Fender California Fat Tele

I bought a slightly used fat Tele (without a case) in 1999. Based on the serial number it is either a 97 or 98. My fat Tele is fiesta red with the 5 way selector.

With the California factory setup this giutar has a great array of tone. I typically use the 1, 3, 5 switch positions. Using these positions, various tone settings and plugging directly into a Delta Blues 30 X 15 I play everything from Jeff Beck to Vince Gill. After 10 years I'm still amazed at the sound I get out of this Tele. It sounds simply great.

My Tele was slightly used when I got it and I have never adjusted the setup. It came to me with a setup perfectly suited to my style.

This giutar is so dependable that I don't typicaally take another electric to gigs. The hardware is bullet proof. It stays tunes very well. The only service needed has been to tighten the chord input jack one time.

I have had no customer service experience with this giutar but I have dealt with Fender regarding my 72 Tele and found them very customer oriented.

I have been playing for 40 years. I have had a Tele since 1972. I still have the 72 Tele, a 79 Les Paul, a Glenn Campbell signature Ovation, a decent Washburn acoustic electric, this fat Tele, yamaha Clav, a Delta Blues 30 X 15 and a 30 watt Orange combo. I play the fat Tele and the Ovation every day and the others when I can. The fat Tele is as fast as my 72 Tele and allot faster than my Les Paul. I get so much tone out of the fat Tele and the Delta Blues that I have quit gigging with the Les Paul. I love the tone. I really enjoy the stock bridge pick up. It screams when standing alone. If I lost the fat Tele I would belly up and pay whatever I had to for another one.

I own a 1997 California series Fat tele. Lovely thin maple neck with 22 jumbo frets. Humbucker in the neck, single coil at the bridge and a three postition selector. Came with official fender gig bag.

Not the most feature laden guitar in the world but thats not what you buy a telecaster for is it? Beautiful simplicity realised.

This guitar is so versatile it was my only guitar for ten years. I play mainly punk music (due to a lack of talent) and this guitar is great. Can get excellant crunch and stomp form the bridge humbucker. Over the years have ventured into the realms of jazz, blues and more mainstream indie music. Never felt any need to upgrade the pickups as i was always able to get the sound i wanted or close enough for rocket science.

However since a recent move into more technical metal i have bought an ibanez RG1550 and a parker p44. However im sure that the tele would cope admirably with this style of music too if I tried but its far from ideal.

I play it through a hughes & kettner vortex head and matching 4x12 cab.

The guitar was bought new from a guitar shop in singapore for ??200 sterling. I cant comment on set up from the factory because i refuse to believe it was as bad as it was and suspect foul play of the shop "technicians". It was set toweringly high. Sorted easily with a couple of turns of a screw driver though (gota love that simplicity). The pickups were set a tad high too. Id like to press the fact i dont think this was a factory issue as others i have tried over the years have been fine.

The guitar itself was spotless. Just gorgeous. No flaws could i find even tho i inspected it long and hard due to the country in which it was bought and also the suspiciously resonable price.

This guitar has survived a teenagers vision of sex, drugs and rock and roll for 11 years now. Live gigs no issue, never used a backup. And only recently has this guitar has become my backup for my more complex guitars. It has survived Jo strummer impressions galore and still plays well, and even more amazingly looks good. Although im told this i s a matter of opinion and not everyone enjoys rusty fittings on cracked and worn paint. Also the guitar that was once antique white has turned a sort of canary yellow. However i am positive if it was treated better this guitar would last forever.

The last two years however i have been chasing a certain electrical gremlin around the guitar. This is probably due to rough handling and my own shoddy wiring skills though.

WARNING - This guitar does test the durability of its owner. Being built like a tank it weighs a tonne.

Always just fixed it myself when it rarely went wayward.

