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Fender American Ash Telecaster

 

Review of the Fender American Ash Telecaster by The Man in the Jar

They don't get much prettier than this. Vintage and Modern merged into one...

Features of the Fender American Ash Telecaster

Tuners - Sealed Fender-brand mini-tuners, smooth and deadly accurate.

Headstock - Classic Telecaster minimalism and the Fender logo in spaghetti text. The truss-rod access is uncovered but finished nicely in rosewood. One vintage-style circular string-tree guides the first and second string. 

Nut - The white plastic nut is a set-in-slot type and is finished cleanly.

Neck - The maple bolt-on neck has a modern U-shaped profile which is very comfortable in the hand, offering a solid playing feel without being chunky. The soft-brown rosewood skunk-stripe adds a lovely contrast. 

Fretboard -  There is no separate fretboard laminate, instead the maple of the neck forms its own maple fretboard. Visually this is seamless and it also feels "cleaner" under the hand as you play. The fret-markers are traditional black dots (which look great against the  maple) and these are mirrored on the player's edge.

Frets - The medium-fat frets give a positive modern feel.

Action - Very good straight from the box, this guitar has after all had a set-up in an American factory.

Body - The enduring, unchanging flat slab of Telecaster is in this instance fashioned in ash. The Honey Blonde finish looks a lot softer in the flesh and the grain of the ash peeps through seductively.

Bridge - A non-ashtray Telecaster bridge plate with modern saddles. Each saddle comprises a rectangular block which is fully adjustable for intonation (string length) and action (string height). The guitar has through-body stringing and the strings emerge through a slot in the saddle and settle into a guidance groove.   

Pickups - Two "Modern-Vintage" single-coil Telecaster pickups. This means they are vintage-voiced but manufactured to be less noisy than real vintage examples.

Controls - Standard three-way pickup switching and a single volume and single tone control.

Scratchplate - Vintage-style, thick single ply in black. 

Strap-buttons - Medium-sized strap buttons are found on the base of the body and on the upper horn. 

Output Jack - Nestled in its own little bucket housing on the lower edge of the body.

Finish - Excellent throughout. God bless America!

Accessories - Comes with a very sexy hard case and a Fender goodie-bag.

 

Sound of the Fender American Ash Telecaster

The vintage voicing of the pickups delivers crystal clear Telecaster tone. I whacked the American Ash into the AC30 channel on my Flextone where it immediately felt at home. Set to bridge pickup the glassy highs are almost sharp enough to cut your hair, but they never become brittle. Flick to the neck pickup and honeyed blues and rock 'n' roll soloing are the order of the day. Combine the two for solid boogie rhythm playing.

 

Overall Impressions of the Fender American Ash Telecaster

I simply love Telecasters and this model that combines the best of the old (looks, sound, mojo) with the best of the new (sealed tuners, precision adjustable bridge, neck profile) really floats my boat in a big way. It's not cheap, but then for a guitar that will become your soul-mate for life it's not really that expensive either. If you want a "real deal" Telecaster you need to check out the American Ash.    

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