All user reviews of 4/5 for the Fender American Standard Telecaster [2008-2012]

The Fender American Standard Telecaster is an exemplary guitar. Features include an alder body, maple neck and fingerboard, and proprietary Fender tuners. Onboard electronics consist of a pair of the American Tele single coils routed through a three way switch and shared volume and "delta" tone controls. The blizzard pearl finish is striking, definitely one of my favorite color options that Fender has available.

UTILIZATION

The Standard Telecaster's "modern C" neck profile is a happy medium between thick and slim. It is easy enough to move around the guitar but don't expect lightning fast playability. Tuning stability was so-so. I think the Standard could use an upgrade in the tuner department. I enjoyed the hand rolled fingerboard immensely. The comfort level between this and a lower priced telecaster are night and day.

SOUNDS

I played the Standard Tele through a Bogner Alchemist Combo. No pedals.

The guitar has a bright percussive attack that is very signature to the Telecaster. Even with gain applied, the guitar maintained a chime and clarity that you simply can't attain with humbucker equipped guitars. The alchemist was set up for a variety of sounds from plucked blues to softer contemporary rock up to higher gain territories. The Telecaster handled all of them exceptionally. I used to shun single coil guitars (especially Telecasters) for the longest time, but my experience with this has changed all of that. I feel fully confident in using a Tele shape guitar in more aggressive styles.

OVERALL OPINION

The Fender American Standard Telecaster would be a good introduction to the line if you are unfamiliar with Fenders. The feel and tone of the guitar is greatly superior to the lower cost models offered by Fender, accurately representing the craftsmanship that fans of the brand have grown to love. The American Standard fetches $829 new. There are many of these circulating in the used market.

The Fender telecaster has a unique body unlike the Fender Stratocaster. Is a one-of-a-kind build by the fender music company and has been one of the most iconic looking guitars since the 50s. It has a great tone that has a very clean tone and extremely usable and versatile overall voicing.

What I like about the fender telecaster is that it has a great sustain unlike a Gibson Les Paul. A Gibson Les Paul has a natural mahogany sustain where this is a nice ash maple sustain. This is a throwback to the old 50s style telecasters made in America here in the great state of California. The look of this guitar is very classic with its natural ash unpainted body but a lightly lacquered body with a nice black pick guard any fantastic looking maple fretboard.

UTILIZATION

* Alnico V pickups
* Deluxe hardware
* Ash body
* Modern C-shaped maple neck with rich, deep neck tint, glossed neck fretboard with satin back and rolled edges
* Delta-tone™ no-load circuit
* Highly finished frets
* Detailed nut work
* Bent steel Fender saddles
* American Standard Tele® Bridge Plate (steel saddles and brass plate) for improved resonance
* Thinner undercoat for improved body resonance
* Rosewood or maple fretboard
* Staggered machine heads


SOUNDS

I absolutely love the tone of Fender telecaster. There is no other guitar built today that sounds quite like a Fender telecaster. These are very versatile guitars that can jump from genre to genre of music much like a Gibson Les Paul, a Fender telecaster and the Fender Stratocaster. This is the favorite guitar of many country guitarists in Nashville. You also see this guitar heavily frequented by musicians from Europe and especially from England. A lot of the retro pop punk type bands will heavily use the fender telecaster because of its very clean tone and it's brilliant clean overdrive while still carrying the sound of the natural guitar.

OVERALL OPINION

At new these guitars come in right in about $1150 which is an excellent price for American-made Fender telecaster. This has an exciting neck and is very easy neck to play with and it's almost a shredder neck even know it's not a shredder guitar. I highly recommend this guitar to anyone who wants a guitar with a solid clean tone and a unique distortion clean.

The Fender American Standard Tele has been reworked and refined over the years to address what the working player wanted as far as features go. In 2008 Fender updated them to have a lot of changes that were great for the working musician, and they're reflected here (the model I'm reviewing is an off the rack 2011). Here's the spec list:

Body Shape: Telecaster®
Body Finish: Urethane Body Finish

Neck
Neck Shape: Modern "C" Shape
Number of Frets: 22
Fret Size: Medium Jumbo
Position Inlays: Black Dot Position Inlays
Fretboard Radius: 9.5" (24.1 cm)
Fretboard: Maple
Neck Material: Maple
Neck Finish: Gloss Headstock Face with Satin Urethane Finish on Back of Neck
Nut Width: 1.685" (42.8 mm)
Scale Length: 25.5" (64.8 cm)
Neck Plate: 4-Bolt Neck Plate with Micro-Tilt™
Truss Rods: Bi-Flex™ Truss Rod System


Electronics
Pickup Configuration: S/S
Bridge Pickup: American Tele® Single-Coil Pickup
Neck Pickup: American Tele® Single-Coil Pickup
Pickup Switching: 3-Position Blade: Position 1. Bridge Pickup, Position 2. Bridge and Neck Pickups, Position 3. Neck Pickup
Special Electronics: No-Load Tone Control
Controls: Master Volume, Master Delta Tone™

