Fender American Professional II Telecaster Deluxe
Something different.
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Specs
The specs are a cool mix of vintage and modern appointments. True to the original Deluxe Telecaster we have a large 70s Fender headstock, bone nut 22 narrow tall frets and a choice of maple or rosewood fingerboard on a maple neck. The neck shape is a wide thin “deep C”, very similar to my PRS CE24. The fretboard is lacquered, while the back of the neck is sanded to a satin finish – very smooth and comfortable.
No locking tuners at this price is a bit silly, especially since the guitar is marketed to professionals.
The body is alder, finished in polyurethane. With a very vibrant and unique selection of colours, the Fender American Deluxe Telecaster looks absolutely stunning.
The control layout offers lots of versatility – a 3-way pickup selector with individual volume and tone knobs for each pickup. The tone knobs double as push-push controls for individually switching the pickups to single coils.
The bridge is a shortened version of the vintage telecaster bridge. The brass saddles provide plenty of sustain. You cannot intonate each string individually, but this will only be an issue if you want to use really thick gauge strings.
The most unique feature of this guitar are the V-Mod II DoubleTap pickups. They are a bit wider than a typical humbucker, producing a fuller sound that responds well to picking dynamics. The single-coil mode of these pickups retains the same volume as the full humbuckers – a common complaint with other pickups.
Fender make some of the most practical hard shell cases on the market. They are light, very durable and have TSA locks for touring musicians.
Sound
The control and pickup configuration is reminiscent of a Les Paul, but the sound is still very much Fender. The V-Mod II Double Tap humbuckers are a modern interpretation of the signature Telecaster sound. The hum is gone, but the twang is still there! The pickups are not very articulate, as they capture a wider range of frequencies. This results in a rich and beautiful clean sound that, unfortunately, does not pair well with distortion. Just because it has two humbuckers and four knobs do not expect this to be a rock machine. The coil-split mode on the V-Mod II is fantastic – it sounds just like a regular Telecaster.
Another downside of the pickups is that they are polyphonic and feedback a lot, further eliminating the possibility of using the Deluxe Tele for anything heavier than light overdrive.
Personally, I would replace the pickups with something more versatile, like a set of Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates or JB/59. This is easier said than done because the stock wide-range pickups require four mounting screws. You will need a custom pickguard if you want to fit standard humbuckers with just one screw on each side.
Playability
The setup and playability of this guitar are amazing. The 9.5” radius fretboard will work well for both chord and lead playing. The wider fretboard, paired with tall frets makes bending notes very effortless. The lightly sculpted neck heel doesn't particularly improve upper fret access, but it does make the guitar more comfortable to play past the 12th fret.
The action was just under 2mm out of the box, but I had no problem lowering it to 1.5mm with no buzzing or dead notes. I've had the guitar for just over a year now and the neck has bowed quite significantly, requiring a truss rod adjustment. It’s not a big deal, but I've never had the neck move this much on my PRS CE24 (review here) or my 2019 Gibson Les Paul Standard (review here).
A Strat-style belly carve is added to the body further improving playing comfort and reducing weight.
My Fender Telecaster Deluxe weighs just under 8lbs (3.6kg). It should be a bit less than the single coil version, which I've always found too heavy for my liking.Competition
At about £4,000, the PRS McCarty 594 SC is very expensive. You can buy a 50s Les Paul Standard and a Fender American Vintage Reissue Strat for that and be very happy. Comparing the 594 to a £6,000 Gibson Custom Shop 59’ Les Paul paints a very different picture. The PRS will almost certainly have better playability, tuning stability, fit and finish, and attention to detail. Furthermore, you can safely buy a PRS online because they make every guitar with perfect precision.
Build Quality
The Fender American Pro II Deluxe Tele follows a simple formula - a single slab of wood finished in an opaque polyurethane colour with a fixed bridge – but Fender have executed it flawlessly. Everything on the guitar feels and looks just right.
Price
The price is pretty bad, considering what you are getting. For comparison, a brand new Gibson Les Paul Studio has binding, bigger inlays and a carved top, all of which require more manual labour. Whether the bridge and tailpiece on the Gibson are better is debatable, but they are certainly more expensive. The Gibson is also finished in nitro, which takes a lot longer to cure and requires more safety measures. You may well prefer the sound and reliability of a Fender, but it is undeniable that the Gibson Les Paul Studio is more expensive to produce. The retail price of the Les Paul Studio is around £1,400 – a little less than the Deluxe Tele.
Bottom Line
The Fender American Pro II Deluxe Tele is a very interesting guitar. It is not designed to compete with a Les Paul. It is not a “Telecaster for people who don't like Telecasters”. It is, however, an extremely well-made supercharged Fender Telecaster that offers unique sonic capabilities and improved playing comfort. Just don't buy it thinking you will play Rage Against the Machine on it.