Hey Zac I'm 58 and I appreciate that your vids most often are played with a clean tone!!! Some videos the host is using to much distortion and I can't grad every note or modulation THANKS ZAC
Greg Arnold: I've watched countless videos of "guitar demos" that were so full of pedal effects that in the end I had no idea of what the GUITAR actually sounded like.
Congrats on one of your best reviews to date. Fender did a great job with this monster of a guitar. This noiseless Tele covers all the bases without loosing its original tone. Keep up the good work and your great teachings on music history.
An addition on my old American Music Shop comment. The show did continue for another season in 1994, with an all-new band. Gone were O'Connor, Brent Mason, and company. The band for '94 was legendary guitarist Reggie Young on lead guitar, Larry Byrom on rhythm guitar, Hargus "Pig" Robbins on piano, Rob Hajacos on fiddle, Mike Brignardello on bass, and Steve Turner on drums. The show's band, no matter who were in it, were killer!
Back around late '71, I built a Telecaster out of mahogany. It initially had two of those mini humbuckings along with the typical Telecaster bridge pickup. Eventually changed those out for SG Standard humbuckings of the day. One of the very early "custom shop" Fenders ever made, maybe third after the rosewood Telecasters which I didn't even know about when I built my "Nortoncaster" as my sons call it. And I agree on the '90s being the most unforgettable era in country music, especially the early '90s.
Just built a three pickup Tele myself (here in Hermitage) with a slightly different switching arrangement. 3-Way Selector, Volume, Switchcraft switch (Middle mute/add/solo), Tone. Simpler and easier to run through permutations, with a glance to know how it's set. Works slick. Love your channel, just found you today.
Very thorough demo and walk through of this special model Tele. Just to add on for all the modders out there. Most modern American Standard Tele's already have the 3 pickup rout. So a Brent Mason setup absent the B-Bender is actually an easy mod where a prewired control plate is already available. I have a similar setup with minor pickup variation. I used Duncan SM-1 mini HB and a Strat Hot Stack vs. the rail model. I have not gone with blend yet so that is why I watched. Cheers!
I was looking for a telecaster. Came across this one when it came out. Bought it, then learned who Brent Mason was. I do love this guitar, one of my favorites in my collection. It however, is not an all around guitar in my opinion.
A work of art. All the perfect options, in my opinion. The best Tele Fender has put out, good enough for Brent it’s good enough for pretty much anybody.
Another cool episode! I’ve had Strats wired exactly the same way for decades (minus the pull-pot and with stock 3-single-coils), and I have a custom-built Tele-style guitar with a Strat middle pickup and a Parsons-White B-bender, and a Hipshot D-tuner key for the low E string. Back in 1988 when I got that thing, it was $1K less that what this Brent Mason costs now, but it’s cool to see a production guitar available with a bender. I hope Fender sells a ton of them!
Putting a strat pickup in the middle of my Tele was one of the best things i ever did. It brings the funk! Also, when wired series with either the neck or bridge you get some great sounds too.
Thank you Zac! I want one of these really bad. Once I get moved I will buy one and build an Esquire with the Brad Paisley/ Seymour Duncan Secret Agent pickup set up. I can't wait to get set up and building again. You are fanning the flames!
I ordered the Seymour Duncan Secret Agent pickup last week. It’s going to take several weeks to get it though. I’ll buy the new BP signature Esquire as soon as my Fender dealer is able to get one, but Fender is currently sold out of them.
Zac, there’s a full clip on TH-cam when Brent did the Steel Festival with Buddy. Oh man, Brent is killing it (without anybody telling him, hey you can’t play that jazz stuff) It’s the best country/straight ahead jazz/Western swing playing I’ve ever heard. I know he had that old VHS/dvd thing which was awesome, but hearing him live killing it was something else with Emmons looking over grinning.
Great video as usual Zac!! I'm so glad I happened upon your page when I went to buy my first Tele a few months ago (25 years playing and not owning a Tele should be a crime) and I've watched every video since! So when these guitars first became available, I got an email from Fender at 7 am and immediately put it in the cart. I hesitated to purchase it because of, well, divorce, but by the time I went back to my cart later that day to just go ahead and order it they had already sold out. Same with when I got an email telling me they were back in stock. By the time I saw the email, it was already sold out again. They are near impossible to get. If your guy at Fender needs someone in the Atlanta area to play and demo one, I'm in! :)
@@AskZac Well it truly is a great deal as you said, because once I looked into getting the bender and the pickups along with all the work that added well over $1,000 to my current Tele so I was absolutely willing to go all in for this one if possible. Such a cool all-in-one Tele and so glad to see you as the first one I've come across to demo it on TH-cam properly! Good work man!
I can’t bear adding a third pickup to a tele. I love the space there. Took me years to adapt to a strat because of the middle pickup and I don’t want to change my tele
Nice artist issue. B-bender, Duncan pickups, ash body. All high end features that add up. It's not cheap. $2499 on the Fender website. Maybe $2200 through the big retailers. I think it's priced fairly. It's a good way to pick up a B-bender.
