Fender Highway 1 Telecaster

2003 Fender Highway 1 Telecaster (made in the USA)
22 frets
solid top
volume, tone and 3 way selector controls
two single coil pickups
Alder Body
Satin 3-colour sunburst
Strung through bridge
medium jumbo frets
Maple neck and fingerboard
Gig bag included

Im not limiting myself to a style, I bought this guitar to find my own sound, Im getting closer to it, and all I need now is a different amp and effects, so Im pretty happy with this guitar.
It has 3 very distinct sounds, from a bright twang from the bridge, to a mellow sounds with both, and a clear, crisp sound from the neck pickup.
Distortion on this isnt realy for metal or anything where you want high gain unless you use a pre-amp. I dont like my distorion pedals with my old guitar anyway so I cant comment about it coz I wont like my distortion anyway, but my overdrive pedal sounds a lot smoother on this guitar. If youre using a DS-1 it get noisy if you turn distortion past 3 o clock, on my SD-1 I can turn everything right up and all I get is amp buzz, no feedback, but plenty of sustain.

the setup from factory was realy good, could do with less string rattle and the higher strings are a bit tight, but Im gonna get it set up once it gets worn in again anyway so Im not bothered.
The top is lovely and smooth, has one scratch, but its absolutely tiny. The bridge pickup routing sticks out from under the bridge, but as the guy bellow said, personality.
The neck is as comfortable as any other neck Ive played, but the sides are so nicely rolled you can barely feel the frets.

It looks solid, should be able to withstand a lot.

1 year warranty for some things, lifetime warranty for other things fender could be blamed for.

I love this guitar, I bought it to take with me to college, and I expect to be picking it up when I walk on stage during glastonbury *dreams*

Suits me great coz I didnt want anything stereotypical.

Built in Usa, numerically it has telecaster classic features... but sure of excellent quality : 22

comfortable medium jumbo freats (against 21 freat of vintage tele), fluent maple neck screwed to the

(alder?) creamy white body, basic volume and tone control, sturdy three way selector (bridge PU,

bridge&neck PU, neck PU), two mellow arnico pickup (like vintage ones), lacquer body with classic

white pickguard, vintage three-saddle type bridge, Fender tuners... well I think that's all folks...

Well, there's everything you need on a telecaster so I think I'll rate 10 this category :)

I've owned this guitar only for a day... and I already love it...
I used to play an Epiphone Les Paul Model and a Gibson The Paul and this guitar is totally different
from them. Really creamy sound, expecially from the neck pickup, ideal for blues and country but also for slow piece where you can nearly make this guitar talk... An extraordinary dynamic is its main feature and if you have a particle of feel, this guitar will show it.
Thin sound with really delineated bass (which I really like), with typical amount of treble of telecaster. However all strings are well balanced in volume so with your amp eq you can easily tame its brightness.
If I wouldn't have made use to play Les Paul-like guitar with their loud pickup signal I use to create walls of sound my band likes, I will rate this category 10 : compared to my Epiphone Tele pickup signal (coming from single coils) is really softer but I think the "problem" can be solved installing an HOT ROAD minihumbucker PU at the bridge and changing string (I usually use .11 against .09 mounted on HIGHWAY TELEs). However, despite its pickup power with my JCM800 and with a Cry Baby this night during trials I was able to obtain all the feedbacks I wanted (better than with my Epiphone) so I really satisfied by this guitar.

I used to play with quite high action so I like this tele.
Then its maple neck (despite what lot of people say about maple necks)is really fast and fluent for my taste so action is not a problem for me, obviously if you are a shredder (but I don't think you would choose a tele) you probably will have to set up it.
Pickups height is ok... You could have some trouble changing neck PU height due to the presence of the Pickguard who (looking at the guitar and reading a review) is probably quite hard to remove...
My HIGHWAY finish is ok even if I think that AMERICAN STANDAR TELE have a better one (but better finish isn't worth its price)

Due to its simpleness it's quite sturdy and I think It can live forever if I don't make it fall like I did to my epiphone :
I installed two Schaller strap security locks to avoid any damn...

I've bought it in the Music Store I collaborate with, so I will rate this category 10!

I'm the singer and the guitarist of the Ashclay, a grunge band in Italy (www.ashclay.com) and I've been played for 4-5 years.
I'm really satisfied of this guitar even If I've played it just for a day... Its price, discounted, is good to be in Italy (on the price list its priced 1118 Euro) and with it I got even a good solid case, a fender strap and two Schaller strap security locks...
Maybe is too early to say it, but if I lost it I would probably buy another one (Would my mum think the same?)

