by Simon Bradley

The most affordable model in Ibanez's new Premium range

Ibanez can take a great deal of credit for reinvigorating the 1980s rock guitar market.

In 1986, Van Halen had parted company with original singer David Lee Roth, who immediately teamed up with another hot shot, a certain Steve Vai, to produce two albums of jaw-droppingly brilliant music.

The story of the development of Vai's then-new signature model, the JEM, has been told numerous times, but the knock-on effect was that other players wanted the same style of instrument.

Ibanez quickly realized this and within months of the introduction of the JEM777 in 1987, had also introduced the RG550, with four color options that included both Desert Yellow and the newer Fire Alarm Red, alongside black and white.

Resetting the controls of our time machine to 2011, we welcome a trio of new Ibanez electrics - including this one, which forms part of a new affordable series. This is the most affordable model in the new Premium series, and is therefore best suited to demonstrate the thinking behind it.

"The concept of the Premium range was to bring high-end features and production methods into the price bracket of the normal gigging musician," says Chris Taylor of Ibanez's UK distributors, Headstock.

"Craftsmen from the Japanese Prestige production factory were used to implement the Premium production line in Indonesia to ensure that quality was of a high standard."

The DiMarzios are replaced with CAP-VM pickups designed by Ibanez using oxygen-free copper wire specifically for use with selected Premium instruments and the neck, although comprising the five-piece laminate, has a rosewood board with a slightly more curvy 400mm (15.75- inch) radius.

It does feel a bit fatter than the higher-priced RG3250's, and the smooth feel of the fret ends adds a true dollop of class.

Hardware is an obvious area from which to shave costs without necessarily impeding the performance, and the vibrato here is an Edge-Zero II, which is the cast rather than machined version of the full-spec Edge-Zero, and it operates in the same manner.

Sounds

The marginally tighter radius allows for a more conventional feel and the fretwork is without doubt of the highest quality. In other words, the RG870 is a player's guitar and although the Edge-Zero II doesn't allow quite as much upwards play as the RG3250, the gamut of vibrato techniques are realistically attainable.

If anything, the tone is slightly fuller on this guitar - no doubt thanks to the bigger neck and slightly higher action - and is therefore a more versatile option. Rocking with AC/DC riffs sound more convincing here than they do with the RG3250.

So, admirable tonal versatility, excellent construction and a more than attractive SRP? Sign us up.

The RG870Z should have a wide appeal, retaining the luxurious feel of the high-end Prestige guitars at a significantly lower price and, aside from the pickups and hardware, we're hard pressed to spot where any cost-cutting measures have been made.

It offers the classic Ibanez feel without any over the top livery and, as a first proper rock guitar or even a quality spare, it'd serve you very well indeed.

Playing guitar is supposed to be fun, and you'll be grinning like a loon when you have this in your hands. Why not try it out and see what we mean?

Verdict

A genuinely impressive modern rock guitar, with a feel and tone that belies the rather attractive price tag.

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Ibanez RG Premium Series RG870 Electric Guitar - Black List Price: $1,056.65

Description

For 2011, we offer the new Premium series of guitars designed for hardworking musicians. These guitars are for players who push their guitars to the fullest every night on stage and who demand real professional quality instruments, both functionally and visually.

Features

• Specially rounded Premium fret edges for smooth play and comfortable neck grip
• Premium grade, select woods
• Wizard Premium neck has same construction and thickness as Prestige Wizard
• High-end DiMarzio and CAP-VM pickups
• Ultimate tuning stability with Edge-Zero II bridge/tremolo w/ZPS 2

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Ibanez has always been masterful at combining high quality and affordability. And though the days of Ibanez’ selling Japanese-built guitars that rivaled their American inspirations for a pittance are long-since gone, the company still applies their formula for building great guitars for less in developing manufacturing centers elsewhere in the world. Most recently, Ibanez opened a specialty factory in Indonesia, with the intent of producing guitars with quality as close to their Prestige line as possible while keeping the price to a minimum. The RG920QM is one of the latest guitars from that facility.

Premium Perks
Ibanez’s newest addition to the RG line is a sight to behold. Despite its mid-level price, the RG920QM looks and feels as well built as the company’s prized Prestige models, with deep, three-dimensional hues in the body’s finished wood, high-end pickups, an excellent vibrato system, and super-comfortable neck.

The RG’s body is fashioned from American Basswood and capped with a quilted, two-piece maple veneer in a beautiful Red Desert finish. The headstock shares the same finish treatment and has its own vibrant quilting pattern. There’s a strip of ¼” wide, unpainted maple binding surrounding the body, which gives the illusion that the top is actually that thick. But it’s applied with precision, making it difficult to detect that the top is actually significantly thinner.

The body is home to Ibanez’s brand new Edge Zero II with ZPS3Fe (zero point system) vibrato system, which is extremely close in design to the celebrated Edge Zero that you find on the Prestige models. Some of the coolest aspects of the guitar’s performance are related to this fantastic vibrato system, which features locking studs, individual knife edges and a removable cross bar and counter spring that snaps the bridge back to the zero point with precision. Pulling out the cross bar and spring effectively converts the bridge to full-floating mode, which feels looser and more ideal for quick Steve Vai-style note flutters. It’s also extremely easy to adjust the spring tension via the Edge Zero II’s spring adjust knob, which conveniently pokes through the cover plate on the back of the guitar.

Two Dimarzio IBZ humbuckers—the result of a partnership with Dimarzio and Ibanez to make custom-voiced pickups for their high end instruments—are bolted directly into the body and controlled by single volume and tone knobs and a five way switching system that should feel familiar to RG enthusiasts. Ibanez describes the output of both the neck and bridge pickups as medium-hot, but the output sounds closer to the hotter side of the spectrum. The bridge pickup—an IBZ-B model—belts out an output close to 430mV, which is in the range of Dimarzio’s Super Distortion model. The IBZ-N neck pickup was no slouch either, measuring an output close to 400mV—which is higher in range than even The Breed—making it a legitimate fire-breather.

