Danny Schnair on the Fender American Professional Telecaster: "It Just Does What I Want It to Do"

Guitar Center Senior Analyst Vendor Partnerships, guitarist and producer Danny Schnair trusts Fender Telecasters to deliver the goods more than almost any other guitar.

“The thing that always drew me to the Telecaster was it just felt like the guitar,” says Schnair. “It’s a really special instrument to me. The Tele was the first commercially successful solidbody guitar, and Fender got it right the first time. It's the godfather of everything that came after it."

The Guitar That Started It All

"The first guitar I bought was a Fender Special Edition Telecaster from Guitar Center in San Francisco,” remembers Schnair. “It had a red flame-maple top, yellow binding and two Seymour Duncan pickups. It was the coolest thing I'd ever seen. I still have that guitar, and one day I'm going to hand it to my kids.”

A Working Musician's Tele

"My go-to guitar on the road is a Fender American Professional Telecaster,” says Schnair. “I've taken it around the world and brought it to sessions. It's just an easy guitar I can pick up and know exactly what I'm going to get. I've recently gotten my first Les Paul, and I also play a Guild Starfire, but I always find myself coming back to the Telecaster, because it just does what I want it to do.”

Maple versus Rosewood

“The maple fingerboard gives the guitar more punch and bottom end,” says Schnair. “It has that snappy Telecaster response I'm looking for, and the V-Mod III pickups give me enough output so that I don't have to play hard to get the tone I want. The Rosewood fingerboard feels a little warmer and softer under my fingers. It feels really natural, smooth and fluid.”

Built for the Real World

“These American Professional Telecasters would certainly be the guitars in my arsenal that I would pick up first for a studio session or gig,” reports Schnair. “I feel like they're super versatile and comfortable to play. Fender really thought about the player. I can move seamlessly around either neck, and the neck contour is a nice touch, because it feels good when you’re playing higher up the neck. A lot of the times, I think Telecasters get a bad rap for being uncomfortable to play, but these are very comfortable guitars. They would be working guitars for me—just like my original Telecaster.”