As seen in Guitar Girl Magazine Issue 19 – Spring 2022
For this review, I had the great pleasure of demoing the Fender Player Plus Tele in its drop-dead gorgeous Candy Apple Red finish. From its sexy satin finish to its ultra-defined tone, the Fender Player Plus Telecaster begs — no, pleads — to be played. The big question is, though, does it sound as good as it looks? Well, if it’s any indication, I’ve decided I may have to hold on to this one after I write this.
The things that most surprised me about this Tele are how thin the neck is and how maneuverable the fretboard is. In my experience, the Teles I’ve played have always had thicker necks and frets that were spaced a bit too far apart, at least for my personal taste. Even with its “jumbo frets,” which are admittedly farther apart than I’m used to, I still find this Tele incredibly fast and easy to play on, and I never felt like I was overextending my fingers.
I’ve also kind of associated Teles with country music as they tend toward a more twangy sound, but after tooling around for a few hours playing my usual brand of hard rock music, I am genuinely surprised and impressed by how much it cuts through the mix and amplifies my lead lines.
Another great feature would be the locking tuners, which I don’t think I’ve ever used before. They’re a bit tricky to figure out at first, just FYI, so I strongly suggest watching a YouTube video about how to tune and string your guitar with them so you can avoid breaking strings like I did. Once you get that figured out, they do a nice job of keeping everything locked in.
The Noiseless pickups are also impressive. I wouldn’t say they’re 100 percent noiseless, but they definitely cut down significantly on annoying hum. The push-pull control engages both pickups wired in series, so you’ll increase your output and beef up your sound even more if that’s possible.
All in all, the Player Plus is one hell of an instrument that genuinely knocks my socks off. You can hear every single note, it drives like crazy, and it looks like a million bucks. This is one of the best possible guitars that you can get at this price point (and yes, it’s very affordable), and it’s also available in a wide variety of show-stopping finishes. The Player Plus gets an A+ from me.
Price: $1,099.99
For more information and full specifications, visit fender.com.