The switching system gives you access to a multitude of drastically different tones. The full-aft position puts you in full bridge humbucking mode. From there, you can combine middle single coils of the neck and bridge at position two, both pickups in full humbucking mode at position three, the neck pickup in parallel at position four, and the neck pickup in humbucking mode at position five. The system puts a lot of sonic potential at your fingertips, though I would have liked to have had the option of controlling the neck and bridge pickup tones separately, as I enjoy switching between a sharp, biting rhythm tone and a soft, round tone for leads.

Despite its mid-level price, the RG920QM looks and feels as well built as the company’s prized Prestige models, with deep, three-dimensional hues in the body’s finished wood, high-end pickups, an excellent vibrato system, and super-comfortable neck.

When the RG line hit the streets decades ago, their smooth and fast necks sparked the attention of guitarists with speed-demon shred tendencies everywhere. The neck on the RG920QM is no exception. The 24-fret, five-piece maple and walnut neck with rosewood fretboard feels slightly fatter in my fretting hand than that of the super-thin Ibanez Wizard, but was still pretty comfortable and easy to move on. The extra bulk in the middle does lend the sense that there’s more to hold on to, helping me hang on to chords while adding little flourishes such as double stops and hammer-ons.

Accessing the truss rod is easy thanks to Ibanez’s why-didn’t-I-think-of-that sliding plastic truss cover, which makes it a cinch to access the nut inside for adjustments. It’s small, yet innovative designs like this that show that Ibanez has a keen eye for detail and improvement, even upon a guitar design that’s almost 30 years old.

More Than A Feeling
After strapping on Ibanez’s new lightweight shred machine, I plugged into a 2011 Mesa/Boogie Multiwatt Dual Rectifier head, running into an Emperor 4x12 with Weber C1265 speakers. In bridge humbucking mode, the tone was crystal clear and defined from my first open chord to my last speedy legato lick and the neck made it feel like I could reach just about any note that I wanted at any time.

The second position is great for funk rhythm tones and perfect for guitarists who like cutting ’70s rhythm rock tones. Dynamic response to my pick attack was excellent and I really enjoyed moving between this pickup position and the fourth one—neck humbucker in parallel—while indulging my funkier, more authoritative side. The fourth position offers the same type of scooped, percussive tone as the second position, but with a little added girth and dimension that made it stand out—perfect for playing entire staccato chords instead of high-pitched, razor-sharp triads.

When I switched gears to arpeggiated chords the tone could sometimes sound relatively lifeless. Both of the pickups—especially the bridge—seemed to have a rather noticeable midrange hump. Getting a pristine, shimmering clean with a clean picking style wasn’t impossible, but there was considerably less bite on the highs. These aren’t pickups that like to be played softly, something that became more apparent when I switched to the Mesa’s orange channel.

The Ibanez and Mesa orange channel conspired to create a pummeling overdrive that was tighter than a drum with a vicious midrange cut that was perfect for palm-muted metal rhythms. Moving from a riff to a slick run and then back again was effortless. And the spaces between changes were dead silent too—even in high-gain situations—and the IBZ humbuckers remained feedback resistant at the most deafening levels.

A hint of graininess in the upper mids shone through slightly when I pulled my palm away from the bridge and let the strings vibrate freely, but it was something that I had to listen for. Moreover, the tone of each pickup is balanced exceptionally well, with that ever-present, beautifully voiced midrange pushing through the mix. I could really hear it when I would delve into a quick legato run and hang on the last note until it was awash in harmonic feedback. The sound was surprisingly textured and thick enough to make me forget how affordable this guitar is.

With the Mesa’s red channel engaged, the tone morphed into a fluid, crisp wall of sound, perfect for sustained leads and super-heavy riffage. Again, the pickups were quite hot, so I had to back off the guitar’s volume knob slightly and drop the amp’s gain control a bit to keep the tone crisp and clear.

The Verdict
Ibanez outdid itself—and honored its own tradition of affordability—with the RG920QM. Its tone and playability puts it in the same realm as much more expensive guitars. The clean tones can be a bit stale at times, but the harmonically rich personality of the guitar in the high-gain applications it’s meant for trump such complaints. If you’re in the market for a Prestige-level RG but don’t have the scratch to make it a reality, the RG920QM is a sure-fire winner and a real surprise

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Ibanez RG Premium Series RG920 Quilted Maple Electric Guitar - High Voltage Violet List Price: $1,267.99

Description

For 2011, we offer the new Premium series of guitars designed for hardworking musicians. These guitars are for players who push their guitars to the fullest every night on stage and who demand real professional quality instruments, both functionally and visually.

Features

• Specially rounded Premium fret edges for smooth play and comfortable neck grip
• Premium grade, select woods
• Wizard Premium neck has same construction and thickness as Prestige Wizard
• High-end DiMarzio and CAP-VM pickups
• Ultimate tuning stability with Edge-Zero II bridge/tremolo w/ZPS 5

Reviews

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As Gretsch launches its signature version of Beatle George's 'first real decent guitar', we ask the obvious question: what took so long?

So, why has it taken so long for Gretsch to get the signature of its greatest ambassador on a
headstock? Well, as Gretsch Custom Shop master builder Stephen Stern reveals,
it hasn't been for want of trying.

"Fred Gretsch was working with George on a signature Duo Jet," Stern tells us.
"When we went to see the Harrison family to discuss the Tribute model,
they had one of the prototypes.

"It wasn't 'right'. But with its manufacturing facility through Fender, I think Gretsch is
in a better position now to make a George Harrison signature model."

"The bridge unit sounds fantastic with a generous splash of reverb, especially when
you start shaking that whammy bar."

Opening the deluxe tweed case of the new G6128T-GH George Harrison Signature Duo Jet, it's
hard to argue with Stern's assessment. If you don't gasp a little when you see
that flawless black paintwork and gleaming chrome hardware contrast with the
bubblegum pink lining of its case, you're not the right punter for this guitar.

