Fender Blacktop Telecaster HH Electric Guitar (Rosewood Fingerboard) (Used)
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- Product #H61566
The most affordable humbucking pickup-equipped Telecaster ever made.
The Blacktop Telecaster HH is a no-nonsense dual-bucker Tele that'll blow your mind without breaking the bank. Vintage-style Fender Blacktop alnico humbucking pickups deliver the hot high-gain power of today's most aggressive sounds; other distinctive touches include skirted black amp knobs, reversed control plate, and a vintage-style hard-tail bridge with six grooved saddles for optimum string alignment. Features include an alder body, maple neck, 9.5"-radius rosewood fretboard, 22 medium jumbo frets, gloss urethane finish, and nickel/chrome hardware.
Check the drop-down menu to the right to select colors and/or other options.
Features
- Series: Blacktop
- Body shape: Telecaster
- Body material: alder
- Neck: maple
- Neck finish: gloss urethane
- Fretboard: Rosewood
- Position inlays: white dots
- String nut: synthetic bone
- Bridge pickup: Hot Vintage alnico humbucking pickup with nickel cover
- Neck pickup: Hot Vintage alnico humbucking pickup with nickel cover
- Pickup switching: 3-way blade switch
- Controls: master volume, master tone
- Hardware: nickel/chrome
- Tuning keys: standard cast/sealed tuning machines
- Bridge: strings-through-body hardtail bridge with 6 cast saddles
- Strap buttons: vintage style
- Control knobs: skirted amp knobs
- Pickguard: 3-ply black
- Strings: Super 250L's, NPS (.009-.042 gauges)
- Included accessories: truss rod adjustment wrench, saddle height adjustment wrench
A Tele for today's rocker!
Blacktop Telecaster HH Electric Guitar (Rosewood Fingerboard) Specifications:
- Scale length: 25.5" (648 mm)
- Nut width: 1.65" (42)
- Truss rod nut: 3/16" adjustable hex nut
- Fretboard radius: 9.5" (241)
- Frets: 22, medium jumbo
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Review Snapshot®
by PowerReviews(based on 29 reviews)
Ratings Distribution
80%
of respondents would recommend this to a friend.
Pros
- Good feel (6)
- Fun to play (5)
- Good tone (5)
- Good pick up (4)
Cons
Best Uses
- Jamming (5)
- Practicing (5)
- Recording (3)
- Rock concerts (3)
- Small venues (3)
- Reviewer Profile:
- Experienced (4)
Most Liked Positive Review
Not your father's tele
I'm a gear junkie - I admit it - I revel in it. This is a "must have" at this price. Is this the best guitar I own? No. Is...Read complete review
I'm a gear junkie - I admit it - I revel in it. This is a "must have" at this price. Is this the best guitar I own? No. Is this the best guitar for the money at this time? Yeah, I think so. Is this guitar gonna get a lot of use? Yep. Some live in their case, some hang on the wall, this one will get used.
I put strap locks on it since guitars make an awful noise when the strap slips off the factory button and the neck hits the stage. Go thou and do likewise.
The humbuckers make it possible to get a rounder, fuller tone than the normal tele. I can get something for most every need. And.....they're pretty good humbuckers. I see no reason, at this time, to replace them. That's a big statement since the pickups to do just that are new in the box and in my file cabinet. This is one Fender that Seymour Duncan is not going love, the factory pickups are that good. People who think the neck pickup is muddy didn't listen to my guitar.
Neck is as good as any MIJ neck I've come across. I'm a fan of those MIJ necks. I own two American tele's and prefer the MIJ necks. (I'm not out here alone either)
The. Bridge. Needs. Work. There's gotta be a better idea or better execution on this one. If it is possible I'll put string savers on it. Not much room to work with though so that may be a lost cause. If all else fails I'll just grind off about half of the height adjustment screws
The workmanship could be a little better. Having said that, it's better than anything else I've seen at this price point.
Unless your're hung up on "twang" buy it.
VS
Most Liked Negative Review
Where's the Treble?
