Item # H78829 | Customer Ratings: 
(Based on 5
reviews)
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The Fender Blacktop series presents a truly unique new model in the deeply resounding form of the Blacktop Telecaster Baritone guitar. A true baritone Telecaster, it creates a rich sound of distinctive depth and character with a 27” scale, lowdown B-to-B tuning, and a tonally versatile triple-pickup configuration-including a full-throated humbucking bridge pickup-that covers the entire sonic spectrum from tic-tac twang to full-on kerrang!
Like many guitarists, I love looking for new and different tones - this baby certainly delivers. Nice pickup arrangement and voicing which growls Tele but with a twist through the use of long scale and associated heavier strings. 5 way switching and HSS pickup set (humbucker at the bridge) yields versatile and rich sonic options. I knock off a point for setup and intonation as delivered - purchased as mail order due to lack of availability at my local GS. The fit and appearance is great, especially at this price point, and the body contour is very much appreciated. Beautiful and durable finish; jury is still out on the tuners. Great sound out of a Mesa Blue Angel and 12 Celestion speakers, including Vintage 30. I hope to build a custom 15" cab and amp arrangement to really throw those lows. I took a lot of heat for this purchase ("You already have too many guitars!"), but ultimately it's a keeper given overall look, feel and most importantly sound. GS should keep at least one in store inventory - I think the guitar sells itself for those interested in the pursuit of majestic sounds.
I own a made in mexico tele and a bass. They are fab! The Baritone is not of the same quality. I had to return it a few times due to intonation issues on the lower strings. I also tried them in a store (but not GC) and they also had problems so it wasn't just GC mailorder. If you order one check out the intonation and bring it to your local guitar tech for a good going over. You don't want to have a lemon. I'm sure some are good but there seems to been a run with problems. Beware.
I got one of these as an alternative to a 7 string, to have more tuning options. Extremely happy with my choice. It looks gorgeous: I have the ghost silver, and it's awesome. It's generally a sort of pewter grey, but in direct light it reflects a subtle golden color...pretty awesome. In some lights the sides have a sort of milky blue hue...which I imagine is why it is called "ghost silver." But most of the time it is a bad ass grey. Neck is pretty thick, but comfortable. I generally prefer a smaller neck, but with the longer scale this feels good. Only downside is it has a gloss finish. Booooo. Gets sticky. Rosewood fretboard is great: as far as fender's go, I prefer their rosewood to their maple fretboards. Pickup selection is similarly awesome. The HSS set up with the tele single coils has great potential. I am playing harder rock and metal with this, and so I'm mainly cued into the humbucker. I think eventually I will replace it with something better...it's "fine", but not real clear. A bit too fuzzy, and not enough crunchy. The single coils are alright too...if I was primarily playing cleaner tones, I would probably replace them too, but for my purposes they are good enough. Very transparent, I would also describe them as... "microphonic." I feel like they sound like you are playing your guitar unplugged...just louder. Definitely jangly. Quite a bit of hum, as you may have anticipated. Cons: This is my third Mexican Fender (72 tele deluxe RI, and standard strat), but it's the first one that I felt like there might be some slight quality issues (the other two seem quite a bit better). For instance, the bridge is very slightly crooked. Veeeery slightly. Didn't notice it at first, but that's not cool. As a consequence, the high B is just sliiightly too widely set. This means that it doesn't line up with the humbucker's pole pieces perfectly, and it means that if I dig into a vibrato, sometimes the string will slip off the fretboard because it's just slliiiightly too close to the edge already. There were also a few glue drops/balls on the finish. They came off, but I thought that was not real great quality control. You don't want to be prying something off of your brand new guitar. Tuners are really bad. Again, I say this having owned 2 other MIM Fenders--these are not good. I don't see any other choice than replacing these if you plan to use this guitar in a live performance scenario. One more random thing: The pickups and the hardware don't quite match. (might be a nickel vs. chrome thing). The pickups have a slightly grey tint, and the tuners and bridge have a slightly blue tint. Not a big deal at all...just weird. Conclusion: Realizing that there are definite issues, I would recommend this guitar to anyone who is on the fence about it. It is a blast to play, and has already been a source of inspiration. With new tuners and a new humbucker, I think I will playing this guitar for many years.
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