I mostly play punk rock/pop punk/alternative, and with my Hot Rail at the bridge it just sounds really sweet and fat. When I get bluesy I just stick the selector on the two pickups and it gives me that famous tele twang. I play this tele through a Hughes&Kettner Triamp MKII and man-o-man it just sounds AMAZING.

I bought this secondhand (but never used). The guy was pretty much the guitar wiz and had his own setup on for light strings. I would probably get a bigger gauge but in the meantime this will still do great. The action is nice and low and it just feels comfortable and you feel like you can do whatever you want with this thing. I haven't seen any significant flaws on this guitar yet.

This guitar is a pretty solid tank. I'm really careful with my stuff so I don't really know if it will survive a drop or a hit, but by the looks of it, it could be knocked onto a wall intentionally and everything would still be tight. The strap buttons are solid but I wouldn't count on them if you like grooving and moving while you rock on stage. I'd probably get locks. I wouldn't worry about a backup, but you can never be too careful.

I don't have a warranty, and I never dealt with the company.

I've been playing for about 4 years now and I've tried most of the guitars out there and none of them felt as good as this one. If you like your guitars nice and shiny your going to have to scrub this one often because the body gets easily marked with hand marks, sweat and stuff because of the shiny black. When I was at the store I tried pretty much all the high end guitars (ES-335, Strats, Thinlines, SGs etc.) and this one was the best looking and better sounding one of them all.

72 reissue with sunburst ash body and maple neck. Humbucker at the neck and single coil at the bridge. Nice fat neck just the way i like it. came with a "deluxe" gig bag. Giving it an eight for features cause it's a pretty simple and straight forward guitar. I changed the humbuckers pots from 250k to 500k and it made a world of difference. Don't know why this isn't done at the factory. I also put a tap on the humbucker so i can switch it to a single coil. I'm actually really impressed with the quality of the guitar considering that it's mexican. The neck has a little flame on the back. The finish on the body is a little dense. The pickup switch crapped out in three months. I took it out and was able to fix it without replacing it, but that shouldn't have happened.

Originally this guitar was only a decent sounding instrument but with just these two mods it has become a really valuable and versatile item. I still want to replace the bridge pickup as it sounds on the weak side. The neck pickup was muddy until the 500k pots, now its warm but crisp. This is how I run it- Guitar, Dunlop Wah, Ibanez Mostortion, 80's Tube Screamer TS-9, late 80's Ibanez Mostortion, Vintage MXR Phase 90, Ernie Ball Volume pedal, Fender Twin Reverb Reissue. It rocks all of these pedals and the tone never gets lost. My musical style varies from blues/R&B to Sonic Youth/indie. I really have been hunting for a back up guitar and I can't think of one that could play the way this tele does. Even for double the money! Just be technically proficient if you get this. It'll make all the difference.I'm going to give it a seven for sound only because as a stock guitar it's pretty plain. Remember the mods though.

Guitar came with good low action. There were no flaws. The neck pickup was a little low.

This guitar is a hunka, hunka, hunka wood. Been dropped by baggage claim workers and chipped the finish. Just added character but didn't mess with the setup or sound. I gig with this in manhattan and brooklyn five times a month and never needed a backup. still want one though.

Never dealt with them. I fix my own gear. It's easier and I can be sure the job's done well.

Been playing 13 years/gigging 7 years. This guitar is worth every penny to me. I would replace it in a heartbeat. I also have a Strat with an alder body and dimarzio pu's and i don't play it anymore!

You gotta know the features by now. I won't bore you. I will rate based on the easy upgrades I've made: brass saddles, 500k pots for the 'bucker, the bridge pickup is now a unit from the '52 Vintage Hot Rod off ebay from reliablefender, and a switchcraft jack. This is now suitable for any style! No 5 way coil tapping b.s., but it's a '72.

Before, the hummer was nothing but mud, and bridge was thin and ice-picky. Now, harmonics leap out and definition is the name of the game. Rhythm or lead. Power chord crunch or hair parting slide. Doesn't matter.

Maple neck is finished awesome. 3 tone 'burst flawless. The devil is under the hood. I guess they bet most people were gonna leave well enough alone. The wiring is even chintzier than my '72 Datsun. You can look at the switch and count how many strands of wire are comin from the 'bucker. I had to chase 3 broken connections during the pickup change. Just beware. Also the jack cup barely held the cable it was such junk. Thank you Switchcraft. I know the switch is on its last legs when I have the patience to deal with said wiring, I'll upgrade.

The electrics are the Achilles heel. It looks and feels great. I've got it tight as a drum - the resonance and vibration are unbelievable. But I'm pretty confident. It's a Tele.

Fender at least pretends to try. More than you can say for Gibson.

This guitar looks, sounds and feels great. There isn't much it can't do. I suppose if it was stolen, I'd look for one of those California Teles so I could at least check out the coil splitting thing. But I think they're starting to get a bit outrageous last I looked. Besides, this wins on style. If it's good enough for old Keef, it's good enough for me, right?

my fender telecaster 72 custom is black with a maple neck..made in mexico 1999.forget what some dopes are saying about made in mexico guitars becaues this guitar ROCKS looks great, finsh beutiful one piece maple neck nice smooth frets feels good in your hands..

ok the wide range humbucker in the neck and the single coil lets you get just about any sound you want from this baby..i play through a fender princeton reverb and a fender bassman both 70s tube amps
it sounds good through solid state amps i just like tube amps better
you can get grunge punk alternative sound out of this guitar for days
plain old rock and roll ala rolling stones..theres some much versatilty with the humbucker single coil ...you can play just about anything on this tele no kidding i love the sound of this guitar i use a bigg muff with it through my tube amps wwwwwwwwwoooooooooooow

perfect set up i bought mine second hand the guy may have set it up recently..tight neck pocket really really nice neck on this guitar.