Brent Mason is one of my favorite guitarist in any genre. The sounds he gets out of his very special Tele is awesome. Thanks for featuring his signature model. $2,500 is not unreasonable for an american made guitar these days with all the special features. Adjusted for inflation that's about $305 in 1966 dollars , the year I bought my first real guitar, a 1966 Fender Duo-Sonic II for $200 with case. One of these days could you talk about Vince Gill, another of my favorite Tele players. I remember him being feature in Guitar Player magazine a lot in the 1990's. He won a lot of Grammys and CMA and ACM awards as a recording artists but not for his guitar playing. I was sorry to hear his longtime guitar tech, Benny Garcia, passed away recently.
Sorry to hear about Benny. I knew him when I was in Oklahoma City briefly in 1980. Nice guy, and a great guitar player in his own right. His dad, Benny Garcia Sr. was one of the pioneering Western Swing guitar players.
wonderful instrument, wonderful review. I own one of the early shipments, love it, worth every penny. The more I play it the more I love it. Incredibly versatile.
I’m very fortunate to own one of these Fender BM Tele’s. Apparently, these are nearly impossible to get your hands-on despite the recent release. Wonder if this is a combination of interest & reduced production in 2020. I appreciate your thoughts on the guitar. My personal take is that this is a game changing Tele for me. The tonal pallet available here is immense. The pickup offering here is fairly similar to what has become known as the Nashville Tele, but the unpotted mini Humbucker in the neck position & wiring configuration push that envelop to an even greater extent. The middle pickup volume provides the flexibility to dial in just the right amount of in-between tonality, which I have come to really appreciate. I would highly recommend this to Tele & Strat players alike.
Great video Zac , that middle pickup and the way it can blend is way cool. Love that popcorn sound as you say . The bender is just added gravy ! Yeh I want one so I'm going to talk to my local Fender dealer ! Kudos to a great guitar design , Mr Mason and you Zac. Cheers!
I bought this, it’s the best guitar I’ve owned, ever! Thanks to watching you, I’ve now been inspired to fly from the UK to visit Joe Glaser to have a B bender fitted to my other Tele. 👍
It’s always great to watch a player with your knowledge in instruments and ability to play. This guitar is light years beyond my ability but the review makes me want one anyway. Thanks.
I have one! compared to my Suhr classic: In terms of traditional tele sound i think the Suhr (most likely the PUps) does a better job. Both are very playable. However, the BM Fender tele is also excellent for traditional tele work plus the added versatility that the middle pick up has pushed this to be part of my main rig. Great demo and super guitar. Fender did it right!
Another interesting episode. I had to pause to find a TH-cam clip of young Brent Mason shredding on the American Music Shop. Thanks for the Spotify playlist, Zac. Sometimes it's hard to find what the session guys have played on, that's really cool of you to do that. I really enjoyed your Trutone interview with Brent, might have to listen again.. He is a funny dude!
Hello zac... good review ! One correction... I asked Fender support about the bridge --> "The bridge on this product is chrome plated steel with steel saddles. Unfortunately we don't offer a brass type". So the bridge is not brass ! For the people that are interested .. the ABM TB-1 C brass bridge is a great option !
@@AskZac You're welcome Zac. I have a question. Do you know if BM still has the Gibson mini humbucker in the neck position or has he replaced it with the Seymour Duncan mini?
Jerry Reed was a huge influence. His claw style for sure came from Jerry. Chet came up with the name. He said Jerry's hand looked like a "claw" with the tucked index finger and extended fingers and thumb.
Zac, I bought one. Sounded Awful. Took it to a tech guy I know. He put the head stock to his ear and tapped the body. Result Dead! He took the neck off. Two of the holes that the screws go into were countersunk, BUT two were burred. He sanded the rough edges and replaced the neck. Made a HUGE difference. He then found that the bridge pick was very muddy. He shorted the bottom winding, which had an effect. He then added a capacitor to ground on the Bridge Pickup bottom coil. The top nut was not cleaned with a fine piece of wet and dry paper. THE RESULT. Now sounds great. Hope this may help anyone else with the same problem. J.R.
Awesome demonstration of a really cool guitar Zac, thanks! I love when people aren't afraid to go and change their stuff to suit their needs. Usability always trumps tradition in my book :-)
Yep.... I've wanted this guitar before fender was selling them.... I've been waiting. It sounds so good, and would be so helpful in playing a lot of different styles. Thanks for showing this Zac
You talk about American Music Shop. Besides Mason and Rowan, the band they had was truly an all-star group of musicians. Mark O'Connor on fiddle, Jerry Douglas on resonator guitar and lap steel, Glenn Worf on bass, and Harry Stinson on drums.
Awesome rundown Zac - my Brent tele should be arriving within a few days - glad I watched your video, now I'm REEEEALLY stoked to get it. I mean, I was stoked before, but now I'm..... REEEEEEEEEEALLY stoked. Yup.