The Japanese-built Signature is not an exact replica of George's original '57 Duo
Jet. If you've got your heart set on something like that, bite the bullet and
find the £15,118 and pocket change required for the US-made G6128T-GH George
Harrison Tribute Custom Shop Duo Jet - this Signature is basically a '57 Duo
Jet reissue with some obvious 'Georgian' tweaks.

Like his original guitar, the Signature has a pair of DynaSonic single-coil pickups, a
Bigsby B3 True Vibrato with a Phillips screw holding on the arm, a rocking bar
bridge, and the offset lower strap button. It also features 'hump-block'
fingerboard inlays (which only appeared on the '57 model), thin vintage-style
frets and an all-black finish like George's guitar.

The Signature is also the only import Duo Jet reissue with period-correct body dimensions.
Like George's original guitar, and therefore the US Tribute model, the
Signature's chambered body is 51mm (2 inches) deep, while the other Duo Jet
reissues bottom out at 44.5mm (1.75 inches).

There are some details that George's original Cavern blaster and the new Signature version
don't share.

For example, the shape of the scratchplate support brackets and wood bridge bases don't
match. Neither do the screws that hold the Bigsby hinge in place: George's
guitar has chrome slot-head screws; the Signature has black Phillips-head jobs.

The Bigsby B3 vibrato's baseplate sits closer to the body of the original guitar than it does
on the Signature; the tuners are a bit different too. But these are small
things, which can be 'fixed' by true detail freaks.

The most important difference in the spec sheets of these guitars is the fingerboard
radius. The Signature model has a 305mm (12-inch) radius fingerboard; George's
old '57, and its Tribute doppelgänger, have a 229mm (9-inch) radius 'board.

The playability offered by the Signature, however, is first class. That flatter 'board radius
makes noodling above the 12th fret a more practical prospect than on a vintage
Gretsch.

The only niggle we have here is with the bridge - like many Gretsch guitars, the bridge on our
Duo Jet can slip out of position on occasion. A pinned bridge would solve that
little problem.

You'll also find that the intonation offered by the bar bridge is far from precise, but if
you buy a vintage reissue you just put up with this sort of thing - it's part
of the charm of old guitars. Moaning about it is like complaining that the
brakes on a '60s MG Midget aren't too clever.

Sounds

The inherent hum that plagues single-coil pickups may be a deal breaker for some, but after
plugging the Signature into an amp we say, hum be damned. These DynaSonic
pickups sound great.

Gretsch guitars loaded with DeArmond DynaSonics (as they were branded back in the day) powered
the music of George Harrison's heroes: the likes of Eddie Cochran, Duane Eddy,
Chet Atkins and Cliff Gallup, the peerless Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps
guitarist.

These modern Gretsch-made DynaSonics pump out oodles of vintage twang. The bridge unit
sounds fantastic with a generous splash of reverb, especially when you start
shaking that whammy bar.

Engaging both pickups works great for rockabilly and old school rhythm and blues licks. The
neck pickup is the go to setting if you want jazzy chords. All you need to get
the most from this guitar is a decent valve amp, some reverb and an echo chamber.

While the Signature sounds great straight from the case, if this was our guitar - and we
really wish it was - we'd slap on a set of tape-wound strings to warm it up a
little.

That small change would promote an even more authentic fifties rockabilly tone (think
Cliff Gallup on Gene Vincent's Race With The Devil); and the sound that filled
The Cavern Club in Liverpool back in the early '60s, courtesy of a young man
called George.

The £70 (not forgetting the IOU for £20) that George paid for his original Duo Jet was a lot
of money in 1961. Well, the £2,818 price tag hanging from the new Signature
version is a fair old wad of cash these days as well.

That said, the thrill you'll get every time you lift the lid on the G6128T-GH George Harrison
Signature Duo Jet's case makes missing a bunch of nights out or a holiday
abroad an easy sacrifice in our opinion.

This flawlessly built guitar transports you back to one of the most exciting and important
periods of British rock 'n' roll, when four young lads from Liverpool learned
their craft in the tough clubs of Hamburg - before going on to change the
world.

Living with the Signature, you can see why George loved his Duo Jet. This guitar gets under
your skin.

When you're not playing, polishing or looking at this Jet, you'll be thinking about it. Just
like George did that night in summer 1961 when he returned home with his 'first
real decent guitar'.

Verdict

It might not be the Tribute, but with its top build, great playability and '50s tone, this is
no consolation prize.

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Gretsch Guitars G6128T George Harrison Duo Jet Electric Guitar Black List Price: $5,000.00 Sale Price: $3,499.99 You save: $1,500.01 (30%)   Eligible for free shipping! Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days 6 new from $3,499.99

Description

Gretsch celebrates the legacy of George Harrison with the G6128T-GH George Harrison Signature Duo Jet guitar, modeled on the instrument that the legendary guitarist often referred to as his first real decent guitar.Features include distinctive appointments and modifications found on Harrisons original 1957 Gretsch Duo Jet, which he purchased secondhand in the very early 1960s. These include a lightweight mid-50s-style chambered body, all-black color scheme (arched maple top, mahogany back and sides, and back of the one-piece mahogany neck), Bigsby B3C tailpiece with a black Phillips head tremolo arm pivot bolt, and an offset strap button on lower bout. Other features include three-ply body binding (white-black-white), single-ply white neck and headstock binding, 22-fret rosewood fingerboard with 12 radius and hump-block pearloid inlays, two single-coil DynaSonic pickups, vintage-style rocking bar bridge with rosewood base, silver plexi pickguard, chrome-plated Grover V98CM Sta-Tite tuners, Gretsch G arrow control knobs, chrome-plated hardware, Harrisons signature on the truss rod cover and a premium tweed case.