yes i will play this guitar out is a @ucking rock guitar..this guitar is solid and may out live me

ive been plaing for 20 plus years in the 1990s i had a punk grunge band we played out all the time..i play solo and with a 3 piece rock band these days ...i have a gibson sg jr with p90..and a few tube amps,,gibison j45 acoustic and a couple martins...i have owned alot of guitars over the years gibsons fender strats epiphones washburn
ive ran the gamit i wish i had this guitar 10 years ago its perfect for my style of playing and music!

i am soon getting one of these. i love the looks with 1 humbucker, 1 single coil in a tele. i am a huge keith richards fan and rich robinson of the black crowes. this thing nails all sounds of blues rock. it has a wide range neck pick up, standard (twangy) bridge. it includes a nice deluxe gig bag.

like i said before , im a black crowes, rolling stones blues rock guy. fits my style perfectly.i use a peavey valve king 112 and its almost as good as a fender deluxe reverb or marshall tub stack!(wich is what rch robinson and keith richards use). it isnt noisy at all, unless u have a high gain amp and sit right in front of it. it has a variety of sounds. i can pull a muddy waters grove to black crowes. or bb king to The stones. perfect 'shake your money maker ' era tone. love the tone of the neck pickup itself. its perfect.

the black with the maple is killer! it is set up great out of the box. the pickups were great,no flaws,nothing wrong with this. it has a nice grainy & flamy neck.

it will do fine with live playing.the hard ware will evevtually have that cool gun metal look if you play it all the time. but it will take 20 yrs or more

great for blues / rock lovers. not sure for metal. own les pauls, and strats. if this got stolen, i would track it down. i love it sooooo much. if i couldnt find it, id get another.i love the raw sound of it. just as good as any other fender guitar. better than my gibsons and fenders. i chose this because its raw punchy black crowes/ rolling stones tone and great looks. also because keef and rich robinson use them.

this is a 2000 year model 72 Tele Custom reissue that I got used a while back. It is black with a (flamy!) maple neck that has a great chunky profile (feels just like my 68 Tele with a C neck) It was MIM. Has the 3 way toggle/2 vol, 2tone setup just like a Les Paul. very nice and more versatile than my 68. I figure these guitars may be poplar or basswood, but this one is pretty heavy,may be alder. Not as heavy as a real 70's Tele Custom though. Has the standard Tele lead pickup and the Fender wide range humbucker for the rhythm slot. 3 bolt micro tilt neck, F stamped schaller tuners, just like a real old one has. I'll rate this one pretty high here, as the big flamey neck and les paul style controls along with the single/hum layout make this a VERY versatile and pleasing axe. Also....it looks like Keef's...

Well, I actually had a Sunburst 74 Tele Custom for about 2 weeks back in the late 80's...and it was horrible!! Thick, glopped on finish, loose neck joint, 11 pounds of dead weight, and the neck...oh, my it was skinny and badly fretted. Just a worthless guitar all the way around, ironically it's now worth about 3 grand. This MIM one has absolutely NONE of the problems the original had. It seems very high quality, and all I've changed are personal preference things. I use this in my home studio, but also use it live through an old ProCo Rat, Echoplex, Cry Baby, Hush 2 gate, and custom splitter box into 2 modded blackface Bandmaster heads that drive 2 Ampeg 412 cabs loaded with old EV SRO 150 12" speakers. It is not any more noisy than any other guitar I have with single coils. The guitar was bought used from a pawn shop and has had a six way bridge and a Seymour Duncan Broadcaster bridge pickup installed before I got it. Also the pots and switch have been changed out to Centralab 500K on the single coil and 1 meg on the humbucker. Tone caps are old orange drops that have the correct values for a 72 model. These mods are a HUGE improvement over the stock setup. I'm from Nashville, and the techs down here know how to maximize a Tele's performance while getting the best in classic tone. The bridge pickup is spanky clean, and bright; However, tweaking the tone down a bit thickens things nicely, getting into LP Jr territory. The humbucker was really muddy when I got it, but after pot and cap swap, it is bright and toothy with very similar tone to a LP Custom on the rhythm pickup. I always wanted one of these to get that Keef look and tone and with both p/ups on, it nails that Stones sound. I really am very pleased with this guitar.

Dunno about the factory setup, but when I got it it was setup for light strings. I put on a set of Ernie Ball power slinkys, tweaked the rod a tad tighter and adjusted the bridge- plays perfect for me now. I like a medium action. The pickups were adjusted fine, but I really did not even play it until it was back from my tech and had the pots swapped. The neck pocket is very tight, unlike the sloppy joint on the original, and the micro-tilt works fine. Tuning is spot-on. I had the frets filed and polished also. I like the finish on the neck-it is glossy, but not overly thick like the original ones were. All said this guitar was pretty good and even came in a nice early 90's Fender American hardcase-way better than a bag in my opinion!

It withstood many gigs prior to my getting it and can handle thousands more. Hardware seems tough enough, finish is thick and durable, though the guitar is starting to show some dings and playwear, especially on the pickguard below the pickups and around the controls. Strap buttons replaced with schaller strap locks. I use this on gigs and trust it, but I have 2 Strats onstage also. The amp-style knobs show quite a bit of wear, I adjust them a lot as I play.

Used-never contacted them.

