Fender '72 Telecaster Thinline Reissue

Fender'72 Re-issue Thinline made in 2005
21 frets
1 volume, 1 tone control, 3-way switch
2 Fender wide range humbuckers
Maple neck
Natural Ash Body
String-thru body
Fat neck, medium frets
gig bag

I was immediately taken by the look of the natural ash body Thinline Tele but when I played it, I fell in love. It is such a unique instrument - I mean how many electrics do you know that have half semi acoustic and half solid?

The Fender wide range pickups are much better than their Gibson competitors - and for most of my life I played only Gibson SG's and Gibson L6S's. They are designed to allow more high frequency through and thus give the tele that sharp, piercing sound you want with a good solid bass background.

The action is wonderful, though I always have my guitars set up by Metairie???s Guitar Tech, and the sound is gorgeous. The neck pickup has a bell tone that rivals the neck pup on my beloved Stratocaster. And the bridge pup has bite but just a bit more body than a Strat bridge pup.

The quality is first rate. The neck and all components are made in Fender's USA factory and the guitar is assembled in Mexico. But trust me; this is quality work all around.

Although this is a re-issue of the 1972 Fender Thinline Telecaster, it plays like the vintage instrument. The story behind the guitar is that Fender was losing market share to Gibson in the early 70???s since the fat sound of humbucker SG???s and Les Paul???s were the preference of rockers. Then Fender heard that Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones had pulled the factory pickups out of his telecaster and installed Gibson humbuckers ??? so Fender decided to come up with this unique Telecaster. Sad story ??? it didn???t catch on and was shortly discontinued and that???s a damn shame as this guitar is so much better than the 1968 Gibson SG Standard I played during those years.

Being a hybrid - half semi-acoustic, it is more delicate than its full solid body brothers, that said, it is very durable, keeps tune wonderfully and as long as you don't go all Townsend on it, should last a very long time in active gigging.

Never had any reasons to bother on this account but all previous dealings with Fender were painless.

Without doubt, the most beautiful guitar I've ever seen and one that plays like a dream. Always spend the money to have a good local tech set up the guitar for you as I never trust the off the racks settings.

Mexican Telecaster '72 Thinline made in 2003
21 frets
1 volume, 1 tone control, 3-way switch
2 Fender humbuckers
Maple neck
Three-colour sunburst
String-thru body
Fat neck, nedium frets
gig bag

I am playing mostly blues and rock'n'roll on Strats and thought I should overcome my prejudice and try a Tele. The Thinline attracted me because of its looks - it's a really great looking guitar, plus at my age the reduced weight of a semi-hollow is an added bonus.
I am using a Marshall 100 watt VS 100 and a Fender Dyna-touch III. Somehow I was not able to get the tones that I wanted out of the guitar. In position one it sounded dull, and in position 3 acidic. Position 2 was okay, but not enough to make me really happy. Played on the clean channels it sounded better than on the overdrive channels of both amps.
Furthermore the neck was too fat for my liking and not as smooth as I had expected. I am sure someone with more patience can get really good sounds out of it.

The strings were set-up a little high, but that was fixed easily. The pick-ups are a different matter; I couldn't make them produce the sound I wanted. The brass-saddles were alright on the day I removed the guitar from the gig-bag. After a week and several hours of playing they rusted/oxidized as did the pick-ups. I blame that one the climate here in Southeast Asia, but then I have 1986 American Stratocaster and there is not rusty speck on that one.
The tone and volume controls were and are little loose.

The way this guitar is built it seems it will last a long time. I've played it live only once and it worked ok. All the other players there who are Telecaster players wanted to play it too. They find it a great guitar.

I've been playing since more than 30 years now. My other guitars are an '86 American Stratocaster, a 2006 American Deluxe Telecaster, a 2009 American Standard Stratocaster, and a Epiphone Korina Explorer made in 2008. The last two are my favourite guitars.
I wished I had been able to play the guitar before buying it online and I would have found that I like jumbo frets better than the one the Tele is equipped with. I am sure it is a great and wonderful guitar for someone, it's just that it doesn't sound the way I like it to.

This is a Mexican made reissue purchased new this year. The guitar is a semihollow design made of ash with a maple neck. The guitar uses two Fender designed "wide range" humbuckers. This finish is natural with a pearloid white pickguard. The pickups truly are wide range in that they produce anything from classic tele sounds to a moderate humbucking roar. The guitar is striking in appearance and fun to play unplugged at night. The hardware is average at best but adequate for this guitar.

I play blues and rock music but it will do jazz well also. This guitar is killer with a Fender Blues Jr. and BBE Green Screamer peddle. This same pedel also works wonders with a 65 Deleux Reverb Reissue. The guitar is noisier than some humbucker equipted guitars but the sound is worth it. The strength of this guitar is the many sound it produces. The tone knob is very sensitive and can create pain with the bridge pickup set all the way on treble. I did change the volome pot to a 500k which did open up the pickups as some other reviewers noted, a cheap mod that is worth it.

The pickups needed some adjustment. The big negative was the fret finish. They were overhanging the fretboard and almost caused me to not buy the guitar. A quick trip to most excellent guitar repairman solved the problem but it looses two point for such sloppy work. In every other respect, this guitar was well built for it's price range.

This guitar is durable, easy to use on stage and has a tough finish. The hardware isn't the best, I could see changing tuners and bridge but it works fine now. This telecaster looks cool and tough.

No problems

I have played for 30 years, more seriously in recent years. This was somewhat of an impulse buy/trade with an old gibson. I wanted something different, with a hollowbody design. I love how it resonates and how it handles. It isn't in the same class as my Eric Johnson Stratocaster, but it is a fine second guitar. If it was lost or stolen I probably would try something else but wouldn't rule out getting another one.

Ash simi-hollow body, 2 Fender "Wide-Range" chrome covered pickups, custom Mother-of-Pearl picguard, 7 1/2" radius maple fretboard, 3-way switch

This is the most wonderful sounding Telecast I've ever played (after a few quick and easy mods - see below)! It truly does have a "wide-range" tone to it. It still has the classic Tele spank, but with lots of full and fat bottom-end. No hum. Lots of top-end sparkle and tons of bottom end.
**NOTE** These guitars come with unpotted pickups and they will squeal like a little pig if you throw a moderate amount of gain in with it. I potted my pickups and the squeal went away but not the tone. in fact, I think the tone improved after potting. I also swapped out the stock 250k volume pot for an audio-taper 500k and that helped the neck pickup bring out a little more sparkle. After these mods, the guitar has the best tone of any guitar I've ever owned, I've I've had a LOT of different guitars.

