Blacktop Telecaster Review

This is a very competent guitar that can serve any kind of player. It sounds magnificently for anything you want to play.

Features:	5.5
Sound:	9
Action:	10
Reliability:	10
Impression:	10
Overall rating:	9.1
Reviewer rating:	8.9
Users rating:	9.2
Votes:	101

Recently reviewed by: unregistered, on may 24, 2012

Price paid: $ 425

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: $75.00 off regular cheap service boogie. Guitar Center owns all guitar transactions on par with Internet pricing. Saving all their money to invade America! (owned by China). All salesmen at Guitar Center should fight each other over a dog dirt (and believe me they would!). // 1

Sound: Hot Rod humbuckers and reverse control switch better than all Telecasters. I love the range it provides with the 3-way switch. From grungy to beautiful I love this bad a-s guitar! This guitar sounds great at all levels (some call the sound too muddy) but that's because their amps aren't set right. // 8

Action, Fit & Finish: Perfect. Thrash it it, trash it, It's a Fender! It gets my Fender 100% OK! I loved the Black Out model, so I just threw on some chrome knobs and retained the great humbuckers! I can't imagine it being even better. It looks good, sounds good, and feels good. The extra cutaway like a Strat makes it more comfortable and lighter that a regular Tele. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Solid. Enough said. Good enough to knock out a Tiajuana donkey! And I've tried. All Fenders are guaranteed to knock out a Tiajuana donkey and your old lady. But your Mom? I doubt it! Because I've tried, and she ain't givin it up for anything less than $4.95. And I get a lot more mileage from my Tele. // 10

Impression: This guitar rocks socks, and all that can't play suck! Sweet sound, better than a weak single coil queenie. Made in Mexico (like Santana) Oops my Bad! I should have spent an extra $1000.00 for absolutely Nothing! I live in San Diego, and rather pay 1/2 as much for a Mexican to make my guitar 70 miles away, than 250 miles away. I like guitars that sound good, play well, and look bada-s. I get it all with this one. And if someone finds a fault with this guitar, its just personal, not business! // 10

overall: 10

Reviewed by: Koldan, on july 04, 2011

Price paid: € 545

Purchased from: Music Store

Features: My guitar was made in 2010 on Mexico. It has 22 medium jumbo frets, rosewood neck, alder body and two humbuckers. I got mine in silver finish with black pickguard which I like. It has reversed control assembly unlike the others telecasters with one volume and one tone control and also a 3-way switching, it came with black skirted amp knobs on volume and tone which I changed for the traditional Telecaster knobs. // 10

Sound: I was looking for a Fender Telecaster long time ago, I tried many american and mexican telecasters but I never feel that it was the right one and when I tried out the blacktop I immediatly fell in love. It suits perfectly with my music style I usally play alternative rock like Muse, Radiohead, etc. But it can handles anything from metal to blues. I play it through a Laney LV 300 Head and it sounds amazing! // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The guitar was well made, the set-up was good and everything was in tune. I really got suprised by seeing a Mexican Telecaster working in my opinion even better than many american telecasters out there. There is no kind of mistakes everything is in order, very good quality considering the price. It can easily beat some pro-level guitar putting this guitar in that category. // 10

Reliability & Durability: It is a very solid guitar, I've played many gigs it has fell some times but it looks just like if it was new. The finish and hardware are good enough to handle a rock life. Particularly mine has suffered many damage and I still don't have any scratches or finish problems. // 10

Impression: This is a very competent guitar that can serve any kind of player. It sounds magnificently for anything you want to play. It's an amazing HH Telecaster and considering its price I think this guitar it's like the Holy Grail of the guitars. I don't care if it is Mexican, American, Japanese, Chinese, I really love this guitar and I would buy another one if something happens to my telecaster. // 10

Comments

[MyS3lF]

stop with the 10/10 reviews already

[Patrijz]

MyS3lF wrote:

stop with the 10/10 reviews already

Where is the 'Like' button?

[LivinJoke84]

MyS3lF :
stop with the 10/10 reviews already

What if the reviewer realy cant pick a fault with it? Reviews are very subjective and if this particular guitar is perfect for the reviewers needs then why shouldnt he rate it as a 10/10?

