All user reviews for the Fender Road Worn '50s Telecaster

Fender made in MEXICO with parts from the USA supposedly ...
Relic that is to say Eroded artificially. A brief Pigné TARS across a rusty vibrato and parts coming from nowhere ... an ugly duckling priori.

UTILIZATION

Super nice handle, no varnish, it is on the wood. I personally love it. rather stick with a fairly low end radius, so close. So the big paws will have a little trouble and the strings sound pretty high from fifth fret. Vintage that looks to do its job well hardware. There is no return on the ergonomics of the stratosphere, it's a must!

SOUNDS

The strong point: the sound! it's very typical, we are now in the southern united states, western Stetson quickly becomes indispensable. Blues, rock plain or crunch, it can tease the funk casseroles with positions 2 microphones. Of course the neck pickup loses serious compared to a Classic, or a standard USA, acute microphones alone is a disaster, but this configuration is serving a banging sound at will (with the added touch of maple) . A well thought out guitar that sounds like a great deal. Say it bluntly, it's the Mexican Custom Shop.

OVERALL OPINION

I tried it for a friend who wanted a Strat, he chose a 60's Classic, more versatile and less bogey. But this Road Worn really has a big personality level sound (SRV requires) and a super nice handle. A secondhand 700 €, that is a really great price / quality ratio. So, I already have an American Standard US 1984, the RW would be the perfect addition to my beloved strat I reliquée lovingly. After the reliquage one likes or dislikes, personally I find that ridiculous. In conclusion, this is a good secondhand!

I will not repeat all the specs, just read the other reviews.
on the other hand for all of Mexico, it's really top:
The nitrocellulose lacquer body (like the old) is perfectly relic too much or not enough and leaves suggest the beautiful veins of ash. Small cracks in the varnish hyper realistic. All peices are made of metal also well tumbled and suddenly it's still very realistic, there méprendre.Le handle it a reliquage more artificial because of urethane varnish used and the pickguard too thin and yellow artificially spray varnish.

The guitar comes with a Fender cover suitable for normal use.
The factory settings on mine made the guitar too difficult to play action too high and too dug round. But hey, in 10 minutes, the matter was settled.

UTILIZATION

The fun begins as soon as the grip: the handle has a great hit with quite a curve round way TV 57 and 6105 frets close as vintage frets but high as jumbos. So, despite the vintage radius of 7.25 inches, it is very comfortable to play. Place by the sensation of wood in direct contact with our left hand a lot of fun. For cons, the wood will spoil faster. It has already blackened place in less than 1 year of play

SOUNDS

And her then? because everything else is secondary:
Right now, this vacuum is a huge resonance that I did not necessarily pronocée also found on other road worn tried in store. (And yes every piece of wood is ultimately unique!)
Always empty the sound is still full with the characteristic twang TV. This remains one of the 3 best telecaster on which I played (and I played: 1957, 1965, 71 to 79 etc. ....
Finally vacuum only downside, the nut snugly tendency on the strings if and half to remove a bit of shine. Passage through a bone nut will be a plus.
AND NOW, instead of electricity:
Bridge pickup: it sends roots but it is clear at once, but sharp hot short for me as good as either clear or saturated crunch. The output level is very good for single coils.
Intermediate position: it's nice, it makes beautiful arpeggios and beautiful ryhtmiques the combination is successful.
Neck Pickup: while there we like it or not, it's like the old TV is "bassy" and "woody" many serious sound muffled, with which you can enter an area with a jazz or saturation send beautiful flights but sweet.
So, to summarize: micro bridge: surly, micro neck: soft, intermediate position between the two.

OVERALL OPINION

I use it for almost 1 year with equal happiness.
This guitar can not be ignored and approaches actually kind of true old 1957.
For comparison, next to the Mexican tv seem very average and bland (even baja, yes) and american standard seem too sanitized, winning versatility they lose warmth and authenticity.
So I think the price / quality ratio very good and would do this choice without hesitation

Body: Ash, blonde finish with a thin coat of nitrocellulose lacquer that is worn in areas.