I bought the guitar used so I can't say how the factory set-up was. I do know that with the 7 1/2" radius I had to raise the high E and B strings up so that they won't "fret-out" when doing big bends. The shorter radius does make it easier to play chords - which is what I do 90% of the time anyway. The neck is just a little bit fatter than "C" shape, but just a little. I like the slightly more fat neck, as my hands don't hurt so much when playing long songs full of bar chords. The grain pattern in mine is not the best ever, but I don't care anything about that. I just love the way it plays and sounds

Like most Tele's and Strats, this guitar is strong enough to take some abuse. You can use Teles and Strats to play baseball with and they'll still hold up.

I've owned lots of Strats, Les Pauls, Tele, and everything in-between and I like this guitar the best. I want another one as a backup. I'd like one with a Bigsby tremelo. If I can find another one, I might mod it with one.

Pretty much covered in the other reviews, but here's a basic rundown:

Body - Semi-Hollow Ash
Neck - 1 Piece Maple
Frets - 21
Bridge - Vintage Style Strat Hardtail w/ Strings Through Body
Pickups - 2 Fender Wide Range Humbuckers
3 Position Toggle (Bridge, Neck/Brige, Neck)
1 Master Volume Knob
1 Master Tone Knob

From the information I've come across, the parts are manufactured in the US, but the guitar is assembled in Mexico. Not a big deal to me, but for some people this may be an issue.

There is one issue that I have that won't probably affect many people planning to purchase this guitar. The tuning pegs have a small slit running through the middle of the peg, and there is a hole inside the slit that you push the string into. I like this for standard gauge strings (50s, 52s), but anything bigger than (53s) won't fit. This isn't a HUGE issue, but it does limit the options somewhat for string usability.

This is where this guitar absolutely shines. I spent about 3-4 months playing tons of guitars (SGs, Les Pauls, Strats, Teles, Various Ibanez, Schecter, etc) and trying to find the sound that suited me best. The main problem that I had in finding a guitar was that I needed versatility. I play a lot of different styles (Blues, Rock, Metal, Thrash, Alternative, Death), and I really wanted a guitar that could cover all of those areas.

I'm happy to say that this guitar can cover all of the styles that I need it to. It tunes down well (I play in a lot of tunings ranging from Drop-B to E Standard). I'm using a Peavey Vypyr 30w as a practice amp, and I can get all kinds of different sounds based on those amp models.

Live, I play alternative/pop-punk through a Fender Deluxe (4x10) and it really sounds great if you dial the treble down and boost the mids for the crunch channel. I would normally set the gain around 5 or 6 and I get a great classic rock sound.

The guitar cleans up well and is very usable on all pickup settings. I like the clean on the bridge pickup for string skipping and heavier picking parts, and I like to throw it in the neck position for bluesier clean solos and jazz/blues rhythms.

For gain induced parts, the Wide Range on the bride is fantastic. When I'm tuned down, notes are still distinguishable and the guitar rings chords out well. I really like the mid setting for more classic rock sounds.

I had the guitar set up at Guitar Center and I think it's necessary (but I also think it's necessary to have any brand new guitar professionally set up). After the set up, the guitar played very smoothly and tuned better.

I have the Natural Maple finish and I love it. I like that you can see the grains of the wood underneath and I think it's a great classic look. I also like the pearloid pickguard.

I recommend upgrading the case if you plan on gigging/traveling with this guitar. I didn't even see the soft case. The day I got the guitar, I bought an SKB hard case (which I highly recommend).

The parts are all solid. The one issue I have here is the input jack. First of all, it won't take 90 degree cord ends, only straight. Also, it seems to come loose every once in a while. These aren't huge issues, but they were a little annoying at first.

I haven't had to deal with Fender's customer service.

I've been playing for about 10 years. I've owned this guitar for a little over a year.

As I stated before, I really needed a guitar that covered a wide range of genres, and this guitar absolutely fits the bill for me. I love the versatility and I'm able to get a bunch of sounds out of this guitar.

I recommend this guitar for rock/blues but also if you want something that won't completely break your budget and is very versatile.

Mexican made early 2,000's, 2 wide range humbuckers, maple neck and fretboard, "vintage tuning pegs". 3 bolt neck.

I've had this guitar for about 5 years and I finally made some modifications to it.

The tuning pegs stink. I put Gotoh's in.

the bridge saddles are garbage, I put heavier American standard types in.

The 250K volume pot makes the guitar sound murky..I changed it to 500K and it opens the pickups WAY up. Makes the guitar come alive.

I love the weight of the body, the resonance, but I always felt something was robbing tone, and yes indeed, it was that pot. The stock bridge pickup is not bad after this mod.

Finally, I removed 6 pole pieces from the neck pickup as per an earlier reviewer. Adds a bit more spank to the neck, which is sorely needed because it is SOOO bassy stock.

I wish the guitar had come with bigger frets, as these ones are nearly ground down to nothing. They call them "vintage", I call them "too small" and "easily worn". I'll either need a refret or a new neck very soon.

The metal pot knobs that came with it are long gone.

The string ferules in the back of the guitar fall out all the time when changing strings..I've had to track them down on dark club floors and in carpets and such...NOT FUN!!!

See above about knobs and ferrules.

Other than that, the guitar has held up well after many gigs. I just love the feel and tone of the body, that's why I don't mind spending some money to improve it.

I spent $600 on this guitar and I'm pretty content with what it's given me.

Japan, I beleive 1994, Ash, natural finish, horrible original pups, exellent tune-up, i beleive, factory 'cuz previous owner was so nasty and lazy

I'm contemporary guitar sound maniac. Mostly playing dreampop, shoegaze, experimental and other. Using POD XT PRO with all add-on stuff, couple of stompboxes before, like DUNLOP FUZZ FACE (RI, blue one), thru TECH 21 POWER ENGINE plus other nadmade strange stuff (digital and analog, i'm not a snob, it's really doesen't matter for me) . If you familiar with guitar sounds of band kinda RADIOHEAD, PLACEBO, MY BLOODY VALENTINE, THE CURE, NIN, ets., you now what i mean. Idea-first, guitar must be mystically comfortable just to catch that ideas. Stuck pickups were .... nothing. Just sad parts of exellent built a tuned-up guitar, that maybe built much beter than american ones. It's like japanese cars. Cheeper and just beter builted. I understand that nobody can duplicate original WIDE RANGE. Nobody but... Curtis Novak. I send an e-mail to him after he made for me a pair of near to absolute sounding JAZZMASTER pups for my other semi-Japanese guitar (i built it by myself with stock japanese ebay parts). Over 1 ear i was looking for person who can rewound WIDE RANGE or duplicate them. And Curtis return my e-mail with great news: he did onse with great result! After half a month he return to me rewounded pups with new magnets. Result is... i have no words. Just unexpectable. Curtis is really niciest person i now in that business. Now my guitar do everithing i need: from intrigued new level of guitar ideas to just traditional boring rock. Clean sound, especially Neck is really "tninline clean", both pups from bell like to crunch like an organic butter from mother Ukraine, and brige pup just blowed away lace sensor redred dually with tele plus of friend of mine. And everithing with absolute No Noise. You even can shread death metal with neck pup! Another words- MIJ 72 TELE THINLINE+ Curtis Novak rewounded WIDE RANGE pups=neo boutique piece of art (not just a guitar). I'm happy now. Simple happy!

