Fender has revealed a secretively concocted Custom Shop Telecaster tribute to George Harrison.
The guitar, created by Master Builder Paul Waller, is a meticulous reconstruction of the famous Rosewood Telecaster prototype seen in Let It Be, based on forensically close examination of the original.
While the Telecaster may look fairly standard to a casual observer, Fender has gone to town with a slew of subtle details that make the guitar worthy of its prestigious Custom Shop name. Like Harrison's original, the rosewood neck is fashioned from two pieces of rosewood capped with a rosewood fingerboard, instead of the normal one-piece.
The nut is 1/8" wider than most vintage Telecasters too, offering a wider string apacing and making it easier to finger chords that ring out loud and clear, with plenty of crisp articulation.
As you'd expect, there's plenty of painstaking care in the finish, too. The guitar's early-'60s style "spaghetti" logo decal sits atop the finish, instead of the era's typical "transition" logo underneath the finish. The decal is also placed closer to the nut than is traditional, resulting in a relocated string tree and slightly altered break angle behind the nut.
The hardware is also as historically accurate as possible; a vintage-style three-saddle bridge, 21 narrow jumbo frets, a bone nut and classic Fender "F"-stamped tuning machines are all present, just as on the original instrument. Hand wound "Abby" pickups complete this lovingly crafted package.