Features

• Body Shape: JetBody Style: Semi-Hollow BodyBody Top: 3-Ply Arched Laminated MapleBack and Sides: Semi-Hollow Chambered MahoganyBody Width: 13.37" (33.96 cm)Body Depth: 2" (50.8 mm)Body Finish: Gloss UrethaneNeck: 1-Piece MahoganyNeck Binding: White, 1-PlyFrets: 22, StandardHeadstock Binding: White, 1-PlyPosition Inlays: Pearloid Hump-Block InlaysFingerboard: RosewoodFinger Board Radius: 12" Radius (305 mm)Nut: BoneNut Width: 1.6875" (43 mm)Scale Length: 24.6" (62.5 cm)Pickups: 2 DynaSonic Single

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The new Modern Player series continues that great "my-first-Fender" tradition, with thoroughly modern features and several distinctively unconventional new takes on our most revered instruments - all with outstandingly attainable value.
The Modern Player series holds a few surprises in store, too - including the long-awaited return of an acclaimed Fender bass guitar model not seen since the 1970s (back now in potently hot-rod fashion), an unrelentingly lean-and-mean version of the venerable Jaguar guitar, the resurrection of a fabled and seldom-heard Fender name from the 1960s for a scorching new guitar model, an utterly volcanic new Jazz Bass with dual humbucking pickups, and a powerful new take on the acclaimed modern-era Jaguar Bass - back in the ring with a versatile new pickup combination and streamlined control configuration.

Eight new instruments
There are eight instruments in the series; five guitars and three basses. They are the Modern Player Stratocaster HSS, Modern Player Telecaster Plus HSS, Modern Player Telecaster Thinline Deluxe, Modern Player Jaguar, Modern Player Marauder, Modern Player Telecaster Bass, Modern Player Jazz Bass and Modern Player Jaguar Bass.

Modern Player Marauder
In addition to heralding the return of a fabled and seldom-heard Fender name from the 1960s, the Modern Player Marauder is one of the most distinctive new guitars in the family, uniquely marked by a new body style, Modern Player Jazzmaster neck pickup and volcanic-sounding three-coil Fender Triplebucker bridge pickup.
Other features include a koto body, C-shaped maple neck, rosewood fretboard with 22 jumbo frets, five-way pickup switching with lower horn blade selector switch, four-ply aged white pearloid pickguard, Jazz Bass-style control knobs, vintage-style synchronized tremolo bridge, vintage-style tuners and nickel/chrome hardware. The Modern Player Marauder comes in Black and Lake Placid Blue.

Modern Player Stratocaster
The Modern Player Stratocaster HSS offers the tonal versatility of two Modern Player single-coil pickups and a full-throated Modern Player humbucking pickup at the bridge, with the addition of the second tone knob serving as a push-pull coil-split switch for the bridge pickup.

Other features include an alder body, C-shaped maple neck, rosewood fretboard with 9.5-inch radius and 22 jumbo frets, five-way pickup switching, three-ply pickguard, vintage-style synchronized tremolo bridge, vintage-style tuners and nickel/chrome hardware. It's available in Olympic White and Silverburst.

Modern Player Telecasters
The Modern Player Telecaster Plus HSS is that rare bird among Telecasters - a triple-pickup model - further distinguished by a pine body and mini-toggle coil-split switch for the Modern Player humbucking bridge pickup.

Other features include C-shaped maple neck, maple fretboard with 9.5-inch radius and 22 jumbo frets, Modern Player single-coil Telecaster neck pickup and Modern Player Stratocaster middle pickup, five-way pickup switching, three-ply pickguard, knurled "chrome-dome" control knobs, vintage-style Stratocaster string-through-body six-saddle hard-tail bridge, vintage-style tuners and nickel/chrome hardware. It comes in Honey Burst and Charcoal Transparent.

The Modern Player Telecaster Thinline Deluxe casts an already distinctive classic Telecaster model in a whole new light with a full-throated pair of single-coil Modern Player MP-90 pickups.

Other features include a mahogany body, C-shaped maple neck, maple fretboard with 9.5-inch radius and 22 medium jumbo frets, three-way toggle pickup switching, three-ply pickguard (parchment on Sunburst model; black-white-black on other models), four skirted amp knobs (two volume, two tone), vintage-style Stratocaster string-through-body six-saddle hard-tail bridge, vintage-style tuners and nickel/chrome hardware. It's available in Three-color Sunburst, Black Transparent and Vintage White.

Modern Player Jaguar
The Modern Player Jaguar is a lean, mean and stripped-down version of the classic Fender model, with a full-throated pair of single-coil Modern Player MP-90 pickups on a sans-pickguard mahogany body.

Other features include a C-shaped maple neck, rosewood fretboard with 9.5-inch radius and 21 medium jumbo frets, three-way toggle pickup switching, Jazz Bass-style control knobs, vintage-style Adjusto-Matic bridge with anchored tailpiece, vintage-style tuners and nickel/chrome hardware. It's available in Two-color Chocolate Burst, Red Transparent and Black Transparent.

Modern Player Tele Bass
A classic Fender bass design returns with an unusual new twist delivering utterly seismic sound. The Telecaster Bass is back at last in the smart new form of the Modern Player Telecaster Bass, which boasts not one but two massive humbucking pickups.
Features include an alder body, C-shaped maple neck, maple fretboard with 9.5-inch radius and 20 medium jumbo frets, dual Modern Player Wide Range humbucking Precision Bass pickups, three-ply parchment (Sunburst model) or single-ply black (Butterscotch Blonde model) pickguard, three knurled "chrome-dome" control knobs (neck volume, bridge volume, master tone), vintage-style bridge with four brass saddles, open-gear tuners and nickel/chrome hardware. Its back in Two-color Sunburst and Butterscotch Blonde.

