Fender Custom Shop John 5 Phantom Telecaster Electric Guitar, Black

Think you know heavy? Think all Tele's are good for is chicken pickin' and country twang? Think again. Fender Custom Shop has collaborated with metal virtuoso John 5 to produce a darker, more aggressive iteration of the artist's beloved "Phantom" Telecaster. Built to Custom Shop spec with premium woods and hardware appointments, and loaded with explosive DiMarzio humbuckers, the John 5 "Phantom" Telecaster delivers the same genre defining tones crafted by the acclaimed guitarist.

The John 5 "Phantom" Telecaster crafts its brooding silhouette through 2-piece select alder—resonant and robust, and always comfortable due to its ultra contours and gloss black urethane finish. Black hardware adorns the body, with a graphite metal pickguard to tie the aesthetic package together. For a pop of contrast, white binding wraps the edges of the body resulting in eye catching visual appeal. Attached the body via a Custom Shop "V" logo plate is a Modern "C" profiled maple neck. This neck, intuitive and familiar feeling, boasts a satin urethane finish that lets players glide across the entire 25.5" scale length. Affixed to the neck is a round-laminated ebony fingerboard, touting a 10 to 14" compound radius to support the needs of modern metal players. Lined with twenty-two medium jumbo frets and Mother of Pearl dot inlays, every guitarist lucky enough to shred a "Phantom" is properly guided to technical fury.

But the "Phantom" hasn't dissipated yet—elite hardware choices make sure this tonal apparition haunts reliably and consistently. To start, a recessed Floyd Rose double-locking tremolo bridge provides stable intonation and pitch support even through the deepest of divebombs. This leads to the Floyd Rose R7 locking nut, doubling down on the pitch-perfect nature of the "Phantom". Finally, at the headstock, a set of modern locking tuning machines (you guessed it) ensure all pitches are sound, and makes routine adjustments and string changes a breeze.

Now, it's tone time. Perfect for the assaultive sounds that appear on John 5's greatest records, a duo of DiMarzio D Activator pickups are installed in the neck and bridge positions, lending aggressive, high-output tonality that never compensates articulation and detail. Dynamics are important, and the "Phantom" knows that sometimes you need to go clean for the heavy part to hit hardest. Simplistic controls dictate these dynamic sounds, with a lone volume knob to clean up or dial in the bite of the Phantom, and a 3-way pickup selector to cycle through the dominate voices that John 5 utilizes on stage and in the studio.

Think you're ready for this much tone? Catch yourself a Fender Custom Shop John 5 "Phantom" Telecaster before the ghost disappears.