I've been playing most my life and professionally for most of that time. I also own a MIM 72 reissue Strat with EMGs and a stock 60's Jap reissue Strat and a 2004 Gibson LP Junior that I use onstage with the above described rig. At home I have a 65 Jazzmaster with a 63 neck, a 68 Tele, an 82 reissue 1957 Strat, a 89 Ric 330, a 62 Gretsch Jet Firebird, a 77 LP delux, a 74 Guild s100 SG style, a Tokai Love Rock Goldtop w/ p90s, and a 68 Yamaha acoustic. I use a Digitech GNX4 also. I have a 1999 MIM 60's Jazz Bass also.
I got a super deal on this at a local pawnshop. I love the fat flamed neck and the hum/single pickups. I also like the LP style controls, as I am more comfortable using the LP style setup while singing (don't haveto look down to make adjustments!)Don't hate a thing about it,it's just a fine Tele. This one is light years better than the original one I owned years ago. One thing I like: My band recently started gigging and recording after a 2 year hiatus. At every gig I've gotten compliments on this guitar's sound and looks... Cool!

Finish- Black on Black with chrome features.
Body Style- Telecaster single cutaway, no contours.
Bridge Style- Three saddle vintage steel string through.
Tuners- Schaller F logo tuners
Neck/Scale- U profile gloss one piece maple neck with 7 1/2 inch radius and 25 1/2 inch scale with three bolt micro tilt feature.
Accessories- None not even an intonation tool or neck adjustment key.
Year of manufacture- Not really sure probably an 04 or 05 it had been on the hanger for a while. Made in mexico.
21 frets
Soild alder body
3-way toggle with twin volume and tone controls
H/S pickup configuration
Fender made pickups (plastic bobbin single coil with no base plate)
Passive electronics.

Ok pros and cons. Decent electronics. Problems though, be sure to have a tech run a star ground and sheild your control cavities and pickup cavities these pickups are noise buckets from the factory. Factory even put in a ground loop, must have new kids working there. Once you quiet it down youll find the pickups are nice and well suited to each other, even if the single coil has plastic bobbins and lacks the traditional brass base plate. The bridge position is bright and gritty with lots of harmonic overtones and nice tendency towards the upper midrange while still retaining this chimey cutting highs. The middle position is warm but bright, not as midsy and you will benefit from upping the mids on your amp's eq. The neck position is warm, but a tad mushy, not as bright as you would expect a vintage spec humbucker. Very bass oriented, but weak harmonics in the bass registers. You can buy a fender american pickup to drop in if you need those bass harmonics. It could be better but for a midrange guitar, you'd be hard pressed to find anything better. Give this one a try if youre looking for a bit of honk, or maybe a touch of ol Hank. It's great for those really compressed indie tube tones as well as old fashioned honkytonk and country. I would even venture to say it has some real rock potential too.

Well we all know fender, and we all know their factory setups are a joke. If youre handy or have a good tech friend you can get by with the factory saddles, but most definately would benefit from a set of compensated angle drilled saddles. Thats the only investment aside from shielding tape im probably going to make in this guitar. It's a real looker with sparse but not too sparse accoutriments. Simple black gloss finish with black four ply pickguard and chrome touches here and there. The neck will need adjustment, and if you haven't dealt with a microtilt neck, don't be like me and muddle through it for hours, get help. The finish on the neck was wonderful but needed a fresh polish and wax and the frets needed it too. the nut had the grooves set a tad high, but that was easily resolved. Smooth fret ends, and fairly even frets make for a nice glide along the neck. Very tight neck pocket, which is essential on a tele, be sure to check yours, if you can get a slip of paper in there, think twice, these things can be airtight if you get the right one, and believe me, if its tight, itll ring like a christmas bell, and do it for days.

This thing is light, super light, which scares me, but makes me happy at the same time. Light wood is typically soft and marrs easily, but the thick poly finish on this thing seems to show little play wear from my use, so I guess it will probably hold up pretty well. The pickguard might as well be made of paper, it scratches and scraps of you run your bare thumb across it. The neck pocket is tight and solid, the tuners hold tune well, and the bridge is solid as a rock. The light weight/sustain issue. Heres the deal this thing sustains amazingly, I have a dearmond m-75t which weighs as much as a bag full of history books, and an agathis tele baritone that weighs about the same. They both sustain forever, but because of the dense wood have slightly attenuated highs, and teles have that quality naturally because of the tone circuit and the heavy bridge plate. This guitar is light though and sustains nearly as long as those tanks, if i could compare this to anything its like have a jumbo acoustic or a huge rosewood dreadnaught on your shoulder. Not very heavy for a solidbody. Good solid gigging guitar with lots of potential.

No clue as to fender's customer support, but if I had to guess theres a reason they put all of their schematics on the website, they dont want to spend their time on the phone with mooky mooks like us.

I am an expenrienced tech and rhythm player that loves vintage edgy tones and progressive modern tones at the same time. This guitar is great, I am a very happy buyer but wish that fender would take the time to treat their buyers right and provide them with a properly set up instrument with accurate intonation. Once again, these things are noisy from the factory, get a buddy with a soldering iron to help quiet it down, and be on the lookout for a set of angle drilled compensated saddles, they will be essential in making it a pro gigging guitar.

I own a 2004 '72 Custom. As stated below, all the parts are American but it was assembled in Mexico. This came in black with a maple neck. Has the single coil in the bridge and the oversized humbucker in the neck. The tuners are like the ones they stock on their basses, I can't think of the name right now but they stay in tune really well, I haven't had that many problems. This model always comes with a Fender gig bag, which isn't a bad bag but then again not a hardshell case. I'm giving this a 9 because of the range of tone it has.

