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Fender Classic Player Baja 60s Telecaster – Faded Sonic Blue

I think these Telecasters are great values. You get a great guitar for a very reasonable price. I could not pass up a “sale day” from one of the big online retailers that offered a 15% OFF an already well priced guitar. So I snatched up a Faded Sonic Blue one.

The guitar weighs about 7-lbs 15-ozs on my scale. Not bad, as some of these have been said to be a bit on the heavy side. The setup was great out of the box. Factory used 9 gauge strings and I generally use 10 gauge on Telecasters so I will likely change the strings eventually. Guitar plays really nice and the pickups sound good. My only criticism is they used a round switch tip. I will swap out the tip for a top hat style one that is usually seen on 60s Telecasters. I have a tweed Fender case and will store the guitar instead of the Fender Deluxe gig bag it came with.

Over the past few years, the Mexican-made Baja Tele (MIM) has gained a truly steller reputation as being a superb sounding, beautiful guitar with a custom vibe at a reasonable price. There are those Baja fans on the Telecaster forums that claim it is the best Tele ever.

I already owned a Fender FSR Baja Telecaster Classic Player in Vegas Gold Sparkle that I like very much. I eventually had Forrest Lee Jr install a B Bender in this guitar for me. The Baja Telecaster Classic Player is based on a 50s Telecaster that has a fatter neck and different pickups. It comes with Custom Shop Twisted for neck/Broadcaster for bridge with ash body and maple neck.

I was thinking of building a 60s style Telecaster with rosewood neck/alder body, but instead jumped on this MIM for the great price. Don’t let the MIM (Made in Mexico) and price tag bother you. These are great Telecasters. The fit and finish is quite nice.

Main differences between the Fender Classic Player Baja 50s and Fender Classic Player Baja 60s:
Body: Ash vs Alder
Neck: Maple vs Rosewood Fingerboard
Neck Profile: 50s Fat vs 60s C shaped
String Tree: Round vs Single Wing
Pickups: Broadcaster and Twisted Tele vs American Vintage ’52 and ’58 Tele
Pickguard: Black (5 screw) vs Parchment 3-ply (8 screw)
Colors offered

The Fender Classic Player Baja ’60s Telecaster offers a very cool variation on the timeless Fender guitar. The 3-saddle bridge and string-through-body provide classic twang and sustain. Like the original Teles came with bridge assemblies that consisted of three brass saddles rather than six individually adjustable saddles. Many players of vintage Telecasters feel that the brass saddles while making intonation a bit more difficult, is what gave the Tele that unmistakable tone. I have loved that sound and always think of Steve Cropper!

Fender used ’58 and ’52 American Vintage single-coil pickups, giving you plenty warmth and edge along with Tele twang. On top of its custom pickups, this electric guitar is wired with a special 4-position blade switch and a 2-position S-1 switch. This custom configuration gives you tonal options ranging from classic Tele to series and parallel out-of-phase tones – not to mention special fat tones and high-output settings. From classic to modern, this Tele’s got the tone variations covered.

Former Fender Custom Shop Master Builder Chris Fleming has taken his previous design for the Classic Player Baja 50s Telecaster and created a version with full-on 1960s features and vibe, including a maple fingerboard, 3-Ply Parchment and a comfortable ’60s “C”-shaped neck profile.

The Fender Classic Player Baja 60s Telecaster Electric Guitar also features an alder body, 9.5″ fingerboard radius and 21 medium jumbo frets, single-coil American Vintage ’52 Tele (neck) and ’58 Tele (bridge) pickups with special four-way (including both pickups in series) and S-1 switching, three-ply pickguard, American Vintage string-through-body Telecaster bridge with three brass “barrel” saddles, special Custom Shop neck plate engraving and more. Deluxe gig bag included.

Fender offers this model in Faded Sonic Blue, 3 color Sunburst and Candy Apple Red.

Specs:

• Body wood: Alder
• Body finish: Gloss Polyester
• Neck shape: ’60s C shape
• Neck wood: Maple/Rosewood Fingerboard
• Scale length: 25.5″
• Truss rod: Standard at heel
• Neck finish: Gloss Urethane
• Radius: 9.5″
• Neckplate: “Custom Shop Designed” Engraving
• Single “Wing” String Tree
• Fret size: Medium jumbo
• Number of frets: 21
• Inlays: Dot
• Nut: Synthetic Bone with 1.65″ (42mm) width
• Neck Pickup: American vintage ’52 Tele
• Bridge Pickup: American vintage ’58 Tele
• Controls: S-1 switching, 4-way pickup switch, volume and tone
• Bridge: 3-saddle vintage-style
• Tuning machines: Vintage-style
• Color: Faded Sonic Blue with Nickel/chrome hardware
• Case: Fender Deluxe Gig bag
• Country of origin: Mexico

S-1 Switch Up:
Position 1: bridge pickup
Position 2: bridge and neck pickups (in parallel)
Position 3: neck pickup (standard Tele)
Position 4: neck and bridge pickups (in series) (fatter tone than Position 2 and more output than Position 1, 2, or 3)

S-1 Switch Down:
Position 1: bridge pickup
Position 2: bridge and neck pickups (in parallel) out of phase
Position 3: neck pickup (standard Tele)
Position 4: neck and bridge pickups (in series) out of phase

Baja Telecaster and my Custom Built Sonic Blue Stratocaster