Fender Andy Summers Tribute Telecaster

I played this baby yesterday at Buffalo Brothers:



Fender Andy Summers LTD Ed. Tele

Played like a dream....priced like a car @ $10,500 (apparently a bargain...list was $15,000). Fat humbucker, coil switch, and a sustainer on board..... Modern machine heads and a brass tail piece. The neck was pretty awesome, but was lacquered in the upper register.

I've played Tele Relics that felt better....but the customizations on this puppy rock the house...particularly the electronics. I didn't plug in.... but I did bust into the "Message in a Bottle" riff. Sales guy smirked and said "Everyone does that." I would buy a non-relic'd version of this guitar for $1500.

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crazy ... so detailed!

I'm so there. Don't mean to offend anyone, but the relic'd axes always seemed dumb to me. I can understand paying an obscene price for an immaculate '59 Strat or Les Paul, but paying extra for a new insturment that looks abused is beyond me.

It's a vibe thing.... My relic looks, sounds, and plays like a classic tele with a humbucker in the neck position. The real draw about relic instruments for me is the worn-in neck. When the nitro is properly shaved down, relic'd necks are so comfortable. Also, aged bodies have a distinctive one of a kind look because they are finished with nitrocellulose vs. polyurethane...the result is the guitar is unique looking and "contoured" towards where you rub against it most. If you play the real instrument from that era, you'll appreciate the craftsmanship in relics. It's like a worn in pair of jeans.

That said, the features on this Andy Summers model are what I would like in a new American Deluxe (C shape neck & 11/16 nut width)....as long as the body were ash and there is a decent looking finish (cherry/tobacco sunburst or perhaps even a swamp ash bleed)....even covered in poly it would be a great ax. Hopefully Fender is listening and will put one out in a year or so.... The neck position on my normal teles are not really useful to me (unless they are out mixed with another pickup like my Nashville Tele). I love the humbucker sound in the neck position.... it just has so much balls.

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I get the worn in neck thing, but you can get new strats with nitro finish... a production Eric Johnson for example, and I'm sure the Custom Shop can set you up with nitro. I guess I'm just anal-rentative enough that I don't like guitars that look beat to crap. Must be a German Virgo thing.