Fender American Vintage '52 Telecaster [1998-2012]

Fender telecaster has a fantastic sound with a very fun dynamic tone that complements the users playing style. These guitars are very versatile and no matter what setting you put them in they are going to sound fantastic. It has a great bright tone primarily because of the bright wood that is used throughout the body of the guitar. These guitars generally feature an ash maple or alder type combination which allows a lot of dynamics with the clean tones throughout the frequencies range. It is a guitar that will cut through the band mix quite well.

UTILIZATION


Body: Premium Ash
Nitrocellulose Lacquer
Neck

Neck Shape: "U" Shape
Number of Frets: 21
Fret Size: Vintage Style Frets
Position Inlays: Black Dot Position Inlays
Fretboard Radius: 7.25" (18.41 cm)
Neck Material: Maple
Neck Finish: Nitrocellulose Lacquer
Nut Width: 1.650” (42 mm)
Scale Length: 25.5" (64.8 cm)
Neck Plate: Vintage Style 4 Bolt
Truss Rod Nut: Original Vintage Style
Electronics

Pickup Configuration: S/S
Bridge Pickup: American Vintage Tele® Single-Coil Pickup
Neck Pickup: American Vintage Tele® Single-Coil Pickup
Pickup Switching: 3-Position Blade: Position 1. Bridge Pickup, Position 2. Neck Pickup with Tone Control (Bright Vintage Circuit), Position 3. Neck Pickup with No Tone Control (Dark Vintage Circuit)
Controls: Master Volume, Master Tone

SOUNDS


The one sound and I think is my favorite with this type of guitar is a nice clean amplifier such as Fender Hot Rod Deluxe or Fender twin reverb amplifier with a good Ibanez tube screamer pedal out front as well as a digital or analog delay pedal. You can get a great driving pop rock sound that will go quite well with pretty much any style of music that you find yourself in. These are great guitars for recording as well so you can get a really dynamic tone in a recording session quite easily. Because these guitars really highlight a player's picking, strumming , and unique style they are a good pallet to paint their musical artistry with.

OVERALL OPINION


These guitars you'd find pretty much and a retailer and any guitar shop around the world. You can also find them quite easily online and in many classifieds or eBay auctions. These are very versatile guitars but probably not as versatile as a Fender Stratocaster. If you're looking for that one guitar that will be your end-all, be-all and this probably isn't the guitar for you. It has a great sound but I think it's a little less versatile and maybe Fender Stratocaster or a Gibson Les Paul guitar.

The '52 reissue Telecaster from Fender is an example of the venerable solid body electric guitar in the simple yet perfect form that the electric guitar had in its infant stages. The classic "blackguard" Tele has been used by a whole host of players over the years and it's certainly a classic instrument in all respects. There's no modern "twists" here, just an homage to the original Telecaster.

It features an ash body, a maple neck and fretboard with 21 frets, vintage style tuners, 3 saddle bridge with removable "ashtray" bridge cover, dual single coil pickups, single volume and tone controls, and a three way selector with the original switching setup of neck pickup, bridge pickup, and a specialized setting that is the neck pickup with all the tone rolled off (presumably for a very bassy jazz tone).

UTILIZATION

The Tele's design isn't the world's most ergonomic by any stretch, but it's definitely got its perks. The ash bodies on Fenders can vary from guitar to guitar in terms of weight but the '52 Teles I've tried tend to be on the lighter side of the spectrum. The Tele has good upper fret access too for being a single cutaway instrument. The one hindrance with this particular model over the American Standards and American Specials is the glossy neck finish, which tends to make faster playing a bit more of a difficult feat.

Getting a good tone out of this guitar is quite simple. Barring the rather odd and dated sounding "bassy roll off" tone, the neck pickup has a great classic vibe that works very well for jazz or blues. It has a very open and woody quality that is transparent enough to let the tone of the player really shine through. The bridge pickup can be a little bit bright, but hey, that's what a Tele was designed for - piercing country licks! If the tone's too bright, just roll it back using the tone control or treble control on the amplifier. Personally I like the bright nature of the bridge pickup for country or even rock textures, but it might not be for everyone.