I have been playing for 13 years. This guitar is everything i thought it would be and has done everything ive ever asked of it. Of my guitars over the years this is the only one that would not be sold to fund another or in a time of crisis. Id rather be evicted for not paying rent then sell it. If it was stolen I would seek out another as i believe these to be better than the premium american tele's. It just feels right. To be truthful at the time of purchase i was actually hoping to find a gibson les paul junior and the tele was there at the right price at the right time. Never looked back and never regretted. Excellant piece of kit for the money.

sunburst alder body - vintage 6 saddle bridge - kluson tuners - medium jumbo frets - 3 -way switch - strat neck p'up and tele bridge - 9.5" maple neck - made and set up in the USA (only painting was done in Mexico)

This is my second "California series" telecaster and my first has the humbucker option which I prefer and will be changing this one to as well - I am also installing the joe barden compensated saddle bridge - and a seymour duncan nashville studio bridge p'up. I do these mods to all my guitars

These guitars are very versitile (which is why I own 2) although I find the factory p'ups uneven sounding the guitar unplugged has a great natural sound - I only change the p'ups to bring that sound out more when it is plugged in - I do prefer the humbucker in my 1st california tele over the strat p'up but as I mentioned that is being changed

Of course this guitar is 10 years old now and I just acquired it so it has seen many set-ups but is very close to a factory fender set-up maybe a little bit higher, I prefer very high action so I always raise them up (better for tone)the finish is thick but i don't mind it holds up well, the neck plays very well another reason a searched for a second guitar

Tele's are all built like tanks whether there mexican, japanese, korean, USA there a very durable instrument

never needed it

I read a lot of reviews saying these aren't US tele's, read the literature and learn what your talking about - all guitars built in the corona facility are not california series tele's the amnx serial number verifies these guitars are in fact the rare run from '97 - '98

I think the amnx model tele are the best built for a long time - I've owned american deluxe teles that didn't play this nice -

Humbucker in the neck position, texmex single in the bridge. standard volume and tone controls and a 5 way position switch.

the sound is great. fat humbucker to twangy tele sounds. with the 5 way switch you can get a variety of tones in between. i have been having a problem lately with the humbucker, i think. i am getting this constant feedback howl when in the humbucker position. i can't figure this out so i am having to take this to a tech. so when i say the sound is great i mean when i am not having this humbaucker problem. this is a great guitar if you a playing blues country or classic rock. i use this with a peavey blues classic 50 watt 115 amp and a 115E cab. for pedals i use an original marshall guv'nor, keeley modded tube screamer, guyatone compressor and a boss ge-7 eq. great vintage tone here!

mine was bought used so i don't know what the factory set up was like but i just did some slight adjustments and was ready to go. my finish is, i believe fender calls it, antique white, kind of a pale yellow tint with a maple neck. i am not sure of the radius of neck, maybe a 10 radius{ flatter than my strat i have}. very smooth fast neck. i did replace the white pick guard with a black one. much more keith richards look.

this is a great gigging guitar. stays in tune all night long. my only issue has been this feedback howl i get from the humbucker.

i haven't used them.

i just want to say to the guy who left a review on this guitar under anonymus and left middle of the road numbers on this guitar. are you sure you had a cal. fat tele? these were not expensive guitars but they weren't 400.00 new. if you paid 400.00 for a new one , you must have bought a MIM tele. great guitar. if lost or stolen i would look for another, though these are getting a little harder to find. i found mine used in a local store but haven't seen one since. every now and then you see them on ebay.

This is a 97 model, vintage tuners, 6 piece bridge, maple neck with skunk stripe, Fender humbucker in neck position, regular single coil in bridge position. This is USA made with USA parts but painted in Fenders state of the art factory just across the border in Mexico. It has a 5 position switch for some great tonal posibilites from fat humbucking jazz/blues to punchy country treble and combinations of both. THe middle position is particularly great. Also this one has a big wider neck, and medium fat frets.

One of the best Teles I've owned in my 45 years plus of playing. Great tonal variety.

I bought it used, it is set up very well. Very solid, working man's guitar made to be used and has many very useful musical tones.

Tough as a boot, but I always take a backup. All the materials are mighty fine and well put together.

Have never dealt with them.

I think that these are a great bargain. I would replace it with another if I could find one, they're sort of hard to find.

