Fender '72 Telecaster Deluxe Reissue

This is the '72 MIM reissue in Walnut finish, 2 humbuckers, you know the deal. Like so many here, I replaced the neck pickup pots to 500k, and am very pleased with the difference.

I play rock (think Sonic Youth, Neil Young, Stooges, Polvo, etc) and i guess i cosider myself a "fender guy". I use it with a '67 blackface bandmaster head and avatar cab. like i said, i replace the neck pots but also the switch. one thing the reviewer before me pointed out is that the wire that runs from the switch to the output jack is unshielded - i've found that this creates hum when you're not touching the guitar. probably a good idea to replace this with some nice shielded cable. otherwise i love the sound - i was looking for a humbucking alternative to my main guitar, an american g&l asat classic.

i got this guitar secondhand, but came pretty well set-up. in fact, i may actually give it more neck relief cuz it buzzes a bit. i'm a little torn, because it's not so bad and the action is fantastic. finish is beautiful, it's one of the nicest looking guitars IMHO. neck is nice although slightly thicker than i was used to, but i've grown to really like it. i even like the huge 70's headstock.

after the mods i can see this becoming one of my main guitars. i'm a firm believer in reasonably-priced guitars and i think this is a killer value for the money. it seems as reliable as the most expensive guitars i've owned, but you have to be able to open it up and check it out. the slightest adjustments improve it greatly.

second hand, not really applicable.

i've been playing 20 years. i own a G&L asat classic, '67 bandmaster, blues jr, tech 21 practice amp, various pedals - some that i've built. it's a great guitar, but do the mods (i know, broken record, most people seem to agree). i don't think it's necessary to change the bridge pots.

This guitar has two Fender humbuckers (which are NOT replica's of the Wide Range pickups found in the originals), 21 frets, Les Paul style switching and overall configuration, decent tuners, great glossy finish (which can get a little sticky when it comes to the neck), excellent fretwork and the neck joint was excellent. Compared to an original '72 Deluxe, this neck is considerably wider at the 1st fret as the originals tapered off a bit.

Ok, I'm writing the review because I recently had all the pots replaced with 500k CTS pots. I was skeptical about whether the difference would actually be a positive one, but I decided to give it a shot based on the fact that the stock pickups were quite muddy (particularly the neck). Needless to say, the difference was night and day, it's a completely different guitar now. The output is hotter and clearer, with excellent string clarity. Also, be careful, the wire running from the pickup selector is unshielded, replace this wire as well. Right now, with the mods, this went from being a great playing guitar that sounded pretty good, to sounding great and more open while being less noisy. The tone controls work great, but now the bridge pickup requires me to roll the tone a little bit (I keep it at 8) due to the added brightness there. With the mod, I'd rate the sound of this at an 8, without, I'd give it a 4 or 5. My rating in this category reflects it post-mod.

The action, of course, needs work as the factory setup wasn't great. The finish and everything else was excellent, though I'd also recommend removing the pickguard and cleaning out the body cavity if you've just bought it as the inside was a little messy. I actually haven't had any problems with the tuners at all, and find that the stock tuners hold tuning as well as my 2008 American made Strat neck, and better than my 1995 American made Telecaster.

This guitar is heavy and still feels solid after 5 years. The hardware has held up great, and so has the finish. There's no reason to provide anything other than a perfect rating in this category.

Haven't had to deal with Fender so I have no opinion in this category.

I've been playing for about 15 years now, and have 5 electric guitars, a few basses, and two acoustics. I don't gig anymore, as I've been focusing my efforts on engineering and production. With the mods I just had made, I feel like this guitar has been brought to life. It finally sounds as good as it looks. I still wish Fender went further in replicating the original guitars with this reissue, but if you disregard the differences, you'll find that with a few changes, this will become a modern classic. Unfortunately, this guitar now costs about $250 more than when I first purchased it. At $700 it was a great value, at the $940 it retails at the time of this review, it's less of a value as the mods and labor involved in having a good tech install them, will put this guitar at over $1,000.