[movarshaq]

LivinJoke84 wrote:

MyS3lF :
stop with the 10/10 reviews already


What if the reviewer realy cant pick a fault with it? Reviews are very subjective and if this particular guitar is perfect for the reviewers needs then why shouldnt he rate it as a 10/10?

Where is the 'Like' button for THIS??

[Saint78]

This is the guitar I play, and it deserves a 10/10

[Chad11491]

I agree, Fender hit it out of the park with their blacktop line. I'd give these a 10/10 for their price.

[Slaytan666]

It's too bad the reviewer's grammar is only a 6/10

[The^Unforgiven]

I think guitars should be reviewed as objectively as possible. I realize that it can't be done 100% as a guitar is always a subjective experience, but still, all 10's is HIGHLY unlikely - simply not finding anything to fault is no reason for that. A guitar with full grades needs not only to be flawless in every aspect, but also needs to have something truly outstanding to it.

[luke_guitar]

so they really are good? i thought this was another cheap series but i'm kind of excited now

[syracon30]

The^Unforgiven wrote:

I think guitars should be reviewed as objectively as possible. I realize that it can't be done 100% as a guitar is always a subjective experience, but still, all 10's is HIGHLY unlikely - simply not finding anything to fault is no reason for that. A guitar with full grades needs not only to be flawless in every aspect, but also needs to have something truly outstanding to it.

I completely agree to this. I would rate it 10/10 if it was used by some proper good famous guitarist personally, though. They have to use the best of the best or they would sound... not good.

[MaxWood]

This guitar sounds like shit, for the price you pay you might as well get a 72' Deluxe.

[MyS3lF]

LivinJoke84 wrote:

MyS3lF :
stop with the 10/10 reviews already

What if the reviewer realy cant pick a fault with it? Reviews are very subjective and if this particular guitar is perfect for the reviewers needs then why shouldnt he rate it as a 10/10?

Yea, totally agree with you, didn't mean to criticize this guitar in particular, because i've read and seen about a dozen reviews already, and it does seem perfect, was just pointing out that there have been too many 10/10 reviews in UG without much content to prove a 10/10

[jetfuel495]

MaxWood wrote:

This guitar sounds like shit, for the price you pay you might as well get a 72' Deluxe.

I don't think you can get a 72 Deluxe for 500 USD. I have no idea how the reviewer paid over €500.

[K&F]

I live in Portugal and I payed 524,99€ for it.

Great guitar, great for Hard Rock, Grunge, Heavy Metal, virtually anything related to Rock, I would recommend it, and I'm very happy I bought one!

[Zephyroudret]

10, 10, 10, 10, 10

QUIT spamming the nooby reviews...

[bustapr]

i thought this guitar cost 450, now it went up to 500... does look like a good guitar, especially the grey tele.

[ProgFolk12]

I can't beleive there are people here arguing that any guitar can earn 10/10. There is no possible way any guitar can be perfect! What makes every guitar so interesting are the little discrepencies, every guitar is different, but no guitar is perfect. For example, the imperfections in the design of a standard tele stop it being perfect-and that's why I love it. 10/10 reviews defeat the object of reviews, since reviews require criticism to be of any use! /rant. On topic, looks cool. I've seen a few blacktops around and I really ought to try some out, though if I was in the market for a tele it would need single coils, so I'd probably be looking at the Classic Player Baja or the American Special.

[MaxWood]

 jetfuel495  wrote:

MaxWood wrote:

This guitar sounds like shit, for the price you pay you might as well get a 72' Deluxe.I don't think you can get a 72 Deluxe for 500 USD. I have no idea how the reviewer paid over €500.

€500 is the not the same as $500 though.

[BearCaveEcho]

I've played it... it's pretty badass, not going to lie. I mean, 10/10 is pretty sketchy for everyone else, but honestly, you can't beat it if this is what you're aiming for. There are Ltd's, but I don't think anybody buying this would buy that or a Schecter (okay... maybe I would)... and the epi's in the comparable price range have really dry fretboards and poorly cut frets. Everything else has an annoying tremelo or is used. If this is what you want, then it's a perfect 10/10. It's not perfect perfect, but it's still a 10/10.

