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| Pickguard mounted neck pickup..mmm? |
The Fender Special Run Tele.
Fender has sent dozens of these FSR Tele’s to their distributors worldwide however these 2011 FSR series do vary slightly between countries. It’s claimed by Fender Australia the FSR Tele in this part of the world has Alnico 3 pickups where I think they install the Mexican STD puppies in the US releases. There is also a nice looking FSR Strat available too and the Aussie Strat version has MIM standard Strat pickups unlike the US release which has Vintage Noiseless. Go figure?? While the guitars are generally pretty good I can’t help thinking they’re clearing out their parts bins. Let’s shake down the Tele..
The body of this baby is a medium weight ash and this is what I believe to be one of the special features of this instrument. By all reports ash is ‘the’ tone wood of the solid body guitar and the lighter the better. The best ash for guitar bodies is Louisiana Swamp Ash or what’s known as Southern Ash. This is lighter and softer than Northern Hard Ash. I’ve played ash bodied guitars that have been as heavy as a mahogany Les Paul and I’ve played ash guitars as light as. I would say the FSR Tele is somewhere in between, Iowa perhaps? A nice blend of butterscotch poly coats the ash lightly to take on the see through ’52 like look. I have a friend lucky enough to have a real deal ’52 Tele (from 1952) and the colour is nothing like this but the FSR Tele must use the same poly unsaturated butter that they use on the Fender Reissue ’52 so I suppose that’s good enough. I guess you have to keep in mind that this is not a ’52 replica, it just looks a bit like one.
The neck, this is straight out of the Mexican STD parts bin. It’s the lightly tinted one piece maple neck with medium jumbo frets, STD tuners and only the one butterfly string tree. Fake bone nut, more on that later. The standard Tele necks are fine for a modern guitar but it does look way too pale alongside the butterscotch blonde of the body. For an added touch of confusion Fender have used the old spaghetti logo. It just adds to the lack of identity that this guitar doesn’t have IMO.
The hardware. Well the tuners are fine. As long as the worm gear has all its teeth then you can get your instrument tuned and it will stay in tune. The myth about ‘slipping’ tuners is an impossibility. Whether a worm and gear will be self-locking depends on the lead angle, the pressure angle, and the coefficient of friction; however, it is approximately correct to say that a worm and gear will be self-locking if the tangent of the lead angle is less than the coefficient of friction (thanks Wiki). Truss rod access is at the head and a four bolt neck plate holds it all together. The ashtray bridge plate looks to be of heavier steel than a US one and is chrome plated (not nickel). No ashtray is included, must be a non-smokers guitar I guess. The three brass bridge saddles look to be of good quality with slotted head adjustment screws, a nice vintage touch. Unfortunately they were quite long and protruded into the flesh but this could be improved with a setup. The black pickguard is rather thick with bevelled edges, definitely not vintage and all held in place with eight crosshead screws. There goes that lack of identity thing again. The flat head knurled knobs feel abrasive and why can’t they ever point the grub screws at least in the same direction where you can see where they are set? Another special feature of this guitar is the reverse mounted controls. Good for volume swells but not so good for switching pickups. This one is usually left for the Modder’s and I think they should have on the FSR Tele.
The pickups. This is where this mysterious guitar excels. Fender (AU) claim these to be of the hot Alnico 3 variety. Are these also Fender Special Run pickups? I doubt it but whatever model these pickups are they sound GREAT. A sweet sounding neck pickup that is very responsive. The bridge pickup, despite the odd bridge plate has that wonderful Telecaster tone that only comes from alnico 3 magnets.
The FSR Tele may be a little odd ball and be searching for an identity but it certainly is a tone machine.
How does it play? If you like the feel of a contemporary neck, shallow ‘C’ profile, 42mm at the nut with a poly finish and well finished medium jumbos then this will play nice for you. The ash body breaths life to the instrument and the pickups are simply gorgeous. The FSR Tele is a nice player. Now, about that nut. Bin it. On the particular instrument I played the nut must have been cut using a hack saw.
In summary: a new nut and a thorough set up addressing the protruding saddle screws and you would have a great playing and sounding bit of kit. With a couple of mods such as a period thin pickguard and some nice heavy chrome domes would make this a keeper, that’s for sure.
Comes with a standard gig bag all for a RR price of 1100 big ones. Sorry smokers, this doesn’t seem to be for you.
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