Neck: Maple, U-shaped, 7-1/4' radius, 25-1/2' scale length.

Pickups: Single coil Tex-Mex (2).

Hardware: All chrome, vintage-style tuners and bridge.

Strings: Came with Fender .10s, changed to DR .12s.

My Set-up: I use whatever small combo amp is handy with all knobs to 10 (except for the treble, which I back down a bit). I adjust the guitar to have the tone knob at 70% and the volume at 85%, giving me tons of headroom.

My profile: Eclectic guitarist from Southwestern Pennsylvania specializing in jazz, rockabilly, swing, classic country, alt-country, and punk/new wave.

This guitar was purchased for me as a gift from my girlfriend. Because it was a gift, I did not ask the purchase price, but I do remember it being listed at around $800.00 while I stared lovingly at it in the guitar shop.

List price is $1199.99 and most online retailers seem to offer about 25% off.

<a href="http://www.pittsburghguitars.com/">http://www.pittsburghguitars.com/</a>

First and foremost, the tone is killer. Through practically any amp I can replicate the exact range of sounds I need -- thick, jazzy chords to super-skinny twang. The combination of the ash body and the old-school lacquer really allow the tone of this guitar to shine.

Another pro is the hardware. This guitar stays in tune despite my best efforts to manhandle the strings into unhappy positions. The tone and volume pots are smooth and quiet, a real benefit for someone who makes constant adjustments during play.

My feelings about the 'road worn' aspect are mixed. While I love the way the tone and feel of the guitar are changed by distressing the instrument, I believe some of the dings and dents are simply cosmetic and add little more than an aesthetic.

The single coil pickups can be a bit tough to reign in, but that is to be expected from anything that is known to not 'buck the hum.'

This is a fantastic guitar. Well built, fine components, solid and sleek. As mentioned above, it stays in tune like a champ and I've had no issues with any of the hardware despite my near constant fiddling.

Certainly the quality may be diminished for those who dislike the road worn look. Many complaints are made -- both online and in local shops -- about why you 'don't buy shoes with holes in the sole' and other comparisons. My simple reply is that these holes add to the tone and playabilty -- more or less.

This is my new go-to guitar. Period. It feels great and it sounds even better. I am biased because it has sentimental value (it was a gift), but you can't argue with the tone.

Bottom Line: A solid addition to my collection and a new workhorse for gigging.

This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

The Fender Road Worn '50s Stratocaster is a classic looking model that is built in Mexico at the sub $1,000 price point. It's meant to offer a "vintage" guitar to players that otherwise couldn't afford the real thing, or even one of the pricey Custom Shop reissues. This one features an alder body, a maple neck with 21 vintage style frets, old style tuners, a 6 screw fulcrum point tremolo and a trio of Fender Tex Mex pickups wired to the traditional compliment of volume, dual tones and a 5 way pickup selector. It's also been "reliced" head to toe on the body, neck, bridge, tuners, etc. The result is an instrument that you won't have to worry about getting a few dings on when you take it out for a jam.

UTILIZATION

The design of this guitar is fairly ergonomic. I found this model to be nice and light - a surefire good sign. The alder body is well finished as far as the shaping and contours go, and the maple neck has a nice profile that feels very comfortable and natural. The relicing on the guitar looks pretty awful, but it does feel quite nice, especially on the neck. I do like it quite a bit for that reason alone... the neck is definitely a selling point here. The upper fret access is good considering that it's an unmodified Strat design and only has 21 frets. Getting a good sound out of this guitar is easy enough. It's just like a '50s Strat but it's got the slightly hotter pickups and a 5 way switch which does allow for some more tonal options to be had for sure.