Fantastic guitar. No longer made. Harder to find these days. The 5 way switching brings on so many tones! My favorite guitar.

Great sound. Can get a classic tele tone or full fat humbucker jazz or even distorted grunge going! Rick and full to rockabilly cool. Very nice!

Well made - Made in USA! Sweetest feeling neck I have had on a Telecaster. Just wonderfully made. Newer Teles don't have the feel this one does.

Springsteen, Keith Richards and a million rockers beat their teles. Buck Owens took years to wear his out! Build to outlast cockroaches after a nuclear bomb! All this and not too heavy!

Fender is great. Love the company and how they have started to make quality guitars again.

If you see one - grab it. They are getting hard to find and I was lucky to find one in mint condition. I have seen just a few at stores and they didn't look as well preserved as mine. I am looking for another, as back up.

Fat Tele with 5 way switching between a traditional bridge single coil and a humbucker at the neck. Maple neck and alder body. Black with a white pickguard. Standard tuners.

Well, I've had this guitar for about three years now (bought it used) and I feel I can give a decent report on it.
It's a nice guitar. Nothing flashy. Just a good solid sounding and playing hunk of wood. It is versital, with the switching it has. Your able to split the neck pickup with or without the bridge. Or use it full by it's self or with the bridge pickup togther.
The band I play in cover's a lot of different styles and this guitar handles them well. What suprised me was the jazz tones you can get with it. A telecaster playing jazz? The neck humbucker pulls it off fairly well. Not as well as a good semi- hollow body, but pretty decently.
The neck is comfortable and the frets are good for a guitar in this price range. Very playable.
I play through an old Fender Quad Reverb for the cleans and a Mesa-Boogie Nomad for the crunch (though it has a nice clean channel as well). I also use a Fender Twin Reverb now and then with a TS-9 for some drive.
I had to spend a little time dialing in the Mesa to tame the twang on the bridge pickup Telecasters are noted for, but no big thing really.
Less see, tone?, yeah it's there. Pretty much a variety. I don't have the brass bridge everyone talks about putting on them, so the sustain is a little short. Like most Telecasters you have to work to get where you want with them. But that's Telecasters.
The pickup's volume are decent. By no means hot, but they are able to get you into a decent rock range. I live and die by the tone knob on this guitar. It's very usefull to take the edge off and smooth out the thiness that's inherent in Telecaster's bridge pickups.
Some hum in some positions of the pickups.

Bought used, so don't really know how it came set up from the factory or store that sold it. I bought it because everything about it was good. It's a very generic black, but there's no damage to the body or paint or finish. I'm sure the tuners are just the standard kind but they function very well. The guitar stays in tune. I play 10s and the action is set up accordingly. I like the maple neck it has. All the hardware works just fine. No scratchy pots or scratchy switching.

Aww yeah, this guitar withstands live playing very well. I never worry about it in any sense before a gig. I don't gig without a backup, but not because of anything about this guitar. Just don't want to have to restring in the middle of a show. As far as durability goes, I try never to abuse my instruments and go to lengthes to make sure nothing happens to them. But still there's always that mishap and I feel that this Telecaster will take them in stride. The craftmanship of this instrument is good. It should hold up well.
It has so far.

Never had any dealings with the Fender company.

I've been playing a long time. I've had other Telecasters. I like this one best. I have a Strat, Les Paul, and a Nashville Deluxe Telecaster. A handfull of amps and a double handfull of pedals.
The thing I like about this guitar is it's versatility. The thing I don't like about the guitar is it's slight lack of sustain. Lot of different things I could do about it but I want to keep it as is. No big thing really.
I would try and buy another if it was lost or stolen. If I could find one. They've been discontinued.
Compared to other Telecasters, this one seems to be the top of the pile as far as use-ability. I've always liked Telecasters for their simplicity and ruggedness. This one is just a little notch above the usaull in simplicity and is holding up as good as all the others I've had.
A good guitar.

