The Latest Breaking News from Leo Fender

“If I had a perfect Strat, I’d take off a volume and a tone knob – because I’m a dreadful man – just to make it like a Tele”: Graham Coxon on the perfection of the Telecaster (and why you shouldn’t lend him your Strat)

The Blur guitarist reflects on his “wooden wife” –and the charms of the Tele’s weird headstock

Guitar World · Aug 24

“I kept this under my bed. Then one day I was like, ‘What are you doing?’ I took it out… within a night or two, it fell off the stand and got a chip”: How Keith Urban found Clarence, the Telecaster that's still his number one

Urban looks back on the origin story of his 1989 Fender 40th Anniversary Telecaster, which has defined his guitar tone and playing style

Guitar World · Aug 4

“They had a picture of me up at the NAMM Show but I wasn’t an endorsee! I went to the Fender booth, and they said, ‘We want to give you a deal’”: John 5 is a modern master of the Telecaster – here are his 5 favorite Teles

The stories behind 5’s favorites, featuring the Mötley Crüe guitarist’s custom Ghost and Phantom builds, and a vintage doozy that convinced Fender he should be on the artist roster

Guitar World · Aug 3

6 reasons why Fender won’t win its Stratocaster legal campaign – according to the lawyer who beat them before

Ron Bienstock, the attorney who defeated Fender's previous attempt to trademark the Strat, has been hired to defend a firm hit by recent cease-and-desist letters – and Guitar World has seen a redacted response

Guitar World · May 26

“This threatens not only our business, but also the future of S-style guitars for builders and players across the European Union”: Is this the beginning of the end for the S-style? Fender issues cease and desist letter to US builder

We are now seeing the downstream effects of Fender's legal victory in Germany as Strat EU legal protections bring lawyers' letters to the doors of US guitar makers

MusicRadar · May 19

14 ways to improve your Telecaster: tried and tested methods to get more out of Fender’s original mod platform

Players were already modifying their Telecasters in the 1950s, and a thriving aftermarket parts industry provides countless ways to enhance playability, reliability and tone

Guitar World · May 19

“This case could set a precedent, impacting countless other builders and musicians”: Fender escalates legal campaign against S-style guitars, issues first cease and desist to US builder

Family-run LsL Instruments is seeking to raise funds for its legal battle against Fender, which has instructed the firm to stop making its S-style guitars

Guitar World · May 18

“What began as a niche guitar developed for Californian country has become a musical universal wrench: from metal to jazz, from pop to grindcore”: The evolution of the Fender Telecaster – the original solid-body electric guitar that started it all

As the Telecaster turns 75, we chart its history – hardware, parts, and all – from the Nocaster days to the Wide Range era

Guitar World · May 12

“This city didn't just embrace the Telecaster, it helped define it”: Fender’s Telecaster 75th anniversary show might be the greatest assemblage of Tele talent ever

Held at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, the Tele Town concert was highlighted by perhaps the most electrifying Telecaster jam of all time – featuring, to name a few participants, Jack White, Brad Paisley, Tommy Emmanuel, and John Osborne

Guitar World · May 6

“One is the archetypal vintage workhorse, the other aims to be a hot-rodded example that any custom builder might devise”: Fender 75th Anniversary Vintera Road Worn 1951 Telecaster & American Professional Classic Cabronita Telecaster review

To mark the company’s diamond anniversary, Fender has released a slew of celebratory models. Here’s a pair of polar opposite but equally alluring Telecasters

MusicRadar · May 2