MIJ guitars-just the best, much beter than standart american made.

I'm not a person who taking care a lot of that workhorse. But guitar works like a tank. Felt down a lot but still be Rembo

You now, i bot that guitar in Russia, what are you asking about? Customer support?
:))

Hmmm. One of my favorite guitar, especially after Curtis Novak did magic with that dead pups

In the features department, this my Mexi Thinline gets points for versatility. Nice cleans, okay overdrive (TS808) and it does well with high gain, too: I've got a Bass Big Muff that dishes out the chunkiest power chords with this thing. It can get sweet humbecker neck tones, but still has some twang in the bridge position that's pretty fun to play with. Two Fender Wide-Range Humbuckers that shouldn't be called that, because Seth Lover designed the Wide-Range HBs, and these were not designed by Seth Lover (barring the fact that essentially all humbucker designs came from Seth's groundbreaking work). In any case, they're different. It has a FAT maple neck, slot tuners, which some people might, but I don't since my first instrument was a jazz bass with slot tuners. Strat style bridge which, although isn't the highest quality, is easier to adjust than a Tele bridge, IMO.

I play all sorts of music: jazz, blues, hard rock, a bit of hardcore-ish stuff, avant-garde, post-rock, and I once played lead for a country recording for my friend. I play though a Blues Jr. with a Weber Ceramic Blue Dog speaker (all you need, really) and a plethora of effects, all of which this guitar takes pretty well. My TS808 copy makes it sound a bit constrained, which is odd, considering how much unoonstraining I did. See, like many with this guitar, I swapped the 250k pots (dumb idea, Fender!) for 500k pots. Now, this gave a bit more brightness and "opened up" the pickups some, but I still wasn't satisfied-- the neck pickup was just too muddy. So, after some online research, I found some advice being passed on that originally came from pickup guru Lindy Fralin. Open up the pickguard, and take a flathead screwdriver and remove the poles that you can on the back of the neck pickup (6 in all). This leaves 3 on the top part of the pickup (EAD strings) and three on the bottom (GBE strings). This is completely reversible. The result is a bit more of a Strat-y sound. It's a much clear and sweeter pickup now that I've done this. It's still humbucking, too. It's a fantastic idea, trust me.

The guitar is a bit noisy when I'm not touching the strings (grounding issue). I'm going to get it shielded and star-grounded anyhow, so it won't be noisy for long.

With these mods, the guitar is very sweet and full. It sounds really harmonically rich on the neck pickup. The bridge pickup still has a great twang, too. Very versatile.

Oh, and the cap is now a paper in oil. Slightly warmer tone rolloff.

I had the guitar's action professionally done, and it's pretty low, and I get a ton of sustain. Everything is in perfect working order, the frets, the neck (which is the best part of the guitar), the bridge. It's probably worth it to upgrade the hardware, though, just so it stays in tune better.

Albeit a 3-bolt neck, I see it lasting quite a while. the Ash body is pretty sturdy. I like the finish a lot, too. I'll use this anytime without a backup.

This guitar gets a nine because I had to spend about $100 and several hours of research to get it to sound like a 10.

Buy it for the neck, keep it for the mods.

Two knobs, a 3-way selector... simple as it gets.

I replaced the 250k knobs with 500k knobs, something everyone who gets this guitar should do, and the humbuckers are now much more open. I also had the cap replaced with a paper and oil one. Tiny detail, I know, but it does sound a bit warmer now. It can be a bit noisy if I'm not grounding it in someway with my body. Perhaps I should get that fixed. Anyhow, it's got a thick, warm sound on the neck, a twangy, still Tele sound on the bridge, and a pretty darn happy medium when you select both.

I had it set up at my local music shop. The action is just a mite higher than I'd like it to be, but the sustain is crazy! I love the finish, too. I LOVE the fat neck on it, too.

Seems pretty darn sturdy from where I'm standing.

Never dealt with 'em.

Great guitar, plays nicely, sounds great. Very happy with it.

Fender Specs:

http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0137402321

This things sounds like is descended straight from heaven.

Lots of bottom, twang at the top - a nice even and round sound. "Wide Range" is perfectly descriptive of the sound.

I play through a Fender Hot Rod Deville 212 - and IMO, this may be the perfect guitar sound.

an interesting note may be what I use this for, which is straight up hardcore death metal. For distortion I use a Ibanez SM7. Some may feel this guitar is only good for country or Blues or whatever, but I can tell you that NOTHING has the balls this tele puts under the distortion.

Beyond that though, it's just a beautiful, clean, crisp, yet round sound.

I find the action to be VERY fast - the only issue is the thickness of the finish on the neck, but I got used to it pretty quickly.

"tank" has been used more than once in these reviews, and there's a reason why.

All and all I'd say the craftmanship is EXCELLENT. Even if it was made in Mexico.

No Problems

This guitar is my soulmate forever. I have no clue why everybody in the world doesn't have one.

1999 (first year of production) Mexican version.

I got the guitar second hand, and it had a StewMac bridge and saddles (which I do prefer).

It has two wide range humbuckers which are great, not as good as the originals though (nothing ever is).

I love the sound, lovely and LOUD! Great for my heavy blues style in the bridge position, although cleaned up with some reverb the neck position sounds very jazzy, and I can recreate Peter Green well.

The finish is good, thick poly though, which is annoying.

The neck has several chips and dents because of gigging, but this is expected.

This guitar is a real tank. I've dropped it on all sorts of surfaces (by accident) and it had a cymbal dropped on it (not by me) but it barely left a dent on it. I have played this guitar into the ground. I gig this guitar with out back ups all the time.

BARE IN MIND THOUGH-- My guitar HAS HAD alot of work done. The neck pick up DID stop working at one point, although I haven't had any problems with it for a year.

I bought it second hand.

