Log in
Log in

or
Create an account

or
< All Fender Vintage Hot Rod '52 Telecaster reviews
Add this product to
  • My former gear
  • My current gear
  • My wishlist
Fender Vintage Hot Rod '52 Telecaster
Images
1/315
Fender Vintage Hot Rod '52 Telecaster

TLC-Shaped Guitar from Fender belonging to the Vintage Hot Rod Telecaster series

Price engine
Classified Ads
Forums
James... James...

« hot rod looker »

Published on 02/26/12 at 09:18
Thin-skin nitrocellulose finish
Premium ash body
1-piece maple neck
U-shape profile with satin finish on back
9.5" fingerboard radius
21 medium-jumbo frets
25.5" scale length
Nut width: 1.650"
Chrome hardware
Fender/Gotoh vintage-style tuners
Vintage-style Tele bridge with 3 compensated brass saddles
1-ply black pickguard
Custom Vintage Tele bridge pickup
Seymour Duncan Vintage Mini Humbucker neck pickup
3-position blade pickup selector
Master volume and tone controls
Setup with Fender Super 250R Nickel Plated Steel strings (.010, .013, .017, .026, .036, .046)

UTILIZATION

First thing is first. This is a really good looking guitar. It's understated with just enough flair to look cool in a live situation. I don't think I could change a thing about it in terms of looks. Seriously. Just a sick looking guitar. Forget road worn series. Just buy one of these and beat it up on a tour.

Now I'm not a fan of the vintage style bridge. I've never liked old style fender bridges no matter the guitar. They are not practical. Period. Not a deal breaker or anything but it's annoying. The rest of the hardware seems very nice. Tuners are pretty good. Electronics are solid. Fretwork is good. I'm torn on whether or not I like the neck radius or not. It's a little small for what I'm used to. This is every bit as good as a guitar of this price should be. It's not quite up to Ibanez Prestige standards, but it's close.

SOUNDS

I'm using mine with a Hughes and kettner Duotone combo and a small rack of effects. Mostly mounted pedals being run through a GCX switcher. The bridge pickup is basically your typical tele sound. It's wound a bit hotter though. So you can get those springstein sounds where you need a little more roar. The mini humbucker sounds a lot like a cross between a P90 and a single coil from a strat. Lots of mids and treble with rumbling lows and growly tone. Not exactly suited for cleans but then again this is a HOT ROD guitar. I use mine for indie rock type stuff. It's pretty versatile though. You can feasibly use it for most any genre.

OVERALL OPINION

What I like the most is how good it looks. But it also sounds pretty darn good too. I've never quite been at home with the feel of a tele, but it's something I tolerate. I guess I'm just more of a les paul kind of dude. The value for the price I think is pretty good. Obvious play it before you buy to make sure you don't get a dud.