Hardware
Hardware: Chrome
Bridge: American Tele with New American Standard Bent Steel Saddles and Stamped Brass Plate
Tuning Machines: Deluxe Staggered Cast/Sealed Tuning Machines
String Nut: Synthetic Bone
Switch Tip: "Barrel" Style Switch Tip

I have played numerous Teles over the years and I've noticed that the newest 2010-2011 American Standard Teles are just really great guitars. They're simple, but effective guitars. The improvements made by Fender in the finish, electronics, hardware and quality in the last few years is great and I would definitely say they're on their game as far as quality control and putting out a great guitar, even for the $1,000 price point or so that these guitars are selling for. The necks in particular are something that I have been very impressed with recently. The satin finish that they use is really comfortable and pleasing to the hand. I can play for longer periods of time and not get that annoying stickiness that is commonplace with gloss finished necks. The features of the new Teles are great and it shows how much care Fender put into making a killer workhorse guitar for those who wanted it.







UTILIZATION

The Tele is fast becoming one of my favourite guitar to play all the time because you have to fight it a little bit more compared to a Les Paul or even a Strat but the end result is something that just sounds so much more pure and honest. The design itself is very much a "plank." It's a flat guitar with no contouring of note, so there can be some discomfort there if you're playing for longer periods of time. The weights of the Teles I've tried vary, but they're usually medium to heavy weight guitars (depending on if they're alder or ash), so they're definitely not the most ergonomic guitar I've ever seen. I can't imagine a problem with long gigs for me (being that my main guitar is a non-chambered Les Paul) so that wouldn't be a major issue for me. Upper fret access is reasonable. It's not the greatest in the world by any means but I haven't had any major issues with it, and the satin neck finish on the new American Standard Teles does facilitate fast playing and going up and down the neck quite well.

Getting a good tone out of the Tele is very simple or very difficult, depending on how you look at it. This guitar basically gives back what you put into it. If you play softly with lots of dynamics and a cleaner sound, it reproduces that quite well. However if you really dig into it and are using a brighter, more brash sort of sound, it works equally as well with that sort of tone. It's not for everyone but if you're really into a purer sound, you can't get much more pure than the ol' plank known as the Telecaster.

SOUNDS

I've tried these Teles through various Fender, Marshall, Dr. Z and Mesa Boogie amplifiers, all with excellent results. Teles are a lot more versatile and widespread sounding than some people give credit for. It's a very dynamic and true sounding guitar that really sings in the hands of a good player. I wouldn't say the sound of a Tele is very forgiving by any means... you certainly will hear your mistakes, so playing a guitar like this will definitely bring your chops up.

Clean tones are one of the strong point of this guitar. Using the neck pickup and rolling the tone back yields some wonderful jazz tones (surprising from a single coil, I must say). However, the best thing to do with one of these is plug into a clean, loud Fender amp, run the guitar wide open, add a dash of that dripping Fender 'verb and let loose with a barrage of licks that take you down to the highway to Nashville. That sort of tone, very bright and pure is PERFECT for country licks and tricks. Because of it's pure tonal nature, you've got to fight it a bit like I was saying, but once you tame it, it's a wonderful feeling, and possibly a bit more rewarding than playing a very easy guitar.

Dirty tones are pretty freakin' awesome as well from this (especially on the ash bodied models). The pickups in the American Standard models are hotter than the vintage models so you can apply tasteful amounts of grit for that classic blues or rock tone, or you can increase the gain up to savagely high levels to play some shred licks. I find Teles react best for riff based hard rock (if we're discussing drive based tones) because they have a nice crisp, bright edge that sits really well in a mix, and if you put that with a Les Paul or something dark, it makes for a very well seated mix. I wouldn't say this guitar is great for metal styles due to the noise and the bright nature of the guitar, but for classic/hard rock, provided you can tame the noise from the single coils, it can sound awesome with the right amount of saturation applied.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all these are just killer new American Standard Teles from Fender and definitely a great part of Fender's line of products. It's a true workhorse and sounds great for many different styles. Though it's not the easiest guitar to play at times (or "tame,") when you get it to do what you want, there isn't a more rewarding feeling in my opinion. They're about $1,000 new for the alder models and about $1,150 for the ash bodied ones... pretty great deal. It also comes with a slick TSA approved hard case too.

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).

The Fender American Standard Tele is a guitar that is really a jack of all trades. They were initially picked up by country players, blues cats have used them on occasion, even the odd jazz man has grabbed one of these ol' planks to play some Charlie Parker. However... one thing that these guitars really do and do well is rock. Some particular Teles have a certain extra kick to them that allows the sound to have a bit more raunch and filth, and this particular Crimson Red Tele is no exception. It features an ash body, maple neck and fretboard, Tele bridge and sealed Fender tuners, and a set of Fender's updated American Standard pickups. To top it off,it's made in the good ol' USA. Awesome.

