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EXPLAINED: Telecaster | Vintage Vibes

“What began as a niche guitar developed for Californian country has become a musical universal wrench: from metal to jazz, from pop to grindcore”: The evolution of the Fender Telecaster – the original solid-body electric guitar that started it all

As the Telecaster turns 75, we chart its history – hardware, parts, and all – from the Nocaster days to the Wide Range era

Guitar World

“This city didn't just embrace the Telecaster, it helped define it”: Fender’s Telecaster 75th anniversary show might be the greatest assemblage of Tele talent ever

Held at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, the Tele Town concert was highlighted by perhaps the most electrifying Telecaster jam of all time – featuring, to name a few participants, Jack White, Brad Paisley, Tommy Emmanuel, and John Osborne

Guitar World

“One is the archetypal vintage workhorse, the other aims to be a hot-rodded example that any custom builder might devise”: Fender 75th Anniversary Vintera Road Worn 1951 Telecaster & American Professional Classic Cabronita Telecaster review

To mark the company’s diamond anniversary, Fender has released a slew of celebratory models. Here’s a pair of polar opposite but equally alluring Telecasters

MusicRadar

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“Danny Gatton and Jimmy Bryant have the otherworldliness that I saw in Dimebag Darrell and Randy Rhoads”: Baroness shredder Gina Gleason on 75 years of the Fender Telecaster, the magic that binds its players, and why it works for metal

The face of Fender’s 75th Anniversary Telecaster campaign shares all about her new death metal project, recent technique breakthroughs and where she thinks the future of metal tone lies

Guitar World

"It gives my $2,800 American Vintage II Telecaster a serious run for its money": Fender 75th Anniversary Vintera Road Worn 1951 Telecaster review

Fender is celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Telecaster in style, and this Road Worn model is an exceptional ode to the first-ever mass-produced solidbody electric guitar

Guitar World

“John 5 was probably the only other dude who was playing a Tele in metal. By nature, it was designed for country and chicken pickin’”: Why Jim Root eschewed traditional metal guitars and made the Telecaster his main Slipknot instrument

The player reveals who first drew him to the now 75-year-old instrument – and it might surprise you

Guitar World

“I was a little uncomfortable, to be honest. I gradually convinced myself that it was okay”: Myles Kennedy on what it was like to play Jeff Buckley’s Telecaster – and how he felt unworthy to play it

Kennedy saluted one of his all-time heroes in 2019 when he performed Hallelujah live in Paris, and it was the first time Buckley's Tele had been played in public since his death in '97

MusicRadar

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“I was two years out of college, bought it and just felt like, ‘Oh, this is what it’s supposed to sound like.’ It makes me sound better than I am”: Why the Fender Telecaster is Sheryl Crow's long-time guitar “sidekick”

The celebrated singer-songwriter says she can “play the heck out of my piano” but gravitated toward the Tele due to the staying power of a great guitar riff

Guitar World

“Rickenbacker had a doubleneck guitar and bass, so I bought one. Then Fender came to me and said, ‘Why are you playing that?’” How Moody Blues bassist John Lodge found another gear with a Fender double-neck that was half P-Bass/half Telecaster

Having anchored the Moody Blues since the ’60s, the late John Lodge had a VIP seat for the Austin Powers-like era that made London the capital of cool

Guitar World

“I didn’t get the whole Telecaster movement”: Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram just landed his second signature Telecaster – but he wasn’t convinced by the Fender classic at first

The weight of its reputation persuaded Kingfish to give the classic single-cut a second chance

Guitar World

“When I found out how funky these things can get, with the twang and everything, that made me get into it”: Christone “Kingfish” Ingram introduces his new Delta Day signature Telecaster Deluxe and explains how the Tele won him over in the end

You've seen his Mississippi Midnight signature model, now introducing the modern blues phenom's Tele Deluxe in Delta Day – or is it Daphne Blue?

MusicRadar

“The legendary JB tone, now reimagined for Telecasters”: Seymour Duncan might just have dropped this year’s must-have mod for your Fender Telecaster

One of the greatest rock humbuckers of all all-time, slimmed down to single-coil size to drop into your Tele's bridge position. Meet the JB Jr For Tele

MusicRadar

“It’s totally his fault. I just couldn’t take my eyes off his guitar”: John 5 on the unlikely player who started his life-long love affair with the Telecaster

John 5 has played with David Lee Roth, Rob Zombie, and Mötley Crüe, but the player that inspired his guitar choice is from a whole other world

Guitar World

“I remember Bruce calling me and asking me for my permission to switch to Telecaster”: Stevie Van Zandt on why the Strat became his go-to guitar for decades – after passing the Tele baton to Bruce Springsteen

Van Zandt recalls how, back in the day, most guitarists only had one guitar, which contributed heavily to the player's core identity

Guitar World

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Guitar World

“Paul was like, 'Good God, what are you asking for?' I'm like, 'I'm just asking for a little struggle!'” Keith Urban is working with PRS on a new Tele-style guitar – and he wants to break the company's rules

The country rock great's go-to guitar since 1989 has been a Fender Telecaster called Clarence, but John Mayer has inspired him to join the PRS ranks – and he's working on a T-type like no other

Guitar World

“The best Tele tones I've ever had”: Rabea Massaad seeks to make the Telecaster more versatile than ever with new Bare Knuckle Nomad pickups

Rabea Massaad's third signature set with Bare Knuckle aims to do for the Fender Telecaster what his radical Triptych single coils did for the Stratocaster

Guitar World

“I don't believe that I have a signature guitar. I feel like I’m dreaming”: Fender taps influential producer and R&B guitarist Raphael Saadiq for a bold new signature Telecaster – and it’s received Eric Gales’ seal of approval

The bluesman was on hand to help the Grammy-winning multi-instrumentalist launch his limited-edition signature model, which “acts as a piece of art”

Guitar World

“He is the fastest and cleanest and has more technique than any other”: Jimmy Bryant was one of the very first Telecaster heroes. Learn how his trailblazing playing shaped the guitarists who followed

Effortlessly mixing jazz, country and blues, Bryant was one of Albert Lee’s great influences, and his style remains a white-knuckle ride of technique and imagination

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MusicRadar

"I really wanted The Yardbirds to continue, because I really believed in it... ": Jimmy Page on the Yardbirds, Jeff Beck, Led Zeppelin and his early career with guitars

Jimmy Page at 80 - classic interview: "It’s hypothetical, but I may not have come up with the riff from Whole Lotta Love on the Telecaster"

Guitar World

Fender Gold Foil Telecaster review

When is a Telecaster not a Telecaster? When it comes with a pair of mini-humbuckers, a mahogany body and ebony fingerboard like this one…

Guitar World

The Tella-Fiddle – a Telecaster and electric violin hybrid – gets put to inspiring use by its creator in this Shipping Up To Boston cover

Nashville-based guitarist and fiddle player Maxi Werker showcases her invention on this Dropkick Murphys cover with YouTuber Music Is Win

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