Fender Masterbuilt Fred Stuart Thinline Telecaster Candy Apple Red (USED, c.1990s)

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Seller's description

Fred Stuart was one of the founding Master Builders of the Fender Custom Shop, part of the small original group whose work in the Shop’s early years shaped what a Custom Shop Fender came to mean, and he spent the better part of its first decade and a half at the bench in Corona, eventually earning the title of Senior Master Builder. After leaving Fender he went on to build guitars and wind pickups under his own name, and when the Custom Shop marked its 30th anniversary in 2017, Fender invited him back as one of eight founding builders to design a guitar for the Founders Design Project. This Thinline Telecaster comes from his years at the Shop in the 1990s, and is a fantastic example of what makes this era of the Custom Shop so special. The Thinline is one of the most player-friendly variations Fender ever put on the Telecaster, with a chambered ash body and a single f-hole that take some weight out of the guitar and add a little air and bloom to the familiar Tele attack. Fred built this one with a pair of single coils and a maple neck with a comfy C profile (.96"-1.0") and finished the body in a deep Candy Apple Red that is just gorgeous in person. In hand, it's very lively and snappy with great volume and projection (and this is before plugging it in). Plugged in, we were met with classic Thinline tones - a great mixture of punchiness, top end clarity, and twang. It's easy to see why this model is popular with Tele fans as it takes all the things we love about a great Tele and makes them airy, open, and super responsive. While the tones are squarely in the Tele camp, it's really the feel of the guitar that changes - how the notes ring under your fingers and chords have more acoustic depth. Hard to explain, but if you've tried a Thinline you'll know exactly what we mean - it's addictive and inspiring to be sure.