Why I Like the Fender Modern Player Telecaster

As a guitar player for over thirty years, including several tours and dozens of recording sessions, I have learned something about what makes a guitar great. Over the years I've played a wide variety of electric guitars, including some truly exceptional instruments -- I have always been partial to Gibson Les Pauls, for example. But recently I encountered a guitar that really me with both its quality and the benefits it offers in terms of tonal flexibility: the Fender Modern Player Telecaster.

The Modern Player is intended as an entry-level Tele, which means it's affordable. The tradition of affordable "first" Fenders includes the Bronco and the Bullet series, all of which are easy on the wallet and have that great Fender biting tone. 
  

Fender Modern Player Telecaster Thinline Deluxe Black with MXR M169 Carbon Copy

The thing I really like about the Modern Player Telecaster, however, is the fact that it comes armed with three different pickups. The Telecaster was originally designed with two pickups as an answer to the Gibson Les Paul, which has two humbucker pickups and was starting to compete with Fender's hold on the electric guitar market in the 1960's. That's also the reason for the Telecaster's interesting single-cutaway design, which riffs on the Les Paul's body shape and allows players to more easily reach the higher frets. But the three-pickup design on Modern Player breaks from tradition. By having a representative of three major pickup designs, the guitar gives you all kinds of sweet versatility in terms of tone and timbre.

 
One of the most useful elements of the Modern Player is the sharp humbucking bridge pickup. The odd name comes from "buck the hum," which means it resists the interference, or "hum" that was generated by early pickups made from a single magnetic coil. In the 1930's, an engineer at Electro-Voice realized that placing two magnetic coils head-to-toe had the effect of cancelling out the hum. The idea was applied to electric guitar pickups in the 1950's by Gibson. Fender continued to rely on single-coil pickups, so to see one on a new stock Telecaster is unusual.  

A stock humbucker on a Fender is a cool feature that increases the guitar's versatility -- you can easily go from chiming single-coil tones to a heavier, Slash-like sound. The Modern Player compounds this by adding a single-coil tap out switch, which means you can choose to use the humbucker, with its warm, heavy sound, or hit the switch and convert it to single-coil, for the trademark biting Fender tone.

Other features on the Modern Player, like the 5-way toggle switch, are less surprising, but I do like the fact that they've kept the stings-through-the-body saddle arrangement. This style of bridge, which is generally unique to Fenders, makes changing strings a pain. But it does provide nice sustain by putting the strings in contact with more of the Modern Player's alpine aspen body.

A Nicely Matched Amplifier for Your New Guitar

If you get a guitar, you're going to need an amplifier. There are lots of decent little amps out there for less than a hundred bucks, and if you've never played through one you're going to be surprised how versatile and how LOUD, they are. I like this Mustang amp -- it's not going to break the bank, and it gives you enough punch and versatility to represent in most band practice and smaller gig situations.

My own playing days go back to the late 1970s when I was the "blazing" lead guitarist for a high school hard rock band. We were just barely good enough to play in the high school gym for 50 people, but I knew I had found my calling. At that point I was playing the only electric I could afford -- a Teisco Del-Rey, obtained for $65 from the Sears Catalogue. Good times! Now that I can afford a higher-quality guitar, I have found the Fender Modern Player Telecaster. It's affordable, but has features that you'd expect from Fender, one of the classic guitar brands of all time. In fact, some would argue that Fender is THE top manufacturer of electric guitars, and I would have to admit they have a strong case. One look at Jimi Hendrix throwing down on his sunburst Fender Stratocaster and I'm sold (the video of him setting that same guitar on fire is pretty good, too).

Fender versus Gibson -- two classics go head-to-head.

The Best Guitar Amplifier on the Planet?

The Fender Hot Rod Series is about as versatile as an amp can get

Fender tube amps are legendary for their power and versatility. What this means for you, the player, is the ability to cut through the mix and stand out from the other players on the stage (or in the practice room). I have played these amps for over twenty years, in clubs and on festival stages, and I am a true believer in the quality of Fender tube amps. When you go out into the world armed with a Fender amp like the Hot Rod series I talk about here, you go out ready to be heard loud and clear. I know from personal experience how important it is to know that your gear is dependable and powerful.

