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 Instrument Review

          Fender Custom Telecaster FMT HH Solid Body Electric Guitar Review

Fender Custom Telecaster FMT HH Features:

Construction

 I had to order this guitar without a case, as Fender doesn't include one in the purchase price, and I already had one it would fit in at home. The guitar came in a fairly protective box, and was wrapped well enough inside to be at least a bit protected from scratching. I really dislike ordering guitars without them being shipped in cases, but I've done it several times lately with no real problems, so I guess it can be O.K. Not my preference though. There was only one place I could get this particular transparent blue model, so I ordered it even though I had some reservations about the whole no case thing.

This guitar came in brand new perfect condition. There were no nicks or finish problems of any kind, and the finish was even and seemed to be pretty thick, but not too much so. This is a set neck guitar, and the joint was perfect on the model tested. I compared this guitar to the American made version, and bought the Korean model, because there weren't any real differences in construction quality. The only difference I could see, was an over $400.00 price difference! I thought to myself, "Man, that's enough cash to buy a whole 'nother used American made guitar!"

So yes as always, I examined the Custom Telecaster very closely, and although it wasn't as stunningly beautiful as the Carvin DC400T we tested; it obviously was a nice looking flame maple topped guitar that instead of shouting "Look at me!" kind of just raised it's voice a little bit, with it's minimally flamed top, black hardware, hardtail bridge, and string through body construction. No tremolo here.

The Custom Telecaster FMT HH has the gloss coating over the whole body of the guitar (front and back.) It also has the gloss on the back of the neck. As I've stated in other reviews, having gloss on the neck back is not my preference. I'd rather have the neck tung oiled or with a satin finish on it, but the gloss coating on this neck didn't seem as intrusive as on other guitars I've played. I don't really know why, but it could be the fact that the guitar is constructed with a neck that isn't real wide, with a nut width of 1.625 inches. This is quite small at the nut, so if you've got real big hands, you might prefer something a bit bigger. The fretboard material is rosewood on all the various versions of the Custom Telecaster made in Korea.

This model had the crème binding on the body and neck, and it looks great to my eyes. It adds an aged feel to the instrument, and I think somehow contributes to it's sort-of understated look. The binding was smooth on this guitar (and on every one I've seen,) with no problem areas anywhere from head to toe.

The translucent back was also beautiful. Take a look at the picture here and notice the detail in the wood grain. Very nice, and the neck heel joint was perfect and smooth. The black cover is where you access the electronics.  This guitar also came with the strap buttons installed in both places. Nice. Some other brand foreign guitars I have seen lately, have been coming with only one strap button! That is a huge hassle. I mean who wants to install a strap button right away on their brand new guitar?

Playability

Playability is another huge strong point of this guitar. Right out of the box it played perfectly. For whatever reason, it didn't seem like the neck moved at all during shipping, and it was setup perfect for me from day one. Usually I've gotta do some adjustment to the bridge and neck, but not with this Telecaster. This is a very fast playing neck, and it responds well to finger tapping, bending, and power chording. If it had an ebony fretboard, I would call it a day and say it was perfect for me. BUT...I still love the feel of an expensive ebony fretboard, so I could only wish this model had one. To be honest, I didn't really miss it much though, and as I played out with the guitar, I began to get more and more attached to this guitar's neck and fretboard feel. To me, this guitar plays more like a Les Paul or a PRS than a normal Telecaster. It's skinny, flat, and fast. Setup was great right out of the box, and playability was just about perfect. The set neck and string-through body hardtail bridge also makes for great sustain on this model.

Sound Un-Plugged and Plugged In

I don't usually mention this on electric guitars, but one day I strung this Telecaster with Fender Bullet .10's and was surprised by how loud it was unplugged. It was almost as loud as a real thinline acoustic electric. Somehow the mahogany body with the maple top make a pretty loud sound even unplugged. It was probably mostly just the little bit thicker strings, but still a nice feature if you can't plug into an amp or effects unit to practice for some reason.

I bought this guitar mainly for getting that fat humbucker distorted sound that is only available with this type of guitar. The Mahogany body with the fat sounding Fender humbuckers guarantees that the guitar will get that certain Gibson Les Paul type of sound. I was also looking for a guitar with that sound that didn't cost too much, so that I could gig with it, and not worry about whether or not it got banged up going from place to place.

The stock pickups were the Fender Atomic II™ humbucker in the bridge position, and the Fender Black Canyon™ humbucker in the neck position. I liked both these pickups from the start. As I used them at various events, and practiced at home using them, I began to like them even more. They have a nice, even warm tone, that is a bit less harsh than the Seymour Duncans and Dimarzios that other models of this same guitar are equipped with. I think I'd rather have the Fenders, even though there may be a certain cache to having the other brands mounted. These are Alnico magnet pickups, and can pretty much cover everything from clean, to blues, to rock, to metal.

One thing that is different about this particular model, is that it has a push/pull coil tap in the master tone control. After hours and hours of use with this guitar, I found that the coil tap feature is wonderful, and now I wouldn't want a dual humbucker guitar without it. Using the coil tap, it gives you another three tone options to choose from, and you can then roam into the more bell-like Strat and Tele sounds if you want to. Now I'm not saying that it is exactly like a single coil Strat or Tele, but it is close, and a useful set of sounds in it's own right.

This is one light guitar. Man I don't know what it weighs, but it is much, much lighter than any other electric guitar I have tested, including the American Strat Deluxe Plus, Carvin Bolt-T, an all other models. The Carvin neck-throughs I've had literally felt like they weighed nearly twice as much! They didn't, but they felt like it! These things are so light, that I can play for hours and not feel any discomfort. That's a welcome change as compared to some other guitars, and I find myself reaching for the light Telecaster over my other electric guitars most of the time if I'm gonna be standing and playing for long.

No complaints here about the sound of this model. It's fat and warm, and very versatile for a dual humbucker axe. I have been surprised many a time by the tones I can get out of this light, well made Telecaster. It can rock, and also sounds great clean through the neck humbucker or coil tapping either pickup. Usually, versatility in tone comes at a steep price. Not here.

 Conclusion

 The Fender Custom Telecaster FMT HH is a great guitar. At this price point, it is a really great guitar. Yes, at about $630.00 street price it is pushed into the high mid-priced guitar range. That puts it in competition with lots of other really great guitars. But many of them aren't made with these woods, and do not have the coil tapping feature or Fender's great warm pickups. This guitar doesn't even say anything but "Fender" on the headstock face, so no one will even know you are playing a foreign made model if that bothers you. Everyone I let play this model really liked it. The sound. The tones. The feel. That should tell you something. Maybe it's worth going down to your closest major chain, and giving one a test run.

by William Charles

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Last modified: 02/06/08