I tried one out in a store, and this is not something I'd buy. First of all, if you're looking for a Tele sound, you won't find it here. The bridge pickup has...Read complete review
I tried one out in a store, and this is not something I'd buy. First of all, if you're looking for a Tele sound, you won't find it here. The bridge pickup has NO bite or twang. Less in fact than other humbucker equipped guitars. The neck pickup provides a nice warm tone that jazz players would probably like but the bridge pickup provides almost no treble to augment that. Just to be clear the pickups on this guitar are NOT the pickups used on the Telecaster Thinline (which are great). The action was a bit high for my tastes but the neck seemed decent. Overall, I find this guitar too limited unless the bridge pickup is replaced. If you want humbuckers on Tele, buy a Thinline. That guitar was a home run. This isn't even a base hit. I don't know what Fender was thinking with this one.
Reviews
Reviewed by 29 customers
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Displaying reviews 1-10
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Pros
- Cool look
- Fun To Play
- Good Feel
- Good Ol' Tele Action
- Good Ol' Tele Twang
- Good Pick Up
- Good Tone
- Solid Electronics
Cons
Best Uses
- Country Gigs
- Jamming
- Practicing
- Recording
- Retro '50s Gigs
- Small Venues
Comments about Fender Blacktop Telecaster HH Electric Guitar (Rosewood Fingerboard):
I've owned just about every Fender model except a Tele. Never liked the looks, mainly. But, when I found this smart silver and black one on Musicians Friend, I suddenly saw the Tele profile in a new light (pun intended). This ugly little road warrior ax had developed class !
And I'm so glad now that I adopted one. This one arrived in excellent condition, all it needed was, of course, a quick tuning. The finish and overall craftsmanship were pristine. The controls ran a full range of the reedy Tele pallet. Good weight balance between the neck and the body, well-honed fret bars and a flat neck back all make for comfort and speed.
Pros
- Fun To Play
- Good Feel
- Good Pick Up
- Good Tone
Cons
- Poor Quality Craftsmanship
Best Uses
Comments about Fender Blacktop Telecaster HH Electric Guitar (Rosewood Fingerboard):
What you see is what you get. An awesome Fender Tele feel, but with the roundness and high output of the humbuckers. With one tone knob (which is surprisingly versatile) and one volume this guitar is really a less-talk-more-rock deal. This will definitely be my workhorse for a while.
Really the negative (and it's a big negative) is the amount of work that goes into the guitar to get it up and running. Completely out of whack intonation, nothing a quick setup couldn't fix though, but the bigger issue is the pots and input. They are complete garbage as you will see reading other's reviews. When I got the guitar right out of the box the bridge pickup simply did not work, completely dead. I took it to a Fender authorized repairman and had it fixed. Took it home and the bridge pickup was REALLY quiet, a few days later was completely out. Had to take it back to get fixed again. Ended up just getting new pots and an input altogether. Clear sailing since then.
Solid buy, great variety of tones, you can't really go wrong as long as you put the extra effort into it.
Pros
- Fun To Play
- Good Feel
- Good Tone
- Hot Pickups
Cons
- Paint
Best Uses
- Jamming
- Practicing
- Rock Concerts
- Rock Music
Comments about Fender Blacktop Telecaster HH Electric Guitar (Rosewood Fingerboard):
Great guitar for the price. When I got the guitar, it had a few paint bubbles. I liked the guitar enough I got over it and fixed the paint. Not a Tele sound at all. I play this guitar with a JCM900 and it sounds amazing.
Pros
- Fun To Play
- Good Feel
- Good Pick Up
- Good quality
- Good Tone
Cons
Best Uses
- Jamming
- Practicing
- Recording
- Rock Concerts
- Small Venues
Comments about Fender Blacktop Telecaster HH Electric Guitar (Rosewood Fingerboard):
Great guitar. I was stuck on owning a gretsch. But I picked this guitar up in Guitar Center and it felt like home. The neck pickup is a little muddy but you'd expect that from a humbucker. The two pickups together sound great and thick. The bridge has a great bite to it. I really can play some solid rock on this as well as jazz. Really a well built guitar. I put 10's on it and it really livened it up. Definitely worth the money.
Pros
- Fun To Play
- Good Feel
- Good Pick Up
- Good Tone
- Solid Electronics
Cons
Best Uses
- Jamming
- Practicing
- Recording
- Rock Concerts
- School Bands
- Small Venues
Comments about Fender Blacktop Telecaster HH Electric Guitar (Rosewood Fingerboard):
I really love this guitar. It is very well priced. I love playing this guitar. Its just great.
