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Fender American Standard Telecaster [2008-2012]
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Fender American Standard Telecaster [2008-2012]
King Loudness King Loudness

« My favourite Fender finish »

Published on 08/13/11 at 20:37
This is one of the new American Standard Teles in a new colour they are calling "Candy Cola." It's a very eye catching finish that I absolutely love both on Strats and Teles. It is no surprise to me then that the Candy Cola Fenders I've tried felt and sounded better to me than a typical black or sunburst example. The guitar is made in the USA in Corona California and features all the typical Tele specs. These include an alder body, a maple neck/fretboard with 22 frets, a modern Tele bridge and sealed tuners and a killer set of reworked Fender American Standard Tele pickups (updated around 2008 I believe).


UTILIZATION

The Tele is not the most ergonomic design ever, but that's not a big deal to me as I've come to expect that by now. The alder ones are usually of a good medium weight (this example is no exception) and they sit on the body very well despite not being overly contoured. I really like the feel of Teles (it has been a slow process to get to feel this way though) and they're just a great guitar. Sure you have to fight it a little more than a Strat or Les Paul, but to me that's part of the charm. Because it's a single cutaway the upper fret access isn't quite as good as a Strat but it's still good enough to get the high notes when you need 'em.

Getting a good tone out of this guitar is pretty simple. The alder examples are not overly bright guitars and have a good dense tone that responds well to pick attack and dynamics quite well. It does both clean and drive tones with ease, though I tend to think of an alder bodied Tele as a bit more conservative sounding than it's raunchier and brighter toned ash bodied sister.

SOUNDS

I've tried this guitar mainly through Fender and Mesa Boogie amplifiers. It has a good variety of tones within despite being a fairly simple instrument. The neck pickup gets into some awesome jazzier tones especially with the tone control rolled down just a bit. The middle position (both pickups) gives a pretty cool take on the typical country twang tone... just with a bit more midrange and a bit more of a nasally quality to the sound... excellent for choppy funk playing. The bridge pickup is pure country... plug that sucker into a Fender amp, hit it with some slapback and yeehaw, you're off to the races. Adding some overdrive to the equation basically turns the guitar into a classic rock machine. Again, while it's not quite as raunchy as the ash bodied ones, it still rocks when it wants to! The neck pickup has a good amount of sustain for leads and the bridge pickup is great for rock rhythm and certain lead styles without being overbearing on the treble (something that does happen from time to time with the ash bodied ones). I'd say it's more conservative sounding than the ash bodied one for sure.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all I don't think there is any way to go wrong with this guitar. They're aggressively priced (about $1,000 new) and with the updates they've made to the guitar recently, the new ones play better than ever. Included to sweeten the deal is an AWESOME TSA flight approved case and all kinds of great case candy... though maybe they should bring back Fender Lifesavers... hah! All jokes aside, this is a wonderful guitar, and for anyone who wants just a good versatile Tele that sounds and feels like it should, give the alder bodied USA Standard a whirl. The Candy Cola finish really pops under light (almost looking like Candy Tangerine offered by Charvel for a while, which happens to be one of my favourite colours).