Fender Highway 1 Texas Telecaster

2004 model. made in USA. Honey Blonde satin laquer finish. Blah blah blah. It's a pretty basic vintage style tele.

The stock pickups, called "Hot Vintage", are crap. Way, way overwound. I put some Nocaster reissue pickups in there and they sound awesome. The stock pups were very muddy, even in the bridge position. Now it sounds like a Telecaster. A little buzz, but not bad, it just depends where you are plugged in. So it sounds good now, but only after I replaced the pickups.

Pretty good. But you can tell this is almost the lowest end american tele on the market. The finish on the fretboard was all over the frets. You can scratch it off pretty easily, but it was pretty sloppy. Action is good. Big frets. Some people don't like the thin finish, but I think it looks cool. You can see the wood grain really well. And it ages nicely. I think beat up teles look cooler anyway, and this finish will definately wear more quickly than nitrocellulose. I like the vintage parts, the 3 saddle bridge, etc. Although one hole in the body wasn't lined up very well with the bridge.

Its a Fender, which is nothing more than a piece of wood anyway. So simple, yet so cool. It has become my main gigging ax, the Strat is my backup. Seems like it will last forever, except the finish, but I think that is cool. Hasn't provided a problem yet.

Fender is a great company with excellent customer service from my experience. I'm sure if I have a problem it will be handled well on Fender's end.

I've been playing for 9 years, professonally for the past 6. Play about 100 shows per year, playing country, rockabilly, blues, surf, and other roots styles. This guitar suits me perfectly. I swapped out the white pickguard with a black one so it looks more like a Nocaster. I got a good deal on it, and it is one sweet ax. Made in USA is definately better than Made in Mexico. I play it through a Twin Reverb Custom 15, and my tone couldn't be sweeter. If you are looking for a no frills tele that sounds great (if you change the pups) this is your guitar. Fender rules!

2005 USA Made. ash body,lighter in weight than my alder tele. Vintage hot pickups which might have slightly different specs than teas specials, bur same idea. Satin sunburst finish. 3 saddle brass barrell bridge. Old style split shaft tuners. 52 reissue fat neck. Jumbo frets (not bass wire, but like med jumbo, not outrageously high, but big.

Vintage sound. The neck is so fat and the neck pocket on the body is not deeper, so whole string gemetry is raised off the body and pickups a little more than modern thinner profile neck. Contributes to sound,more vintage vibe, still high output, but there is some air between strings and pickups that is not on my other more modern style tele. 3 brass barrell bridge is way to go. 2 strings on a saddle give a different tension than 1, also brass has different acoustic proerties than steel, or even chrome plated brass. Less sustain than some material, but it s just right, especially as guitar sound matures and with tone rolled off. Ash body is surprisingly lightweight and sounds vintage, resonant. Out of the box, very good and it is like a bottle that is good now, but has aging potential as well. Modern wiring. Fender really spoke to the need for the desireable vintage specs. sound and feel with some modern refinements like frets and wiring. Truly, unbelievbly with no aftermarket modifications (proabably will change flat knobs to dome.

I am 2nd owner. but nut slotted too low on B and maybe E string. Plastic not anyway, will change to graph tech, but no hurry, it is not hurting much with a slight muting on open B string and barely on E. Other than than really good. People like to give fender a hard time, and one time I had a tele with a wiring gremlin that took me forever to get fixed right (intermittent), but they do great set up quality control (with obvious exceptions) They check string height with capo at different positions on neck from what I understand, and a guy who plays, usually knows what he likes anyway. Custom makers sometimes are real esoteric about things, but then claim they can'y slot the nut properly because everyones tastes are different, and then you have weird high frets that show up and they call it your style that makes it happen, Fender has a good way of eliminating most of this nonsense and in my experience are very thorough. As mentioned before, fat neck makes for the strings being higher off the pickups, action at neck remains low, but the whole thing sits high off the body. Intersting feel and sound. Ithink that is how the real old ones were, but I have never played a real 50's tele. It sounds like one though (go Jim Wiedler) Satin finish cuts costs, acrylic satin lacquer allows fewer (maybe even just 1) coat finish than nitro. Here is where you get what you pay for, but this is a great marketing concept to include what they did and save 500. based on finish and mionor details.

really good and solid. Finish is cheap, but durable. Excellent hardware for price.

Don't know. Only deal with luthiers and custom builders for repairs.

I stole it! Been playing 23 years, I had to buy this because I own (among many other guitars) a highway 1 regular series alder tele. I had to retrofit custom pikups because those pickups, I hate to admit, sucked. I had to retrofit the included steel barrel bridge with brass because it made more of a difference than I thought, and I like those fat vintage necks like on the texas tele. It was like I did everything I could to make it like the texas tele, and it was still an alder bodied thin necked compromise. I kept both because once I got my regular highway 1 set up and put a few miles on it, I like it pretty good, shortcomings notwithstanding. This texas thing was haunting me though and I second guessed myself enough that when I saw a good deal on one, I bought it. I am glad I did. Will change knobs to dome, but it has a diffent sound and feel. As more body resonance develops, I can tell the already good "tone rolled off" sounds will be (and already are) sweet. More like sick. It has the 5 hole 1 ply pickguard. I have not been playing live, but I am afraid of hum if I did, based on past experience. Fender makes a metal, gold anodized replacement pickguard that may have shielding properties, may jest get a shield. Anyway, it is fricking sweet. Probably a 2 piece, glued body, but cannot know. It is light and may be one piece for all I can tell, cant see seam but that means nothing. If you want to go custom shop, you will do better on finish, maybe pickup construction, put not sound. If you have the money, be done with it and go custom shop I think they make one called a custom classic which is essentially the same idea but with the best of everything. However, if you want something a little funky that can rip your heart out, but will never look and feel as refined, fender finally gave us that option.