Update: I've been playing the Brent tele for several months now, and I swapped out the bridge pickup (vintage stack STK-T3B) for the SD Vintage Broadcaster pickup - the stock pickup didn't really do it for me, but this guitar just completely comes alive with the Broadcaster pickup - it now has that twangy tele bite that I couldn't really summon from the vintage stack. Sooo glad I did that!
I'd say the price is reasonable, but not in my comfort zone right now. My only suggestion? Have the primer grey for purist and then a second color, something that looks a little nicer for shallow folk like myself. I've always wanted a lake placid blue tele with turtoise pickguard
Great episode Zac! Thanks so much for answering the question regarding neck removal and the b bender mechanism staying put. That guitar sounds great! Can’t wait to get mine and start noodling on it. You sound great on it but you sound great playing anything man!
Great demo! Love the detail you put into it. I was shocked at the price. I can usually put a Fender style guitar together cheaper than you can buy one. Not the case here. I would have thought it would be in the $4000 range.👍
The Custom Shop version is $12K, and looks awful, in my opinion. It’s got an aged/worn gray primer finish that looks like it’s wearing off and discoloring in layers.
@@jfinester That is technically a custom shop version but its really a "Masterbuilt" meaning made by one single master luthier that builds the best guitars that Fender can produce (and possibly ever has produced?). It's also an exact replica of Brent's guitar and is now the actual guitar he plays... as well as only being available in much more limited quantities. I get it still might not justify the price for you (especially when the USA model only costs $2499) but it's not just your average $4k team built custom shop tele with an ugly relic being sold for 3 times the price.
Hey Zak...I am glad I happened upon this great tutorial. In one of your tutorials on Cornell Dupree I told you I have a 67 tele maple cap that I picked up from Brent..it has 3 strat pickups..it also has the sperzels...definitely set up for uncompromising studio use...an unbelievable guitar..and again set up by Joe Glaser...a must set up guy in Nash'Vegas. I play mine through a 1968 Super Reverb 4-10". I either know or worked with most of the names you mentioned. You mentioned Hank Garland but not Billy Byrd...who along with Hank designed the Byrdland guitar. Billy was my Grandfather in'law for about 30 years... You are so knowledgeable...I absolutely endorse your accounts as accurate. Again, I worked with Curtis..please gives us a tutorial on him. You are amazing!! PS..I thought you liked the Jimi Hendrix string gauge package.
@@AskZac Zach, GOD only let me get close enough to see it, feel it, taste it...HE never let me get the brass ring. As I get older I see why...and I am okay with that. I would have had to make that pact with satan to crossover to success and as a Born Again Believer, I chose to stay in the light. Anyway, I am truly wow'd by you!! You raise the level of awareness to guitarists as to the importance of rythym guitar. One of your subscribers opined that many, maybe most guitarists place too much emphasis on lead soloing. I agree. TIK TOK is saturated with young players who showcase blazing speed arpeggio runs as if that is the objective...pure technical masturbation. There is nothing more musical than R&B rythym. It took me years to to appreciate it. Again, your tutorials are a great contribution to the art of playing guitar Thank you! Never too old to learn something new.
Really enjoy your videos Zac. Very well spoken and good material presentation. I had to have one of these Mason Tele’s and scored one about three weeks ago. I’ve had quite a few of the Valley Arts Mason guitars, being a huge fan myself. First heard Brent in 1992 and it forever changed the way I play guitar. I’m so pleased with this new Fender. So many great tones and the Glaser bender is amazing. Never had a G-bender so I may swap the string pull out to the G to give that a try.
@@jsyjsy1529 the Glaser bender is either B or G pull. Takes about 15 minutes to switch between B-pull or G-pull. I’m like Zac, the B is much preferred.
Another great vid from Ask Zac...Tele's never cease to amaze of how you can configure them...my next build will be a Tele w/Bigsby and neck humbucker...I was curious about the placement of the "string tree"...BTW, awesome playing ! ! !
I just order a ttype from my builder with the sME PICKUP CONFIGURATION AND I NEVER KNEW THAT GUITAR EXISTED I THOUGHT I MADE IT UP LOL...MINE IS GONNA BE CANDY APPLE RED, ROSEWOOD BOARD WITH WHITISH BINDING AND GAURD WITH THICK NECK...EXITED BUT IT WONT BE DONE FOR 6 MTHS.....FIRST CUSTOM! FROM A BUILDER THATS AMAZING...CANT WAIT!
Further researching this guitar it appears the middle pickup is glued in place with no adjustment for the middle pickup evident by the empty screw holes. Again this shows attention to detail because Brent’s actual Tele is the same.
Very good review, you explained everything perfect. I thought the bridge pickup would be the seymour duncan alnico five two (nashville). I know Brent used to run the five two along with Jimmy O'lander. The bridge stack still sounds good, but that five two just has that magic for a tele. 👌👌
It would be possible to get that perfect blend of bridge and little bit of middle wired up to a toggle switch . Instead of having to keep turning the middle volume pot in and out each time , you could have a switch that would act like a volume pot , so you can get the exact amount of middle pickup added each time just by flicking the toggle switch on or off. You could even have two Different settings. On my guitar I don’t have a volume pot I have a “dp3t on-on-on switch” and it’s set up so I have full volume, two thirds volume , and one third volume .
