The secret weapon of the Fender American Performer Telecaster Hum

This one caught me by surprise because I didn't know the guitar could do this.

The Fender American Performer Telecaster Hum. It's been around a while. About 5 years. You can have one for well south of $2,000 (and even under $1,000 if you look hard enough).

I got the opportunity to play one of these recently, and discovered that the front humbucker does in fact have a split-coil function by pulling the tone knob...

...but I am pretty sure this guitar did not always have this feature. I believe the Hum originally had a different front humbucker with no splitting ability. Current new ones at the time I write this in April 2023 do courtesy of the push-pull tone knob and what Fender calls a "Double Tap" front dual coil pickup.

Does it play well? Yes. Weight? Not too heavy, not too light, just right. Sound? Good. My favorite sound was the bridge+neck with the humbucker in split setting.

You can see me playing this guitar right here:

The only thing that might turn some people off is that no Butterscotch Blonde version of this guitar exists. Finishes available are Vintage White (seen here), 3-Color Sunburst and Surf Green. Vintage White is my preferred color, but the Surf Green version (which comes with rosewood fingerboard) looks fantastic as well. See what's available now here.

If you gotta-gotta have the traditional Tele in a Butterscotch Blonde, the best deal going right now for that is Squier, no question. The Butterscotch Affinity Tele is the winner for low-cost Butterscotch, and after that the Squier Classic Vibe 50s Tele. Those two have the absolutely classic Butterscotch-with-black-guard look.

Or, if you have deep pockets and absolutely totally want that classic Tele look with no compromises made, see Fender American Vintage II 1951 Telecaster. Butterscotch nitro finish, black guard, "that sound", it's all there.

Personally, the Hum Tele is my choice, but I understand that others prefer the Butterscotch.

Published 2023 Apr 11