I have been playing for 6 years.
I also own a:
Fender 72 Custom (2004)
Esquire (built from parts) and many other guitars, but none of them compare. I play my guitar through a Blues Junior and it sounds great.

If you dont have a Thinline, go get one, and when you get it OVERWIND THE PICK UPS!

As the owner of an original '72 Thinline, I'm disappointed with the sound of the re-issue. I discovered that the current Fender humbuckers are very different from the original design, although they are cosmetically identical on the outside. Scoring a pair of originals may be tough or cost prohibitive, but I found out that Jonny Lang had Fender Custom Shop build a Thinline incorporating Bill Lawrence 500 series humbuckers. Based on the fact that Lang is a Thinline fan, it's presumable that the Lawrence pups must meet or exceed the tonal characteristics of Fender's original humbucker design.

Anyway, anyone looking to upgrade a reissue may want to investigate the Bill Lawrence pickups!!

See other reviews. All I will add is my neck seems much more like 9.5" radius than a 7.25" vintage radius.

This is an update to my review from a year and a half ago. I did some tinkering. Frist, swapped the vol pot from 250k to 500k. Had a nice effect. Next, put the original bridge saddles back on - like em better than Graphtech now. Finally, I scored two original '74 Wide Range buckers. Holy cow! I would not trade this guitar for $20,000 vintage piece. I like it that much now. A/B-d against a real 1974 Thinline and the RI (w/ orig PUs) blew it away...

Except for the heavy Poly finish, which I removed, this guitar is flawlessly made.

Built like a tank.

35 years on the guitar. I know a good one when I see it. Get the natural Ash model though... ;-)

2006 Mexican model. Same features as listed below. The body looks like 3 pieces on the top which is carved out and a cap on the back that is 3 pieces. Wide range humbuckers and the standard tele controls. The neck is really glossy, but not too sticky for me.

I really like the sound of this guitar. Its a different sound, though, and it may not be for everyone. The HBs are very open and not muddy like a Les Paul can be, but they are not mid rangey like a P-90. They are very much "wide range" with clear lows and clean highs. Something about them gives the bridge pickup that classic tele thwack, but with more balls. The middle position is nice, good for strumming, and the neck is very rich sounding. Acoustically, this guitar sounds really good, too. The F-hole makes it pretty loud unplugged which is nice, and gives the plugged in sound a nice woody tone. But, like I said, this guitar sounds different, so play one before you buy.

The finish is like glass! I've read that people have had issues with fret finishing and bridge placement, but mine is fine. Actually, of the guitars that I played a the store, the frets were better than some of the american made fenders. I was shocked that so many of those had such terrible frets. Some of them literally made red marks on the side of my hand from playing it. $1400 for that! No way. Sorry for the rant. There was a little bit of white residue on the f-hole, but other than that, no problems what so ever.

Its a tele, but its also a semi-hallow. This thing is solid.

No contact with fender ever.

I've been playing for about 18 years. I own a Epiphone Dot, a Fender CIJ Jaguar, a Squier Tele, and a Yamaha Acoustic. If this guitar was stolen, I would cry, and then hunt that bastard down and, and... ask him to get it back. If he said no, then I might have to look into hiring Chuck Norris to take care of the situation. That, or I would save my money and buy another. I actually was planning on buying a Gibson faded series guitar. Its tax refund time for me and I thought yes, I will buy a Gibson. I had my eye on the double cutaway with the P-90's. Well, after playing that guitar (I love the way it looks), it felt like furniture and not a guitar. I tried the SG and the LP and they did nothing for me. I was so disappointed. I desperately started playing anything to find my next guitar. Then I saw this guitar. I plugged it in and fell in love.

Telecaster, transparent/natural finish,
U shape neck 7/14 radius makes my fingers absolutley glide across the strings and with vintage frets sliding up and down you can barely feel it, overall a very comfortable instrument, i'm giving this an 8 because even though the finish is flawless and the neck is great, the electronics are limited, but that is a typical telecaster thing so doesn't really matter

Very versatile, i play alot of jazz blues classic rock and alittle classical, obvious this is not a classical guitar but it is good for everything else except for maybe death metal the sound is very similiar no matter what config, you use but depending what effects you have i have the zoom 606 effects pedal you can do pretty much anything with it.

intonation was fine when i got it, the action needed minamal adjustment, its got a strat style bridge so i didnt have to take the strings off took me 5 minutes to adjust that, everything else was fine finish is flawless trussrodd fine, pickups are fine

no matter where you go you want a backup in case of string breakage but i would gig without a backup with it, nice complete finish hardware so far (havent had it that long) havent shown any signs of wear and tear (no scratchy/funny noises) strap buttons i checked and i couldnt tightend them anymore so it was fine

been playing about 2 1/2 years, my dad plays and his friends play been playing about 34 years each so i have the advantage of being able to play with them alot and learn alot so its almost as if ive been playing 5 years, got a 335, les paul with emg active pickups and a dreghdnot acoustic. This sounds alot like the 335 because they both have very clean humbuckers, (I don't distort it overall) but the tone control is more effective so it is more versatile. Personally i love the neck on this thing and the semi hollow factor means to practice I don't have to plug in I can still hear it it isn't the greatest value though there are better buys out there but it is a very good guitar.

Check the other people's reviews for what all it has. I replaced my volume pot with a 500k model from Torres engineering and it opened it up like no other guitar I've ever heard. Also, the slotted tuning keys are a pain but you get used to them. The pickups are sweet and I have no idea why anyone would ever change them out for something else.

This is the real reason why I'm writing this review. I was in Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago and in a guitar store that had an original (not reissue) one of these guitars. Here are my thoughts.
At first I was I was very hesitent to even pick this guitar up. I love my reissue and I feel extremely lucky to have found the perfect guitar for me for only $500. No, that's not pocket change but considering how many thousands of dollars guitars can go for $500 ain't too bad. Anyway, I always say that I've honestly never picked up a guitar, at any price, that I liked better than my Thinline and was afraid that once I played an original that there's no way I could afford I'd just be lusting after something I could never have. None the less, I couldn't just pass it by and had to give it a try so I pulled off the wall and plugged into the same amp I play through at home (a Fender Hotrod Deluxe).
The two versions are supposed to be the same but the way they sound really sets them apart. They definitely sound different from each other. Some people will say that's a bad thing but my personal preferrence says its a good thing. The older one certainly had a different ring to it. While the newer ones have a nice smooth, warm sound the older ones seemed to be a bit more harsh. I can definitely see where some people will like that harshness and it would sound great for some songs. Where the new one sounds like a tele that is a bit edgy and it might had smoked some pot, the older one sounds like a tele that is a bit edgy and then did some coke. Also, with the newer ones, I can get one of the sweetest tones I've ever heard out of a guitar with the pickup switch set in the middle, the older one just didn't blend the two pickups as well. On second thought, it did blend them well but they just don't sound as different as they do on the newer ones which combine for that amazing sound the middle position gives you. Also because of the two pickups sounding so close to the same, you can't get the wide range of tones out of the guitar as you can with the newer ones.