I play a wide variety of music, can't really say but everything from fuzz-layered shoegaze to 60's psychdelia... The neck pickup is great, very muddy, if I tune down a half step and kick back the tone, I can get into a dark Black Sabbath mood, or in standard I can still do everything I need. The bridge single coil is my favorite, very shimmery, clean sounding. I can dial into a Ticket To Ride Beatles' tone, or push some gain on my amp and get the Pink Floyd going on.. Not to a T, but I am just trying to stress how versatile this guitar is. It's the most versatile guitar I have ever owned. The only thing I need now is a Nashville Tele and I think I'll have myself set...

The action is fine, the maple neck is really nice and fits my hand really well. My hands aren't big, but they aren't small. Very easy to play and get a feel for. I haven't noticed any fret buzz and I change the strings on a regular basis. I also admit that I haven't had it set up since I purchased it (I plan to soon) and it plays just fine... but every guitar needs a set up. The finish on it is really nice. I like to take care of it with a Fender cleaning spray (I work for a company that deals music equipment, I win cleaning spray all the time - I recommend it, it works better than the ol' spit n shine). The guitar is a Telecaster - it's not light, but I don't find this one on the heavy-side. I own two other Telecasters and it's the lightest (the other two being a MIM Std Tele in black and a MIA Std Tele also in black). I am a Telecaster guy and I love this guitar... I love this guitar to death but I want to give it an accurate review. This guitar plays nice, but it's not the best guitar in the world. Give me 10 years of breaking it in, and I think it'll be there.

It's a Fender. It can survive just about anything, but like all guitars and cars, it falls apart now and again. The bridge could use a little adjustment. It stays in tune fairly well. The first problem is, the input jack is coming loose - this seems to be recurring on this model. The finish seems good, but I'm not worried about dings or chips or scratches.. Who cares really. The strap buttons are solid but I will be switching to oversized ones to further prevent those strap-slips.. The parts of the guitar are really well, American as stated, but it's obvious this guitar could have been put through better assembly. Nothing I can't fix though, at little to no cost.

If you are going to buy this, I recommend you go through Musician's Friend and get their coverage plan. They'll take care of you.

I have been playing guitar for 7 years, I am 21 now. I also own a 1985 MIJ Std Stratocaster, a 1992 MIA Std Telecaster, a 1998 MIM Std Telecaster, a 2001 Epiphone Les Paul Custom, and a Seagull S6 acoustic. I play through a Vox AC15, a Vox Pathfinder R mini stack (the 15w head with the 4x8" cab - awesome little guy for bedroom/living room practice). I use an EHX Holy Grail reverb pedal, a Hendrix fuzz/wah, the Ibanez analog delay pedal, and an MXR 7 band eq. This is the best guitar I own. I plan on keeping it my entire life...

'72 Mex Tele Custom made around 2005/2006. One piece maple neck (21 frets), bullet style truss rod w/ micro tilt. W/R Humbucker at neck and standard single coil at bridge. Vintage 3 saddle bridge, strung thru body, 2 vol 2 tone, Schaller tuners i think & Gig bag.

With a very flexible tonal range and the right amp EQ settings, i reckon this guitar should cover just about anything you would play, except probably Morbid Angel/Suffocation type humbucker preffered stuff. I'm using a Fender Twin Reverb and a Pro-Co RAT some days, and a Vox AC50 Top Boost & 4X12 (WITH GREENBACKS!! :-)) & Boss ME5 digital fx on other days. The sound between both amps is remarkably well balanced bearing in mind i've only lived with the guitar for two weeks! It fairs well compared to my Jap Strat, and stands alongside my friend's Hamer Tele (Beautiful!!) admirably. It makes what sounds i tell it to make. End of story.

Apart from being set up by Jeff Healey, the pickups are pretty well balanced considering it's a H/SC guitar. The major bitch i have with the guitar is the shocking finish afforded to the frets. Between fret 17-21 is deplorable and fret 5 is also suspect. Bearing in mind i have a free setup for a month, i could do well to take advantage of this and have this slight problem rectified. The tuning pegs gearing could have been a little more smooth but hey......

This guitar BETTER adapt to the live environment pretty quickly or else end up a McDonalds carton sooner rather than later. Not sure about the hardware lasting (i forsee new pickups en route) and the frets are going to get a fright soon. The finish is irrelevant and i couldn't care if the paint fell off tomorrow. Strap buttons solid for now. Further usage will tell if it's dependable or not. I wouldn't play any gig without a backup guitar...you never know!!

Haven't roared at them .......yet!!!

I have only had my Custom for two weeks but it is intended to be my 'main' runabout. I also play a '84 Jap Strat and lots of different guitars for lots of different reasons. If i had something i wished i could have asked before i played it, it would have been "How come all the salesmen in your shop don't care?" Pound signs aplenty for the lucky person in question. Hard cash too....no rubber cheques here!! All i got was a lousy gig bag, no strap, strings, or a lead (always welcome). If it were lost or stolen i think the chances of me getting one that sounded as good as this one are fairly slim. The guitar was compared to #800 American Teles and took the piss out of them soundwise. Thankfully never bought one of them!!! I wish it had a sister. My dog is called Charlie.

This is just to clarify something that nobody seems to know.

The parts on this Fender are mostly AMERICAN and other, not Mexican as most of you are assuming. Do your research. These guitars are just ASSEMBLED in Mexico.

2003 MIM; black with maple fretboard. Mine has an MIJ neck and modern Gotoh tuner (more on those later). Other than that it's stock and all the features have been covered below.