I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Mason a couple weeks ago... I know playing the BM Tele won’t make me sound like Brent Mason but I’m wondering if it might help me to be as nice as Mr. Mason? 🤷🏼 🤓 ✌🏼❤️🎸
Zac, Thanks for the wealth of information that you provide. Just wanted you to know you’re appreciated. I watch so many of your videos I thought Id better go ahead an subscribe.
I just into your YT site and am thourghly enjoying it. I just checked out the Spotify collection, very excellent! Also enjoyed recently Truetone session with Tim Lerch!
Seems like an ideal awesome feature set. The only thing I don’t dig about them is the color (the flat grey primer) which I know is his thing. Would love to see this feature set exactly the same with maybe a blonde/white guard or traditional black guard look, or some custom colors or black as an option. But phenomenal sounding and I am excited to check out one in person
Fine , fine review nice picking also.It would be cool to see you do a review on the Kiesel JH6 Johnny Hiland model as well, your posts are very very informative. I am enjoying the fire out of these ask Zac posts. Thank you.
@@AskZac I just remember Kahler being mentioned before. Maybe it was a Brent Mason interview or maybe I've been misinformed by a tdpri post??? I'm not sure.
Thank you for answering the question I've had while watching other demos of this guitar. I was wondering if you could get the middle pickup alone and you addressed that! I'm on a waiting list at Sweetwater to be notified when this guitar is in stock.
![Rig Rundown: Brent Mason [2021]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/YhS8bCs12N8/mqdefault.jpg)
Thanks for walking us through this cool instrument Zac. No one better to teach us about a Tele!
Thank you, Amigo! Just "downloading" as you say.
Hi Keith. You're sure right. Fine instrument, fine pickin', fine info.
Yea Ive been wanting one these bad boys. Great video and info. Keep up the great work Zac.
Hey Zac I'm 58 and I appreciate that your vids most often are played with a clean tone!!! Some videos the host is using to much distortion and I can't grad every note or modulation THANKS ZAC
Clean and clear is my motto!!
Greg Arnold: I've watched countless videos of "guitar demos" that were so full of pedal effects that in the end I had no idea of what the GUITAR actually sounded like.
Congrats on one of your best reviews to date. Fender did a great job with this monster of a guitar. This noiseless Tele covers all the bases without loosing its original tone.
Keep up the good work and your great teachings on music history.
Thank you!!
An addition on my old American Music Shop comment. The show did continue for another season in 1994, with an all-new band. Gone were O'Connor, Brent Mason, and company. The band for '94 was legendary guitarist Reggie Young on lead guitar, Larry Byrom on rhythm guitar, Hargus "Pig" Robbins on piano, Rob Hajacos on fiddle, Mike Brignardello on bass, and Steve Turner on drums. The show's band, no matter who were in it, were killer!
Back around late '71, I built a Telecaster out of mahogany. It initially had two of those mini humbuckings along with the typical Telecaster bridge pickup. Eventually changed those out for SG Standard humbuckings of the day. One of the very early "custom shop" Fenders ever made, maybe third after the rosewood Telecasters which I didn't even know about when I built my "Nortoncaster" as my sons call it. And I agree on the '90s being the most unforgettable era in country music, especially the early '90s.
Just built a three pickup Tele myself (here in Hermitage) with a slightly different switching arrangement. 3-Way Selector, Volume, Switchcraft switch (Middle mute/add/solo), Tone. Simpler and easier to run through permutations, with a glance to know how it's set. Works slick. Love your channel, just found you today.
Very thorough demo and walk through of this special model Tele. Just to add on for all the modders out there. Most modern American Standard Tele's already have the 3 pickup rout. So a Brent Mason setup absent the B-Bender is actually an easy mod where a prewired control plate is already available. I have a similar setup with minor pickup variation. I used Duncan SM-1 mini HB and a Strat Hot Stack vs. the rail model. I have not gone with blend yet so that is why I watched. Cheers!
I was looking for a telecaster. Came across this one when it came out. Bought it, then learned who Brent Mason was. I do love this guitar, one of my favorites in my collection. It however, is not an all around guitar in my opinion.
This answers a lot of questions I had while learning a ton of his licks. So he truly had a tele-strat combo. Thanks so much. Great episode!
A work of art. All the perfect options, in my opinion. The best Tele Fender has put out, good enough for Brent it’s good enough for pretty much anybody.
Another cool episode! I’ve had Strats wired exactly the same way for decades (minus the pull-pot and with stock 3-single-coils), and I have a custom-built Tele-style guitar with a Strat middle pickup and a Parsons-White B-bender, and a Hipshot D-tuner key for the low E string. Back in 1988 when I got that thing, it was $1K less that what this Brent Mason costs now, but it’s cool to see a production guitar available with a bender. I hope Fender sells a ton of them!