SOUNDS

The tones out of this guitar are pretty pure Strat to my ears. The pickups do have that classic Fender jangle to them and they work equally well for blues, country, rock or shred to me. Put through a good clean amplifier, the guitar ranges from very low end centric and rich (using the neck pickup) through to very bright and biting (using the bridge pickup). The in between pickup tones are great as well and between all 5 positions the frequency spectrum is covered quite nicely. Switching to a drive sound yields some some fantastically thick and crunchy tones that work for everything from Hendrix to Eric Johnson to Yngwie, depending on the amp and effects being used.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all I think the Fender Road Worn '50 Strat is a great deal for someone who needs a vintage feeling and sounding guitar at a price that won't break the bank. The relicing itself looks pretty cheap to me, but it does feel nice when you're playing it. If they made this guitar without relicing, I bet it'd be a surefire winner. Definitely have a look if you're in the market for a classic looking and feeling Strat that WON'T require a second (or third) mortgage on your home!

The Fender Road Worn '50s Telecaster came about from Fender after people kept mentioning how they loved the worn in feel of vintage or Custom Shop instruments but couldn't afford the $2,000+ price tags of the CS stuff, or the $10,000+ price tags that vintage Fenders command. This model is a relic that is based off a '50s Telecaster and is built in Mexico. It features an ash body with relicing in the nitro finish, a maple neck with 21 vintage style frets and relicing of the tinted amber finish, vintage style tuners and Telecaster bridge with 3 barrel style saddles. Electronically this guitar is loaded with 2 Fender Texas Special pickups wired to a typical Tele control setup of a volume, a tone, and a pickup selector.

UTILIZATION

The design of this guitar is pretty ergonomic, for a Tele anyway. The weight is medium and the feel of the guitar is quite natural. The relicing of the finish, though it honestly looks cheap and contrived as anything actually feels fairly good, especially on the back of the neck. The upper fret access is decent as well, though again being a single cutaway 4 bolt neck the access is blocked off a bit. Getting a good sound out of this guitar is pretty easy. The stock Fender pickups have a nice range of tones available and take to both clean and distorted tones pretty well. The neck pickup is great for jazzier tones and the bright bridge pickup is ideal for rippin' country or rock licks.

SOUNDS

This guitar sounds like you would expect a Tele to sound like - bold, bright and brash. It's not a very apologetic guitar, but it does sound pretty cool. The neck pickup has a nice low end heft to it that works very well with a clean amplifier for jazzier or some vintage blues tones, or with a distorted amp for some really sludgy rock tones. Switching to the middle position is great for funk or really nasally sound rock tones, and the bridge position is king for country, blues, rock or even some out of this world shredding. It can get a little noisy with gain applied, but that's to be expected with true single coils. The ash body with the maple neck combo gives a nice brightness that is personally my favourite attribute in a Tele's tone.

OVERALL OPINION

All in all I think the Fender Road Worn '50s Telecaster is a great buy for someone who is looking for a wonderful feeling and great sounding vintage type Tele for under $1000. The relicing is honestly not great - it's the EXACT same on every guitar and tends to look cheap, but the feel of the guitar is excellent. If Fender offered this model in a NOS model like their Custom Shop guitars and the relicing was an option, I bet they'd sell a TONNE of them.

Tl is a "relic" made in Mexico with 2 tex mex pickups, jumbo frets.
The MODEL I test is the 2-tone Sunburst (alder body)
The bridge is vintage three bridges.
There are 3 sr posistion, neck, and inter acute.
The handle is in C, rather pais.

UTILIZATION

I found the handle quite as enjoyable trs pais, and as it is dvernis it is close to the wood. As against the frets are too big I think. Vintage frets give more than touch
Access in acute, it is a Tele ...
The guitar is pretty lgre and handy, well finished.
adj empty it a good natural rsonnance.
I plugged into a 4x10 Deville was immediately sound chalereux, nervous, with lots of sustain. The pickups are trs property with a good output level.

SOUNDS

I play jazz / funk / blues and this guitar into a Fender amp sounds right away as I do. Lowering his theft and tone on the neck pickup I immediately sound pretty sweet and singing jazz with the possibility to go to the most vicious.
The two microphones are well balance.