Yes, the HB can be muddy and the SC is inherantly a bit weak, but with some adjustment these can be almost totally remidied. Being my only electric guitar I depend on the Tele Custom to cover a pretty broad array of tones. I use it with my 1967 Ampeg Gemini I (20w 1x12) and pedalboard (Crybaby Classic Wah, Analogman TS-9/Silver, Analogman SD-1/808, RMC FK-1 compressor, and VoodooLab Sparkle drive) and I can play just about anything from jazz to hard rock comfortably. I mostly play in Praise & Worship groups at churches, so there is always a bit of give and take in my style depending on the songs and congregation that day, but I've had no problem fitting in with this setup. The 72 Custom RI has become an integral part of my sound, and I don't think I could go back to a more 'normal' style guitar. Even my wife who didn't like it at first said this past weekend that this guitar is a part of who I am!

Here is where I had some problems. I bought the guitar dirt cheap from a VERY well known shop while visiting my parents. After puting 10's on it I tried to adjust the truss rod and .....nothing! It wouldn't move no matter how hard I tried. Took the guitar to my local Fender authorized shop and was told I needed a new neck, since the truss rod was completely frozen! Luckilly the guitar was still playable, but I played with no truss rod adjustments for about 9 months until Fender sent the new neck to my dealer.

Eventually they sent a MIJ neck (far better than the MIM) which was drilled for modern tuners, so the shop put in a set of Gotoh's for my trouble. It took a while to get, but the Japanese neck has a much nicer finish than the MIM and is a big improvement to the guitar.

One other small issue is having a couple of the pickguard screw holes strip out, but I've filled the holes with toothpicks and life goes on.

This has been my only electric for the past 2 years, and I have no worries about it failing me any time soon.

It took Fender a L O N G time to get my replacement neck, but they did take care of me even though I'd bought the guitar in one state and was having warranty work done in another. And a big thaks to Kurlan Music of Worcester MA for being willing to spend so much time dealing with a guitar they didn't make any money from. Huge show of character!

I love this guitar. For several years I said "If I ever get another electric it'll be a 72 Tele Custom RI" so when the opportunity showed itself I jumped. Since the truss rod issue is resolved, I have no worries about this guitar failing me. If it's ever stolen or is mortally damaged, I'll get another without question.

This is a 2005 MIM '72 Tele Custom with the burst finish. All the standard features - one Single, one Humbucker. Both Fender Pickups. Two volume and two tone knobs, Alder body, Maple neck with Maple fingerboard. Vintage style Tele bridge, and vintage style tuners, gig bag, etc. Lots of variety...

Sound wise - hmmm. As is mentioned often, the bridge pickup is a bit weak and lacks a bit of the Tele Twang. Nothing you can't fix with a bit of EQ and the right amp. It actually works to the guitar's advantage though, since the neck humbucker is a bit muddy, so having to boost the treble a bit to get the Tele bite helps clean up the 'bucker when you switch to the neck position. I really like the middle position where both pickups are engaged. You can get a really nice bluesy grit in this position. I think I use this position more with this guitar than any similar P/U config on any other gutiar I have owned.
The single coil is a bit noisy, but that's part of the nature of more vintage sounding SC pickups. They guitar is well suit for a good number of music styles - Country, Blues, Rock, Alternative. It's not really a 'hard rock' guitar, any miles away from metal, but that ain't what it was built to do. I use mainly tube amps with this guitar (Rivera, Fender), and run direct to the PA via different pre-amp pedals in some situations (Church).

I was a bit hesitant buying a MIM Fender, since they have a reputation for lessor build quality, but I have no issue with this guitar at all! The two piece Alder body is matched well grain wise, the frets are level and have smooth ends. The neck pocket is tight and and hardware all works great. What I have heard through the grapevine is that the MIM quality is improving, especially on the specials ('72 RIs, Jimmie Vaughn, ect). I am overall very pleased with the build of my Tele.

Everything on the guitar seems very well built and sturdy, and Tele's generally are tanks so I don't anticipate any issues with the guitar at all.

I've never had to deal with Fender.....

This guitar has overcome my prior reluctance to buy any MIM Fenders, mainly since there is no MIA version of the '72 Tele for a reasonable price. The quality and sound of the guitar are much better than I expected, and I am very happy at this point with the Tele. I'm still considering buying a better bridge pickup, but I'm not in a hurry at this point. Probably my favorite feature is the wide tonal range of the guitar. I use it for country, pop, blues, and some classic rock and it has all the tone I need between the two pickups and the amp EQ. If it were stolen I would definitely consider buying another one - I'm really starting to like this guitar a whole lot...

I use a 1999 72' tele custom. It has the 21 fret, maple finger board. Dual volume and tone controls. It is a mexican model (no complaints there). Mine is black with a black pickguard. Vintage tuners, which I really do like. The rest is pretty standard.

I must agree that the bridge pickup is weak. The humbucker is kinda muddy. It is noisy, but there is nothing here that can't be fixed. Overall it has a unique sound, not like standard tele's, that's why I bought mine. The biggest problem that I have had with mine is the frets wore out after about 2 years. Maybe I play different than other players, so this may just be a problem for me.

I bought my tele from a local music store, so mine was set up by the owner of the store. He did a good job, too. My guitar had a chip on the body, close to the strap button, It had fallen at one time. They were up front with me though. I did get it at a discount.

