Susan Tedeschi of the Tedeschi Trucks Band has become the latest signature Fender artist, with a Telecaster that vies for “simple sophistication that shines brightly.”
It’s modeled after Tedeschi's longtime go-to Caribbean Mist 1993 American Standard Tele, which appears on the cover of her 1998 solo album, Just Won’t Burn; a record that saw Tedeschi turn heads with her soulful, genre-blending playing.
The guitar boasts a custom, slim C-profile maple neck “that you can really wrap your hand around,” and a “warm and beautiful” rosewood fingerboard, which itself features 22 medium jumbo frets and white dot inlays as part of a 25.5” scale length.
The signature guitar stays faithful to its progenitor with an alder body, bestowed with an aged Caribbean Mist finish, and features a six-saddle string-through-body bridge with black steel saddles.
Tone, naturally, was a chief focus, and Tedeschi worked closely with Fender on the instrument’s custom-voiced single-coil Tele pickups and TBX tone circuit to help bring the production model in line with her beloved Tele and its sought-after tones.
The result, Fender says, matches the “authentic tone and inspiring playability of Tedeschi’s treasured original.”
“It really sounded warm and I think it was the way that the front pickup was wound,” Tedeschi says of her ‘93 model’s unique tonal qualities. “It was very different to a lot of Teles, which are usually really bright and thin. There's something about it that just works for everything.”
Its tones can be tweaked via Master Volume and TBX Tone controls, as well as a three-way pickup switch, with custom Tedeschi artwork featuring on the neck plate.
“Honestly it's a dream,” Tedeschi says of her Fender collaboration. “I just wanted to play a guitar, never mind have a signature model.”
After Tedeschi's bandmate, Adrienne Hayes, introduced her to Fender guitars via her Strat, she fell in love with the '93 Tele, which she bought second hand in a local music store. She said it was “meant to be” that she owned the guitar, and it’s played a key role in her rise to prominence since.
Just Won’t Burn quickly put the guitarist on the map and saw her opening for her hero, BB King, before joining forces on and off the stage with her husband, Derek Trucks. Their 2011 debut, Revelator won the 2012 Grammy Award for Best Blues Album.
Never a band to do things by halves, the Tedeschi Trucks Band's most recent release was their massive 2022 quadruple album project, I Am the Moon.
The Fender Susan Tedeschi Telecaster is available now for $1,899.
Head over to Fender to find out more.