Very cool!
Fender had an American Nashville Tele B Bender in the 90s that sold for $1,200.
one thing that I'd recommend for all guitars is a treble bleed circuit - the circuit costs less than 5 bucks and it's a game changer.
You sound great on that intro, Zac! Especially the stuttered bends on the five chord. Hell yeah! : )
Thanks so much!
Putting a strat pickup in the middle of my Tele was one of the best things i ever did. It brings the funk! Also, when wired series with either the neck or bridge you get some great sounds too.
Thanks Zac. My store in Dallas had one, but it went quickly. I’m going to a Brent Mason seminar on October 12.
Thank you Zac! I want one of these really bad. Once I get moved I will buy one and build an Esquire with the Brad Paisley/ Seymour Duncan Secret Agent pickup set up. I can't wait to get set up and building again. You are fanning the flames!
I ordered the Seymour Duncan Secret Agent pickup last week. It’s going to take several weeks to get it though.
I’ll buy the new BP signature Esquire as soon as my Fender dealer is able to get one, but Fender is currently sold out of them.
@@charlesbolton8471 Please save my name and let me know what you think of it! I build my own bit I am buying a Brent Mason Tele.
That is one of my favorite Telecaster tones I've ever heard!
Zac, there’s a full clip on TH-cam when Brent did the Steel Festival with Buddy. Oh man, Brent is killing it (without anybody telling him, hey you can’t play that jazz stuff) It’s the best country/straight ahead jazz/Western swing playing I’ve ever heard. I know he had that old VHS/dvd thing which was awesome, but hearing him live killing it was something else with Emmons looking over grinning.
Nice!!!!
Great video as usual Zac!! I'm so glad I happened upon your page when I went to buy my first Tele a few months ago (25 years playing and not owning a Tele should be a crime) and I've watched every video since! So when these guitars first became available, I got an email from Fender at 7 am and immediately put it in the cart. I hesitated to purchase it because of, well, divorce, but by the time I went back to my cart later that day to just go ahead and order it they had already sold out. Same with when I got an email telling me they were back in stock. By the time I saw the email, it was already sold out again. They are near impossible to get. If your guy at Fender needs someone in the Atlanta area to play and demo one, I'm in! :)
Its a great guitar, and seems to be more popular than they thought. Pent up demand
@@AskZac Well it truly is a great deal as you said, because once I looked into getting the bender and the pickups along with all the work that added well over $1,000 to my current Tele so I was absolutely willing to go all in for this one if possible. Such a cool all-in-one Tele and so glad to see you as the first one I've come across to demo it on TH-cam properly! Good work man!
@@willsei Thanks!
I can’t bear adding a third pickup to a tele. I love the space there. Took me years to adapt to a strat because of the middle pickup and I don’t want to change my tele
Sir Baron Von Count: Simple fix. Buy a second Tele with three pickups.😊
Brent recently recorded a song for me, great playing!
I got mine yesterday, i preordered it in august. it’s a great instrument. I would say you did a perfect review. thanks
Thank you
@@AskZac Yea thanks Zac for your excellent review. I got mine a few days ago and its an awesome guitar. I'm loving it. Keep up the great work
Brent’s one of the best players in Nashville to begin with!! Thanks for the review of this awesome guitar
Nice artist issue. B-bender, Duncan pickups, ash body. All high end features that add up. It's not cheap. $2499 on the Fender website. Maybe $2200 through the big retailers. I think it's priced fairly. It's a good way to pick up a B-bender.
Absolutely! If I didn’t already have a B-bender guitar, I’d be jumping on one of these quick!
Well glaser bender itself is 650$
Brent Mason is one of my favorite guitarist in any genre. The sounds he gets out of his very special Tele is awesome. Thanks for featuring his signature model. $2,500 is not unreasonable for an american made guitar these days with all the special features. Adjusted for inflation that's about $305 in 1966 dollars , the year I bought my first real guitar, a 1966 Fender Duo-Sonic II for $200 with case. One of these days could you talk about Vince Gill, another of my favorite Tele players. I remember him being feature in Guitar Player magazine a lot in the 1990's. He won a lot of Grammys and CMA and ACM awards as a recording artists but not for his guitar playing. I was sorry to hear his longtime guitar tech, Benny Garcia, passed away recently.
Have been thinking about a VG episode
Sorry to hear about Benny. I knew him when I was in Oklahoma City briefly in 1980. Nice guy, and a great guitar player in his own right. His dad, Benny Garcia Sr. was one of the pioneering Western Swing guitar players.
wonderful instrument, wonderful review. I own one of the early shipments, love it, worth every penny. The more I play it the more I love it. Incredibly versatile.
Rock on!
What a great review! Lots of details on the walkthrough plus a bit of history along the way- learned a lot- thanks!
Thank you
That is a hot Tele. So glad you did this Ive been wondering how they sound and didn't know there were different colors other than primer grey.
