Open Box Fender American Professional II Telecaster Deluxe Rosewood Fingerboard Electric Guitar Level 2 Mercury 194744930249

I'm a producer and composer whose primary instrument is the guitar. This Tele Deluxe is the first electric guitar since buying my Schecter Blackjack from guitar center 20 years ago. It has most of the features you want in a guitar: belly cut, nice neck, high quality… came with a fancy case which was a nice surprise. I was skeptical about the non-CuNeFi humbuckers (hint hint Fender), but they definitely have some vibe. And that makes all the difference. It is so fun to play. I'm surprised HH Teles aren't more popular. The only improvement I would make is to give it a 6 brass barrel saddle like G&L to provide more control over intonation. Finding one aftermarket is difficult, if not impossible. Oh and the inset jack makes my angled cables fall out too easy. Bottom line this is an amazing guitar and I want another.

I got this guitar to work with some guys on a country music project. Plugged it into my old 1990's Blues Deluxe... Magic. No foot pedal needed. The tone is stunningly good. Smooth playing and tons of versatility on the sound just from the controls on the guitar. Between the 3 pickup positions and the push-push tone controls, the range of musicality is incredible. Love the guitar and would definitely buy it again.

I have owned dozens of fender, Stratz and telecasters never could get one to sound or play the way by Gibson's new but this son of a gun nailed it I love the look of a telecaster and now I can rip one on stage.

I am regular worship team player on Sundays. Have several guitars and got a good deal on this Tele Deluxe. Really love the guitar with ability to coil-split the humbuckers and still get single-coil chime. Love the new Mercury color too. Only negative (only reason this is a four star and not five) I have is that the guitar came to me almost one-half inch out on the intonation!! That's never happened on all the other Fender guitars I've purchased - either on-line or in-store. (I don't know if that's Fender factory, or GC issue.) I cranked the bridge back into proper 25.5" intonation and it tuned up and played nicely then. Action was set ok as well as neck relief. But whoever signed off on the setup obviously didn't check intonation …

My gigging days are behind me, but I still do some home recording. By far the best thing about this guitar is the VMOD II pickups and the wiring. It's got the typical 'Les Paul Style' separate volume and tone knobs which make it very easy to work with. You can keep it simple with neck or bridge, but a lot of the magic happens in the middle position. You can split either or both pickups and then blend them to taste. I was really torn going for the Deluxe vs single coils, but I actually am very glad I went with the Deluxe. It's not perfect Tele tone when you split the coils.. but it's really really close. Close enough that if your back was turned I don't think anyone could tell if your guitar had hum buckers in it. Speaking of, humbucking is really nice with these VMOD II pickups. Very distinctly different from either of my Les Pauls, these have a high midrange presence that is both punchy and interesting. You can roll off the tone to get back to a bit darker tones, but I like the fact that these pickups have their own voice. My only complaints are that the control pots are a tiny bit stiff and the factory setup was a little high, but still completely serviceable. The Mercury (silver burst) finish is beautiful but also subtle. The rosewood fingerboard and bone nut are both a joy to play. The neck on this thing is a medium C shape. Not a baseball bat, but not quite as thin as my 95 Am Std Strat. All in all, this is a great guitar with a lot of things going for it. I didn't realize till after I bought it that it was Editor's Choice with Premier Guitar when it came out.

During the pandemic I dove into learning guitar - I was very much a novice, and would now classify myself as inexperienced, but intermediate. I wanted to treat myself to a guitar that would keep me motivated to keep pushing, and to continue to strive to "earn" it, and wanted to invest in something that I wouldn't want to replace too soon or would lose my interest. So - versatility, quality, and "cool" factor were what I was looking for. I did a lot of research and put my hands on a lot of guitars. I landed on the American Pro II Telecaster Deluxe. It was backordered, and I chose the sunburst, but after that finish being delayed (ETA another year or so) I went with the Dark Night finish. About this finish - it was a risk and I was not sold on it completely. But it REALLY is something you have to see in person, and I think it fits different guitars, well, differently. It really works on this one and I have no regrets or lingering feeling that I settled. It is beautiful and classy looking. As for the versatility, which I had researched a LOT. The humbuckers are really nice and have a sort of 3/4 humbucker feel to them (if that makes sense). The tone/volume controls and the ability to (convincingly) split to a single coil sound really do make this guitar a chameleon. BUT! It isn't as if it is a jack of all trades and a master of none. It really shines across the spectrum of configurations. Another nice touch is the fact that the bridge pickup rests in a sort of cut classic telecaster bridge, which may not be super apparent when you look at pictures and isn't really emphasized in other reviews, but this helps get it very close to a classic telecaster tone and very much puts a unique stamp on this guitar, its sound, and the versatility it provides. I've seen other reviews here talking about craftmanship - I have no complaints at all. The guitar needed some tweaking to get it the way I wanted it to be, and had a little buzz that was easily corrected. The case is excellent. If you are on the fence about this guitar, you won't regret it. It is a beautiful, versatile, and VERY comfortable guitar that I know I will keep and use forever.