Made in USA - 1998 or 1999.
Tele neck! Jumbo frets. Very playable neck.
Alder body. Nice look and tone.
Humbucker in neck position, TexMex single coil at bridge.
5 way switching! The best. Opens up so many sounds... legendary Tele sound to the Strat bell tones. Can slam out some grunge or hard rock thanks to the humbucker.
Keith Richards uses this type of set up: Humbucker and single coil. So does blues legend Albert Collins.
Came with gig bag.
For a Tele, this has a ton of features!

Fits me well. I float around from style to style. Can jazz with this, or play hard core honky tonk. Stones sounds, REO and other hair bands, too.
Using this with a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe - 40 watt amp. With this amp I have the All American gig rig!
Love this set up.

The neck is the star on this thing. Body looks great, no flaws or issues. But the neck really stands apart from other Teles. Very playable. Very enjoyable.

Tele tough, with a soft side thanks to the humbucker - like a prize fighter that likes jazz tones, or a priest who likes hard rock, or a trucker who digs the Stones. Sometimes schitzo works!

Don't know.

Excellent. A real find! If you see one grab one. Maybe the last really good deal on an American made Tele!

The standard stuff, maple neck. I hated the 5-way switch and the way that the humbucker was wired. After the first month or two, I changed it around. It's now got a Seymour Duncan Jazz Neck, wired to be noise-cancelling when used split with the bridge pickup. Also, the humbucker is now split (or not) using a push-pull on the tone knob. The normal 3-position pickup selector is now installed as well. The controls and sound are much more satisfying.

Pretty versatile set of sounds, though it's still a tele - even on the humbucker with the tone rolled back.

Finish is good, and the tuners seem to hold well. Constant problems with buzzing saddles, which I haven't replaced yet. (I've had this Guitar since the model came out - forget the year.)

I've already complained about the way that they wired the humbucker. I really prefer the push-pull switch and wiring it to noise-cancel when it's on 2-singles.

I had to dress the frets dressed last year, not a big deal. Inexpensive guitar, and you get what you pay for.

The guitar itself is an anvil, but does seem to break strings more than other guitars. I use .009s on this guitar and .012s on my others, so maybe it's my fault. I suspect that different saddles will improve the problem, though.

I picked this guitar up because it sounded good and was very inexpensive ($400 new? Something like that.) I've now bought a new pickup, new switches, re-wired it, and am thinking that a new bridge is in order. In the end, a regular American Standard version may have been a better buy.

Final editorial - a telecaster is probably the ideal electric to teach with/learn on. No trem to worry about, and it's a lot harder to hide sloppy finger-work than a LP or similar. If you learn to sound good on a tele, you can play.

USA Made, Fender California Fat Telecaster. Born in 1997, I think. Only made for a couple of years and proving to be quite desirable, mainly because of their great sound and neck feel. This is the easiest playing Tele I have had (I have had 4 Teles over the years...).

Gotz a humbucker in the neck. Tele on steriods! Alder body, maple neck, maple fret board. Tex-Mex single coil and Tex-Mex humbucker. Its a Telecaster, not a fancy-schmancy glitter glam rock thing... a rock n' roller in the style of Keith Richards.

Giving it a 9 since it is feature heavy for a Tele (humbucker! five way switching!)

Works for Stones, Merle Haggard, blues, rockabilly, and jazz! The most diverse guitar on the planet? Could be! Rich humbucker sounds -- great with overdrive and distortion. Or a bright tele thing happening. Very wide range of sounds! Sweet tone in all positions.

Fantastic finish. Great paint. Great neck feel. Snug fitting neck. No flaws. Got a good one here!

Built like a Tele -- built like a tank! There are still Teles built in the 50's being used today. See Springsteen, Keith Richards, Danny Gatton, etc...

Never dealt with them. Never had too...

Playing 3 years. Fast learner. Tried many Teles and then found this one. Will never go back. Better than the American Series Hot Rod Fat Telecaster. Better than the Mexican made 72 Custom Tele. Better than the new Paisley Tele. Better than the Standard US Tele. I love everything about this guitar. Neck feel, action, sound, weight, etc., etc., is dead perfect. If stolen I would find another fast since the prices are going up on these now.