Yes, the new ones are made in Mexico which generally means not as good of quality. It may have just been the one I was playing but to me it seems like my MIM is put together better than the original. I know that the one I was playing was over 30 years old and my guitar is probably about 3 years old but it still just seemed like the MIM went through just a little more quality control before being shipped out. The one thing that seemed to be the same on both versions, and I commend Fender for, was the size and shape of the neck. This is one of the best feeling necks I've ever put my hand around (stupid small hands, thanks mom and dad for those genetics) and was one of the things that made me want my guitar.
The only small imperfection is one small area leading into the f-hole. Other than that, perfect. Also, if you have a good local store in your area that can set up guitars well (just because someone offers the service doesn't mean they have any idea what they're doing) have them set it up for. It turned what I thought was a perfect guitar for me into an even more perfect guitar.

So far mine's been knocked over twice (having a two year old and six year old can be hard on your guitars) but you can't tell a thing. I've also bumped it up against a wall a few times but after all that its still in as good of condition as the day I bought it. I don't think I would use it as my only guitar but only because I like to change my sound up for different songs, if it's just a reliability issue I'd take this one any day of the week.

Who knows, never had to contact them. Also don't know about warranty since I bought it used.

Over all, I liked the original but after playing it for a while I was longing for my reissue. I also was feeling even better about paying only $500 for my guitar versus a few grand for an original or any other guitar I've ever played.

Frets - Thin/low type
The pickups - H/g config Fender wide range buckers mounted to the pickguard
Controls - Master gain, tone and three way pickup selector
Tuners - Vintage fender style, nedd to watch when you string up, but steady tuning wise
Headstock - 6 in a line, typical tele shape
Bridge - Strat style hard-tail
Neck - Bolt on (three bolt style) maple
Scale - 25.5 inch
Electronics - good
Accesories - Gig bag and fender booklets included whish it had two tone Controls nobbs

Guitar dudes let me tell you what i did to my telle.rember i am 51 years old.

Guitar dudes let me tell you what I did to my telle. Remember I am 51 years old.i changed the pods and changed the capacitor I used only fender parts you would not believe the difference. I tweaked the neck and lowered the action on this guitar sounds so un believable good I took it back to guitar center to let the guys play it.i didn?t think I was going to get back out with it. they kept getting outer guy to come in and play it. I also set the springs on the bridge after I selected the string I am going to use. I play it through a mesa f-50 sometimes with a keeley compressor sometimes not. what I was able to do is open the humbuckers up and add more treble. Clean this thing glassines with a beautiful tone. Crank on the gain and it bites.with the changes i made this guitar will stand up to any no one will make fun of your mexcian tellie any more it will be on steriods and be a mean jose.

i play it all the time.

i voided the warranty.

30 years.i stolen would buy another one the same day.i own nine guitars including two taylors. a gibson do-bro. a lucelle.highway 1,a mexican strat loaded with eric clappton pickups and mid range booster the bridge lowered against the body lowered action.the eric clapton and the mexican thinline are my favorites. i love them both.i play the tellie a little more.

This is a 1983 MIJ '72 Telecaster thinline, that I bought about a year ago, I absolutely LOVE it! It has the standard tone and volume knobs with the 3-way selector. Has a nice thick C-shaped neck, medium width. Nice and simple.

Awesome sound. I play this usually through a MesaBoogie Studio .22 tube amp. The humbuckers are nice and meaty on the lead channel, in any pickup position. On the clean channel, you get real nice jazz tones with the neck pickup. With both settings you get a nice warm neutral tone. And suprisingly..the bridge pickup alone still gives you that tele twang.

Although I bought this "used", it was a closet kept guitar and was pretty much untouched when I got it. Nothin else to say except that this thing was made unbelievibly well! Its almost perfect.

The only complaint I have about the hardware is that the selector fuzzes sometimes, otherwise fine. What can I say? It is Japanese made, that says it all.

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1983 was the first year that they made this reissue, which (don't hold me to it) was during the CBS transition and the guitars were made in Japan. In my opinion, the Japanese Fenders are some of the best that you can buy, everything about this guitar just feels like QUALITY. And it is. I love this guitar, and everything about it. It was exactly what I was looking for in a guitar, awesome for Jazz, awesome for rock, just good all around. Highly recommended!

The guitar in question is a dual humbucker, 21 fret chambered solidbody.

It's a mexican range Fender, a reissue of the thinline tele model made in '72.

Frets - Thin/low type
The pickups - H/g config Fender wide range buckers mounted to the pickguard
Controls - Master gain, tone and three way pickup selector
Tuners - Vintage fender style, horrible to string up, but steady as hell tuning wise
Headstock - 6 in a line, typical tele shape
Bridge - Strat style hard-tail
Neck - Bolt on (three bolt style) maple
Scale - 25.5 inch
Electronics - Passive
Accesories - Gig bag and fender booklets included

The body is Ash and has a single F-hole which opens into one of the guitars chambers. the body is not a single solid piece, it's chambers are routed out from the back, and then the cap is applied to the back of the guitar. The neck of the guitar is single piece maple.

It's a players guitar, not some shred machine trem trick beastie, as is evident from the specs.

This thing has a very unique sound, if you're after bright single coil sparkle, then simply do not buy this guitar, it's not designed to do it. The sound of the buckers is warm, round, fat and open, but it'll still produce that trebel and spank that makes it sound like a tele.

I play mostly Rock and Blues based stuff, and this thing handles them both like a charm, but it can also do so much more, from spacy coldplay style sounds, right through to jazz.

I currently play this guitar through an Engl Thunder 50 Valve/Tube head, connected to a Marshall 2 by 12 fitting with Celestion vintage 30s, and the sound is absolutley wonderful, I can dial in some seriously classic sounds. You want it to sound like an lp? It can do that. You want it to sound something unique to itself? well to be frank, thats what it does.

Played clean you can get some serious spank on the bridge pickup, but I favour the neck pickup, with a tiny bit of the trebel rolled off on the tone pot, the sound is dynamic, warm fat and open and is perfect for rythmn. That said, thats merely how I use it, it will do lead very well too.

Overdrive is also nice, as is crunch, as said before, you can make it sound like an lp with careful tweaking, but it still has that tele twang at the bridge, and it's not as muddy as an lp.

