Fender 60th
to show signs of wear and tear much quicker. This is fine if you hanker after a guitar that will quickly attain a well worn vibe in a similar vein as Fender’s Custom Shop Relic range but if you like to keep your guitars in pristine nick then you’ll have a job on your hands!
The 60th Anniversary Tele’s appearance tips a nod to the first generation of Telecaster, our review guitar’s translucent finish is more of a pale egg yolk yellow compared to the rich dark amber of the US vintage reissue 52 Telecaster but the tinted maple fingerboard and the three ply black/white/black pick guard is no doubt deliberately chosen to convey a similar appearance to the classic early 1950s ‘blackguard’ Tele. If you prefer light guitars then you might find that the 60th Anniversary is right up your street, our review model only weighs in at 3 kilos (tipping the scales a fraction under 6 lbs) and it feels feather light when slung around the player’s neck on a guitar strap. Ash isn’t always the most forgiving material in terms of weight but this is obviously high quality timber, which raises the point that the 60th Anniversary Telecaster will be a fairly limited edition model and you are interested in buying one you should get your order in fairly sharpish!
Hardware
A few years ago Fender treated the US Standard Telecaster, Stratocaster and US basses to an upgrade and the 60th Anniversary Tele duly sports the same electronics, neck shape and hardware as its modern production counterpart. The twin single coil pickups completely bypass the guitar’s tone circuit when the tone control is rolled fully open; a small detent at the end of the tone pot’s travel indicates when the so- called ‘No Load’ circuit is engaged. The theory is that the open circuit produces a fractionally louder and clearer signal. Teles tend to be fairly bright sounding guitars at the best of times and the idea of actually boosting this particular aspect of its character might seem questionable but in practice the modern Telecaster tone circuit works very well, the 60th Anniversary sounds just as powerful and expressive as any modern Tele we’ve ever played. When the tone circuit is completely bypassed all of the essentially Telecaster tones are there, it’s just maybe that you get a fraction more when everything is completely wide open.
All of the modern US Fenders have benefitted from the upgrade to high quality tuners with staggered posts and the 60th Anniversary Tele duly includes a set of these
superb units. Fender branded but manufactured by German hardware company Schaller, these tuners’ compensated posts eliminate the need for an extra string tree to keep the bottom strings at the correct angle over the nut. Whilst most Tele users don’t have a vibrato unit to worry about the extra tuning stability is still very welcome, especially if you like to indulge in the occasional spot of bending the string behind the nut, à la Jerry Donahue! The controversial switch to vintage Strat style bent steel bridge saddles no doubt horrified staunch traditionalists and you have to admit that visually the new bridge doesn’t have quite the same appeal as the primitive but reassuringly chunky three-saddle vintage setup, or even the six individual brushed steel saddles that were previously fitted to the US Standard Tele.
Personally speaking as someone who has played a US standard Telecaster for more than 10 years, I’ve never experienced any issue with the six saddle bridge setup, tone-wise or in any other respect. No, my only real issue with the modern Fender Tele is the bridge plate itself, which is as flat as a billiard table. If you compare the modern version and a vintage Tele ‘ashtray’ bridge which is enclosed on three sides by a shallow rim, in my opinion the old bridge plate feels nicer simply because it provides a comfortable rest for your right hand. However, it would still be foolish to overlook that the six individual saddles offer superior scope for fine tuning action and intonation to the nth degree; and sound-wise the new bridge saddles don’t appear to compromise the guitar’s natural lively twang. The neck’s rolled edges convey a similar well played-in feel to a guitar that’s been played regularly for many years and this combined with medium jumbo fret wire, a modern 9.5-inch radius fingerboard and a comfy ‘C’ neck profile all makes for a very easy playing guitar. Our review model felt a bit ‘tight’ but this was probably due to it being a brand spanking new box fresh guitar, certainly nothing that couldn’t be corrected by a decent setup and a few hours playing to help loosen everything up a bit.
Sounds The mere fact that the basic Fender Telecaster is virtually unchanged since its original inception over have a half century ago is a tribute to its incredible versatility. This simple plank; bolted together from two chunks of wood and fitted with a pair of passive single pickups that were
Anniversary Telecaster
Modern playability, classic tones… the Fender 60th Anniversary Telecaster
originally designed when President Harry S. Truman was incumbent in the Whitehouse and Marilyn Monroe was the top draw at the box office is still an astonishingly capable guitar. The Tele’s simple purity is surely a big part of its secret, all of its separate elements just seem to work in harmony and translate into a raw but nonetheless hugely expressive sound. Most Tele fans would agree that the Telecaster has two classic tones; the chunky twang-fest that is the bridge pickup and the pickup selector switch set to the middle position, unleashing beautiful chiming tones that pour forth like a sold silver spoon struck gently against a Waterford Crystal decanter! The standard Telecaster neck pickup is probably the guitar’s only real weak spot; it doesn’t possess quite the same level of fluidity as its counterpart on a Stratocaster and seems more in tune with the jazz/western swing era that spawned the original Telecaster than the brasher, more aggressive sounds of rock and roll. The Tele’s original Broadcaster name was an excellent way to describe this guitar’s tone; it really does sound ‘broad’ in the truest sense. The superb balance between the cutting treble and big clouty low
end contributes to a unique voice that is abundant with character, power and depth; no wonder that the first player’s to test Leo Fender’s prototypes were virtually queuing around the block to buy one! The bridge pickup’s metallic clank has the distinctive wiry twang that instantly conjures up the usual somewhat clichéd images of dusty cowboy boots and barn dances but there is also plenty of meaty midrange to punch through when you need a more hard-edged tone. There is no shortage of power and with some of the guitar’s high end rolled off the sound is so fat and punchy that you can almost fool people that you are playing a Gibson Les Paul. Maybe you miss some of the natural elasticity of the Strat but working with the Tele’s supposed tonal limitations is all part of the fun. Tele players quickly learn that the secret to tapping into its versatility isn’t about multiple switching options or fancy pickups, the beauty lies the purity of its power and dynamic range: back it off and a good Tele will whisper softly like a warm breeze blowing through a field of grass, crank up the volume and you’ve got a sonic sledgehammer that is one of the most effective rhythm/lead tones in the business. PM
SHOULD I BUY ONE?
The 60th Anniversary Telecaster provides a comfortable opportunity for collectors to celebrate the birthday of what is probably the most significant musical instrument ever created – the solid body electric guitar. It isn’t particularly expensive, especially compared to a full-on US Custom Shop model and the Thinskin finish does inject an extra deluxe element that a guitar of this calibre deserves. In a nutshell, this is a very nice limited edition modern US Telecaster with a special twist, it’s just up to you to decide whether or not you feel that the 60th Anniversary add-ons are worth the extra few quid.
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