This a brand new honey blonde Texas tele. Fender seemed to listen to seasoned tele players in the design of this one. I usually build my own Tele type guitars, but I bought this one off the rack because it is made almost exactly how I would build one.

Here's the features that stand out:

- Thin lacquer finish on the body so that the swamp ash can resonate the way it's supposed to.

- Old style brass saddle tele bridge for true Tele twang. The only thing I would do different here is use the newer compensated brass saddles made by either Callaham or Wilkinson.

- Hot vintage style alnico pickups. These sound really good. The bridge pickup is a little darker sounding than other Teles, but I think this will work out fine for live loud stage use. The thinner sounding Tele pickups (Fralins are the best) sound great for recording, but sometimes lack enough punch for louder roots music. These have great harmonics yet higher than stock vintage output.

- 12" radius fretboard. The old 7.25" Fender radius feels good for chordwork, but tends to fret out when you bend. This is not a problem with the Gibson style 12" radius. many old Fenders end up with a 12" radius after years of refrets anyway.

The sound is pure "Americana." This guitar works great for rockabilly and roots music. With a little twangier bridge pickup (Fralin Stock Tele or Blues Special), this would be the ultimate country guitar. The swamp ash resonates very nicely. I was pleased since mine is a "just right" weight - light enough to resonate, but heavy enough to punch and sustain. This one sounds best with a little natural Fender overdrive. Think 4 X 10 Bassman on about 6.

I had to do some truss rod adjusting and lower the bridge saddles, but other than that, the fretwork is really good for a out-of-the-box factory guitar. The finish is a satin lacquer on the body and a satin poly on the neck. The body lacquer is nice and thin. This is a guitar built for the seasoned player who doesn't care as much about how shiny it is, but how well it resonates.

Seems solidly built the way a good Fender should be.

This is a tele for the seasoned player. It's not shiny of fancy in any way but is honestly the best "off the wall" guitar I've played in years. It plays like an old guitar. Bravo to Fender for not bowing under teen-oriented market forces to the point of forgetting about the seasoned giging Tele players out there. American made, plays really well, sounds really good, and under $1000. Well done!

2004 2 color sunburst Fender Highway One Texas Telecaster. Satin finished Lacquer Ash Body, Maple neck and fingerboard, 21 med. jumbo frets, 12" radius, 2 hot vintage-style pickups, traditional tele bridge with 3 brass barrels, vintage tuners and gigbag. .

The tone from this guitar is simply phenomenal. It is warm yet has a crispness/snapiness probably provided by the ash body/maple neck and the 3 brass-barreled bridge.

Impeccable setup from the factory.

Has been reliable so far.

This guitar has the features I want: Tele-bite, warmth, higher-output pickups and easier bending and playability with the 12" radius and med. jumbo frets. I highly recommend this guitar and believe it is a very good value. IMHO, this is one of the best Teles I have played in 27 years.

2005 model--made in USA--21 medium jumbo frets--12 inch radius--solid swamp ash body--honey blonde finish--one pice maple neck and fretboard--3 way classic tele switch--2 texas tele pickups--vintage bridge with a 3 barrel brass saddle set-up--vintage fender/gotoh tuners--

the perfect tele for me--the right combination of vintage and modern features--to give an honest opinion, the 12 inch radius is the way to go--its much easier to intonate and play, as opposed to the 7.25 inch vintage radius--a real pure sound--balanced, woody--the bridge pickup(aside from the noise)is to die for!!--the neck pickup is decent, better than other tele stock neck pickups--

perfect--no issues whatsover, and i am very very picky when it comes to this---highly recommended--

i like the low gloss finish--it will age quicker than the poly finishes, and it simply sounds better--it allows the guitar to breathe--

i did compare this to a lite asjh tele and a 52 relic--the relic was incredible, but once again, the 7.25 inch radius does not work for me--the lite ash tele was twangier and with seymour duncan(not duncan designed)pickups, represents a real value--however, because of its import status, if it were sold, it would be a loss--the american fenders generally hold their value much better--this is the perfect tele if you don't want to spend thousands on an old one, or a relic for that matter--the highway one guitars are, i think, the best bang for the buck with fender---great job!!

Build 2005 USA, 21 frets. Ash body with satin finish ( no polyesther!)
vintage 3 saddle bridge, vintage kluson style tuners. 12" radium c-shape neck. 2 texas hot pickups. The finish is really thin. It will wear off in no-time and become a relic. Tha's fine with me because I'm very gentle with it :-)

I use it with a VOX cambridge and this results in a very twangy sound. I mostly play the blues and often only use the bridge pick-up. I'm thinking of taking the neck pick-up out and turn it into a esquire. Overall sound is what you would expect from a 7ender-telecaster

The guitar was send from the USA to the netherlands in 2 weeks. When I opened the suitcase it was still perfectly in tune! Action was good enough for me. The strings (0.09) are too thin for me and I'll replace them with 0.10. The wood felt good; not too light and not too heavy. Neck is a little too wide at the nut for me since I'm used to a '74 stratocaster which has a neck width at the nut of 41mm.

Strap buttons are the regular kind. I would replace them if I planned to use it on stage. Finish is VERY thin and will probably wear pretty soon..
One can certainly depend on it, and I would easily use it without back-up

Warrenty is for life although I do not expect to make any use of it ever..

Been playing over 25 years. My other guitars are a '74 strat USA and a '86 strat japan with Kahler trem.