Modern Player Jazz Bass
The Modern Player Jazz Bass is a volcanic new take on the time-honored Jazz Bass thanks to its dual Modern Player humbucking Jazz Bass pickups. Other features include an alder body, C-shaped maple neck, rosewood fretboard with 9.5-inch radius and 20 jumbo frets, three-ply pickguard, vintage-style four-saddle bridge with brass saddles, open-gear tuners and nickel/chrome hardware. It comes in Three-color Sunburst, Olympic White and Black Transparent.

Modern Player Jaguar Bass
Finally, the acclaimed Fender Jaguar Bass is back in the sleek form the Modern Player Jaguar Bass, which presents a lean, mean and stripped-down version of the model with a powerful P/J configuration - a Modern Player Precision Bass middle pickup and Modern Player Jazz Bass bridge pickup - and streamlined control layout.

Features include a koto body, C-shaped maple neck, maple fretboard with 9.5-inch radius and 20 jumbo frets, three-ply parchment pickguard, three Jazz Bass control knobs (middle volume, bridge volume, master tone), vintage-style four-saddle bridge with brass saddles, open-gear tuners and nickel/chrome hardware. The Modern Player Jaguar Bass is available in Black.

The original Thinline was produced from '68 until '71.
Fender's American Vintage series is the closest you can get to a vintage Fender guitar without buying the real thing from yesteryear or moving into the more elite Custom Shop.
This new addition – along with the American Vintage '72 Thinline and Custom Teles - is already available in lower-cost Fender ranges, but not at this quality or with this much vintage detail.
The '69 Telecaster Thinline, aims to replicate the original Thinline, which appeared in 1968 and lasted until 1971.
Classed by Fender at the time as a 'semi-acoustic' it was offered initially with just mahogany or ash bodies with a natural finish. Semi-hollow construction aside, it retained the Tele's dual single-coils and master volume/master tone control layout.
Build
"One reason why the Telecaster has survived is that it has graced every genre from country, jazz and blues through to modern rock and metal."
The historians tell us that the Thinline concept came about in an attempt to reduce the weight of the Telecaster.
Here the solid slab body is machined from the back leaving a centre section that stops just after the end of the bridge surrounded by hollow 'wings'. A back is then added and a single f-hole cut on the top's bass side.
This lightweight American Vintage version uses mahogany for the body - there's no ash version - and we get either the two-color burst or Olympic white, which is £72 cheaper. For a guitar that retails not too far short of £2k, it seems a miserly color choice reinforced by a complete lack of options.
The body and neck finish on all these models is 'gloss lacquer' (aka nitro-cellulose) applied to a high standard, although on this sample there's a light patch around the f-hole and a splodge of darker color on the inside of the soundhole making things a little untidy.
An original '69 Thinline would have been finished in polyester so, strictly speaking, this finish is inaccurate but few will have a problem.
According to Fender's Neil Whitcher: "The finish is a more modern nitro-cellulose lacquer with a poly undercoat; we felt that this would be a tonally superior option to go with for the guitars."
The guitar features an all maple one-piece neck/fingerboard with a rear skunk stripe, and uses a body-end truss rod adjustment and the classic four screws and rectangular neck plate neck-to- body join.
The 21-fret face is clearly lightly finished in a slightly orange-toned gloss. We get the original small fingerboard radius, small frets and a modern 'C' profile that most players should feel comfortable with.
It also sports 'F' logo tuners, with their distinct squared off buttons, and a single butterfly string tree that increases the string angle behind the nicely cut synthetic bone nut. It's nicely done but that gloss finish does look and feel a little bit cheap, and rather sticky, too.
Spec'd with two American Vintage single-coils, one meg ohm volume and tone pots and the ubiquitous three-way lever pickup selector, it's period correct business as usual save, of course, for that scratchplate, which holds all the electronic components plus the neck pickup.
As usual the output jack is side-mounted and, of course, the bridge pickup is mounted in an old-style Tele bridge plate with three steel saddles.
Sounds
One reason why the Telecaster has survived all these years is that it has graced pretty much every genre from country, jazz and blues through to modern mainstream rock and metal.
It's not always an easy ride: some swear by the bridge pickup (and swear at the neck pickup), others find an endless soul and funk groove from that middle, hollowed mix. There are even a few of us that actually like the neck single-coil for its smooth, jazz-edged voice.
On the '69 Thinline platform, and compared to an original solidbody '69 Tele, we have a different flavor. There's immediately less mid-range solidness to the sound, which makes that bridge pickup even spikier; conversely both the middle mix and neck pickup sound wider and fuller.
Definitely more hollowbody sounding, it's a step towards, perhaps, a P-90-style ES-330, with of course more Tele-like spike and Fender-ness.
This guitar was originally conceived at a time when Fender began to lose its way. However, 40 years on the guitar has been elevated into Fender's top drawer, thanks to numerous often left-field players who wanted a piece of 'vintage' Fender but simply couldn't afford the high-value classics.
Although this guitar has been available for some time in both Mexican- and Japanese-made guises, this American Vintage guitar improves on both those and the original, with its lightweight build and lacquer finishes.
Features such as the three-bolt neck joint and bullet truss rod adjusters (when done properly) make a lot of sense, too. The small frets and fingerboard radius, not to mention the paltry colour choice, won't endear it to all, but with street prices already around £1.5k, this updated blast from the past remains a powerful draw.
Verdict
The best-yet production version of a now-classic Tele, with excellent vintage detail and sounds.

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Fender Classic Series '69 Telecaster® Thinline Electric Guitar, 2 Tone Sunburst, Maple Fretboard List Price: $1,099.99 Sale Price: $799.99 You save: $300.00 (27%)   Eligible for free shipping! Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours 3 new from $799.99

Description

The semi-hollow body design of 1968's Telecaster Thinline guitar was originally an attempt to reduce the weight of ash-body Telecasters. With its f hole and reshaped pickguard, it was a truly distinctive take on Fender's first great instrument. The Classic Series '69 Telecaster Thinline brings it all back, with features including a lightweight semi-hollow mahogany body with f hole, U-shaped maple neck with 7.25"-radius maple freeboard, vintage-style single-coil Telecaster pickups and vintage-style bridge and tuners.