[jetfuel495]

MaxWood wrote:

 jetfuel495  wrote:

MaxWood wrote:

This guitar sounds like shit, for the price you pay you might as well get a 72' Deluxe.I don't think you can get a 72 Deluxe for 500 USD. I have no idea how the reviewer paid over €500.

€500 is the not the same as $500 though.

That's my point. I have no idea how the reviewer paid €545 (almost $800) for a guitar that only costs $500 (about €350). Perhaps guitars are more expensive in Europe, but that would also make the prices of the '72 higher as well.

In the States, a '72 Deluxe Tele costs $700 (about €480). In Europe I assume it would be much more.

Compare that to the price Koldan paid for the Blacktop. It goes back to what I was saying. You can't get a '72 Deluxe for the same price as a Blacktop. Blacktops are much cheaper.

[Glass Prisoner]

A Tele with humbuckers seems a bit sacrilege, but I dunno, maybe it works.

[Bram_Claes]

Glass Prisoner wrote:

A Tele with humbuckers seems a bit sacrilege, but I dunno, maybe it works.

Tele's with humbuckers exist for almost 40 years now, I don't see your point

[Koldan]

I gave it a ten because I tried many guitars before I bought this one, I really didn't care about the price I was looking for the perfect guitar to me and when I tried the blacktop telecaster it really sounds perfect to me. I don't agree with some people that say that expensive guitars are better or whatever, I played 1000 euros 2000 euros guitars and this one sounds exactly what I wanted. Btw some one said before that my english sucks and yeah that's true

[Slaytan666]

Koldan wrote:

I gave it a ten because I tried many guitars before I bought this one, I really didn't care about the price I was looking for the perfect guitar to me and when I tried the blacktop telecaster it really sounds perfect to me. I don't agree with some people that say that expensive guitars are better or whatever, I played 1000 euros 2000 euros guitars and this one sounds exactly what I wanted. Btw some one said before that my english sucks and yeah that's true

My bad. I didn't realize English wasn't your first language.

[Koldan]

No problem I just started learning english one year ago

[Bly2st]

'72 Deluxe Tele is between €800 and €900 here in Europe

[intoodeep7]

Getting this guitar for my birthday, cant wait!

[Amaseng]

I've heard the pickups on these are really weak. If I got this I'd buy it and drop in some Seymour Duncans or DiMarzios.

[Ghefly]

 jetfuel495  wrote:

MaxWood wrote:

 jetfuel495  wrote:

MaxWood wrote:

This guitar sounds like shit, for the price you pay you might as well get a 72' Deluxe.I don't think you can get a 72 Deluxe for 500 USD. I have no idea how the reviewer paid over €500.

€500 is the not the same as $500 though.
That's my point. I have no idea how the reviewer paid €545 (almost $800) for a guitar that only costs $500 (about €350). Perhaps guitars are more expensive in Europe, but that would also make the prices of the '72 higher as well.

In the States, a '72 Deluxe Tele costs $700 (about €480). In Europe I assume it would be much more.

Compare that to the price Koldan paid for the Blacktop. It goes back to what I was saying. You can't get a '72 Deluxe for the same price as a Blacktop. Blacktops are much cheaper.

Yeah guitars are much much more expensive in Europe than over in the US. Not sure why, capitalism I suppose.

[swave75]

Nice guitar!!!

[Ziggity]

I almost bought this guitar, but then I got my les paul studio instead. The one I saw at guitar center was only 399 or 449 though, not sure. Not entirely sure if it was the same exact one either because as soon I saw the 10s I scrolled straight down to the comment box.

Probably the best looking telecaster in my opinion though, just a shame there isn't a real review for it.

[adodin]

Yeah guitars are much much more expensive in Europe than over in the US. Not sure why, capitalism I suppose

Try shipping costs =P.

Koldan wrote:

No problem I just started learning english one year ago

Your English is quite good for 1 year of learning it.

[smokedhamtaro]

Pfft, try around 1300 Dollars in New Zealand. Or 1600 for the '72. I got a deal on my '72. Got it for just a bit more than the price of the blacktop.

[Sakke]

adodin wrote:

Yeah guitars are much much more expensive in Europe than over in the US. Not sure why, capitalism I suppose

Try shipping costs =P.