2003, USA Made, Maple (head adjust) 9.5" Radius, "C" shape, 22 (medium) Fret Neck, bone nut, 2 or three piece Alder Body, (Honey blonde, satin, no gloss finish) Standard Telecaster Pickup Configuration, 1 volume, 1 tone control, 3-way pickup selector, two single coil waxed flat pole pickups, I believe the bridge plate has been borrowed from Mexican Telecasters, it's made of thicker, heavier metal than the "52" reissue plate, plus it features three 60's style steel saddles...strings through bridge & body, Fender / Ping (Chinese) tuners. Included bag full of paperwork, allen wrenches and polishing cloth...I passed on the cheap gig bag, so I saved $40. I fell in love with the weight and neck on the guitar, but most all of the hardware will be replaced.

Although it sounded great unplugged, I didn't care what it sounded like plugged in, because I knew I would be replacing the pickups. When I got home, I pluged it into my Victoria 45-410T, (Bassman clone) and sure enough, you get the 60 cycle hum and buzz, which is just no good for recording. The other thing I noticed was that after tuning the guitar with a boss tuner, the guitar would not stay in tune up and down the neck.

I bought the guitar because I wanted a light Tele body with the 9.5" radius, Head Adjust neck. The first thing I noticed was that some knuckle-head at Fender put one of the screws in crooked that holds the control plate, plus the guitar had a finish ding in the body, (it's really hard to get a perfect guitar from Guitar Center..the guitars are handled too much). However, since I was looking for the lightest Tele possible, these were faults I was willing to live with. Fret and nut work on the neck was great. The body is routed exactly like a 50's tele should be, with the wiring channel and the truss rod adjustment channel, (this was a bonus).

Fender can put these guitars out cheaply because they put a bunch of cheap, Chinese and Mexican parts on them...my feeling is though, that it's a great guitar to customize with high end parts. The guitar is a great value, especially for a novice player, but if you've got a few years under your belt, you're going to need better parts. I would say, if you're going to be playing out a lot, you're going to have to install some better parts.

The guitar has a lifetime warranty if you don't change anything or turn any screws on the instrument. I've never had to put Fender to the test regarding a warranty, but I would imagine they would steer you to the dealer you purchased the instrument from and the guitar would be repaired locally, hopefully by someone with more than 5 minutes of guitar repair experience.

I've been playing guitar for about 25 years and love Telecasters. If you're into Telecasters, be sure to pick up a book by A.R. Duchossoir entitled "The Fender Telecaster", it's worth every penny. I also own an Ernie Ball Albert Lee and a Rickenbacker 370 12 string, amps include a Victoria 45-410T, a 1967 Fender Blackface Vibrolux and a 1962 Gibson Ranger. This guitar is a "must have" for a couple of reasons, #1, it's made in the USA, don't waste your money on Mexican, Korean or Japanese crap, ...it has a great neck featuring a "head adjust" truss rod, (you won't have to take your guitar apart to adjust the truss rod) 9.5" radius and lightweightweight 50's style body. The 9.5" radius neck is a much better way to go, because with a vintage 7.25" radius neck, you can't stretch your strings above the 12th fret without having the strings bottom out on adjoining frets, plus the neck isn't covered with heavy lacquer which will drag down the speed of your freting hand. My advise would be to get to a store where you can compare several of these guitars at the same time, then choose the lightest one. My upgrade parts list includes: Fender Schaller locking tuners, (great tunders, plus the mounting holes match up, which means you don't have to drill new holes) set of Joe Barden Tele pickups and Joe Barden (Gatton modified) bridge plate with angled brass saddles, (Angles saddles is the only way you'll be able to keep the guitar in tune all the way up and down the neck) Jay Monterose "Vintique" neck kit (with heavier neck mounting plate) and Vintique dome top heavily knurled knobs and last but not least a Fender black pickguard.