Features

• Vintage style single-coil Tele pickups and a light-weight, semi-hollow mahogany body combine to offer a really unique and musical voice.
• U-shape neck, 7.25" freeboard radius, and vintage style frets combined offer playability that's great for riffing, rhythm playing and rhythmic leads.
• 4-Ply White Pearloid pickguard sets this model apart visually, and inclusion of a deluxe gig bag allows for easy transport.

Reviews

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Fender’s tribute to one of their most renowned instruments is a fantastic blend of old school, don’t-fix-what-isn’t-broken mentality and current, more reliable technology.

Few guitars are as historically important as the Fender Telecaster. In fact, you could argue that the stalwart instrument is the most influential guitar of all time. Since its official release in 1949 as the Broadcaster, the Telecaster has been prized and praised for its no-nonsense tones, and simple and elegant design. It’s been used in pretty much every form of music that ever called for a guitar part and spawned countless variations tailored towards players of all walks and musical styles. And while countless electric guitar innovations have come and gone in the 60 years since the Telecaster’s birth, the core Tele’s design has remained relatively unchanged—standing the test of time and flash-in-the-pan musical fads.

To honor the 60 years of the guitar’s life—and its immeasurable impact on music—Fender released the 60th Anniversary Telecaster. But the guitar is more than just a simple vintage-themed reissue. It also feature several modern appointments and refinements that make it an especially sweet playing Tele.

Birthday Tele-bration
The 60th Anniversary Telecaster model screams with vintage vibe and sophistication when you open the guitar’s custom SKB hardshell case. The guitar’s mustard-hued ash body is finished Fender’s nitrocellulose-based lacquer, which is closer in composition to the finishes that Fender used before changing to a nitro overcoat and poly undercoat finish (to increase strength against dings and wear). The ash wood grain was clearly visible through the body’s paint job and the finish felt smooth and glassy underneath my fingertips.

Classic Telecaster appointments include a black pickguard, three-way switching, and volume and tone controls, while the pickups are from Fender’s own American Vintage Series. There are some noteworthy updates that are less than totally obvious—Fender used the popular Delta Tone No-Load tone circuit, which eliminates attenuation issues for brighter, more powerful tones. And instead of using a vintage-correct set of three brass saddles, the Anniversary uses a more tuning- and intonation-friendly six saddle set.

Tele lovers have long understood that the unique feel and shape of the legendary guitar’s neck can be as integral to the tone as its body and electronics are, and the 60th Anniversary features a traditional one-piece maple neck with a 25.5” scale length with more modern features like a 9.5” fretboard radius, medium jumbo fretwire, rolled fret edges and a modern C profile. A traditional four-bolt neck joint kept the neck snug against the body, along with Fender’s Micro-Tilt adjustment feature and a classy-looking 60th Anniversary Edition neckplate.

Sultry Delta Tone
Before I even plugged the 60th Anniversary Tele into a warmed-up Fender Twin Reverb reissue combo, I could almost instantly tell that this wasn’t your average guitar. The guitar’s resonance unplugged was immediately noticeable while I fingerpicked a simple, country-infused riff, with each pluck of the piece’s bass notes causing the neck and body to purr lovingly against my body and fretting hand. In addition, the rolled edges of the fingerboard and superb fret job allowed me to throw in various double stops and bends between each chord, with a negligible amount of resistance from the back of the neck’s finish.

The uncanny resonant qualities of the Tele only got better as I plugged it into the aforementioned Fender combo. Each note sustained and bloomed with a high amount of sustain, something that was uncharacteristic of the guitar—most players have had to rely on compressor pedals to overcome that common ailment. Fender’s American Vintage bridge pickup also scored high points in terms of touch sensitivity and sag, yielding an impressive range of tones as I varied my pick attack from light and precise to fast and strong. The top end of the pickups bit and snarled with quick snaps of pull-offs and Jerry Reed-esque fragmented chord progressions, and backed off with a smooth, detailed purr when I gingerly plucked jazz progressions.
The Fender Telecaster has never had a reputation for being a dull-sounding instrument, yet the Delta Tone’s ability to cut itself out of the circuit added a great-sounding, forceful, punchy bite to the Tele’s natural sting, without being too overbearing or icepicky.

Adding their Delta Tone circuit to the 60th Anniversary Tele was a spot-on decision by Fender. Its ability to completely cut out the tone attenuation is perfect for guitarists looking to put more sass in their tonal strut. DIY’ers have been adding a variation of this mod to their guitars this to their guitars for decades, by paining a thin coat of clear nail polish over the portion of the tone pot’s internal disk (where the tone pot would normally touch at its maximum setting). This breaks the connection between the pot and the circuitry, increasing the volume slightly and adding a fair amount of top end sparkle. The Fender Telecaster has never had a reputation for being a dull-sounding instrument, yet the Delta Tone’s ability to cut itself out of the circuit added a great-sounding, forceful, punchy bite to the Tele’s natural sting, without being too overbearing or icepicky. Since the Tele is already a pretty bright-sounding guitar, I had to keep the Tone control just below its top setting for most of my playing—then roll it back up to max when I need some high end spank on leads and fills.

Dirty Deeds
Dirty tones with the Tele were equally smooth and defined through a 2011 Mesa Boogie Multiwatt Dual Rectifier head. With the amp set to the clean channel and the Push mode engaged, the Tele ripped through like a bolt of lightning, carried along by a creamy midrange and snappy low-end response. Feedback wasn’t an issue until the amp reached more extreme gain settings, but I was content with leaving it in the realm of smooth, slightly crunchy classic rock territory. Again, keeping the Delta Tone-enabled Tone control below its maximum setting was essential to taming the sound, unless I needed a razor sharp top end that sliced through like a hot knife through butter.