Koldan wrote:

No problem I just started learning english one year ago

Your English is quite good for 1 year of learning it.

+1.

[CrawlingHorror]

Koldan, even though your grammar isn't perfect, we can understand what you're saying. That's all that counts. I speak a second language, too (Japanese) and while I can make myself understood without too much of a problem I don't speak it perfectly. Your english will improve as you expose yourself more and more to it.

Cheers.

[celticstorm84]

ProgFolk12 wrote:

I can't beleive there are people here arguing that any guitar can earn 10/10. There is no possible way any guitar can be perfect! What makes every guitar so interesting are the little discrepencies, every guitar is different, but no guitar is perfect. For example, the imperfections in the design of a standard tele stop it being perfect-and that's why I love it. 10/10 reviews defeat the object of reviews, since reviews require criticism to be of any use! /rant. On topic, looks cool. I've seen a few blacktops around and I really ought to try some out, though if I was in the market for a tele it would need single coils, so I'd probably be looking at the Classic Player Baja or the American Special.

Cool story, bro.

[Crazyedd123]

you guys gotta review the BT jazzmaster now, i got one and i love it.
although, i may look into changing the saddle bridge. it looks very nice but, if hit with enough force, the strings can get knocked out, plus i think it's slightly too wide for the neck (the low E string used to slip over the neck, although i think i fixed this)

[Crazyedd123]

^^^ those are the only faults i've found with it.

however, there is some earthing problems. although it doesn't happen all the time, the guitar becomes 'earthed' and touching it (often the metal of the pick-up selector) causes a strong 'humming' sound.

i still love it though XD

[blake1221]

I saw this review and all I wanted to do was inb4 Jay.

[jetfuel495]

blake1221 wrote:

I saw this review and all I wanted to do was inb4 Jay.

*pelvic thrust*

I watched some demos of this guitar on Youtube, and they re-opened me to the possibility of getting a blacktop. My main focus is still the FSR Tele, but the Blacktop is a good second or third choice.

[Dpullam]

Love love love the look of this guitar!

[Emilym80]

Slaytan666 wrote:

It's too bad the reviewer's grammar is only a 6/10

That really has nothing to do with the actual content.

[Bezza27]

People understand that 10/10 reviews are there for the reviewer to justify buying the product. Thats all.

[messiah009]

what kind of pick up???

[DJ_Effrey]

I'm so sick of reading reviews of all these perfect guitars! Find a damn problem with them!!!

[redkingd]

pretty guitar

[Zeletros]

syracon30 wrote:

The^Unforgiven wrote:

I think guitars should be reviewed as objectively as possible. I realize that it can't be done 100% as a guitar is always a subjective experience, but still, all 10's is HIGHLY unlikely - simply not finding anything to fault is no reason for that. A guitar with full grades needs not only to be flawless in every aspect, but also needs to have something truly outstanding to it.

I completely agree to this. I would rate it 10/10 if it was used by some proper good famous guitarist personally, though. They have to use the best of the best or they would sound... not good.

I would rather play a guitar than none of celebrities play because companies would instantly mark it as a signature model and put +2000$ price just because some guy who plays chords in a popular rock band played this guitar one time on a concert

[MaxWood]

 jetfuel495  wrote:

MaxWood wrote:

 jetfuel495  wrote:

MaxWood wrote:

This guitar sounds like shit, for the price you pay you might as well get a 72' Deluxe.I don't think you can get a 72 Deluxe for 500 USD. I have no idea how the reviewer paid over €500.

€500 is the not the same as $500 though.
That's my point. I have no idea how the reviewer paid €545 (almost $800) for a guitar that only costs $500 (about €350). Perhaps guitars are more expensive in Europe, but that would also make the prices of the '72 higher as well.

In the States, a '72 Deluxe Tele costs $700 (about €480). In Europe I assume it would be much more.

Compare that to the price Koldan paid for the Blacktop. It goes back to what I was saying. You can't get a '72 Deluxe for the same price as a Blacktop. Blacktops are much cheaper.

Ah I follow now. I tried out a Blacktop in the US when I visited, was planning on buying it (because it's cheaper over there) before I heard how it sounded :/ I already had a 72' Deluxe and it just didn't sound anywhere near as good. I was gutted but it's the truth.

