player opinions

Fender American Vintage ‘52 Telecaster

Fender American Vintage ‘52 Telecaster

  1. Name: Tom

  2. Price Paid: $850

  3. Performance

  4. I’ve always wanted a real ‘52 Tele, but am not independently wealthy. So, when the chance came up to buy a reissue, for a fraction of the price, I jumped on it. This Tele is the best guitar I have ever played. The action is smooth and solid, the weight is well balanced, and the solid brass barrel saddles not only add a bit of a bright punch to the sound, they give the strings enough room to move around without breaking. I’ve had other Tele’s with the new, “updated”, 6-saddle, bridges and I constantly broke stings. I’ve had the ‘52 for about a year now and have only broken one string.

  5. Performance Rating: 10

  6. Sound Quality

  7. Classic Tele. The pickups are “vintage” in the sense that they’re wired to the original ‘52 specs, with cloth wire, no less. As expected, the ‘52 is twangy on both pick up selections. The bridge pick up, to me, offers a wider range of sound than the neck pick up. Since the guitar has the same specs as the original ‘52, the pick up selection is different than a standard Tele. It’s a three-position: back selects the bridge pick up only, middle selects the neck pick up only, and the front selects the neck pick up only with all the highs rolled off. Apparently, Leo thought that sounded good for solos. About a year later, that was all changed to how things are with today’s Teles.

  8. Sound Quality Rating: 10

  9. Construction

  10. This is one solid solid-body. The body is made of premium ash and the neck is highly figured maple (fretboard and neck are one piece). The frets are great and have a very comfortable, warm feeling to them. The neck is great; very playable. The finish is perfect and historically accurate (nitrocellulose with the Fender logo applied over it). No problems whatsoever with the reliability of this guitar.

  11. Construction Rating: 10

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  1. Average Ratings
  2. Performance: 10
  3. Sound Quality: 10
  4. Construction: 10
  5. Ratings Key
  6. 10: Excellent
  7. 0: Useless
  8. Available At Guitar Center
  9. Fender American Vintage Series '52 Telecaster Electric Guitar Butterscotch Blonde
  10. Company
  11. Fender

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