Fender American Vintage guitars are built 100% to vintage specifications. Tastefully acknowledging the great history and heritage of Fender throughout the 50s and 60s, the new 2012 American Vintage guitars bring to life classic Fender instruments of the early years of electric guitars in a modern, period-accurate form.

The American Vintage '52 Tele is perfectly-sculpted to vintage specifications with a lot of attention paid to the heel, neck profile and radius for a truly authentic 52 Tele feel. The new Fender "Flash Coat Lacquer" finish is designed to provide an authentic look and allow the natural resonances of the wood to breathe and resonate freely.

Here's what Fender say about the American Vintage '52 Telecaster

The American Vintage series introduces an all-new lineup of original-era model year guitars that bring Fender history and heritage to authentic and exciting new life. With key features and pivotal design elements spanning the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, new American Vintage series instruments delve deep into Fender's roots-expertly preserving an innovative U.S. guitar-making legacy and vividly demonstrating like never before that Fender not only knows where it's going, but also remembers where it came from.

The American Vintage Series has long presented some of Fender's best selling guitars (their early-'80s introduction, in fact, was one of the first signs that Fender was "back" as the CBS era ended). Today, Fender has boldly cleared the slate to make way for a fresh American Vintage series with new features, new specs and the most meticulous level of vintage accuracy yet. Rather than just replacing the previous models with different ones, we've completely and comprehensively re-imagined the entire vintage-reissue concept-restoring original tooling dies, voicing new pickups, reformulating vintage colors and more-based on actual vintage guitars we tracked down to make sure we had it right. We did the work, and it shows, because there's pure tonal magic in each new American Vintage instrument.

With its big maple neck, the 1952 Telecaster was a landmark guitar in Fender history, and nowhere is today's re-dedication to detail more evident than on the American Vintage '52 Telecaster, which returns to the fold with body, neck and pickups refined with the best features (tones, curves, perimeters, radii and more) from a handful of extraordinary '52 Tele specimens we examined. Premium features include an ash body with a singe-ply black pickguard and thin nitrocellulose lacquer finish in lighter Butterscotch Blonde, deep maple neck with "U"-shaped profile and generously rolled edges, sculpted headstock volute for even more first-position comfort, long-lost recessed-top "barrel" switch tip, vintage tuner spacing for truly straight string pull over the bone nut, vintage-style bridge with three brass saddles, and knurled chrome domed control knobs.

Specifications

• Model Name: American Vintage '52 Telecaster®
• Series: American Vintage

Color / Part #

• Butterscotch Blonde 011-0202-850

Body

• Body: Ash
• Body Shape: Telecaster®
• Body Finish: 0110202850 New Fender Flash Coat Lacquer

Neck

• Neck Shape: "U" Shape
• Number of Frets: 21
• Fret Size: Vintage Style Frets
• Fretboard Radius: 7.25" (18.41 cm)
• Fretboard: Maple
• Neck Material: Maple
• Neck Finish: New Fender Flash Coat Lacquer
• Nut Width: 1.650? (42 mm)
• Scale Length: 25.5" (64.8 cm)
• Truss Rods: Vintage-Style Heel Adjust

Electronics

• Pickup Configuration: S/S
• Bridge Pickup: New American Vintage '52 Tele® Single-Coil Pickup (Bridge)
• Neck Pickup: New American Vintage '52 Tele® Single-Coil Pickup (Neck)
• Pickup Switching: 3-Position Blade:  Position 1. Bridge Pickup, Position 2. Bridge and Neck Pickups, Position 3. Neck Pickup
• Controls: Master Volume, Master Tone

Hardware

• Hardware: Chrome
• Bridge: Original Vintage Tele® Bridge with 3 Brass Saddles
• String Nut: Bone
• Tuning Machines: Single Line "Fender Deluxe" Vintage Style
• Switch Tip: Barrel Style Switch Tip

Miscellaneous

• Strings: Fender® USA 250R NPS, (.010-.046 Gauges)
• Unique Features: Slightly lighter Butterscotch Blonde finish; Large maple neck with re-sculpted U-shaped profile and comfortably rolled edges; All-new pickups wound to period-correct specs and sound; "Barrel" switch tip and knurled chrome domed control knobs

Accessories

• Case/Gig Bag: New Deluxe Vintage Tweed Case
• Pickguards: 1-Ply Black
• Included Accessories: Vintage '52 Tele Strap, Cable, and Cloth; Vintage Wiring Kit, '50s Tele Information Kit, Bridge Cover, Owner's Manual, Saddle Height Wrench
• Control Knobs: New Knurled Chrome Round Dome