09 MODEL--MADE IN MEXICO--21 MEDIUM JUMBO FRETS--2 VOL/2 TONE CONTROLS--FENDER 'WIDE RANGE' HUMBUCKERS--MAPLE NECK AND FRETBOARD--2 PIECE ALDER BODY--HARDTAIL BRIDGE--STAGGERED VINTAGE TUNERS(F STYLE)

THE DELUXE IS A GUITAR I'VE HAD MY EYES ON FOR A WHILE, AS IT COVERS A BROAD RANGE OF MUSIC--I RUN THIS THRU A M BOOGIE RECTOVERB--VERY WARM AND FAT SOUNDING--

I HAD THE TELE SET UP BY A TECH, AS ALL GUITARS OUT OF A BOX NEED THIS--THE FIT AND FINISH IS REALLY VERY WELL DONE, AND FENDER'S MEXICAN MADE INSTRUMENTS IN GENERAL ARE GETTING BETTER AND BETTER--THE NECK POCKET IS PERFECT, THE BODY IS 2 PIECE CENTRE-JOINED ALDER-UNUSUAL IN A MID-PRICED FENDER--THE TUNERS, PICKGUARD, FRETS ARE ALL WHERE THEY NEED TO BE, AND BELIEVE ME, I'M REALLY REALLY PICKY ON THIS STUFF!!--THE ONLY THING I CHANGED WERE THE BRIDGE SADDLES--I UPGRADED TO A SET OF GRAPH-TECH STRING SAVER SADDLES--

ABSOLUTELY IT WILL WITHSTAND GIGS--THE FINISH IS A POLY FINISH, BUT NOT AS 'HEAVY' AS SOME OTHER FENDERS, WHICH IS A GOOD THING--I WOULD DEFINITELY PLAY THIS W/O A BACKUP--

FENDER HAS ALWAYS BEEN HELPFUL TO ME IN REGARDS TO ANY QUESTIONS I MIGHT HAVE

I HAVE BEEN PLAYING FOR ALMOST 42 YEARS, AND HAVE OWNED A NUMBER OF GUITARS IN GENERAL, AND TELES IN PARTICULAR--I REALLY LOVE THE DELUXE!!--IT IS BALANCED, WARM, BIG SOUNDING--IT COVERS A LOT OF GROUND MUSICALLY, AS I SAID PREVIOUSLY--AND IT'S A GUITAR YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT TOO MUCH--THE OTHER TELE I OWN IS A 50'S 'ROAD WORN', RELEASED THIS YEAR FROM FENDER, AND I CAN'T SAY ENOUGH ABOUT THAT ONE EITHER

Made in 2007 in Mexico. Walnut finish.
Two wide range humbuckers.
Large strat headstock.
The neck is quite wide, and I really had to get used to it after playing a Gibson SG for years. I still prefer the Gibson neck.
It came with a Fender deluxe gigbag.

I have used this guitar on different tubeamps and it works fine on all of them. I now use an Voc AC30. I use some overdrives (visual sound route 66, MI audio crunch box and blue boy, EH big muff), MXR micro amp. Artec analog delay and a Ibanez weeping demon wahpedal.
I play all kinds of styles but mainly Blues, rock and garagerock. It suits this styles perfect.
Because I wanted a more versatile guitar I changed the volume pots into 500k push pull pots.
I don't really hear a difference in the change from 250k to 500k, although it might sound a little clearer, but I love the sounds when I puh it to single coil. Specialy with the bridge pup as abucker and the neck pup to singlecoil gives a vey nice 'kinks'sound with some overdrive. Love it.
Although I made some changes I still give this guitar a 10 for the price.

Except for a loose contact in the pick-up selecter it iss perfect.
Action is ok??, although, as i stated before, ot has not my kind of neck.
I minored the points for this in the features cathorogy already.

The knobs an pick-up switch seem not to be of the best quality. The rest of the guitar seems to be ok?? imho.

no idea how customer support is. I went back to my dealer with the gigbag which had a zipproblem, and with the guitars loos contact. HThey directly gave a new gigbag and fixed the loose contact. I don't know whether Fender was involved here.

I've been playing for about 30 years. I got vox and fender tube-amps. I also have a Gretsch archtop.
If it was stolen I probably would buy me another one (however there are so many fabulous guitars in this world).
It is not quite as noisy as a Fender mexico standard tele, which sounds nice also. Also compared it to a Ibanez jetking 2 Upgraded with GFS dream 180 pickups: the Fender is much fuller an the Ibanez is thinner in sound but plays easier imho.
Can't really compare it to the Gretsch, which is a totally different guitar, with a totally different sound (but also a very good guitar).

