Fender brings back the George Harrison Rosewood Telecaster
The fan favourite based on a 1968 prototype returns with chambered body and Pure Vintage '64 Telecaster pickups
The rosewood Telecaster prototype designed by Roger Rossmeisel and gifted to George Harrison in 1968 is one of the all-time cult classic electric guitars, and it was no surprise that a limited run in 2017 sold out in quick time and now fetch scary money secondhand.
But Fender has been paying attention. Its finger is on the pop-cultural pulse, and amidst the buzz around Peter Jackson’s Beatles documentary Get Back, with demand cresting for all things Fab Four, the Big F has decided to bring the George Harrison Rosewood Telecaster back, applying a host of carefully considered updates for the contemporary player’s tastes.
Harrison’s Tele returns with a lightweight body of chambered rosewood. The matching rosewood neck is finished in a Mid-‘60s C profile and topped with a – you guessed it – rosewood fingerboard which has been modernised with a 9.5” radius, and finished with dot inlays and 21 medium-jumbo frets.
We’ve got a pair of Pure Vintage ‘64 Telecaster single-coil pickups at the neck and bridge positions, a three-way pickup selector plus volume and tone pots.
The vintage-style hardware – complete with Fender-branded sealed tuners and a steel three-saddle '60s-style bridge – maintains the vibe of the original. A custom engraved “Om” neck plate marks it as a Harrison model.
The George Harrison Rosewood Telecaster ships in a hard case and is available now in a limited run, priced £2,749 / $2,899.
See Fender for more details.
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Jonathan Horsley has been writing about guitars and guitar culture since 2005, playing them since 1990, and regularly contributes to MusicRadar, Total Guitar and Guitar World. He uses Jazz III nylon picks, 10s during the week, 9s at the weekend, and shamefully still struggles with rhythm figure one of Van Halen’s Panama.
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“I hope the future guitarists who acquire these items are able to move closer to the genius who played them”: Over 130 of Jeff Beck’s guitars and amps headed to auction, including his Tele-Gib, Yardburst Les Paul and 'Blow By Blow' Oxblood Les Paul