UTILIZATION

The Tele is a guitar that is slightly less ergonomic in its design then say, a Strat is. This is due in part to the lack of contouring on the typical Tele, as well as the fact that they're generally heavier guitars (both in look and sound) than their Strat counterparts. To add to it, this one is ash bodied and weighs a fair bit, but the sustain is there. When you hit a note and it rings... it's all worth it. The upper fret access on Teles isn't quite as good as the Strat but it's certainly not unusable by any strech.

This particular red Tele has a very raunchy sound to it that none of the other Teles at this shop did. It might have been due to the ash/maple combination or just an extra bit of mojo inside the guitar. Whatever the theory... it sounds great, especially for rock tones.

SOUNDS

I've tried this guitar most notably through a Mesa Royal Atlantic 100 and a Marshall 1923 85th Anniversary head. It's a very bright sounding guitar, with a prominent top end that cuts through a band mix superbly. The midrange is a bit subdued in this particular guitar (probably a trait of the ash/maple combo) and the bass is not quite there nearly as much as some of the Gibson guitars. However it sits brilliantly in a band mix and my coguitarist (the proud owner of this particular 2011 Tele) is pleased as punch with the tones he's getting out of it. He's always eschewed away from humbuckers (his longtime #1 is an SG Standard with Gibson P94s) and this Tele gives more of that bright sound that suits the hard rock sound he hears. It works very well with my Les Paul in a band setting, and allows different voicings and chords to stand out very prominently.

In my own experience, trying this guitar was pleasing. The bright tone lent itself very well to country and certain snappy blues for cleans, and of course for '70s to modern classic and hard rock on the drive side of things. Compared an ash/rosewood Tele we A/Bed with it... this guitar just had more oomph and a fuller, brighter sound that better suited what he wanted in a Tele.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all I think you can't go wrong with one of the new American Standard Teles. This one was a bit more than usual ($1,149 new compared to $999 for an alder one) but it sounds killer and is well worth it. They come with a great TSA approved flight case too... perfect for flying with. And trust me when it comes to it, you won't want to be parting with your Tele when you fly away either. Try one today!

The Fender telecaster is one of the most iconic guitars ever produces. It helps to be one of the very first electric guitars ever made, so it has some face time with the public that an Explorer or a PRS doesn't have. So many people are used to seeing this guitar over the years and that helps in the marketing of this shape of guitar. The shape is great and unlike the Fender Strat this guitar has a better cleaner sustain to my ears. Not that is sustains longer but the sustain is a cleaner headroom than the Strat to my ears. The tone cannot match the Strat but it has its own thing going on. This is a country player's guitar and a softer rock guitar for sure. You can't really drop tune this guitar and get a decent sound out of it. It wasn't made to do that type of modern rock and tuning.

UTILIZATION

Fender American Telecaster Candy Cola Rosewood Fretboard Features:

Alnico V pickups
Deluxe hardware
Solid alder body (black, 3-color sunburst, candy cola, and blizzard pearl) or ash body (2-t3-c-cone sunburst, natural, crimson red transparent)
Modern C-shaped maple neck with rich, deep neck tint, glossed neck fretboard with satin back and rolled edges
Delta-tone™ no-load circuit
Highly finished frets
Detailed nut work
Bent steel Fender saddles
American Standard Tele® Bridge Plate (steel saddles and brass plate) for improved resonance
Thinner undercoat for improved body resonance
Rosewood or maple fretboard
Staggered machine heads



SOUNDS

The Fender Telecaster has unique tone and a powerful and clean punch to the tone that is unlike any other guitar made by Fender or anybody else for that matter. These guitars has a nice easy shape to the body a neck so they should feel and sound suburb. The Fender Tele's have a sound that is just phenomenal to my ears. I mean the tone is basically the same as any other Fender telecaster but the red color of this guitar just pops more than other colors and leaves me wanting to explore the guitar even more. So you tend to give it a little bit more soul and dynamic because the look of it just brings you to that level.

I like to play the Fender Tele with just about any guitar amp that I have. This guitar will blend with what ever you have and make it that much better and that much more musical. My favorite treatment for these guitars is to blend them with a Fender Hot Rod amp or a Marshall JMP. I love the tone that the dark HR amp has than blends well with the voicing of this guitar. The JMP has a nice brighter tone to my ears that makes the bright tone that this guitar match in a clean way. Hard to explain in just words what those two instruments do together.

OVERALL OPINION

You can pick these guitars up new for right at around $1000, which isn't that bad of a price for this American made guitar. I prefer the maple fretboard over the rosewood fretboard on this guitar but the red color is just something else to me. I love that color of red and it just pops when you first see it in person. One fantastic looking and sounding guitar.