OVERALL OPINION

I tried for two hours alone in the store with a standard amicaine and '52. She I prfre. The fact that there have more polish on the handle makes the sound softer I think. The reliquage is not only a matter of image but also affects the playability and sound. 900 euros, a parat honnte me because it really sounds.

The seller told me he was often better than the Mexican United States.

I may be the leap and move on with this Road Worn Tele.

Tl is a "relic" made in Mexico with 2 tex mex pickups, jumbo frets.
MODEL is my blonde finish, a Russianness my taste.
The bridge is vintage three bridges.
There are 3 posistion, neck, and inter acute.
The handle is in C, with quite frets pais Paisses also.

UTILIZATION

The handle is enjoyable for the first model test, including the famous Mexican baja if requested, we have another level, nothing to see, even from the US MODEL base, the Getting started is between acoustic and electric thunder is a compromise IDAL, having larger frets also gives the feeling of the scale but it's all words, then move the try it!!

SOUNDS

The sound is clear and prcis in three colors, I think we can play in any style because the sound does not seem too typical is the word that appears neutral but I have a small amp Champion lamp 600, there are three tones round out the meduim acute. With the position 1 and 2 and a sound effect, by closing your eyes I seem to have a sound in his hands.

OVERALL OPINION

For the price, it has a trs good guitar, I bought London 650 pounds, less than 700 is standard, I can not believe the look relic is r USSI, we like the look, the finish seems high-end, a US base infrieure me parat now at least at the neck (subjective opinion), that is, I fell in love! Some will understand, in short, she is beautiful, it sounds, look fabulous.

Fenders reliced guitars have been growing in popularity since they were introduced a few years ago. Now Fender has a line of reliced guitars that are not made in their Custom Shop so it is affordable to normal players. I have seen these guitars for sale for around 800 dollars and they look just as good as the Custom Shop relic guitars. What really struck me about this guitar is how much relicing they did to the fretboard. It is a lot more apparent on the Telecaster models than the Stratocaster models. The blonde body is nicely faded and dinged up like you would expect. The back of the neck feels different in areas. Between the 1st and 9th fret is super smooth with nearly all the finish worn off but beyond that you can still feel the clearcoat. The body on this blonde one is made out of ash and has a very thin nitro finish. The neck is 1 piece maple with 21 Dunlop 6105 frets. These are true jumbo frets. It has a vintage style bridge with the 3 saddles which gives big tone but iffy intonation. The pickguard is a 1 ply white piece containing 2 Tex Mex pickups.

UTILIZATION

Apart from the looks what sets these guitars apart from normal guitars is the playability. With the worn in finish you get a super smooth neck where you want it. In the places you are playing 80 percent of the time the neck is super worn in and smooth. The places were your body touches the guitar are all worn down and smooth so they feel good against you. Fender puts some of the biggest frets on their relic guitars. I wish they put these frets on all their guitars. The super big frets make up for the vintage 7 inch radius. You can still bend since the frets are so big even with the super round fretboard. I am not a huge fan of the ashtray bridge but a tele is a tele and its part of the tone. The 3 saddles arent the best for intonation but they give you the big tele tone.

SOUNDS

Plugged in this guitar sounds pretty much like a typical Telecaster with tex mex pickups. It has all the twang and honk you would expect from a tele with the ash tray bridge. Some people say that these relic guitars sound better. The neck pickup is nice and fat and great for blues solos while the bridge pickup is super twangy in the low and and loves your country riffs. They say that the thinner more worn in finish lets the guitar breath better but im not so sure. I think the main differents with these guitars other than looks is the playability, and when a guitar plays well you probably play better than think it sounds better in the process.

OVERALL OPINION

Some people dont like relic guitars and say you should just play a guitar a lot and do it yourself. Everyone is entitled to their opinion but if these guitars were not popular Fender wouldnt be making and selling them. Looks aside these guitars are some of the best playing guitars out there since a lot of the things used to make a guitar look good also hurt playability. Thin finishes and satin smooth necks play well along with looking aged. Now you can get a great reliced guitar for less than 1000 dollars. Its harder to justify paying for a full Custom Shop guitar now when you can get a guitar just as good for 1/4 the price.