It's a tele so there's not a lot of special features here..
Highway 1 Tele
Crimson Transparent,(Satin Lacquer Finish)
Alder body, maple neck ( Modern ?C" Shape with Satin Polyurethane Finish), Fender/Ping Standard Cast/Sealed Tuning Machines. Maple , 9.5" Radius (241 mm) fingerboard with 22 Medium Jumbo Frets. 2 Standard Vintage Style Single-Coil Tele Pickups with Alnico Magnets (Neck & Bridge) scale length 25.5" (648 mm) width at nut 1.6875" (43 mm) controls:master volume, master tone. Vintage style 3-saddle strings-thru-body tele bridge pickup switching:3-position blade (position 1. bridge pickup, position 2. bridge and neck pickups, position 3. neck pickup). Chrome hardware, 3-ply white pickguard . Comes with fender super 250l, nickel plated steel strings, (.009 to .042),
Mine came with a case (not a fender case though) I didn't get any wrenches nor a users guide. Which shouldn't be that much of a problem if you've had some experience with setting up guitars. They should have been included though! This has ofcourse nothing to do with fender but with the shop I bought it from.. since they trew in the case I didnt make a fuzz about it..
Ooh yeah.. most importantly it came with a very cool Fender bumper sticker and a sweet Highway one sticker!

Overall a very clear and crisp sound (it has a light body).. virually no noise. The telecaster sound can go from blues to country to modern britpop and everywhere in between (whereever that is.. )
I run it trough a Roger Mayer Voodoo-vibe into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe
unfortunately the stickers don't add to the sound....

Action was a little low and I prefer 011 instead of 009 strings, but that's a matter of personal taste. The fretwork is exelent and the neck is very comfortable. The paintjob was also done well. So overall it looks really good..... especially with the Highway 1 sticker! The only flaw it has is that the cavety for the bridge pickup shows from underneath the bridge(there's a hole of ~1mm at the lower site of the bridge where the pickups is) I've never seen this before , not even on cheapass korean guitars! It's not really a problem but it just looks strange. But the way I see it is that these little production erros ad charater to the instument :)

I've had my other fenders for years .. never had a problem with any of them...so I'm gonna stick with this for quite a long time i think

It's Fender we're talking about! Ooh well at leat you get the stickers!

I've been playing for about 8 years, I own a lot of guitars but the ones I pick up mostly are my fender Strat and my Ibanez Jem... and this one. The bottom line is this: if you're looking for a good allround guitar this is not it! If you're looking for a metal monster, again, this is not it!
If youre looking for a (nice & affordalble) telecaster you should give the highway 1 chance!
Great guitar for the money! If it were to be stolen i'd get a new one, no doubt. Why pay more for something that doesn't sound or play or look any better!? Besides: dont forget about the cool stickers!

I have a 2003 in Satin Honey Blonde with the maple fretboard. I have always found that Fenders with maple fretboards play better, as they have a smoother feel than the rosewood. I particularly like the feel and profile of this neck because my fingers seem to stay where I want them better than with some other neck profiles. The fretwork was finished flawlessly on this Tele. I agree with the reviewer who lamented the lack of the ashtray bridge cover. Teles always look unfinished without them, so I have ordered one, and hope it fits! A case would have been nice, but for the price, why quibble?

This is a very versatile guitar. With a little experimentation, it will produce a wonderful variety of tone. It will Tele Twang, but it will also mellow down. I like to finger-pick James Taylor on the neck pickup. I am running it through a tiny Ibanez amp, which makes all my guitars sound good.

I received this Tele from Musician's Friend in the box, and I don't believe the box had been opened since it left the factory. And so, it was very well set up-the strings were rather low, but pickup height was fine, and the neck looked good. The sixth string intonation could use a tweaking, but you can't expect a guitar to travel half way across the country without some adjustment. Finish on the body and neck are flawless. I like the satin finish. In the Honey Blonde, the color is almost a pale canary, but that's ok. All the pieces fit beautifully, but be warned, if you want to change the pickguard it is a very tight fit around the neck.

I would recommend Strap-lock buttons. This is a good solid made guitar, rugged, yet not as heavy as some Teles.

Have not dealt with Fender. But this guitar was made with pride, so I have confidence in it.

I have been playing badly for over 30 years. I have bought and sold dozens of guitars, but this is the first one that I have sat up all night and played. It is just so comfortable, and sounds terrific. In my opinion, with electrics, there are Rickenbackers, and everything else. But this Fender is a stand-out in quality construction and sound. It has got to be the best value out there. Get one! I bought it sight unseen, unplayed, and I could not be happier with it!