Pros
- Comfortable
- Good Feel
Cons
- Flat Sound
- Horrible Setup
- Plays Bad
- Poor Pick Up
- Sounds Bad Not A Tele
Best Uses
- Jamming
- Practicing
- School Bands
Comments about Fender Blacktop Telecaster HH Electric Guitar (Rosewood Fingerboard):
I really hate this guitar, I bought thinking it would sound good like Tele or at least like a good humbucker guitar but it sounds like neither and the tone is just flat and horrible. Don't buy it, get an Epiphone for cheaper and its better. Its an abomination of a guitar. I own 13 guitars and I have played twice as many before and this is not worth the price.
Comments about Fender Blacktop Telecaster HH Electric Guitar (Rosewood Fingerboard):
Mine is built well. Feels solid, sturdy. Got the fat baseball bat neck, the awesome clear tone. Highly recommended. Although, don't feel shy about putting new pickups in it. I am contimplating throwing a Duncan JB in it myself, although it already does hit that Adam Jonesy tone fairly close as it is.
Fat neck. Higher than average output pickups. 22 frets (although that 22nd fret is hard to reach, but its okay for me because I'm almost exclusively a rhythm player). thats really about it. THe neck is very solid and the alder body does have some weight on it. If your looking for a light guitar, you might wanna check something out. However it has a very, VERY clear, crunch and bottomy tone when put through distortion, hell even clean its very clear and has a good amount of low end in it. Overall a very simple guitar.
No issues so far. Although I have heard stories about Fenders customer support, I doubt I'll have to call them though.
In laymen's terms: AWESOME! I'm a humble rhythm player (that writes all the music. TAKE THAT LEAD GUITAR PLAYERS!) and this guitar suits my needs perfectly! Starting out as a bassist, I'm used to fatter larger necks and more string spacing and this certainly delivers! Its a rockers dream, and you could definately use this thing for some types of metal, but not SUPER distorted death metal or deathcore. You could definately use it for anything from jazz, rock, hard rock and even black metal. However for thrash metal, death metal, and the like, you COULD use this guitar...just change out the pickups.
Comments about Fender Blacktop Telecaster HH Electric Guitar (Rosewood Fingerboard):
It is what it is folks. A tele with humbuckers. It was the 22 frets and contoured body that sold me on this guitar. If you plan to play a bit more rock with a tele this may be a better option than the standard telecasters with single coils.
Guitar has humbuckers, volume, tone, and 3 way pickup selector. Pretty much standard for any telecaster. It does have 22 frets which I do like and the contoured body fits very comfortable agains your body while playing. Would have been a nice touch to have coil taps on those humbuckers to get that single coil tele sound.
Overall, the quality is decent other than a few minor concerns. The body had a scuff on it and what looked like guitar polish dried up around the neck joint. The neck was way out of adjustment when I received it but straightend up nice with a truss rod adjustment. The rosewood neck was dry as you can get. I had to treat it with oil 3 times before it stopped sucking it in. But even with a few little issues, they were easily made right and the guitar plays great and sounds fantastic.
The guitar is a fair value for $499. Seems like yesterday I bought a new tele at guitar center for $349 and the quality is no better today. Still, hard to get much better for the money.
Comments about Fender Blacktop Telecaster HH Electric Guitar (Rosewood Fingerboard):
I loved the guitar but it would have cost me too much to fix it. Too bad, I really wanted it.
Guitar had grounding issues, I exchanged it and the same problem. I returned the second one.
Comments about Fender Blacktop Telecaster HH Electric Guitar (Rosewood Fingerboard):
This guitar is great right out of the box. It is also a great platform for tweaking. The playability is up there with guitars costing much more. My other guitar is an AM Standard Strat and this Tele plays as well as the Strat. The Tele HH just satisfies my need for humbuckers.
Plain, simple and very playable. The humbuckers sound nice and distinctly different single coil pups. The neck has a rounder/thicker shape (compared to my strat) than I was expecting, but it grew on me quickly. The overall fit and finish is excellent.
I really want to rate this instrument higher. However, when I received the instrument, the rear pickup did not function. Upon examining the electronics, it was quickly determined that it wasn't wired correctly, the solder was bad and the switch did not work. luckily there is a Fender service center down the street and the problem was quickly resolved. All other aspects of this guitar are awesome for the money.
I think this guitar is a good value. I would buy another if something happened to this one.