Fender Hot Rod Deluxe III 40-Watt 1x12-Inch Guitar Combo Amplifier

I played a Telecaster through this amp for many years. I thought at first that the punchy tone of the Hot Rod would make it a questionable choice for the Tele, which already possesses a ridiculous amount of punch on its own. But I use a Rat pedal (you can read about the almighty Rat distortion pedal here), and with the right amount of tweaking I can control the high-mid presence and get a truly heavy tone when I need it. These amps are solid and powerful but they don't weight a ton, and if you want to you can add another speaker enclosure for more sound. This amp has waaaay more power than you would expect. For clubs this is all the amp than you need. A solid, super-versatile amp for serious players.

Fender Hot Rod Deluxe 112 Enclosure 80-Watt 1x12-Inch Guitar Amp Cabinet - Black

For a long time I played a Fender Bassman 50 through a 4x10 Marshall cabinet, which I combined with my favorite distortion pedal, the Rat. The relatively mellow vibe of the Rat -- mellow when you turn the tone control 3/4 way to the right -- made the heaviness of the Bassman truly impressive. I used this rig for years, so it was not a huge jump when I got a Fender combo amp and added a speaker enclosure for extra weight and power. 

The Fender Hot Rod with an External Speaker Cabinet

The idea of using an extra enclosure is intriguing and worth looking into if you're a player and you're looking for extra power and projection. So let's say you decide to go with a Fender amplifier with one speaker, like the Fender Deluxe. You'll have a punchy, powerful amp capable of filling small clubs with no problem. But then your band takes off! You pick up a short promo tour, playing larger clubs, a few theaters, and maybe an outdoor festival or two. Now you need a bigger sound, but no-one's given you any advance money yet, and you still need to make rent and keep yourself in boots and long-necks. No problem! This stand-alone speaker cabinet adds weight to your sound, creating a Fender amp stack. It also looks a lot more "official" up there on those bigger stages where your single combo amp doesn't look quite as cool as it did down in the basement.

Fender Hot Rod 0213205700 Blues Junior III 15-W LTD Tube Guitar Combo Amplifier, Tweed

I myself have never owned one of these, but my college roommate did, and I got to play it quite a bit. Don't be fooled by the relatively low 15 watt rating -- this amp is LOUD. It's more than enough for practice rooms and small clubs, which is where most of us would-be rock stars spend their time, anyway. It uses a pair of EL84 Groove Tubes to create a warm, punchy tone that works beautifully with effects pedals. The single 12-inch speaker is two inches bigger than those in many single-speaker amps, which gives it a surprisingly heavy sound for a combo amp.

Fender Hot Rod Deluxe 112 Enclosure 80-Watt 1x12-Inch Guitar Amp Cabinet - Tweed

Like the black single speaker enclosure listed above, this will give your sound weight and power to help you fill larger stages. This fits under a Fender combo amp to form an amp stack that will give you all the sound you need for nearly any show. The power of a Fender stack is hard to appreciate until you play through one.

Fender Hot Rod DeVille 410 III 60-Watt 4x10-Inch Guitar Combo Amp

 

This is another set-up that I have not owned, but it's not a lot different from the combo-enclosure combination that served me so well through years of touring. This amp is essentially the same idea, only all in one unit. I can only assume that it rocks just as hard, but to be honest just looking at the thing makes my back hurt -- that many speakers, and that many heavy speaker magnets, will make this amp a pretty heavy item. But it's a rock machine. Four -- count 'em, four -- speakers pump out serious volume. I can't think off-hand of any club or festival stage I've played where this wouldn't be more than enough amplifier. It's heavy, folks, enough so that you may want to consider investing in some roadies to help share the load. It also comes in a hot "Red October" Hot Rod limited edition that's pretty cool, too. Big-time amplification for those of us still on the road, and still looking to over power just about everything else on the stage.

I hope you get a chance to test drive one of these amplifiers at some point. It might make you a true believer like me.

