• Tele with "The Voice"

  
  As reviewed by Gregory Reiber on 5/30/2012

  If your a tele fan, check this one out. You'll think it's too pretty to be a real tele until you play the thing through a good tube amp - then, be prepared to fall in love. I was reluctant to try it at the local GC Platinum Room, didn't want to like it as expensive and "fancy" as it is. But it was too intriguing to resist. First thing I noticed was how light it is for a tele. Nice resonance when strummed unplugged. The birdseye maple compound radius neck is perfect, not too chunky or too thin in your hand, fretwork flawless, body a nice fit with the tummy cut. And the flame maple top has to be seen in person. But playing it in the store through a good Fender tube amp was astonishing. Very hot/loud pickups for a passive setup, with tele tone but taken to the next level. One of the best tele neck pups I've played - makes me wish I was a jazz player too. Bridge pup has classic tele twang, without any harshness; great with a pick, off the charts fingerstyle. Great overdriven single coil sound from the bridge pup with the tone rolled of just a bit. Even sounds good in the middle position. This tele doesn't do anything badly. You'd have to go boutique to match these pups. Needless to say I had to take it home; after changing the strings from 9's to 10's (a snap with the locking tuners) and adjusting the action (came set too low, some string buzz) it's been tele heaven all the way.

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• Unbelievable!

  
  As reviewed by Dean Aloise on 4/25/2012

  This guitar is absolutely unbelievable. I've been playing for 22 years and have had many many guitars, from American strats and Teles to Gibson 335s, Les Pauls, Gretsch Tennessee Roses, etc....and this Select Tele is for sure the BEST guitar of them all. The fit and finish is beautiful, the feel is very solid and high quality, and the tone is something that I've never heard come out of another tele. And the look is amazing. The flame top, natural binding, beautiful carved wood back, and the birdseye maple neck make for one striking guitar. Some finer points: The pickups are pretty hot/string for a tele. But in a very good way. I have a new 2012 American strat, and the output on this select tele is much louder. It provides for a nice full, strong tone but definitely still oozes with the tele twang on the bridge pup, and allows for some really nice bottom end output at the neck. The natuaral wood binding is very cool and high end - however note that it does not have 100% "perfect" lines like a plastic binding strip would have. There are a few spots where one can tell that it the edge of the maple top and stain from the back wood may have touched it ever so slightly. The high gloss finish on the fingerboard looks really cool, but is taking me some getting used to..as it tends to be a little "sticky" compare to what ime used to. Not a huge problem, just different.

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• a work of art

  
  As reviewed by Russel Cook on 4/24/2012

  Best guitar I've played in years. Beautiful sound and perfect playability. Factory setup is great. And then you sit back and look at the guitar, what a work of art. The flame maple overlay, the birdseye maple neck, perfect finish and top of the line quality. Stunning is the word that comes to mind. Fender did a great job with this one.

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