[Leep_dog]

I've had a Blacktop Tele for almost a year. It's a pretty nice guitar but it's not a 10/10 in my opinion. My major issue with it is the pick ups. They just don't sound that great to me. It's a very well-made, great looking guitar though and it is probably very well suited to someone who uses a lot of distortion. I just find it's not versatile enough for me. I like my Squier Classic Vibe 50's Tele a lot more.

[daemonegg]

i want this any contributor hehe ^^

[shoule79]

I've tried a few of these, couple issues.

Everyone I tried had noticeable flaws in the finish (runs in the paint, scratches).

Stock pickups are iffy.

Nice guitars though, good value (they run around $450 in Canada). Buy one and throw in better PUPs and you are in business.

[poop_dogg]

just ordered one along with a gibson tony iommi signature pickup which i will put in the bridge. any thoughts on how it will sound? probably wouldn't have gone with the iommi, but it was ridiculously cheap ($70 used).

[xxdarkkevinxx]

Slaytan666 wrote:

It's too bad the reviewer's grammar is only a 6/10

Too bad he probably is not an english major with you being a grammer Nazi who understands what he means but still only comments on the. way he spells things and not the review itself.

[xxdarkkevinxx]

poop_dogg wrote:

just ordered one along with a gibson tony iommi signature pickup which i will put in the bridge. any thoughts on how it will sound? probably wouldn't have gone with the iommi, but it was ridiculously cheap ($70 used).

poop_dogg wrote:

just ordered one along with a gibson tony iommi signature pickup which i will put in the bridge. any thoughts on how it will sound? probably wouldn't have gone with the iommi, but it was ridiculously cheap ($70 used).

Can't hurt to try

[Ostinattos]

Man... I really want one

[depech]

Hi, I am looking for a tele, can´t make up my mind which one...either the MIM Blacktop, Nashville, Standard or the Fender (not Squier) MIC Modern Player.
I don´t have an opinion yet about the Blacktop Tele except this review and some others, but I know the pickups, the same as in my Blacktop Strat. They are not weak, I won´t go into details of my strat not to bore you guys, but these humbuckers have punch, for a Fender type of guitar, more than the single-coils obviously, but then the sound is thicker as well, and so if you expect to hear a classic tele, you play country or such, you will find a difference, you may not like it. But if you play it overdriven they sound good. Again, I´d need to hear how they sound on a Telecaster.
I recommend to hear the Youtube demo by Damon Chivers at Nevada UK to have an idea. Yes, in Europe they are more expensive, as in other regions, I live in Argentina, I bought the Blacktop Tele last year for $449 in the U.S., here it´s twice the price. These Blacktops are well built, have good finishing details, they keep in tune.

[depech]

This demo also sounds nice for the cleaner tones, by Mark Lucas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhpQErI684I

[Leep_dog]

As a follow-up to my post on this guitar, I lowered the pickup height on both pickups and I think the sound is much improved. Before you go and replace pickups on this or any other guitar, I highly recommend changing the pickup height.

[noiseboy99]

I have had mine of a little over a year, way past what I'd consider a break in period, and other than it's incredible appearance, I have sadly come to the conclusion that it's a dog, or at best an expensive platform guitar (body, really) of which will require many mods to bring it up to where it would should to be.

I concur with many other comments regarding the PU's: they're lifeless, muddy. Not as noticeable when fully cranked up, but very evident when playing at lower, non-overdrive volume.

The bridge is garbage and needed to be swapped out with a Hipshot just to keep it in tune.

The neck a horror: Taking into account that taste in necks are completely subjective, and the radius on this is not to my liking, it seems that no amount of setup work has been able to resolve the sponginess of the middle neck areas on the D & G strings between frets 7 and 12. (seem to be typical of many MIM necks).

So if you replace the neck, the bridge, and the pickups, we're talking a net add of about 600-700 bucks.

Lesson learned.

[Bert_the_Bear]

 jetfuel495  wrote:re that to the price Koldan paid for the Blacktop. It goes back to what I was saying. You can't get a '72 Deluxe for the same price as a Blacktop. Blacktops are much cheaper.

A '72 deluxe here in Europe will cost you about €850...