The Best Affordable Fender Electric Guitars

Fender has been making electric guitars for well over fifty years, and was among the first to make electric guitars in the 1950s. Along with Gibson, Fender created instruments on the cutting edge of technology for the time. The two best-known Fender models are the Stratocaster and theTelecaster, both solid-body electrics famous for their playability and nearly indestructible design. Nowadays, many Fenders are manufactured overseas, which means there are affordable models with somewhat lower specs that will not cost you the $1,000-plus price that a full-fledged American-made guitar commands. But these are still Fender guitars, which means they are dependable and playable, and have that bright and clear Fender sound. Here I'll talk a little about these affordable, but still good quality, Fender electric guitars.

Best Affordable Fender Electrics -- The Standard Telecaster

I'm putting this one here, even though it is not exactly cheap, because it's a genuine, full-bore Fender Telecaster for under $500, which in my book is something of a steal. These guitars are more than just instruments -- their iconic design and instantly recognizable twang are part of popular culture. Maybe you aren't in the market for this much guitar, but I have played one for years and I just couldn't resist tossing this one out there.

Best Affordable Fender Electrics -- The Starcaster

I like this starter Fender for a number of reasons, but one of the coolest is the whammy bar -- it's unusual to find a tremolo bridge on an affordable Fender guitar. This means that even beginners can start finding their inner Jeff Beck, or Jimi Hendrix, right out of the gate. The five-way toggle combined with three single-coil pickups gives you the excellent tonal versatility you expect from Fender. The Starcaster is a cool model that's not all that commonly seen, and will set you apart from the legion of Bullets and Squiers out there.

In many cases, Fender sweetens the deal with a package that includes a solid little amplifier (with tube-style distortion), extra strings, strap, and all the cords and picks you need. If you can, find a package deal like this and you'll save a fair amount of work finding a decent little starter amplifier and all the little extras you'll need. Cords and picks -- in my touring days, I would have been happy simply to be handed those...

Best Affordable Fender Electrics -- Squier Bullet Strat

This is a sweet guitar, the kind of instrument Fender has become the leader in producing -- affordable, high quality, and more than a little cool. It turns out that the classic Fender design and sound translates well to the beginner class, and so young guitarists are getting the benefit of affordability coupled with a true rock classic sound. I only wish that were true when I was a kid in the '70's -- if we wanted an affordable guitar back then, we had two choices: Sears or JC Penny's. They weren't even all that cheap, and nowadays those guitars, derisively called "SearsCasters" back then, sell for a respectable amount on eBay.

This "Daphne Blue" Squier is a solid little guitar, guaranteed playable right out of the box, with Fender's typical low action that works well for hands of any size. Like the Starcaster, above, it has a whammy bar. You might as well start right out with a tremolo bar on your guitar, to get a head start on the other shredders in the neighborhood.

Other features include three Stratocaster single-coil pickups, a five-way toggle switch for maximum tonal versatility, and neck with 21 jumbo frets. Squiers are nice guitars, a brilliant buy for the price.

Best Affordable Fender Electrics -- Squier Vintage Jaguar

Who played a Fender Jaguar? Well, for a long time practically no one, and then Kurt Cobain, and then practically everyone. It's a cool-looking guitar, very 1960's in appearance, and once the icon of grunge music rocked one, all kinds of bands followed suit. I myself never owned a Jaguar, though I used one in a studio session and liked it a lot. It's super-versatile and has a real edgy tone that works great with effects.

One of the features that I especially like here is the "Duncan Designed" single-coil pickups. Seymour Duncan is the top name in premium pick-up design, and these pickups are made to get that bright, powerful tone that made Jaguars the guitar to have. The Squier Jaguar has a floating tremolo bridge and vintage style throughout (check out the cool bullet-tip tremolo arm). A true rock machine, and one of those interments that sets you apart from the pack. And the colors rock too, from Surf Green, Candy Apple Red, and Olympic White to the three-color Sunburst.

Best Affordable Fender Electrics -- Squier Affinity Telecaster

The butterscotch blonde finish on the Telecaster makes it look very much like a vintage guitar costing several times what you'll actually pay. If looks matter to you, then you can't go wrong with this instrument. The Alder wood body is coated with a gloss polyurethane that captures the glow of the wood grain and highlights the blonde finish. Really a good-looking electric -- it's surprising it's so affordable.

