The Fender Jim Root Telecaster is a signature model of the

Fender Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successfulLes Paul had built a prototype solid body ...

electric guitar customized for American musician Jim Root. In January 2010, a Jim Root Signature Fender Telecaster was unveiled on the Fender website, similar to the one he has been seen using on stage, as of March 2009. The difference being the

headstock A headstock or peghead is part of a guitar or similar stringed instruments such as a lute, mandolin, banjo, ukulele and others of the lute lineage. The main function of a headstock is to house the pegs or mechanism that holds the strings at the ...

. The prototype originally made for Jim came with the 1970s style

Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...

headstock. Root got it shaved down to a standard Telecaster shape. This made the 1970s Fender Telecaster logo go to the very edge of the headstock. With a mahogany body, a fast neck and active EMG 81/60 pickups, it is a guitar designed for the heavy metal/hard rock guitar player.

Basic Information

Root has previously used Jackson,

Charvel Charvel is a brand of electric guitars founded in the 1970s by Wayne Charvel in Azusa, California and originally headquartered in Glendora, California. Since 2002, Charvel has been under the ownership of Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. H ...

, PRS and Maverick guitars. He was impressed with the quality of Fender and contacted Alex Perez. They used the Fender Showmaster as an idea to build on. In 2010, Fender released a Jim Root Signature Fender Telecaster guitar. The guitar comes in two models; one with a black finish and maple fingerboard, and the other in a white finish with an ebony fingerboard. It differs from many Fender guitars. The guitar has a mahogany body, a nitro-lacquer finish, dual humbuckers, a single master volume, an ebony fingerboard, and a 12" neck radius. It has traits of both a Gibson guitar and a Fender guitar. Root said it's a mix of classic and modern. The guitar's heel is shaved so the player can access higher frets. Root chose a nitro-lacquer finish because it tends to wear quicker than the normal polyurethane finish. The guitar comes with a SKB molded case with a blood red plush interior. Root uses EMG active pickups. This guitar is made in

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

while his signature Stratocasters are made in

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territor ...

. The retail price is $1,199.99. More recently they have released a

Squier Squier is an American brand of electric guitars owned by Fender. The former manufacturing company, established as "V. C. Squier Company" was founded in 1890 by Victor Carroll Squier in Battle Creek, Michigan, producing strings for violins, ba ...

version of the Telecaster with passive solid-covered humbuckers.

Body

The Jim Root Telecaster is a slab Mahogany body (a rarity for Fender instruments) that is not fully contoured. It only has the tummy-cutaway and a shaved heel. It does not have the fore-arm contour. The guitar is rear routed but still has a pickguard. The guitar features active pickups, an

EMG 81 The EMG 81 is a popular active humbucker guitar pickup manufactured by EMG, Inc. It is usually considered a lead pickup for use in the bridge position, paired with EMG's 85 as a rhythm pickup in neck position ( Zakk Wylde is famous for this c ...

in the bridge pickup position and an

EMG 60 EMG may refer to: Medicine and science * Electromyography, a technique for evaluating and recording electrical activity produced by skeletal muscles * Exponentially modified Gaussian distribution, in probability theory * Ɱ, or emg, a symbol u ...

in the neck position.

Neck

Root modeled the neck after a Jackson/Charvel style neck. It is a maple neck with either a maple fretboard or an ebony fretboard. It has a 12" (305mm) radius and Dunlop jumbo frets. The neck is finished with Satin Urethane making it feel soft. The Nut Width is 1.650" (42mm) thick. The nut is made of synthetic bone. The scale length is 25.5"(648mm).

References

External links

Jim Root Telecaster
at Fender {{fender Telecaster Fender Telecasters