SOUNDS

I've tried this guitar through various American and British voiced amplifier rigs. It's definitely more suited to the Fender and Dr Z amps that have that classic Yank bite to them. Clean tones sing with top end brilliance and shimmer that is excellent for all manners of country or R&B/funk music. It's definitely a rawer sounding guitar than the American Standards, and the nature it has through a good tube amp is definitely more along the old school spectrum of tone. The drive tones have a LOT of bite and definition which is great... the guitar does the classic Led Zeppelin type hard rock tones with ease too. It's definitely a more versatile ax than it might let on, so feel free to try any style you want on this guitar - it's very likely to respond well.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all I think the Fender '52 Reissue Tele is a great example of the electric that started everything off. It's fairly close to the original model, plays well and has a wealth of sounds available. At about $1,600 new it's a fairly good value for money I would say. The vintage features such as the saddles or radius might be a turn off to players who are more accustomed to modern features but if you're a vintage tone hound and want a great reissue of the classic "blackguard," look no further!

Made in the USA, this tv american vintage 52 has become a standard for years to believe that almost dethroned the original which it is based.
Corp. ash lightweight.
U-shaped handle, 21 frets, maple, radius of 7.25 (for the most recent). It seems that the radius of the models produced before 2010 is flatter.
Diapason 25.5.
Pickup Configuration: S / S
Bridge Pickup: American Vintage '52 Tele ® Single-Coil
Neck Pickup: American Vintage '52 Tele ® Single-Coil Pickup (Neck)
Selection of microphones: selector 3 positions: position 1: bridge pickup, position 2: neck and bridge pickups, Position 3 neck pickup.
Controls: Master Volume, Master Tone

UTILIZATION

The handle is very nice. Slightly larger gap between the strings because on most strat, LP or other Telecasters. The interface is very nice. No notch but taking great hands in all situations. Access to acute is more than adequate. Mine, which is 2000, has the distinction of being extremely light. It sounds a lot empty. A real treat.

SOUNDS

It is suitable for any type of music. Everything. Is to choose after what he gets behind, amps, effects, etc ...
The sound is both shiny, round, powerful and hot.
The neck pickup is very original matte dark. Basically the 52 was for musicians wanting to approach the bass sounds with the microphone or register attacking Jazz. But a simple solder will allow you to make a standard neck pickup with lots of harmonics and roundness.
The intermediate position is fairly neutral, interesting repertoire for a soft and balanced. The micro acute sharp, incisive attack when the instrument. It is more subtle in a game or more vintage twang, everything is possible. In a vox or a tween with tremolo and spring reverb western one is full.
I kept the original pickups for 10 years. Then I decided, under the guidance of a luthier who found resonances my tv exceptional, he put Lollar 52 = same sounds with more that I can not define but which awakens more the potential of this guitar. I am delighted!

OVERALL OPINION

Nearly 13 years this guitar I do not loose. And the feeling is mutual ...
The music is a taste of history and culture. There is no better guitar than another.
To each his feeling with an instrument.
I think the 52 Telecaster guitar is what John is pentalon.
It is a bit basic. No frills here, nor pompous fittings or finishes costly. Just wood that resonates very well.
I have 4 electric guitars that I use to produce all of the music genre in pop, rock, songs ... Between these guitars often balance my heart but I think that if I keep this one would be it.

This is "the" Telecaster, while serious guitarist should have one

The tuners are vintage point locking mechanism mounting the old ropes.
The bridges of origin are three in number, much like a bass.
This is a bit limited at the setting accuracy.

The guitar comes with another more modern bridge, six bridges, I hesitate a bit to mount it.
After all, so many excellent titles were recorded like that.

The guitar comes in a stunning tweed pouch with orange wig inside, I love it.

UTILIZATION

The handle is thick, the frets are thin, it is a particular game that needs to be done, but try to adopt it.

The polyurethane varnish is a bit sticky at first, but it happens over time.

From my side, I regularly wipe the handle with a soft cloth, and this aspect has faded.

SOUNDS

The bridge pickup is hell, it instantly sounds legendary Keith Richards.

The neck pickup is perfect in its clear, at once sweet and slamming according to the intention you put into it, the famous twang is there.

I changed mine in rewiring the modern version because of origin, the neck pickup did not have the correct tone.

I play on a Cornford Carrera, the sounds are just sublime.

OVERALL OPINION

I'm afraid of not being objective good, I love this guitar, it's my number one guitar, I do not never leave.