Two bright single-coil pickups, a three-way tone selector switch, and a six-saddle "top-load" bridge round out the features. I especially like the fact that the bridge doesn't require passing the strings through the body of the guitar. It's always a bit of a pain to re-string a "body-through" Fender. 

Blackout FSR Telecaster

If you can still find one,the Blackout FSR is hands-down one of the coolest affordable guitars on the market. All gloss-black attitude and a flawless finish put it at the front of the pack. But there's more going on with this Fender than meets the eye.

For one thing, notice the pick-ups -- instead of the standard Fender single-coils, the Blackout features two humbuckers, a true rarity in the land of Fenders, which are known for having single-coil pickups. The cool think about humbuckers us the fact that they don't buzz like singe-coils are prone to do. I remember at least three clubs that I used to play at that had their fridges and coolers on the same circuit as the stage, and when those suckers kicked on, my single-coil Telecaster would buzz something fierce. Humbuckers are specifically designed to counteract this by placing two coils head-to-head in the same pickup (which is why they were sometimes called "double humbuckers"). One fortunate effect of this set-up is a warmer, heavier tone, as embodied by the Gibson Les Paul.

What this means for the Blackout is that it's a very un-Fenderish Fender, with the weight and features of a Gibson. This is the electric guitar version of hybrid vigor...

Best Affordable Fender Electrics -- Fender Standard Stratocaster

This is a classic rock machine, and while it may not compare price-wise to some of the others on this lens, it is, for a full-on Fender Strat, eminently affordable. The features of the Fender Standard Stratocaster are well-known to any experienced guitar player, as they have certainly played one at some point in their career (or else, maybe you aren't quite as experienced as you think).

The humbucking bridge pickup lends a little of that double-coil weight and versatility to this Strat, which means you can play just about any kind of much you choose. Add in the classic round-back neck and 70's styling on the headstock, and you've got a tremendously sweet guitar for a rock-bottom price. Highly recommended, even for beginners.

Best Affordable Fender Electrics -- The Strat Pack

It's funny how often a new guitar student will walk into my studio with a brand new Fender electric and no amplifier -- it's like they forget they would need one! Fortunately I'm always rigged up to provide an amp for students, but it's still true that beginner electric guitar players need something to play through. That's why I Iike combo packs: the amp is included, and it's a punchy little number with tube-style distortion built in. Some players I know use these little amps for backstage practice, or even rehearsal sessions.

Additional features worth knowing about: guitar stand, strap, and, of course, a gig bag. The guitar has three bright-sounding single-coil pickups. And if you're not quite ready for prime-time, no problem -- the amplifier has a built-in headphone jack for private riffing.

Gibson versus Fender -- two classics go head-to-head.

What Do I Know About Buying Musical Instruments?

I have been in touring rock bands for almost 25 years, and, I can safely say that I know what to look for and what to avoid when buying an instrument. In addition to my road gig experience, I have taught drums and guitar for many years. As part of my teaching work, I have helped dozens of students and their families decide which guitars, amplifiers, and drum sets to buy. I take into consideration some things others don't, like playability, durability, and the cost of accessories. I hope my advice here helps you decide which affordable Fender electric is right for you.

Portable Power -- Battery Powered Amp Reviews and Features

The Classic Pignose  Amp

 

Most electric guitar amplifiers need to be plugged into a wall outlet to work: this means that to play through an amp you need to be (a) close to a wall, or (b) able to carry your wall with you wherever you go. Most walls are too big and heavy to make this practical.

Fortunately there are some very good, and quite powerful, battery-powered guitar amplifiers out there. Years ago there was really only one name in battery-powered amps, and that was the Pignose portable amplifier. These classic little units, with their brown leather trim and chrome pig-snout volume control, were solid and dependable, and some players even used them as a recording amp (Frank Zappa, for example). But they were a little heavy, and absolutely devoured batteries, so if you were playing for any length of time you still needed to be near an outlet to plug in the adapter.

The Marshall Battery-Powered Full Stack

More recently, companies from Fender to Marshall to Orange have begun making their own little practice battery-powered amplifiers. The Marshall MS2 Micro Guitar Amplifier is especially appealing, since it looks exactly like a tiny Marshall combo amp, and packs a serious punch. These later models were much easier on battery life, too. I myself played a few record store shows with a miniature Marshall clipped to my lapel, and the result was pretty excellent. At least I thought so.