Made in 2007 in Mexico. Walnut finish.
Two wide range humbuckers.
Large strat headstock.
The neck is quite wide, and I really had to get used to it after playing a Gibson SG for years. I still prefer the Gibson neck.
It came with a Fender deluxe gigbag.

I have used this guitar on different tubeamps and it works fine on all of them. I now use an Voc AC30. I use some overdrives (visual sound route 66, MI audio crunch box and blue boy, EH big muff), MXR micro amp. Artec analog delay and a Ibanez weeping demon wahpedal.
I play all kinds of styles but mainly Blues, rock and garagerock. It suits this styles perfect.
Because I wanted a more versatile guitar I changed the volume pots into 500k push pull pots.
I don't really hear a difference in the change from 250k to 500k, although it might sound a little clearer, but I love the sounds when I puh it to single coil. Specialy with the bridge pup as abucker and the neck pup to singlecoil gives a vey nice 'kinks'sound with some overdrive. Love it.
Although I made some changes I still give this guitar a 10 for the price.

Except for a loose contact in the pick-up selecter it iss perfect.
Action is ok??, although, as i stated before, ot has not my kind of neck.
I minored the points for this in the features cathorogy already.

The knobs an pick-up switch seem not to be of the best quality. The rest of the guitar seems to be ok?? imho.

no idea how customer support is. I went back to my dealer with the gigbag which had a zipproblem, and with the guitars loos contact. HThey directly gave a new gigbag and fixed the loose contact. I don't know whether Fender was involved here.

I've been playing for about 30 years. I got vox and fender tube-amps. I also have a Gretsch archtop.
If it was stolen I probably would buy me another one (however there are so many fabulous guitars in this world).
It is not quite as noisy as a Fender mexico standard tele, which sounds nice also. Also compared it to a Ibanez jetking 2 Upgraded with GFS dream 180 pickups: the Fender is much fuller an the Ibanez is thinner in sound but plays easier imho.
Can't really compare it to the Gretsch, which is a totally different guitar, with a totally different sound (but also a very good guitar).

i want to make the upgrade to 500k pots on the neck pickup as it does sound muddy........anyone out there got info on the pots used,part no's etc,.........i live in the uk, any help , advice,info and links to uk sites would be greatly appreciated.

billygaffney@hotmail.com



would get a 10 out of ten if the neck pickup wasnt so muddy

this is a great guitar .ive used many over the years but this one is a little bit special.if you thinking about getting one.......just do it!!!!

this is a 2004 reissue mim tele deluxe. for the last 13 years i have regretted selling my original 1972 original black on black tele deluxe. i was young and stupid and sold it for about 300 to black market music in san francisco because i needed rent money 1994. in 94 these resold for about 700-800. enough about my regrets this tele plays as good as the one i used to own. it feels a little heavier, but the sound is there. you all know the specs on this guitar.

i cant tell you how good this tele sounds. i play it with an old 1965 gibson ga15rvt watt tube and a 1482 silvertone mid 60's what i like about this guitar is its dynamics. i can change its sound by how hard i hit the notes. goes from clean to dirty almost instantly. this may be playing through 15 watt vintage amps. still i love this sound

i bought it set up so i'm not sure, but everyone should get their guitar set up for them. so i'll give it an 8. low action plays perfect. i hear all fenders need a set up.

seems dependable but i no longer play live. i would bring myt les paul if i were playing a show. the fender tuners have been doing quite fine, but if they become tired i will replace them with grovers.

bought it at a guitar show. i trust guitar tech's more than companies

i play this with an old 60's gibson and an old 60's silvertone. both are tube gems. i also have a fender twin that my brother has had for the last 7 years. when i get that one back it will be the right amp for this guitar.

Already posted in all the other reviews. Mexican made, gibson controls, two wide range pickups. Maple neck, string thru body......

This guitar sounds great for everything but high gain music. Use it with a tube amp and u will love the way it sounds. Very nice fender sound. It sounds the way it should sound. Everyone says to change the pots, but do not. 250k pots are perfect for this guitar, These are not a humbucking pickups, they shouldn't have 500k. You lose the sound of the guitar if you change the pots. If you have changed the pots already, you may as well have bought a les paul or something. I cant stress this enough, dont change the pots. If you want a different sound, buy a different guitar. Leaver the way she is, and she will sound great.