Teles from the ’50s tended to have pretty beefy neck profiles, commonly referred to as a “boatneck”. I was a little worried that this particular neck wouldn’t have the same beefy feel as a correct-spec, early ’50s Tele, but it had enough meat on its bones to sit comfortably grab notes, while also allowing me to move up and down the neck with ease. The only amount of resistance I met when I would try to fly up and down the fretboard was against the neck’s coat of slightly sticky lacquer. Whether or not a coated or an uncoated neck makes for the perfect Tele neck has been a debate amongst guitarists since the instrument’s inception 60 years ago. Regardless of the fact that I had very little issues moving quickly around the frets, you’ll need to apply your own judgments in this instance—it’s an intensely personal thing for Tele players, one that can make or break a great playing experience.

The Verdict
Fender’s tribute to one of their most renowned instruments is a fantastic blend of old school, don’t-fix-what-isn’t-broken mentality and current, more reliable technology. The additions of the company’s Delta Tone circuit, lacquer finish, modern C neck shape and six saddle bridge offer even more precise tonal tuning, and the vintage snarl that put the Telecaster—and Fender—name on the map is there in full force. For those players who aren’t keen on a finished neck, the company offers a multitude of other models for consideration. However, for those who want a near-perfect blend of old and new to cure their Tele jones, this one’s hard to beat.

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ESP Explorer
Forget all about your Les Pauls and your SGs, if you’re a serious metal player this is your guitar of choice. Just ask Metallica frontman James Hetfield who has been thrashing the shit out of one since the mid-eighties. Inspired by the Gibson Explorer, the ESP edition comes with the added punch of doom spewing EMG pick-ups that may as well be made from congealed devil blood.

Danelectro DC 59Rickenbacker 481
A guitar that looks like the future as imagined by the people who dreamed up The Jetsons. The body of the guitar is identical to the iconic 4001 bass from the same manufacturers and is no less striking in this six string format. Comes complete with two humbuckers (a rare feature for Rickenbacker) and the icing on the cake of 24 slanted frets to fit the natural position of your hand and increase playability. Famous players include Tom Petty, The Byrd’s and most recently Kasabian’s Serge Pizzorno.

Yamaha SG2000
If the Danelectro is the Strat alternative then this is your Les Paul competitor. Looking like the love child of a Gibson Les Paul and SG, the SG2000 combines a through neck with a double cutaway – making high fretting and long sustains a doddle. Probably one of the most versatile guitars on this list owing to the built in coil taps. A feature which basically lets you transform your humbucker into a single coil pick up, allowing you to get a lot more sound for your money. Effectively, it’s like having several guitars in one. Carlos Santana is one of the most famous guitarists to play the Yamaha SG using one regularly during the earlier stages of his career.

Fender Jaguar
Originally used by the surf bands of the 60s and later adopted by shoegaze bands like My Bloody Valentine and Chapterhouse, similarly attracted to their unique tones. The Jaguar was also one of the influential sounds of 90s grunge and Kurt Cobain is one of its most iconic users – recording most of Nevermind on one. It’s for this broad range of sounds that the guitar remains a popular tool for ‘gigging’ bands. The body of the guitar incorporates a floating bridge pick-up making it actually a far more technically sufficient bit of kit than its better marketed brother and sister, the Stratocaster and Telecaster. Sonic Youth use a Jaguar to create some of their more unique chiming style sounds.

To celebrate the April 4, 1913 birthday of McKinley Morganfield, who was given the nickname Muddy Waters by his grandmother, let’s take a look at some of the basics required to start dialing in his classic, monstrously soulful guitar sound.
Early on Muddy played an acoustic archtop guitar, like a Gibson L-5, with a screw-on D’Armond “Rhythm Chief” pickup, through a small amp, such as a five-watt Gibson GA5 Les Paul Junior Combo. That gear would be close to a carbon copy of the equipment Waters first used in the Chess studios in 1946.

Less than a decade later, however, Waters was famously photographed brandishing a 1952 Gibson Les Paul Gold Top. That historic solid body model set on the rhythm pickup cuts right into the same territory thanks to the superb sound of its P-90 pickups, which were standard issue in the early and mid-1950s. With a small amp like the GA5 and some volume, the result is super-rich harmonic distortion.

Here’s a tip: don’t use a pick; use your fingers. If you don’t finger pick and you’re looking for the early Muddy sound, well, now’s the time to start.

On songs like “Louisiana Blues,” where Muddy played nasty, keening slide, he’d shift the D’Armond pickup up to about 25-percent of the distance between the bridge and neck, up from the bridge. On a solid body, try the middle pickup setting to get into the same zone.

Besides his dark, rolling, Delta-born finger picking single-note style, slide remained an essential and highly influential part of Muddy’s bag throughout his career from his Chess years to the final trio of albums he made with Gibson Firebird legend Johnny Winter: 1977’s Hard Again, ’78’s I’m Ready, and ’81’s King Bee. When it comes to slide, Winter, Eric Clapton, Billy Gibbons and Keith Richards are among Muddy’s high-profile disciples, although the two players who play closest to his keening attack were men who stood next to him on stage for years: former Muddy Waters Band members Bob Margolin and Paul Oscher.

“I can’t think of anybody heavier and deeper,” Margolin says. “A lot of his guitar style comes from the fact that he transformed Delta blues from acoustic to electric guitar. He played simpler than a lot of Delta players. He liked a very distorted sound, and he’d dampen it with his hand a little and use the volume control on the guitar. His slide playing in standard turning, or open A or G, was just devastatingly powerful.”

Muddy used a small metal slide on the pinky of his left hand, similar to the pinky slide and signature Johnny Winter slides made by Dunlop. A small slide offers more control including more efficient deployment of effects like hammering and fretting, although those weren’t a big part of Waters’ repertoire.