The Highway 1 is a typical Telecaster, made in the U.S., with some interesting features. Most notable is the satin finish on the body (mine is sunburst). The finish makes it feel like the guitar was built around 1955 and has had the gloss played off of it. It's just dynamite. The bridge is the vintage three-saddle type; unfortunately it didn't come with the bridge cover/ashtray. That and a pair of flat-top knobs would really add to the vibe of this guitar. About the only bonehead thing they did with it was to use an American Standard neck, one piece with 22 frets and maple fretboard. It feels and plays great, but I think they would have done better to use a vintage-style 21-fret neck. As it is, the fretboard extends over the pickguard, which makes pickguard removal very difficult. It wouldn't be an issue except that the bridge pickup (in true vintage fashion) is mounted to the body, so that you have to remove the pickguard in order to adjust the pickup height (which I immediately had to do; mine was set too low from the factory). The American Standards have the pickup mounted to the pickguard. I may do that too, although I prefer the way it looks now. The Highway 1 came with a good Fender gig bag and two allen wrenches. One is for the truss rod, and the other is for adjusting the height of the bridge saddles. Which is to say, it would be if it were the right size for the screws. But it isn?t. (Hey, at least they tried!)

It may sound funny, but I didn't even plug this guitar in before I bought it. I was so blown away by the look and feel of the guitar that I didn't really care what it sounded like. If the pickups sucked, I'd replace them. Well, believe me when I say, suck they don't. It uses vintage style pickups, and they sound fantastic. They?re plenty bright, but not obnoxiously so, with just the right amount of mids. And they warm right up with the tone control. Exactly what I was looking for.

Like most Fenders, this guitar came with 9?s, which I can?t stand. The setup was pretty good, but I?ve since replaced the strings with 10?s and readjusted everything. As I said before, the finish on the body is gorgeous. The neck, I believe, is also supposed to have a satin finish, but it doesn?t feel very satiny to me. But, it?s not objectionable.

C?mon, it?s a Fender. I expect this guitar will last a long time.

I?ve never had any direct dealings with Fender, although dealer support (multiple dealers over many years) has always been good.

I?ve had a thing for Telecasters ever since a friend of mine showed up one day with a new candy apple red Esquire. That was around 1967. So of course my first quality electric was a Tele, purchased in 1971. Since then I?ve gone through a variety of different guitars, including several Strats, but the basic functionality and simplicity of the Telecaster has never lost its appeal. When I bought the Highway 1 I had actually gone out to look at Standard (made in Mexico) Tele?s (which is another reason why I expected not to like the pickups). I wasn?t really interested in the American Standard; there was just no way I was going to pay over $800 for a Telecaster. Well, once I saw this guitar I couldn?t pass it up. I think $600 is just about the limit of what I would pay for a Telecaster. That being said, however, I think Fender has done a pretty good job.

Basic electric guitar....2 single coils, 3-way selector, T&V knobs.

Biting treble to mellow bass. Bell-like single notes. Excellent string to string volume balance. Does't go into heavy saturated OD, but does break up nicely for bluesy tones. A very clean sounding guitar with excellent twang.

Action a bit high for my taste, but perfectly acceptible for an assembly line guitar. Perfect intonation from the factory.
Honey blonde semi-transparent lacquer...matte finish, not high gloss...flawless application. Looks like an old Tele with a faded finish in great shape. I love the color. Maple neck/fretboard.
Nice fret work. Frets don't dig into my thumb when I wrap a barre chord.

Seems incredibly solid...like a piece of lumber. So simple that not much could go wrong. Design has been perfected over the last 50 years. Back in the day I had other Fender stuff that was very durable. This probably will always be played in the den or at the cabin.

Limited Lifetime warranty. Pretty standard for a guitar in this price range. Dealer up-graded me to a molded case.

Playing 37 years. My first Tele. I am really pleased with this. I have a dreadnaught, classical, electric and a bass...all Guilds. Also an imported banjo and mandolin for messing around. I play the accoustics and elecdtric through a Princeton Chorus. The electrics through a Blues Jr. Both sound good yet different. I'm liking the simple sound of the Tele through the BJ more and more. Some effects too.

2003, USA Made, 22 Frets. Maple Neck, Alder Body, Standard Telecaster Pickup Configuration, Satin Laquer sunburst finish, Three saddle string through bridge, Schaller tuners. I figured that I would upgrade the bridge to American individual saddles, but after playing this for a while there doesn't seem to be a reason to.

A blues and tone machine. Y'know when you plug in a guitar and you get exactly the sound you were after? This Telecaster did that for me. I play through a Roland Blues Cube 30W and use a Crybaby Wah, Boss Distortion and Boss Super Chorus. Very quiet, especially for single coil PU's. Full range of Telecaster sounds and for a bolt-on neck it sustains and sustains and sustains. It tunes up effortlessly with my KORG LED tuner because it holds the note for so long. I've never had a guitar do that before.