It's got a very unique sound, some people will love it, others wont, personally I love it, but do try it before you buy it.

The fit of all the parts is very good, save for a slightly loose neck pocket fit, other than that, no complaints, tuners are smooth, frets nicely dressed and all the electronics work as they should.

The neck has a lovely feel to it, it really fills your hand out and is particularly comfortable to play. No complains about the frets, minimal buzzing and the action can be brought quite low without affecting this, I prefer to have it set up so that the strings can really ring out however. The finish is gloss, but i've not found it to be overly sticky, or to hamper playing in any way. The tuning is smooth, and if strung up the way the vintage tuners are intended to be strung, it's stable as hell, once you've played the strings in, and the tuning is set, it's not going anywhere for a while.

The finish is nice throughout, although the detailing around the inside edges of the f-hole could be slightly better.

Durability? It's a Telecaster, and as such could be used to batter you way out of a bar fight if need be, or to give any unwanted intruders on stage a solid whack, Keith richards stylee...

Could it withstand live playing? Yes, yes it could, no problems on this front whatsoever. I'd be happy to use this guitar on stage without a backup, no question.

The hardware all seems solid, and I'm sure it'll last. The strap buttons are also fine, however i've since changed them out for straplocks simply for easy of use.

I've not yet had to deal with customer support.

I've been playing for roughly 5 years now and have owned a few guitars in that time, this one is my main guitar, and in the year or so i've had it, i've not become disillusioned with it at all, I still love it as much as I did when I bought it.

It's got a unique sound, and as long as you don't fight agaisnt that, you'll love it, it wont be for everyone though.

ok I confess I had at one time a MIJ thinline and I was looking for the same MOJO in the MIM thinline so I saved my pennies at the time I was stationed in Iraq So on leave I purchased this guitar well I must say I was dissapointed the neck pocket was sloppy not a tight fit also the bridge pickup did not work, what a drag its ok tho cause the Music store got a new pickup and life was good there was alot of buzz on the fret boards and that was fixed .I think a little quality control would of went a long way .the guitar stays in tune fine and lays drown some fine blues&jazz so I,m ok with it

As I said I compared it to a MIJ model which I shouldn,t have done the Japanease make a fine guitar .Word to the wise" Don,t get rid of that old guitar you,ll never get it back"

Not sure when it was made, or where to be honest.

The features have no doubt been listed to death, but it's the normal 22 frets, two wide range humbuckers, 3 way switch, tone and volume etc. You know the score by now I'm sure.

Suprisingly awesome. For some reason I didn't trust the odd looking humbuckers, and Fender are hardly known for their humbucking sounds, but this guitar had an ace sound to it.

I tried it with a Fender blues deluxe, a 40 watt 2X12 combo and it seemed to combine "Gibsony" elements with a classic telecaster sound. It was both mellower and more powerful at the same time. Rolling back the tone things did get a little muddy however, I can see why some people don't bother using it at all, but the clean sounds were suitably shimmery, and there was enough grind to satisfy all but the more contempory styles.

To be honest I wouldn't reccomend this for heavier stuff since while it could pull it off to an extent, that's not where it excells, but other guitars do excell there.

For blues and bluesy rock this is one of the nicest guitars I've heard,it sounded beautiful unplugged, so I imagine you'd have a fantastic sound if you had the pickups rewound, Tim Mills of Bare Knuckle Pickups would be my first choice, but I'm sure there are other pickup winders out there who could do a good job, admittedly maybe not as good.

The guitar played ok off the shelf, it didn't bowl me over but at the same time it felt comfortable, the action was kinda average, maybe slightly high which is no bad thing on a Fender. There didn't seem to be any obvious flaws but I must admit I didn't take a fine tooth comb to the guitar, so I can't speak for the wiring and blemishes in the finish could have escaped my atention...but neither is affecting playability.

One thing I did notice was having to retune quite often, but this could be down to a badly cut nut, or the tuners, or maybe it's something as silly as the strings never having been stretched.

Telecasters are the hardest guitars on the planet. And even the semi hollow ones are constructed in such a manner as to make destroying one all but impossible without really intending to in the first place, and unless you're slightly mad or called Pete Townsened I doubt you'll attack it with intent to harm.

That said, while it's still relatively hardy, a semi hollow guitar is never as tough as a solid body. The hardwear seemed ok, but I was suspicious of the tuners and nut due to the tuning issues, one or the other is at fault and had I purchased it I'd have investigated that.

The strap buttons are the usual affair...always, alway get strap locks. You could gig this guitar damned hard, and it'd keep coming back for more, but only mugs gig without backups. A string can break, a wire can unexpectedly come loose inside shorting your pickup, it's just not worth the risk of looking a prat on stage.

I've never dealt with fender, so I can't really comment. But there's warranties and stuff, so that's slightly reassuring that had I gone through with the purchase it'd have been covered for a while.

I've been playing about 4 years. My guitars are a '67 SG junior and a tele I made with Warmoth with bareknuckle pickups, and callahan abd schaller hardwear. I have some other guitars but they're less relevant due to them not being "gig worthy". I use Matamp amplification although at the store I used a fender blues deluxe, which suprised me. It's an ace sounding amp so was deffinitely doing the guitar justice.

The only thing I really hate is the tuning issues, if I bought it it'd be with the intention of "hotrodding it" with a Warmoth neck and replacing a lot of parts, and this simpley isn't economical. It had a really good sound though, and the body and wood was in no small part responsible.

Other guitars I tried were an American deluxe tele, which had the most resonant slab of wood I've met, but a medicore neck and terrible fender single coils, and a butterscotch american deluxe strat with fende noiseless pickups. That was the guitar that got bought, though had I been in my friends shoes I'd have gone for this tele.

When you go to buy a Fender, play lots. Out of 10 guitars 9 will be good, but one will knock you back with how good it is, you'll remember that guitar. Not all '72 thinlines will be this good, some will be better. Each guitar is a unique entity, and even runs with a bad reputation will still have a few gems in amongst them.

Made in Mexico sunburst Thinline reissue. It has the two Fender wide-range humbuckers, pearloid pickguard, one tone and one volume control, three way switch, string-through body and non-trem strat-style bridge and saddles (rather than the typical Tele bridge). The body finish shows off the grain of the underlying wood quite nicely, though on the back of mine there is a discoloration in part of the wood about an inch and a half long that is rather prominent, but it doesn't really bother me. The body is much lighter than a standard Tele because of the hollowed out cavity. The neck is nice and chunky and feels substantial in your hands. Vintage style frets (in other words, they're smaller - not medium-jumbo.) The neck has a thick glossy finish on it that was a bit too sticky for me, so I went over it with some 0000 steel wool and now it plays much faster and doesn't feel sticky. Overall the guitar feels very balanced and looks fantastic.