There is no doubt in my mind that this guitar will withstand the test of time. I Have been playing mine for over five years, every weekend,and I have had no major problems. The strap buttons worked their way out for a while, but i drilled the buttons and ran longer and bigger screws into the body. I have had some string breakage problem, but I feel that it has to do with the 3 bridge saddles getting out of adjustment. They seem to work their way out of adjustment.

I have had to have the reverb can in my fender stage 100 amp replaced and they gave me no problem.

Been playin in bands since 1985. The only question that I would have asked is the availability of replacement pickguards, as they had none.Yes I would buy another one if it was stolen, and hope that I catch the one who stole it. There is really nothing that I hate about the guitar,could be a little lighter. My favorite feature is the dual tone controls. I have played other tele's and I like this one the best. It looks cool and plays very good. The one thing that I would like to have on it would be a 60's Strat whammy bridge.cool.

This is a 2002-2003 (judging by serial #) that I recently bought "new" (summer 2005). It had been sitting in the music store for a couple years, but it had a broken in feeling that I really liked. Specs are well covered below. Love the slick, glossy neck. Tuners could be a tad better, but they're fine and as good as most others. What I love about Telecasters in terms of features is that they are about as simple as you can get, no frills.

Style is indie/surf/psych, this guitar is of course one of the "cool" indie guitars of the moment (along with the Tele Deluxe). It has a very good sound for a current guitar. I've owned a '69 Thinline and a '72 Deluxe, and I can say I like this one best. It has the twang of the '69 on the bridge, but has a lot of guts for wah-drenched, gritty solos. Fender humbuckers sound different from Gibsons. They are lower output (a good thing in my opinion), and brighter. I play it through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, its a good match. Nothing beats the sound of my real 1969 Fender "Custom" (a rare guitar similar to an Electric XII or Jazzmaster), but this one is simply amazing and can get some sounds I can't get with my Custom.

Pretty good, but it was sitting in a store a while. A slight tightening of the truss rod and adjusting of the bridge and it plays great. I changed the strings from 9 to 10 like many others, it stabilizes the tuning a lot. One of the tuners is a little loose-feeling, but its not a big deal. These "F" tuners are actually made in Germany by Schaller in case anyone thinks they're made in Mexico. I was able to settle in to this guitar right away, something that encouraged me to pick this particular one up. It felt like putting on an old pair of shoes, rare in a new guitar. I agree with another reviewer who said it brought out a new kind of style in him, it did the same for me, just really allowed me to let go of myself for some reason. I used it at a recent recording session and nailed a take of a song I had never played on this guitar. I think I even played it better than I ever have before. It just comes alive. Let me also say that I bought an American Vintage Jazzmaster online ($1400 guitar) that had all kind of serious issues. I returned it and bought this Tele instead because I honestly felt it was a better sounding and playing guitar. My experience is that the "Classic" series MIM Fenders are constructed better than American ones. I know many will disagree, but all I'm saying is don't believe everything you hear about American being better in every way. Its true that many of the materials are of a higher quality, but that doesn't neccessarily equal a superior guitar. Ignore the labels are play as many as you can. Also, I recommend buying from a store. Individual guitars all have their own mojo and my experience has taught me that buying online is risky. I've been playing about 11 years and have been through about 15-20 guitars in that time. I currently own 4: 1969 Fender Custom (vintage USA made), this Tele Custom reissue (Mexican), a 12 string electric Schecter (Korean), and a 12 string electric Alvarez (Chinese).

Haven't played it out yet but I'm not worried. I played my MIM '69 Thinline out a lot and never had any trouble. Hardware might be a little cheap on these MIMs, but only time will tell. Guitar itself feels extremely durable, like all Telecasters. I would gig without a backup if I had to without worry, but I like playing out with two 6 strings and one 12 string for variety.

Haven't dealt with them.

Value for $$$, this is one of the best on the market, as are all of the Classic series Fenders. This is especially true for me in light of my dissapointing purchase of the American Jazzmaster. After that experience, I decided I would get a Classic series Telecaster. I had a '69 Thinline that I sold and missed, so I considered that one. I also owned and quickly sold the Tele Deluxe because the double humbuckers were a bit much for me, and I found the output too high and overall sound too muddy. I loved it for solo overdubs, though. I played some of the Japanese Teles and found the sound to be too thin. Ditto the '50s and '60s reissues, although they are cool guitars too. The '72 thinline was cool, but also a tad murcky. I narrowed it down to the '72 Tele Custom or the '69 Thinline. The '69 Thinline was brighter and more surfy, but I already have that covered with my original Fender Custom. So, I chose the Tele Custom for its added versatility and meaty sound. Oh yeah, it also looks really cool!

Donny
http://www.myspace.com/ecchoingbleu

I bought it for around $800-900 in 2003 (I got ripped, should of paid about 6-7 hundred). A '72 telecaster custom reissue made in mexico.

21 frets, I wish it had one more fret.
solid body electric. Nice finish on it.
4 knobs, 2 volume, 2 tone. 3 settings, neck, mid, bridge.
Humbucker at the neck, single coil at the bridge.
Not sure what the wood is, but a maple neck and fretboard.
Not a tech guy, so you'll have to look up the other info.

Fairly versitile. I haven't owned many guitars, so I won't rate it's features. One thing though, don't like where the body meets the neck, it interferes with playing on the upper registers. But this is a fairly standard build, just my preference.

I play mostly blues and blues based music/rock. Clean through a low end fender amp (it has "princeton" on the front). I have a few pedals, overdrive and a volume pedal.

I get lots of "popping" with it, if you lightly touch a string, it'll give a pop sound from the hum being cut off. Its not that bad, but its there. Went to go get the thing shielded, but the luthier told me it was already shielded.