The guitar was tuned down a step so I had to retune it when I got home. I thought it might really tweak out the intonation but it was spot on. The neck is very precisely finished, medium jumbo frets, rolled edges, perfect nut, it's really well fit into the neck pocket. I prefer rosewood fingerboards, but this maple neck is easy to move around on and not as tacky as most that I've played. It should only improve with age. The Alder isn't as good a choice as Ash for a sunburst, but if they used ash it wouldn've cost $200 more because of the extra steps to seal the wood. That being said the sunburst is perfectly applied and the wood grain is very clean for alder. The finish is satin lacquer and is quite thin. Even for the most careful handler you will mar or dent the finish at some point. Be careful of rubber guitar stands, they will react with the lacquer finish. 10 years from now the lacquer will have aged, chipped, checked and mellowed and really have a lot of character.

The guitar itself is a beast. The hardware is stamped steel, chrome plated, tuners are sealed Schallers. Totally dependable, stable and solid guitar and construction. The finish is the only potential drawback for some. I prefer lacquer and believe that a guitar should show its age. This one will. If you prefer a poly, waterproof slab to withstand a nuclear winter buy the Mexican reissues. If you want the better guitar step over to the US Highway 1 Telecaster.

Limited lifetime warranty, plus one year on pickups, wiring, etc. I can't imagine what is covered for the lifetime since everything will eventually wear on a guitar. Fender is hit and miss for service, but my local shop is great. This is the sixth guitar that I've bought from them and I will continue to return for more.

I've been playing poorly for 20 years. I own a 1987 Squier MIJ Strat (still my favorite guitar,) a 1998 Squier Affinity Telecaster (currently in pieces, getting new paint and a Bigsby Tremolo,)a 2000 DeArmond M75, a 2001 kit strat from Saga, a 2001 Johnson Tele, a 2003 Essex LP and this new Telecaster. I fiddle with and modify the cheap guitars and play the Squier and now the Tele for most of my stuff. I traded in my Squier Standard Telecaster to upgrade to this. I compared it to the Mexican Standard, Mexican 50's reissue, Japanese Paisley and American Series. For my purposes it was equal to or superior to them all. The American Series has a more durable finish, stainless six-saddle bridge and bi-flex truss rod, none of which are crucial to me. I love that this guitar will age quickly. It already looks incredible under stage lights, as if it's been there for 20 years soaking up sweat, smoke and the blues. It will take me some time to get used to playing a maple neck again but I need maple if it's really to be considered a Telecaster. Six-saddle bridge may be on the horizon but not yet. For me, this is the best value in the entire Telecaster line.

Brand new March of 2003 production HW1 Tele, US Production or assembly or something..it's not really clear. Rosewood board, traditional 3 saddle steel bridge, standard Tele PU configuration.
Late 50's Blond (read whitewash) style finish . Schaller style "Fender" diecast tuners..Includes GB, wrenches (most of which don't seem to fit much) and the usual paper work.

TWANG!!! that what it does and it does it well..if you are looking for a good Honky Tonk guitar with the action set low and slappin' the frets this is your baby..a dead on late 50's eary 60's twang box..mine has RW board and is still a treble buster..not recommended for those looking for that early "P-90" Broadcaster sound or for rock or blues use..a country guitar pure and simple. Sounds great thru a Deluxe 'Verb RI...OK thru my SF Princeton..like crap thru any SS amp.

Not bad...not good.. Better than the MIM Standard..not up to American Standard "Standards"...About the same as the high end Mexican stuff with out all the fluff and buff. OK PUs (wax potted lead). good pots, switch, bridge(steel)..crap saddles (will be up graded to brass...) good finish, nice neck..OK set up, but really needed to be shimmed so the saddles could be raised enough not to dig your hand.

This one should be around for awhile...

Lifetime warranty. hope I won't need it.

This is my second Tele..and not a bad deal for the $$..similar story to my Faded Finish Gibson SG... both of these fall down in the little details and have quicky factory set ups...a few more $$ and a bit of time turned both of thes guitars into really nice players. The 5-600 price point is one I'm comfortable with for a US electric..its been awhile since both of these makers has produced a domestic pro level multi PU guitar at that price point and they obviously need to get some of the bugs worked out. If you like to work on your own stuff these can be a lot of fun..if you want something awsome right out of the box you should look elsewhere....Think of these as a preassembled kit guitar of great quality... sorta like a entry level domestic Pick -Up truck... Solid basic quality that will get the job done..but with a bit of TLC....Look out!