Fender doesn't set there guitars up at all. They just eye out the intonation and actions. Don't believe them when they say they set them up before they go out. The don't set them up , barley any companies truly set their guitars up. So you need to set it up when you get it. The electronics were all good. Finish was good. Everything put the action, intonation and lack of fret polishing was good. But im gonna give it a 5 , because all guitars sound horrible if there not set up.

Built like a volvo. The tuners are not going to last. Fender is to cocky, or to proud to put grovers on there guitars. They only use fender products. But I guess I cant blame them , its good for the image. Very dependable. WOULD I USE IT WITHOUT A BACKUP?? strings break, you need to have a backup.

Never dealt with it. I heard its bad though.

Over all a great guitar for the money. Very modest, mean tele sounding, beast. Definitly a workhorse and something that will last you a long time. I would recommend it to anyone. DONT CHANGE THE POTS. change the tuners if you have the money, and.... set it up when you get it. For the money i would give it a 9.

Mine is a MIM '72 Deluxe Reissue. 2 Fender Wide Range pickups, 21-fret maple fretboard. Gibson-style wiring with individual tone and volume for each pickup, 3-way selector, belly contour on the body. Bought mine used from Ebay for $440(may as well have held a gun to the guy, haha). Mine is bone stock, all the features have been covered here multiple times. Mine came with the crapola gig bag, which was immediately replaced with a G&G Tweed case.

Alright, it's been said here that changing to 500k pots is a recommended mod for this guitar. May I say that this is the biggest understatement of all time. If you don't make this change, you're a fool. I swapped all pots except for the bridge tone for 500k. Before the change, the neck pickup was muddy and dull and really didn't add anything. However, dropping the 500k pots in there brings out a bluesy lead tone that will cut like a knife. I play blues and rock, and played straight through my Peavey Classic 50 this guitar is a tone monster. So much thicker than my Strat. I played it live for the first time this week and got tons of comments and questions about my tone. It is somewhat...ok, completely ridiculous that Fender didn't just send this thing from the factory with 500k pots already installed, because it's just another guitar without them. I don't even use the bridge pickup...don't need it. That neck is so thick and warm that you can get any bluesy tone you want out of it with some tone and volume manipulation. It really will blow you away. The middle position will give you great rhythm tone as well. Think Keith Richards tone there. There is a minor hum problem, which will most likely be corrected when I line the cavity with shielded tape. This guitar isn't as versatile as say, a Strat, but it does blues rock and does it damn well. It didn't replace anything so much as it added a new sound to my reportiore. I'm digging it.

Ok, so it's a MIM, so I didn't expect Custom Shop levels of fit and finish. That said, it's very solidly built. The pocket is tight and the wires are neatly run under the pickguard. Mine is walnut with a black pickguard and nickel hardware(mojo city, baby). As with all my guitars, I had my luthier set it up for .10s when I got it. After the setup, it plays like a dream. As a devoted rosewood fan, I'm having to get used to the thick maple neck. I think that the thicker neck adds to the tone, though. I'm docking it here for not having 500k pots from the factory, but other than that it was very nice.

Can't really comment on this, since I've only been gigging with the Tele for a week or two, but it feels solid with no electrical issues. I don't have a backup but once the Strat comes out of the shop I'll have it for different tonal situations.

I've had no dealings with Fender Support.

As I said, after the simple potentiometer upgrade, this guitar comes alive. I probably won't change anything else unless I decide to drop a Seth Lover in the bridge or something. This guitar has all kinds of tone, but it shines on blues leads. I was able to stand all over the Strat players with this guitar. I've been playing for about four years. I play a Peavey Classic 50 4x10 with a Tonebone pedal for distortion when needed. This guitar slid right in and works with everything I play. Very impressive.

something has to be said here... when i read the other reviews, it seems that a lot of peole expecting a humbucker sound out of the deluxe... well... THERE IS NO HUMBUCKER IN THE DELUXE... those pups are fender wide range which are quite different... those pups are very nice and are the real interest of this guitar... replace with humbucker is really dumb... in my opinion...

but, as some said THE POTS MUST BE CHANGED TO 500KHOM OR 1MHOM... if i find the fender guy who decide to put 250k in the deluxe i'll kick his *** 'till his eyes get out of his head...

so to the other users of this superb guitar, change the pots and then judge...

set-up factory sucks
i put a 5 'caus of the pots

a tank