The sound is good, what you play is what you sound like. Nice range between the single coil and the humbucker. Can get a nice clean sound or drive it to get some distortion. Sustain isn't good, you'll need extras to get that. Overall, I like the sound, I'm currently shopping for a new guitar, but this one has served me well.

Looks good. i bought mine from a shop, so I think they adjusted the settings. It came with good action, intonation, etc... the humbucker pickup was mounted at an angle, so that had to be refitted, but no big deal there. Everything else was fine.

Finish is still bright, (its only 2 years old) and beautiful. Can definitely gig with this if you wanted to. I think the factory frets are a little on the weak side, I had to replace them after 2 years, but that might just be me. The replacement frets are holding up much better. I remember learning this SRV line, after practicing that same line for about 4 hours, I noticed the frets were noticibly more worn than when I started that practice session. But other than that, its been holding up great. (note: maple frets cost twice as much as rosewood to refret/condition).

NA, haven't had to contact them.

It my first real guitar, I've had an Ibanez Artcore-75, a Takhimine acoustic, and a 60's/70's harmony hollow body hand me down. I bought this one after having played for about 3 years and was (still am) completely ignorant about gear and what kind of sound I REALLY wanted. My favorite so far (in terms of sound) has been the Ibanez (i prefer very clean tones), but that guitar broke in about a year and a half (the guitar chord connection broke off - fixable) and the frets are worn (no point in repairing these since I could buy a new artcore). But the Tele is the best overall guitar. Reliable, good sound, looks nice, etc... I would buy this guitar again, but I would find a good price instead of being ripped off by the salesman.

I beleive this to be a '98 Mexican 72 tele custom.
I purchased it second hand for a bargain price maybe 4 years ago.
It's a 3 piece alder body, 21? frets on a rosewood neck, great sunburst finish, les paul style controls with a Fender wide range humbucker in the neck and a 'vintage' single coil in the bridge.
Vintage style 3 piece bridge saddles with string through body loading.
7.25" neck radius with Micro Tilt adjustment on neck plate.
Vintage style tuners and a very nice, comfortable and fat neck profile.
It's a bit heavier than other tele's i've played.

Well it sounds very Tele like, but maybe a bit beefier than your standard american model.
Im using it, in my band, with a Fender blues deville and a couple of older overdrives and a delay.
It is a touch noisy but that could easily be fixed with some copper tape shielding on the inside.
It's a great sounding guitar and my only gripe would be that the neck humbucker is overly muddy at times, BUT this is due to the fact that the original models of this guitar came equipped with 1Meg vol pots for the humbucker, not 250k. The 250k should never be paired up with a humbucker as it bleeds of the high frequencies, hence the mud you will sometimes hear.
So change the neck humbucker pot and you'll be just fine.
Gripes aside this a great guitar and i can get some very nice violin like sustain from the guitar when played with a couple of overdrives on at once.
Plus, it looks SOOOO cool!

Was all groovy.
It was fretting out up past the 12th fret when i first got it but i figured out that this was due to the microtilt being adjusted so the neck was rising at the body end.
I zeroed it back down and the problem dissapeared.
Everything else was sweet.

Solid as a rock.

Never dealt with them.

Would purchase another one if it was stolen.
I'd also like to try one of their RI 72 Tele Deluxe's.
Have been playing for 14 years or so in bands and stuff.
I love the way the guitar looks and sounds and also how versatile it is.
It has plenty o' character.
This along with my les paul makes for a wide variety of tonal colours to be had.
I'd like to see it with a bigsby.
I tried an original 72 TC custom and it had the skinniest, most awful neck on it.
One of the best things about this guitar is the neck shape.
It's just so damn comfy.

This was a 2003 black tele custom. MIM
same features as the others (neck HB, 4 controls,...) It came with a very nice fender gig bag. Normally hard shell would be preferred but I'm riding my bike so much these days that I prefer the gig bag

essentially, this has the perfect amount of features. Versatility

I have always been a u2/rem/wilco sort of guy who likes noise and effects. I sold my ric 330 to get this and I'm glad I did. As much as I loved the tone of the ric, it wasn't as versatile. I use a lot of delay and tremolo and use a vox pathfinder at home. The sound is amazing for what I do. It's kind of the best of all worlds. It has the brightnessand clarity of a tele or ric as well as the meatiness of the LP. There were only two problems with the sound.

#1 the stock single coil was really weak and didn't have much character. I swapped it out for a muy grande and now it sounds incredible. In the middle position, the clarity of both pickups is unreal. You can actually hear them independently.

#it's really badly grounded. There is way more noise out of theis guitar than even my LP Jr. (which has a p-90)

*However, I bought this guitar as a project guitar as well as for it's versatility, so I have no problems with this. It means that I get to learn more about guitars.

The set up was quite good and the finish was excellent. Like I said, it's pretty badly grounded but I'm going to attempt to fix that this weekend.

This guitar is a rock. I would have no problem gigging without a backup.

Mind you, the nut broke about a month after getting it. Now I have a better bone one so I'm happy

I haven't had to deal with them however i love that their website has all the wiring diagrams to this guitar

I've been playing for about 8 years and have owned lp's, but for the past 4 years I have played a ric. After 4 years, I realized that I wasn't getting any better. The tone was incredible but it just didn't have everything that I wanted. I changed to the tele because I wanted something with a neck that I could improve on. I also wanted a guitar that I wouldn't be afraid to work on or drop. I'm positive I have found it.

