Julian Lage is an outstanding guitar player, this much is known. He might be doing more than most right now to bring new guitar fans to jazz but he's also partial to quite an atypical guitar for the genre; the Telecaster. He owns some vintage and custom beauties, but we were pleasantly surprised to find him in the roll call of musicians to demo the new – and very impressive – Player II Telecaster.
As our Player II Telecaster review points out, Fender's latest Mexican range is really the core guitar series for the company right now and it features some seemingly subtle upgrades from the original Players that add up to tangible improvements for guitarists – those rolled fingerboard edges especially.
So it's a bit of a treat to see the ever-affable Julian talk through the relatively affordable model (in Polar White) for Guitar Center and make it sound utterly sublime.
"Quite frankly I think Telecasters are cool," he says. "Their cultural significance is massive. From the earliest days of the instrument, from what I understand, this was a really innovative and elegant instrument. Simple, but profound and flexible."
Doesn't it all make you love your Tele just a little bit more? Or want to buy one.
"What's so hip about the Telecaster is its evolved with culture," adds Julian. "It's become the best guitar for really every genre, at every point in time, for those that choose to use it.
"It's emblematic of something very important to me, which is innovation and art – that's why I love it so much."
The Player II Tele is very much a guitar to grow with and here Julian showcases its tonal range superbly. Surely he's got to be in line for a signature model soon!
Check out the new Fender Player II range at Guitar Center, Thomann, Sweetwater, Andertons, Reverb and Gear4Music. And for more Julian Lage guitar action – check out Paul Davids' new interview with him below.
