“The Telecaster is like the heart and soul of rock and roll music”: Fender celebrates 75 years of the Telecaster with 5 new models – including the return of a cult classic and some Tele firsts

Fender has launched a new range of Telecasters to celebrate the guitar's 75th anniversary.

First launched in 1951 after switching its name from the Broadcaster, the Tele is a bona fide classic electric guitar design, and so, 75 years later, special anniversary models are a welcome addition to the Fender family.

The five-strong release doffs its metaphorical cap to the guitar's three-quarter-of-a-century history, from a Vintera Road Worn 1951 model, through to a Diamond Dust-encrusted Player II and high-spec American Ultra II, as period-correct features and Fender’s first-ever dual-blade pickup mix then and now.

For vintage enthusiasts, the 75th Anniversary Vintera Road Worn 1951 Telecaster will no doubt be the jewel in the crown here. Priced at $1,899, it pairs a swamp ash body with a maple neck, which gets Fender’s new Road Worn nitrocellulose lacquer finish to look and perform like a vintage gem.

An early ‘50s U-profile neck also promises an “authentic feel,” and its 7.25” radius maple fingerboard gets vintage-tall frets. Electronics include two Pure Vintage 1951 Telecaster pickups that “deliver all the crystal-clear chime and raw, steely twang that made Fender famous,” and a three-saddle bridge and vintage-style tuners.

The American Ultra II Telecaster ($2,999) iteration is a rather different proposition. Sporting a Liquid Gold finish, its alder body is sculpted with generous contours, a D-profile quartersawn maple neck with tapered heel, and an ebony 10”-14” compound radius fretboard with rolled edges, medium-jumbo frets, and custom lap steel inlays.

Contemporary flourishes come via Luminlay side dots and a Graph Tech TUSQ nut, and its Noiseless neck pickup, and a 75th Anniversary Fastlane bridge humbucker “for crystalline cleans” and “beefy growls.” The Fastlane ‘bucker is Fender’s first-ever dual rail pickup design, ushering something very new into the guitar’s age-old recipe.

Further underscoring that there are two S-1 switches. One puts both pickups into series mode, while the other activates series/parallel modes for the humbucker. The guitar is finished with a six-saddle string-through-body bridge with chromed brass saddles, Deluxe locking tuners, knurled aluminum knobs, and a one-ply anodized aluminum pickguard.

Over to the 75th Anniversary American Professional Custom Telecaster ($2,799). This model stands out via a double-bound and resonant alder body and flame maple top that’s finished in a purist two-tone sunburst colorway.

Its C-shaped neck gets a 9.5” radius and a maple fingerboard and medium-jumbo frets, with its tones powered by “best of both worlds” 75th Anniversary V-Mod pickups. So, expect the bridge to twang, and summer holiday warmth from the neck.

There’s also a push/push tone pot to put both pups in series, gold-plated hardware aplenty, and a three-saddle bridge.

Moving on, the 75th Anniversary American Professional Classic Cabronita Telecaster ($1,999) revives the Gretsch-channeling cult classic. It rocks the series’ stylish treble horn pickguard and TV Jones pickups in both positions, promises tonal “punch and sparkle,” and a modern C-shape neck with a 9.5” fingerboard radius. It’s a real looker, serving “all the soul of a golden-era Fender, evolved for the modern player.”

Finally, the 75th Anniversary Player II Telecaster ($1,099) adds “a touch of sparkle” to the Player II line with its Diamond Dust Sparkle finish. But it isn’t all about the looks. The mid-priced Tele – and cheapest of the celebratory bunch – is well spec'd with a modern C neck, 9.5” radius rosewood fingerboard, and rolled edges.

Elsewhere, it gets 75th Anniversary Thunderbolt pickups for “rich, powerful tones,” a six-saddle string-through-body bridge with block steel saddles, ClassicGear tuners, and a four-ply pearloid pickguard, with all hardware chrome.

As Tom Petty’s foil, Mike Campbell, once said, “the Telecaster is like the heart and soul of rock and roll music,” and here, Fender is celebrating a milestone anniversary with a quintet of standout electrics.

See Fender for more.

These new Teles follow the launch of John Osborne's new signature model, which heralds the arrival of Fender's first in-house B-Bender.