'72 Telecaster Custom - Reissue MIM in 2004. Alder Body, maple "U" shaped neck and maple fret board (21 Fret). "Bullet" truss rod and 3 bolt neckplate with "micro tilt" adjustment. Fender Wide Range Humbucker in in the neck position, and a Fender Tele Single Coil in the bridge position. Separate volume and tone controls for each pickup. Vintage style 3 saddle ashtray string through Telecaster Bridge. Fender/Schaller Vintage "F" tuners.

If you are a fan of the Telecaster sound - this is an awesome guitar. The single coil really does reproduce that classic tele twang while the wide range humbucker gives it a nice fattened sound from the neck. Hey, if you want to sound like Keith Richards this is the guitar. I'm playing through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe most of the time and a lil' Vox AD30VT amp the rest of the time and it sounds great. The single coil pickup does have the classic hum, but you can always get a noiseless single if if bothers you. For a tele it sounds great, and I'm rating it on the tele sound. If I wanted a guitar taht sounded like a strat I would've bought one.

Well, I looked at a couple. The action, fit, and finish on the one I bought were great. It just needed a a very slight adjustment on the sixth string. I really tried hard to find a flaw on this one and couldn't, and that's one of the reasons I bought it. The other ones had some issues. One had a serious rattle and buzz under the bridge. So, did some of the MIA tele's I looked at. You just have to look 'em over carefully.

It's built for combat operations! It's made to be played not put under glass. I'm confident it will hold up well, but only because I played for a couple of hours before I bought it and I went over it with a fine tooth comb.

I've not used their customer service, but the website is pretty cool.

I've been playing for a lotta years. I'd been wanting a tele for awhile and then got a lead on an awesome price. Most folks sell it for about $650 something or better. Try not to pay more than $425 for one new because you can chew them down on the price if you work hard at it. Having said that - it's worth the higher price. Sounds and plays as good as, if not better than any of the other teles out there.

2002 re-issue custom tele
three color sunburst
rosewood fretboard
vintage size frets
gibson style volume and tone controls

this guitar makes all the good sounds
i use this tone monster with bandmaster, jcm900 or a funky tube amp available here in oz called a "vase".(thirty or so years old)
these pickups hum deliciously when your hand doesnt ground the strings.
this guitar is an organic sounding beast.
I have never heard anything like it anywhere. I have been playing in bands for a long time.
these people that complain about the sunburst ones can send their guitars to me, Ill gladly give them a loving home.
I cant vouch for the poplar ones.(i am led to believe the black mex reissues are poplar.)
I like everything about this guitar, especially the fat tone and the fat neck.

the guy i got this guitar from was a tone freak, and had the guitar set up beautifully.lowest action ive ever seen on a tele/strat.
haha, the two bits of alder are delightfully mismatched.
these people that whine about cosmetic flaws maybe shouldnt be playing...
also, the lead jack comes loose fairly frequently, as well as the selector switch.
I love how these things come loose, it gives me an excuse to touch the guitar even more and tighten them.

the guitar will withstand a bomb blast...possibly not even needing a tune up.
This guitar does not go out of tune.I play it long and hard.
I put strap locks on it, using my own long screw modification.
Backup? you gotta be joking. i've got strats, other teles...and they stay in the closet on gig night.

what a waste of time.
look folks, if something needs to be done to your guitars, whatever the brand or make, just do it yourself.
I know it sounds crazy, but you could learn something in the process.
these guitar do not come out of the box well set up. But to set them up doesnt take too much brain power. if you are reading this, you have internet access....use this access to find out anything you need to know about set up or even repairs.

if someone so much as looked at this guitar the wrong way, i would torture them.
I would like to say to all you good folks that choose to whine about their axes...shutup and dont blame the poor guitar...its all in your fingertips.Unless maybe you play a bc rich...

What features? Its a Tele! I like the separate volume and tone controls, which are unlike most fenders. The neck humbucker is a great alternative and sounds fat. The cool pickguard makes it a stand out. The machine heads stay in tune really well. I really prefer the thin Strat neck, and this one is a bit fat. Not baseball bat fat, but hefty. Its a rounded fat, unlike the vintage V fat. I really like the glossy smooth finish on the neck.

I'm in a geezer rock band and this guitar is the best sounding yet. I can play surf music, right on up to Tom Petty or Neil Young. The neck humbucker is bright and full. The neck single coil may be a bit weak, and I've seen others comment on this. I mostly play with both pickups on. Through my '72 Twin Reverb, this guitar sounds great. I have been using a Marshall V-twin and a Tube Screamer to enhance my other guitars. The '72 Tele Custom goes straight in, and sounds fantastic.

I can't find a fault. The neck is smooth smooth smooth. I like the glossy neck and that's one reason I didn't go for a lesser model. The grain on the body seems wide, but I don't have an original to compare it to. The body is finished nicely, though. The hardware all works smoothly and quietly. However, I do get a bit of buzz, mostly at louder volumes, unless I ground the strings with my hand. Its no problem while playing, and I think I can fix that.

It seems built like a brick S-house. Everything seems solid and I expect it to last like most Telecasters. I'm planning on gigging with it, but I always bring a backup in case of a broken string.

I've never dealt with Fender. If it breaks, I'll take it back to Guitar Center.

This is the American made model that comes with a tweed case. I sat at Guitar Center for two hours and played every darn Tele in the place. Thats after going to another Guitar Center and an American Music. This one sounded the fullest and brightest. I hated the price, but that's what credit cards are for! (and you get what you pay for) I like the humbucker for the extra punch. I've been playing for 30 years and I like this guitar better than my Strat, Les Paul or Rickenbacker 330. I'm not saying I wont play the others, but the Tele has it all for right now.