I absolutely love the pickups on this guitar. I know that a lot of people think they sound too dark, but I just turn up the treble a bit on my amp and I have no problems. They're much thicker sounding than typical Tele single coils and they have none of the hum (of course). The bridge pickup actually can get somewhat close to the twang of a standard Tele bridge pickup quite well, but with more bottom underneath it. The neck pickup has a powerful rounded tone that is similar to the neck pup on a Les Paul. I'm not too fond of the middle position with both pickups on because it sounds a little flat, but the fabulous tones available from the other two positions make up for that. The tone is also very resonant due, I'm sure, to the semi-hollow body. In general, it is much more full and rich than a standard Tele, which is what you would expect based on the pickups. I use this guitar through my Fender Blues Jr. and it's a fantastic combination. I have a standard Tele as well, but the Thinline/Blues Jr. combination is more rewarding. I run the guitar through an old Made in Japan Boss Overdrive pedal, a Ibanez Tube Screamer, and a Guyatone digital delay then into the amp. I generally don't have to use either of the overdrive pedals to push the amp with this guitar, which is not the case with my standard Tele which needs the peadals for that extra boost. You can get a solid, powerful lead tone from the bridge pickup and a warm, energetic rhythm tone from the neck pickup. There's never any noise. I love the tone of this guitar!

I bought it used so I don't know how well it was set-up from the factory. When I got it the action was just right for a tele: not too low and not too high. It looks beautiful, apart from the spot on the back of the guitar where the wood has a discoloration about an inch and a half long, but it doesn't bother me.

This is a very solid guitar. I have no reason to think that it will not withstand normal playing conditions.

I've been playing for about 7 years now. I also own a MIM Standard Tele, a 1978 Peavey T-60, a MIM Fender Deluxe Super Strat, a Fender Blues Jr. amp, a Martin 000-15, an old Made in Japan Boss Overdrive pedal, an Ibanez Tubescreamer, and a Guyatone Micro-Delay. If this guitar were lost or stolen I would definitely get another one, but I think I would look around for one in Daphne Blue (which are hard to find but I love the way they look.)

2005 MIM Thinline, Natural Ash, Two Seth Lover Humbuckers, One Vol & One Tone, String-thru Body, came with a soft Fender Gig Bag.

Picked it up a couple of months ago. After many years of not playing I started up again with an acoustic and after a while was of course jonzing for another electric. In my past life I was a strat guy, had owned tele or two tho. Asked a friend w/ MANY guitars what would be a good jack of all trades and he recommended this one (he owns a black MIJ one). I didn't have the time to shop around for a used deal and they had one at the local music shop, so I played it and it beat out most of the comp based primarily on action and playability (i liked the sound and relatively light weight too). Suits my style well as i play mostly "semi-clean" licks - melodic, bluesy, jazzy, country-rock type stuff. Of course Jerry Garcia is my hero. I play it thru my old '65 Fender Super and my new HRD. This guitar does a lot of things well, but only a few things outstanding. More specifically, the neck PU position is very warm and gives a great blues-jazz tone. However, the bridge PU is not bright/hot enough for my taste. The mid position is a nice split sound. I may be hallucinating but i actually think the f hole warms up the sound of the guitar, in the neck PU position at least. It's kinda fun to be able to plink around on it unplugged and actually hear it too. I think this guitar might go from "solid" to "killer" with some new top of the line pickups (just a hunch based on how it sounds unplugged). But it's very playable as it comes stock.

This guitar was set up great at the factory. It was down low. It has a chunky neck that is cool but is taking some getting used to for me. I am not real fond of the laquered neck finish, but have not yet decided whether i will sand it. There was a manufacturing flaw in that the PU poles did not line up with the strings at all, due to a poor routing job i think. Anyhoo, i cut some pieces off some playing cards and jammed them into the appropriate spaces between the pickup and the pickguard/routing and got it a little better lined up. My buddy w/ the black thinline told me i would break strings unless i changed the bridges to graphite. So, i did that. Don't know if it changed anything, but it feels better under the heel of my hand. In retorspect kinda wished i'd gotten the Ferraglides as the black saddles dont really match color-wise. BTW, the Graphtech saddles did have the added benefit of raising the action (was too low for me as it came) because they are so thick/tall they only allow you to set the action so low. Oh yeah, the natural finish on this guitar is beautiful - gorgeous. I guess you've seen the photos. The tophat PU selector has an annoying habit of flying off when it gets brushed by strumming (often). Some people bend these down to avoid that. The jack plate was of course loose and difficult to tighten w/o twist breaking the wiring. Anyhoo, i put DR tite 10s on it after the GT saddles, raised the action, played w/ string length by ear (w/o a tuner) and suddenly the guitar jumped a level in tone and "fullness."

Haven't had it long enough to testify to it's durability. I did buy a cheapo hard shell case for it for $50 new on-line.

I've not dealt with them.

Played of and on for 35+ years. I played in a few local bands way back when. Interesting that jam bands are so popular now cause that's exactly the kind of music i've always wanted to play, but way back then but nobody else wanted to - go figure. I positively love the way this guitar feels in my hands as well as the variety of sounds that can come from it undistorted. I'm still not sold on the PUs tho. They say if you switch out the stock 250k pots for 500k or 1 meg they will liven up. That's a $10 change, so I'll try that before putting in $150 worth of new pickups. On balance I think this is a solid, but not spectacular, workhorse of a guitar that will definitely hold it's own in the value department. If you could pick up a gem of a used one for under $500 you'd be getting a heck of deal/guitar.

I'm leaving this category blank for a reason. The thing I love about Telecasters (I have this one and a USA standard Tele from the mid-80s with a Seymour Duncan replacement in the bridge position) is that they don't have a lot of features. They are simple guitars. Volume, tone, 3-way selector. No fuss, no muss. My amp is a Polytone with Bass, Mid, Treble, Volume, Reverb and a dirty channel I never touch. That's plenty for me. I like simplicity and I believe that good tone comes from the hands, although a nice instrument helps. This is a nice instrument. For example, Teles are great for picking with your thumb or with a pick while rolling the volume knob up and down with your pinkie simeltaneously...giving a steel-guitar-like volume swell effect. I don't know any other guitar that you can do that with as well...it's the simplicity and the ergonomic design that makes it possible. The guitar is solid and well-built. The standard Tele-style bridge is great. Vintage frets, maple neck, 24-frets, full-scale, ash body, f-hole/ semi-hollow. The guitar came with a nice molded plastic hard case. I live in NYC so I generally leave it at home and throw this in a padded gig bag and jump on the subway.

