Bloomfield or Bakersfield, there’s plenty of cut,
but it’s the desirable, musical kind.
The much-maligned Telecaster neck pickup
performs superbly here, too, with Bill Frisell-style
excursions ringing bell-like with superb articulation
and a nicely even decay. The factory 0.009-0.042
strings and glossy fingerboard promote big bends,Switching to the Jazzmaster winds the clock
forward, at least in terms of the playing experience.
The bigger frets, flatter ’board and slim, satin-finished
neck mean that runs and bends in higher registers
require far less effort from your fretting hand, but
the trade-off is that the feel is rather more generic.
Happily, the tones are anything but, and there’s
a range of beguiling sounds on offer that are
simultaneously classic and contemporary. They
may be voiced to work a little harder in deference
to modern string gauges, but there’s still plenty of
air in these pickups and they don’t sound overcooked.
Once you’ve got past the inevitable spring reverb/
tremolo/spy-movie soundtrack tropes, there’s a tonne
of compositional inspiration to be found here and
don’t discount that rhythm circuit – it’s smooth and
moody rather than muddy and hugely enjoyable into
ambience as well as fuzz. While the Strat sees us
going through the motions somewhat, the Jazzmaster
is one of those guitars on which you find yourself
composing, rather than noodling.
Our next stop in the Vintera time machine is
the 1950s. It’s an overused word, but the alnico
V Telecaster pickups deliver tremendous clarity.
Whether your Tele tone tastes veer towardsKEY FEATURES
VINTERA ’50S TELECASTER
PRICE £749 (inc. gigbag)
DESCRIPTION Single-cutaway solidbody electric guitar.
Made in Mexico
BUILD Alder body, early 50s U-shaped maple neck with 7.25"
ɧȿɆɂɚȿŋŋɨƼōġĈŸùŕÝŸāŸÝāĭƍžÝōāɀȿƣĭōƇÝġĈɫžƇƪńĈğŸĈƇžɚ
Synthetic bone nut
HARDWARE 3x brass saddle string-through-body bridge,
ƣĭōƇÝġĈɫžƇƪńĈŋÝûĩĭōĈĩĈÝāž
ELECTRICS 2x Vintage-Style Single-Coil Tele pickups, master
ƣŕńƍŋĈɕŋÝžƇĈŸƇŕōĈɕɁɫƤÝƪùńÝāĈŴĭûl·ƍŴžĈńĈûƇŕŸžƤĭƇûĩ
SCALE LENGTH 25.5"/648mm
NECK WIDTHɂɀɚɀŋŋÝƇōƍƇɕɃȿɚɄŋŋÝƇȿɀƇĩğŸĈƇ
NECK DEPTHɀɁɚɁŋŋÝƇƼŸžƇğŸĈƇɕɀɃɚȾŋŋÝƇȿɀƇĩğŸĈƇ
STRING SPACING 35.4mm at nut, 54.3mm at bridge
WEIGHT 7.46lb/3.38kg
FINISHGĭĈžƇÝĈāɧÝžŸĈƣĭĈƤĈāɨɕɀɫ"ŕńŕƍŸ¤ƍōùƍŸžƇɕ¤ŕōĭû ńƍĈ
CONTACTGĈōāĈŸ1q1ğĈōāĈŸɚûŕŋA no-nonsense vintage-style Telecaster with classy
9 /10 tones and a sumptuous neckABOVEThe Vintera ’50s
Telecaster in Fiesta Red – an
understated tone machine
OPPOSITE TOPThe Tele
žŴŕŸƇžÝƣĭōƇÝġĈɫžƇƪńĈùŸĭāġĈ
arrangement with three
brass saddles
OPPOSITE BOTTOM
Vintage-style machineheads
complete the Vintera Tele’s
classic look
REVIEWS
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