Fender Blacktop Tele Reviews 4

I checked out the Blackout Telecaster which is new for the 2011 line up from Fender. This guitar is from the Made in Mexico line. I tried out the silver/gray finished guitar.

I tried out this guitar specifically for Fender and have about a month of time under my belt with this guitar. They wanted to take the classic Telecaster guitar and give it a face lift with a modern twist. The guitar is $500 with deluxe Fender gig bag and adjustment tools.

I was surprised to see Fender release an instrument with 22 frets. Most have 21, so the extra fret was cool. The pickups are a whole new animal for the Telecaster. They are overwound humbuckers, Teles usually come with 2 single coils. The are definitely very hot humbuckers for a stock instrument. The finish on the neck reminded me of the 80s Japanese made Fenders. Just a nice smooth feeling finish.

The bridge is more of a Strat bridge and the knobs are similar to what you'd find on a Fender Twin Reverb. These are not negative features, just different than your average Telecaster.

It felt solid. The past 2 or 3 years of the Made in Mexico Standard line of Fenders weren't really happening for me. This guitar plays feel and sounds like a real guitar.

Take the classic feel of a Telecaster and kick it up to 11 with the added boost of the humbucker pickups. Still gets the Telecaster twang, but now does so much more.

Billy rated this unit 4 on 2011-04-16.

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