I have mine on order here in the Netherlands. CAN'T WAIT!
Just finished watching. Great episode Zac!
Thank you. I know you will enjoy it. I have to box this one up and send it back to Fender.
I like that you use the word 'doinky'.
One of my faves
@@AskZac it would be nice fo a episode about daniel donato is guitar rig playing style and history
I use to have a set of those old SD pickup covers. Lost in the shuffle. Darnit.
I’m very fortunate to own one of these Fender BM Tele’s. Apparently, these are nearly impossible to get your hands-on despite the recent release. Wonder if this is a combination of interest & reduced production in 2020.
I appreciate your thoughts on the guitar. My personal take is that this is a game changing Tele for me.
The tonal pallet available here is immense. The pickup offering here is fairly similar to what has become known as the Nashville Tele, but the unpotted mini Humbucker in the neck position & wiring configuration push that envelop to an even greater extent. The middle pickup volume provides the flexibility to dial in just the right amount of in-between tonality, which I have come to really appreciate.
I would highly recommend this to Tele & Strat players alike.
Right on! Yes they are hard to get. I had to send this one back right after I did the video.
Great video Zac , that middle pickup and the way it can blend is way cool. Love that popcorn sound as you say . The bender is just added gravy ! Yeh I want one so I'm going to talk to my local Fender dealer ! Kudos to a great guitar design , Mr Mason and you Zac. Cheers!
Thanks 👍
Thanks for the breakdown of the Brent Mason tele. Very informative. That mini humbucker sounds great
So Brent's infamous Tele has a 7.25 radius? Wow!!! Great review!
I bought this, it’s the best guitar I’ve owned, ever!
Thanks to watching you, I’ve now been inspired to fly from the UK to visit Joe Glaser to have a B bender fitted to my other Tele. 👍
Great to hear!
The middle pickup always reminds me of a little red swiss army knife!
It’s always great to watch a player with your knowledge in instruments and ability to play. This guitar is light years beyond my ability but the review makes me want one anyway. Thanks.
Thanks a lot!
I have one! compared to my Suhr classic: In terms of traditional tele sound i think the Suhr (most likely the PUps) does a better job. Both are very playable. However, the BM Fender tele is also excellent for traditional tele work plus the added versatility that the middle pick up has pushed this to be part of my main rig. Great demo and super guitar. Fender did it right!
How do you find the neck on it? Is it a traditional fatter tele neck or more like a strat neck?
@@No-mart Definitely on the slimmer side. I would not call it a fat tele neck
Another interesting episode. I had to pause to find a TH-cam clip of young Brent Mason shredding on the American Music Shop. Thanks for the Spotify playlist, Zac. Sometimes it's hard to find what the session guys have played on, that's really cool of you to do that. I really enjoyed your Trutone interview with Brent, might have to listen again.. He is a funny dude!
He is a great guy
Hello zac... good review ! One correction... I asked Fender support about the bridge --> "The bridge on this product is chrome plated steel with steel saddles. Unfortunately we don't offer a brass type". So the bridge is not brass ! For the people that are interested .. the ABM TB-1 C brass bridge is a great option !
Thanks for the info!
@@AskZac
You're welcome Zac. I have a question. Do you know if BM still has the Gibson mini humbucker in the neck position or has he replaced it with the Seymour Duncan mini?
Jerry Reed was a huge influence.
His claw style for sure came from Jerry.
Chet came up with the name. He said Jerry's hand looked like a "claw" with the tucked index finger and extended fingers and thumb.
I want one!!!!
Zac, I bought one. Sounded Awful. Took it to a tech guy I know.
He put the head stock to his ear and tapped the body. Result Dead!
He took the neck off. Two of the holes that the screws go into were countersunk, BUT two were burred.
He sanded the rough edges and replaced the neck. Made a HUGE difference.
He then found that the bridge pick was very muddy. He shorted the bottom winding, which had an effect. He then added a capacitor to ground on the Bridge Pickup bottom coil. The top nut was not cleaned with a fine piece of wet and dry paper. THE RESULT. Now sounds great. Hope this may help anyone else with the same problem. J.R.
Awesome demonstration of a really cool guitar Zac, thanks! I love when people aren't afraid to go and change their stuff to suit their needs. Usability always trumps tradition in my book :-)
Yep.... I've wanted this guitar before fender was selling them.... I've been waiting. It sounds so good, and would be so helpful in playing a lot of different styles. Thanks for showing this Zac
Thanks so much very nice presentation on this Brent Mason guitar
My pleasure!
Even if he doesn’t have a double bender I would still want to help out ! Keep Smiling Zak !!!
Zac, please do some videos on how you setup your teles? Intonation, neck relief, etc...
I will
Another great, insightful episode Zac, I love to hear your stories and take on gear. This guitar does it all!
Thank you kindly!
You talk about American Music Shop. Besides Mason and Rowan, the band they had was truly an all-star group of musicians. Mark O'Connor on fiddle, Jerry Douglas on resonator guitar and lap steel, Glenn Worf on bass, and Harry Stinson on drums.