I mostly fingerpick when playing this guitar. My style ranges from folk to jazz to mellow bluesy rock. This guitar is perfect for that stuff. The stuff I play is tonally somewhere in the realm in-between Bill Frisell's "Gone Just Like a Train" record and JJ Cale's "Naturally" (which is probably the closest tonal range this guitar compares to) as well as jazzy stuff like Jim Hall, etc. I play with absolutely no effects through a Polytone Mini-Brute. This guitar is absolutely goregeous. The pickups are humbucking but they are not as fat Gibson humbuckers. You lose a tiny little bit of what Gibson humbuckers give you in terms of bass response but you gain it all back in terms of midrange. Quiet pickups, not buzzy at all. I can get a range of tones from a really warm sound like on Stephen Stills' solo on "Wooden Ships" if I use the neck pickup and roll the tone off...or I can get a real bright, jangly twangy tone like early Jerry Garcia stuff on the bridge pickup with the tone all the way up...and everything in-between. Teles have, in my opinion, any sound I might possibly want to access. It's all about knowing how to get it. I love the way that you can hear each individual string voice clearly...due to the semi-hollow body...and yet you still get the warmth and fatness of a humbucking sound without getting all the tonal washout that you get with Gibson humbuckers...espesically on Gibson solidbody guitars. I was looking for an inexpensive semi-hollowbody guitar that wouldn't cost me an arm and a leg like a Pat Martino Les Paul or my buddy's $5k custom axe. This guitar does the job and then some.

This is a MIJ Fender from the early-to-mid 90s...not sure of the exact year. I bought this used on eBay. I've been playing guitar for about 17 years now. I've owned a LOT of great, classic guitars. This is absolutely one of my favorites. I can't believe it was so cheap! The Fender Japan factory is awesome and creates guitars that put the USA stuff to shame. This guitar was shipped to me from an eBay seller and was just about in tune when I pulled it out of the box. I have not had to adjust the action at all. There is a slight rattle in one of the tuners but that'll be an easy fix. The tuners are ok...but they stay in tune so if it ain't broke, as they say. The finish is a light wood-grain. The grain is beautiful and the pearloid pickguard is a nice touch. This guitar looks as pretty as it sounds. It's comfortable and light and is great to play!

The only thing on this guitar that worries me are the tuners but so far so good. I am generally pretty gentle on my gear so I'm not worried about this holding up. It travels well and is fine with a little bumping. But I generally play sitting down and I'm not exactly a basher. I fingerpick and don't really bang on the instrument at all. The finish is nice and seems resistant to scratching. The strap buttons are solid. It's a real solid guitar. As I said, Fender Japan is the best. I'm going to name my first child after them. I would use this guitar on a gig without a backup with great confidence.

Never had to deal with Fender. Since I got it used it's not under warranty and I probably never will. Why buy new guitars? They're way too expensive.

I've been playing for about 17 years. I own two Fender 6-string electric, both Teles, as well as a fretless Jazz Bass and a 62 P-Bass re-issue. All of them save the stock solidbody Tele are MIJ guitars. (My 2nd Tele is a USA model from the mid-80s.) The Japan stuff, in my opinion, beats the USA stuff I've owned hands-down. In the past I've owned several Strats, a couple of Jaguars, a Mustang, a Danelectro 12-string, several Les Pauls (humbucking and P-90 models), a couple of SGs, an Ibanez Artcore ES-style from the late 80s (which is the only guitar of the lot I wish I still had, oddly...who would've thought I'd own a 1971 Les Paul Goldtop with P-90s and then miss an Ibanez?) and a bunch of acoustic guitars including Yamahas and Martins. I'm probably forgetting some stuff. I also currently own a mid-1970s Hofner plywood upright bass which I use for jazz bass gigs. I know music and I'm picky about tone. Right now, in terms of 6-string guitars, I own a Guild acoustic and the two Teles. That's all I want and all I need. One single-coil guitar and one humbucking. Both Teles. I mostly play through a Polytone Mini-Brute but I also own and sometimes break out a 1962 Ampeg Reverbarocket. The Polytone is solid state and real clean. The Ampeg is tube and real warm and nice. The Teles sound awesome through both amps. If this guitar was stolen I'd cry my eyes out and then buy a new one tomorrow. I love everything about this guitar. I've been looking for a guitar to suit my sound and style for a long time and this baby is it. In fact, I'm thinking about buying one or two more of these as backups in the next year or so. The price is right and I love the instrument.

Made in Japane Tele with twin humbucker, semihollow-body, f-hole cut-out, string-thru body (I like this solid part of the design), bolt-on neck (3 bolts), each string with independent height and intonation adjustment at the bridge, shared tone and volume pots.

Independent tone and volume pots would allow more versatility during a song. I like the simple over-all design,

Pick-ups are noisier than I would like. Overall sound is thin on the low end and quite brite at the high end.

I play clean or slightly overdriven. I can't get the warm rich smooth mellow tones I like out of it. In overdrive it sounds kind of empty through my Marshall. It does not suit my music style but it is not the guitars fault.

Finish: The workmanship in the wood is excellent! The grain of all the pieces of wood in the body were matched up perfectly. Only under VERY close inspection can you tell its not a single slab. Qualitiy of the assembly is also excellent. 10 points for Finish!

Action is good but I find the neck somewhat flimsy and can almost be used as a vabrato (contibuting factors: thin neck and 3-bolt bolt-on design).

My low E nut was not cut deep enough initially. When low-E was in tune and intonated a fretted F was quite sharp and became less bad down the fretboard. A local luthier easily corrected the problem for a few bucks.

Pearliod pickguard is kind of cheesy looking.

Body is solid; I would not call this a fragile guitar at all. I prefer a stronger body-to-neck joint.

Output jack was loose and fell out the first week. Its only held in by a sharp pressed in piece of metal that gouges itself into the wood on the inside of the body.

I have no experience with Fender support.

A decent guitar for the money. I bought it as a cheap practice guitar that I could take anywhere and not worry about it. I bought it while I was in Japan on a job. With heavy strings this guitar is loud accoustically (semi-hollow body) so I could practice even when I don't have an amp available.

All of my other guitars are Gibsons (primarily Les Pauls) and this guitar just doesn't compare to what I nomally play. It doesn't suit me and my music though I'm sure many will love it.

My day-to-day guitars: Gibson LP 58 Historic/Reissue, 2 Gibson LP standards and a Gibson LP studio