For specifications see other reviews

I changed the pickups for nocasters 51 with a paraffin cabalage the former.

UTILIZATION

Very enjoyable to play, light
Direct sound


SOUNDS

with the upgrade is amazing.
Manufacture and wear artificial seems to get a sound divine nocaster the top 51 c the killing.
From pop to rock bold, I use it on a hotrod with a tc eletronic system and a nova od 808.
The pickups have a potato unheard!.

OVERALL OPINION

My brother in law who has a hot rod 52 wanted me to exchange it against mine.
The base is already very successful
there is the upgrade for many.
It cost me 1200eur due to the upgrade but the value for money is huge!

it's a TV made in mexico (written on the butt).
the principle of worn road is to offer customers who ekes out a living instrument artificially aged and suggesting that we are going to buy a vintage instrument prices more than reasonable. (that's my point glance at least!)
for the bridge and is the standard telecaster bridge with 3 saddles (there is better, on 6 bridges!).
the neck is maple 1-piece profile in "C" well worn artificially (frankly very bad for a relic!) has 21 frets and the one I played was flamed maple with beautiful veins ...
the frets are 21 in number is is "narrow jumbo.
mics, 2 single-coil Fender Tex Mex.
settings, those for telecaster Pardis! ; A volume, tone and selector opposite to that of a stratum, and when you're in position "hose" is the bridge position is a bit .... anything for me ... but hey, it has the merit of not resting on its laurels!



UTILIZATION

The neck is super nice, and besides, I find that there is not to hard to play on it!
since I played on a telecaster, I always thought it was a guitar made for the rhythmic than anything else because there's such a comfort for playing an agreement that it is almost Obviously!
I found very good ergonomics, easy to play even for an old grater invented it over 60 years!
weight; frankly, nothing to say!
Surprising as it may seem, I really had no problem with access to the latest frets, I understand is why guitarists like Ritchie Kotzen (although it has his signature model in strato now) and the greg koch have chosen!
in sound; well, that's the typical sound of a telecaster (which does not mean anything I should!, because it is better to try in store for realizing !) was a grain much rock on the mic is limited to serious and doors of jazz, the selector in the middle, one reaches the funky rhythmic feature with this beautiful grain, and the microphone is keen for me the rub of this guitar, the sound is narrow and medium, I think, that I will use it rather for rhythmic country to take part.
if not, no problem!
frankly it sounds pretty even for a musician like me, who swears by almost double coils ...

SOUNDS

This guitar is, unfortunately, not intended for metal and rock well saturated in which I play with my band now.
rather it is a guitar made for playing fine rhythmic funky, almost jazzy and rather country-rock, but no more in my opinion ...
good, I plugged in a Blackstar HT-20 and can play anything with this amp so it is not as impartial trial ...
I liked the sound acid when playing fingers, I think the sound is better; recovering the grave was missing when I played with a pick ..
but for the sounds; back to top of this paragraph.

OVERALL OPINION

I've tried that this afternoon, so it does not belong to me!
I tried it before too many guitars, at least, it has the merit of knowing just sounds different on different configurations of stringed instruments ...
I love the most, the general appearance of aged, great mechanics, the flamed maple neck on the model I played mechanics vintage rose color, it really believes it!
sounds fine, the rhythmic and funky country, the ability to play solos comfortably in the treble, the old appearance of the handle, the price balances to milonga; € 749 (but I know you can find it cheaper elsewhere!).
I like the least, this is not a strong instrument for rock, metal and saturated!, microwave sharp and that's it!
I find the value discount because we buy this instrument for his money (even I myself get caught by the vintage look of the TV road worn!) and it is an instrument that delivers a grain that if you're a fan of the brand, telecaster or even a novice like me, you can not appreciate, of course, if one wants something else out, touch and change the settings for microphones have more body, but afterwards he must know what you want and why you buy this instrument ...
For my part, I liked that telecaster!
from there to buy, there is not one that I am able to cross a single head shot!
say it!