Well done, Zac! You always do a great job of “sharing the knowledge.” And, so much more. This is a sweet model👍.
Thank you kindly!
Awesome rundown Zac - my Brent tele should be arriving within a few days - glad I watched your video, now I'm REEEEALLY stoked to get it. I mean, I was stoked before, but now I'm..... REEEEEEEEEEALLY stoked. Yup.
Update: I've been playing the Brent tele for several months now, and I swapped out the bridge pickup (vintage stack STK-T3B) for the SD Vintage Broadcaster pickup - the stock pickup didn't really do it for me, but this guitar just completely comes alive with the Broadcaster pickup - it now has that twangy tele bite that I couldn't really summon from the vintage stack. Sooo glad I did that!
Great video Zac I've been craving a Tele lately. Have a great day.
Thanks! You too!
Well done, well played, well explained. Loved it.
I'd say the price is reasonable, but not in my comfort zone right now. My only suggestion? Have the primer grey for purist and then a second color, something that looks a little nicer for shallow folk like myself. I've always wanted a lake placid blue tele with turtoise pickguard
Great episode Zac! Thanks so much for answering the question regarding neck removal and the b bender mechanism staying put. That guitar sounds great! Can’t wait to get mine and start noodling on it. You sound great on it but you sound great playing anything man!
THANK YOU
Great demo! Love the detail you put into it. I was shocked at the price. I can usually put a Fender style guitar together cheaper than you can buy one. Not the case here. I would have thought it would be in the $4000 range.👍
The Custom Shop version is $12K, and looks awful, in my opinion. It’s got an aged/worn gray primer finish that looks like it’s wearing off and discoloring in layers.
@@jfinester That is technically a custom shop version but its really a "Masterbuilt" meaning made by one single master luthier that builds the best guitars that Fender can produce (and possibly ever has produced?). It's also an exact replica of Brent's guitar and is now the actual guitar he plays... as well as only being available in much more limited quantities. I get it still might not justify the price for you (especially when the USA model only costs $2499) but it's not just your average $4k team built custom shop tele with an ugly relic being sold for 3 times the price.
Cool Zac...love it..i had to get down off my ladder and put down my tools to post....i bet that guitar will be in permanant quarrantine in your house!
What a cool tele, thought about getting one😬.
Now that's an interesting kit. Left foot on the kick? Cool
Great review! Thank you Zac! 😊
Hey Zak...I am glad I happened upon this great tutorial. In one of your tutorials on Cornell Dupree I told you I have a 67 tele maple cap that I picked up from Brent..it has 3 strat pickups..it also has the sperzels...definitely set up for uncompromising studio use...an unbelievable guitar..and again set up by Joe Glaser...a must set up guy in Nash'Vegas. I play mine through a 1968 Super Reverb 4-10".
I either know or worked with most of the names you mentioned. You mentioned Hank Garland but not Billy Byrd...who along with Hank designed the Byrdland guitar. Billy was my Grandfather in'law for about 30 years...
You are so knowledgeable...I absolutely endorse your accounts as accurate. Again, I worked with Curtis..please gives us a tutorial on him. You are amazing!!
PS..I thought you liked the Jimi Hendrix string gauge package.
You worked with King Curtis?
@@AskZac Curtis Mayfield
@@earlyraybonneville1762 Wow!
@@AskZac
Zach, GOD only let me get close enough to see it, feel it, taste it...HE never let me get the brass ring. As I get older I see why...and I am okay with that. I would have had to make that pact with satan to crossover to success and as a Born Again Believer, I chose to stay in the light. Anyway, I am truly wow'd by you!!
You raise the level of awareness to guitarists as to the importance of rythym guitar. One of your subscribers opined that many, maybe most guitarists place too much emphasis on lead soloing. I agree. TIK TOK is saturated with young players who showcase blazing speed arpeggio runs as if that is the objective...pure technical masturbation. There is nothing more musical than R&B rythym. It took me years to to appreciate it. Again, your tutorials are a great contribution to the art of playing guitar
Thank you! Never too old to learn something new.
Really enjoy your videos Zac. Very well spoken and good material presentation. I had to have one of these Mason Tele’s and scored one about three weeks ago. I’ve had quite a few of the Valley Arts Mason guitars, being a huge fan myself. First heard Brent in 1992 and it forever changed the way I play guitar. I’m so pleased with this new Fender. So many great tones and the Glaser bender is amazing. Never had a G-bender so I may swap the string pull out to the G to give that a try.
Very Cool. I don't like G benders, but you may love it. They throw me off.
can you do that with brent's tele?
@@jsyjsy1529 the Glaser bender is either B or G pull. Takes about 15 minutes to switch between B-pull or G-pull. I’m like Zac, the B is much preferred.
Another great vid from Ask Zac...Tele's never cease to amaze of how you can configure them...my next build will be a Tele w/Bigsby and neck humbucker...I was curious about the placement of the "string tree"...BTW, awesome playing ! ! !
