Vintage Vibe with Modern Updates
by Scott Terry
As a working musician, versatility, flexibility and portability are of the utmost importance. I recently decided it was time to buy a new Fender. Having owned many Stratocasters and Telecasters, I wanted something that would blur the lines between the two just slightly. I wanted something that would cover a variety of playing situations—a grab-and-go Fender, if you will.
I tried a Fender Classic Player Series Baja Telecaster. It is a made-in-Mexico Telecaster with a maple neck and a solid ash body. It has a 1950s vintage vibe, complete with three-saddle brass bridge, vintage decal, round string retainer and vintage-style hardware. I noted "vintage-style" because, while these Ping tuners look like old-school Klusons, they have been getting a bad rap in the gear circles due to the holes where you put the string not being as deep as true vintage spec tuners and for tuning instability. Other enhanced features include 9.5" radius, medium-jumbo frets and Custom Shop pickups—a Broadcaster bridge pickup and a Twisted Tele neck pickup. In addition to traditional Tele tones, the S-1 switching provides out-of-phase Strat-ish sounds, humbucker-like tones and phasery sounds in the neck position. This guitar retains a retro look while offering enhanced player features. It was designed by Master Builder Chris Fleming and I must say it is an incredibly well thought out guitar!
The fit and finish on this guitar—like many other ones I have seen that have come out of the new Fender factory in Mexico—were absolutely impeccable! The neck was tight in the neck pocket, the nut was cut flawlessly and the fret job was perfect. I have never seen better fit and finish on any Fender Custom Shop guitar! I'm guessing Fender has a Plek machine at the new factory; I don't think there would be any way to get such a perfect setup without a Plek. I did not find any major tuning issues with the Ping tuners. I believe this was likely due to the precisely cut nut, as that is from where many tuning issues stem.
The only issue of concern to me in the beginning was the weight of the example I tried. Granted, many of us in gear circles can become overly concerned with fretting (no pun intended) over a few ounces. However, for a working musician, those few ounces can make a big difference over the course of an entire evening of having a portly guitar slung over your shoulder. The particular example I demonstrated weighed in at 9 lbs., 2 oz.
Weight ended up not being my only concern. I directly compared the Baja Tele with a Custom Shop 1952 One-Off Telecaster (very similar to the venerable Custom Shop 1951 Nocaster). The Custom Shop model had the same wood in the neck and body and the same pickups as the Baja. However, there was a marked difference in the tone. The Custom Shop guitar simply had more clarity as compared with the Baja. At first I wondered if that might be due to the difference in finish materials; the Custom Shop One-Off had an all lacquer finish, whereas the Baja had a thin polyester finish. However, I was doubtful that this was the answer. And then it hit me: the weight of the guitar was likely the key. It has been my experience that heavier guitars do tend to lose a little clarity. That being said, most super-lightweight guitars don't always sound great either.
In the end, the Baja Tele had to go back due. I believe Fender is on the right track with this series and I will not rule out even buying another one in the future, provided I can find one that is of a more reasonable weight. On deck: Fender's new VG Stratocaster and the recently introduced 1970s U.S. Vintage Stratocaster. Stay tuned …