Unlike his fellow blues great Elmore James, Waters employed single note slide lines almost exclusively. To get that real Delta-via-Chicago sound, you’ll need to try open A (E-A-E-A-C#-E) or open G (D-G-D-G-B-D). Both permit searingly bright lines in the middle and lead pickup positions. A perfect example from Muddy’s songbook is “Honey Bee.” On the many versions of this classic that Muddy recorded live and in the studio, he typically started the tune with bold, deep lines and built solos around screaming notes.
Try this: place your slide on the 10th fret of the high B and D strings in open G and sliding – sharp and fast with some serious pressure on the strings — up to the 12th fret, and when the sound you hear coming from your amp starts to feel right, vibrate the slide over the 12th fret moving your wrist quickly left-and-right. Start with the top string at first, and then build some simple melodies by playing off both the fifth and sixth.

One last factor to consider is slide vibrato that is achieved by shaking a slide back and forth. Muddy’s slide vibrato was insane, both manic and controlled. That added to the excitement of his playing. And Waters, like his earlier Delta influences Son House and Robert Johnson, almost always slid up the neck and moved down only for radical sonic effects. Also, practice hitting notes accurately with a slide. To get deep into the Mud zone, your intonation has to be spot on. Slide is somewhat forgiving in intonation, because its fluidity is similar to that of the human voice. But Muddy was ferociously accurate, and the more accurate you are the more you’ll sound like Muddy Waters — and like a badass.

The Player Series Tele marries vintage look and affordability with modern features

When Fender introduced its Custom Shop Relic models in the mid-90s, few could have guessed how big the market for relics would become. Guitarists by the score craved vintage authenticity and new-guitar reliability in the same instrument. Replete with strategically placed arm-wear; nicks, dings, and checking; corroded hardware; and other signs of extensive use, Fender’s relics could be dead ringers for their vintage inspirations. But most importantly, these guitars cost a fraction of the price of their predecessors and unlike vintage instruments, were replaceable—handy for touring guitarists who didn’t want to take their beloved original instruments on the road.

While those first Fender relics may have been accessibly priced, they weren’t necessarily cheap. But in 2009 Fender began using the same proprietary aging process for its new Ensenada, Mexico-built Road Worn guitars to bring vintage specs and feel to an affordable level. This year, the company released the Road Worn Player Series, which are still affordable, but add a lot of modern player-friendly features and mods like higher-output pickups and bigger frets that weren’t available on vintage-inspired models. I checked out the Road Worn Player Telecaster, with its neck-position humbucker and relatively flat fingerboard radius and was impressed with the effortless and effective combination of modern and time-tested design attributes.

Pre Hot-Rodded Styling
Our Player Tele could easily be mistaken for a guitar that its owner retooled 25 years ago and has since played several nights a weeks in a smoky bar. The black nitro finish (it’s also available in candy apple red) looks like an weathered high-quality refinish, and the PAF-style neck pickup is typical of the sort of hot-rodding that was common in the ’70s and ’80s to old single-coil guitars. Some of the details, like the 21-fret maple neck, spa-ghetti headstock logo, and eight-screw pickguard look vintage. While others, including the squared-off tuners and six individual bridge saddles, are more current.

The Road Worn Player Tele has medium jumbo frets and a 9.5-inch radius (as opposed to the vintage 7.25), which gives it an unmistakably modern feel. Electronics include a Seymour Duncan 59 humbucker and a Fender Tex Mex single-coil bridge pickup, which is slightly hotter than a vintage-spec unit. And the three-way switch switches between bridge, two-pickup, and neck pickup settings.

Our Player Tele is a well-made guitar. While you can fast get into subjective territory assessing the quality of something that has been intentionally abused, the finish—actual nitro and not the smothering poly often used on inexpensive modern guitars—is nice and thin and the patterns of wear look convincing and not overdone. The neck fits nicely in its pocket. Though on the fingerboard, the fret ends are a little rough and the action a tad high—details that can be addressed easily enough by a good tech.
“Vibrant overtones popped out on the simplest barre-chord work and the guitar responded to blues-based soloing with an excited snap.”

The Sound and the Feel
The medium C-shaped neck, with a smooth satin finish, also lends a modern feel to the Player Tele. It’s fast and extremely comfortable to grip in all positions from the to the highest frets. Whether playing complex chords or single-note lines I never felt like I was fighting the neck. And thanks to the 9.5-inch radius, it was easy to bend the strings pretty aggressively without the notes fretting out.

Unamplified, this Road Worn Player Tele is livelier than most guitars you encounter in this price range, which may owe something to the thin finish. Vibrant overtones popped out on the simplest barre-chord work and the guitar responded to blues-based soloing with an excited snap.

I plugged the Tele into a Blackstar HT Stage 6 amplifier, dialing in a clean tone and activating the guitar’s bridge pickup. Right out of the gate, the sound was slightly fatter than you’d typically expect of a Tele, but it did have that unmistakable twang that works so well for pedal steel–style bends.

When I switched to the neck pickup, it came as little surprise that the guitar reacted like a Tele on steroids. This pickup had a rich and spongy tone that added excellent definition and presence to John Scofield-style jazzy lines as well as substance and grit for some classic shuffle It’s a wide sound that you can adjust be at home in a great variety of idioms, from roots rock to reggae and even punk—just what would be expected from a no-nonsense multipurpose guitar like a Tele. And it’s all very easily shaped with use of the tone knob and volume control.

The Verdict
With its Road Worn Player Telecaster, Fender has incorporated some of the mods most commonly applied to vintage Teles in a brand new instrument that looks convincingly loved and well travelled. The Road Worn Player surpasses the sound, both acoustic and plugged-in, of most guitars at this price range, and incorporates features, like a nitro finish, generally found on Fender’s more expensive guitars.

The Road Worn Player Tele would only be cooler if it came with a slightly better factory setup, were available in finishes other than black and red, and came with an optional rosewood fretboard. But all things considered, the Road Worn Player is a superb guitar for the price—a perfect, blank slate of an instrument for La-Z-Boy instrumentalists and working pros alike.