Thanks
Great one Zac really good information on Brent Mason's guitars. Thank You. Burton Trent
Glad you enjoyed it!
Nice demo ! Missed this.
man, just a SQ Fat Tele here (sb, 20th ann) but had been thinking about it earlier today.
Been awhile,,,time for a 'spin' :)
Absolutely love mine ! And it came with a very nice case !
Wow now i need one even more
I just order a ttype from my builder with the sME PICKUP CONFIGURATION AND I NEVER KNEW THAT GUITAR EXISTED I THOUGHT I MADE IT UP LOL...MINE IS GONNA BE CANDY APPLE RED, ROSEWOOD BOARD WITH WHITISH BINDING AND GAURD WITH THICK NECK...EXITED BUT IT WONT BE DONE FOR 6 MTHS.....FIRST CUSTOM! FROM A BUILDER THATS AMAZING...CANT WAIT!
Brent Mason is such an amazing player, and this guitar sounds great.
I wish Duncan and Lace made their pickups available in other colors than black and white. The red looks really cool.
Further researching this guitar it appears the middle pickup is glued in place with no adjustment for the middle pickup evident by the empty screw holes. Again this shows attention to detail because Brent’s actual Tele is the same.
It does seem like a good deal for the price. Thanks for showing it to us.
Another great video. Thanks for the in depth look at this incredible Tele.
My pleasure!
Very good review, you explained everything perfect. I thought the bridge pickup would be the seymour duncan alnico five two (nashville). I know Brent used to run the five two along with Jimmy O'lander. The bridge stack still sounds good, but that five two just has that magic for a tele. 👌👌
It would be possible to get that perfect blend of bridge and little bit of middle wired up to a toggle switch .
Instead of having to keep turning the middle volume pot in and out each time , you could have a switch that would act like a volume pot , so you can get the exact amount of middle pickup added each time just by flicking the toggle switch on or off.
You could even have two Different settings.
On my guitar I don’t have a volume pot I have a “dp3t on-on-on switch” and it’s set up so I have full volume, two thirds volume , and one third volume .
It's not a Parson's but it's still pretty dang nice. Since it's primered I'd say paint it whatever color you like.
I was lucky enough to meet Mr. Mason a couple weeks ago... I know playing the BM Tele won’t make me sound like Brent Mason but I’m wondering if it might help me to be as nice as Mr. Mason? 🤷🏼 🤓 ✌🏼❤️🎸
Nice job Zach. That's a killer guitar
Zac, Thanks for the wealth of information that you provide. Just wanted you to know you’re appreciated. I watch so many of your videos I thought Id better go ahead an subscribe.
I appreciate that!
The tastiest use of chorus: 16:56
I just into your YT site and am thourghly enjoying it. I just checked out the Spotify collection, very excellent! Also enjoyed recently Truetone session with Tim Lerch!
Awesome, thank you!
I can’t believe you mentioned a Washburn Wonderbar. I still have one in a drawer somewhere.
Seems like an ideal awesome feature set. The only thing I don’t dig about them is the color (the flat grey primer) which I know is his thing. Would love to see this feature set exactly the same with maybe a blonde/white guard or traditional black guard look, or some custom colors or black as an option. But phenomenal sounding and I am excited to check out one in person
Other colors would be great
And it's ash. A disappearing body wood. Nice video!
Recently bought a new squire h/s. No regrets.
Fine , fine review nice picking also.It would be cool to see you do a review on the Kiesel JH6 Johnny Hiland model as well, your posts are very very informative. I am enjoying the fire out of these ask Zac posts.
Thank you.
That makes me smile.
Great review , thanks.
Valley arts under Gibson made these 15 or so years ago
Without the $650 bender
A ton of really usable tones and a b bender to boot! Awesome sounding guitar. Thanks Zac!
Glad you like it!
That is soooooooo cool. I've never seen anything like it and you sound especially amazing playing that!
Wow, thank you!
Man, that sounded great!
Great video, great channel - thanks Zac!
If I’m correct I believe the locking trem he used was a kahler, which is even more wild haha
Crazy
I believe Kahler as well...
@@reverbdeluxe here is a clip cued up. th-cam.com/video/gJkBnt8Uww8/w-d-xo.html
Sure it is not a Wonderbar?
@@AskZac I just remember Kahler being mentioned before. Maybe it was a Brent Mason interview or maybe I've been misinformed by a tdpri post??? I'm not sure.
Nothing like a freshly baked Telecaster! Thanks for the cool vid. 😀👍🏻
Thanks for watching!
@16:40 we NEED a shirt of this pause-face! Very Zacklander *Blue (Tele) Ice*
Ha!
Thank you for answering the question I've had while watching other demos of this guitar. I was wondering if you could get the middle pickup alone and you addressed that! I'm on a waiting list at Sweetwater to be notified when this guitar is in stock.
You are quite welcome. The guitar is in high demand
Zac. Great rundown...