Fender Custom Shop '67 Telecaster Journeyman Relic Electric Guitar, Olympic White

Brilliant as always, Fender Custom Shop has delivered another vintage-spec instrument that teleports us to a time of unmatched musicality. Here, with a '67 Telecaster touting a characteristic Journeyman relic treatment, players are lent accessible history, boasting specs that feel perfectly accurate while supplying modern playability and usability. Get ready for some serious twang.

Harnessing the Tele tone and iconic silhouette is an Eastern White Pine solidbody, adorned with a gloss Olympic White Journeyman relic finish and a tortoiseshell pickguard. The body boasts dings, cracks, and artistic blemishes to offer a broken-in feel that encourages lengthy musical excursions. The chrome hardware also shows its "age," with tarnishing and discoloration everywhere from saddles to knobs, screws, and strap buttons. As for the tone, this body garners sonic attention like no other, with harmonious resonance, detailed articulation, and a robust midrange that solidifies fundamentals underneath the crisp top end. In simplified terms, this is the exact sound you should be hearing from a Tele.

The custom build continues with a quartersawn AA flame maple neck, sporting a '60s-style oval "C" profile with an unfinished back for a smooth, uniquely woody feel when compared to a traditional satin finish. To say this neck fits perfectly would be underselling it—the neck (forgive the cliché) feels like an extension of the player, with its intuitive shape and natural comfort, ready for years of play to impart even more mojo into an already mojo-rich guitar. Though the neck shouldn't take all the credit—a round-laminated 9mm AAA rosewood fingerboard completes this supreme playing package, delivered with a 7.25"–9.5" compound radius to make each playing style that much more welcome. Detailed with Mother of Pearl dot inlays and lined with 21 medium-jumbo-sized frets, this '67 Telecaster gives you all you'd need for an essential Fender experience.

In our minds, a guitar is only as great as the hardware that supports it, and it looks like Fender Custom Shop also agrees. Following the string path, we'll find a Tele '58–'63 bridge that has been routed for a bridge-position pickup. Featuring adjustable saddles for the perfect setup, this bridge supplies fantastic string-to-body vibration transfer, solidifying that timeless tone you'll achieve with every strum. In addition, this bridge lends to proper intonation and supports optimal string spacing as the strings venture up the neck. Speaking of, the strings hit their next destination at the bone nut, also supporting intonation and maintaining that comfortable string spacing. Finally, at the headstock, FCS has appointed Schaller tuning machines that display the legendary Fender "F" logo on the back. Easy to use for routine adjustments and fast string changes, this Telecaster is as reliable as can be.

Now, for our favorite part: we get to plug this Tele in. With Modern Tele wiring, two '67 Tele single-coil pickups amplify the profound tone. In the bridge position, the bridge-position pickup delivers that bright, articulate snap that makes Tele tone so desirable. It's twangy, it's slightly biting, but never sounds piercing or screeching—smoothness and presence can coexist. In the neck, the single-coil also delivers articulation and definition, but with a skew toward the mids and low end, supplying a well-rounded tone when in the middle position and giving dense, deep sounds when solely in the neck position. Easily dialed in with the volume and tone knobs and 3-way pickup selector switch, you'll quickly find that there isn't an unappealing sound on this Tele.

Delivered in a black Fender Custom Shop hardshell case, this '67 Telecaster is road-ready for a long life of sessions, jams, and gigs. If you never thought your dream Tele existed, well, here it is.