Modern battery-powered amps come in any number of varieties and designs. Many even have features that used to be available only on fancy-pants plug-in models. If you're playing in your apartment, or (if you're lucky) backstage before a show, you don't need to drag a full-sized amp around. You can even take these little guys down to the park and let the birds hear your heavenly guitar stylings. So cut yourself loose from the extension cord, and for heaven's sake put down that wall! These battery powered amps may be just what you need.

The Marshall Battery Stack!

The Marshall Battery Stack!

Battery Powered Amps: The Roland Mobile Cube

Roland Cube Battery-Powered Amp

With a sparkling a 5-Star Amazon rating, Roland's rock-steady reputation only improves with this little marvel. Punchy, loud, and truly versatile. Electric and acoustic guitar, keyboards, computer audio, MP3 or CD playback, mini-PA, field recorder playback -- you can even do karaoke through this amp. Fits into your backpack and runs on batteries -- what more could you want?

Battery Powered Amps: The Original Pignose Amplifier

The Pignose is a true original, the first portable, battery-powered guitar amp ever put into popular distribution. These remarkably powerful little amps were first released in the mid-1970's, and you can get the same legendary quality and tone today. The "Legendary 7-100," as it's known, is one of those few products that remains unchanged and as good as it ever was.

An original Pignose, complete with snout

The first Pignose amps had a rubber pig nose for a volume knob, and prototypes were given away to The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, The Stones, The Eagles, and The Who. Soon the little 5-watt amp with the king-sized sound was being used by pro musicians as a recording preamp. And by street musicians as a way to wail without plugging into an outlet.

Pignose amp specs and features

The Pignose weighs about 6 pounds, uses 6 AA batteries, and pumps out 5 watts of clean or distorted power. If you happen to be near an outlets, there's an adapter included. Plus the Pignose looks cool. What more is there? Fire up your recording studio, rehearsal hall, dressing room, dorm room, backyard or street corner with Pignose tone. The Pignose has a rough, bluesy sound not unlike a Marshall -- it's the opposite of the hyper-processed, digital distortion sound of so many modern amps, battery powered and otherwise. While it's short on features and not terribly versatile, the Pignose has that raw 70's sound that plenty of players spend plenty of cash to get.

Battery Powered Amps: Danelectro Honeytone N-10 Guitar Mini Amp

This little monster looks cool and plays loud, and if you can get those two things down, then you've pretty much got rock and roll aced. It's tiny, even in the company of the battery powered amps here, but you'll be surprised by how bright and loud this amp is. It has an excellent 4.3 Star rating on Amazon, and best of all, it costs less than your average guitar strap.

The HoneyTone amp also sports a real leather handle, belt clip, headphone jack, and serious overdrive. Powered by one -- yes, one -- 9-volt battery (included). Best of all -- CHECK OUT THAT PRICE! This is a real winner for Danelectro. Even though it has some limitations, this amp is among the best options for beginners and cash-strapped players.

Battery Powered Amps: The Marshall Line

I played one of these amps for a long time -- when my band did in-store performances (without big amps or a drum set), we would clip these little Marshall Stack amps onto our coats and just rock out. Surprisingly loud, or I guess not surprisingly, if you have ever played through a full-sized Marshall stack, or stood in front of one while someone else did...

Marshall Battery Amps

Tiny Marshall Power!

Marshall has taken the lead in developing serious battery-powered guitar amps. They offer a good variety of amps with some impressive specs. The features and flexibility of standard Marshall amps are reflected in the numbers.

Battery Powered Amps: TheOrange Amplifiers Micro Crush

Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath rocked Orange amps back in the day, and as far as I'm concerned that's all you need to know. But let's add in the fact that this amp has a 4.5 out of 5 star rating on Amazon, a built-in tuner, headphone out, and the most brutal overdrive in rock, and you can't ask for much more in a battery amp.

The Orange Micro-Crush

The Tone King compares battery amps in a side-by-side shootout, and the results may surprise you...

So there you go, Gas Music fans -- the best-rated battery amps, all in one place. Rock out, cord free, forever.

Before you go, have a look at the best electronic rock and roll drum sets.