"We let John take this out and beat it up for a while. This is about as robust a unit as we can make – because it needed to be”: Inside Fender’s B-Bender revival – and the making of its very first in-house design

Fender John Osborne Telecaster B-Bender .

A Telecaster sporting a B-Bender is nothing new. This country mainstay dates back to 1967, when Byrds bandmates Clarence White and Gene Parsons put their heads together and dreamed up the first design, and with it a sound that would go on to define the genre. Fast-forward to 2026, Fender is ready to move beyond the iconic Parsons/White StringBender and try its hand at a design of its own.

​Fender’s urge to build their own B-Bender comes as it teams up with Grammy-winning guitarist and B-Bender fanatic John Osborne. The new signature Tele is built around a 1968 model, and while you get a Road Worn Olympic White finish, custom-voiced John Osborne pickups, compensated brass saddles, and a killer custom pickguard, what’s really turning heads is Fender’s first-ever in-house B-Bender.