Classic twang with a rebellious streak. Looks vintage. Bites vintage. Upgraded where it counts.
This is a 1997 Fender Japan '52 Reissue Telecaster, but not the average reissue you’ve seen a million times. This one’s been refinished in Aged Olympic White nitro, and here’s the kicker: it’s over the original 2-tone sunburst, so it’s starting to wear in all the right places like your favourite pair of jeans.
It’s got a lightweight ash body (just 3.4kg) and all the right vintage specs, but with smart, tasteful upgrades that bring out the best in it. The bridge is a USA Fender '52 Reissue "Pat Pend" unit, outfitted with compensated brass saddles—so you get all the classic Tele twang without the classic Tele tuning issues. It intonates like a champ and still looks like it just rolled off the line in Fullerton, 1952.
The neck is a soft V-shaped figured maple beauty with a sweet honey amber gloss, and feels like a friendly handshake from a seasoned Nashville session player. It’s stamped TL-52DEX2 APR97 at the heel, just to keep the anoraks happy. It’s got a 7.25" radius, 21 vintage frets with moderate wear (nothing buzz-worthy), and a synthetic bone nut for smooth tuning stability.
The pickguard is a vintage-accurate 1-ply matte black Bakelite, aka phenolic resin for the tone wood mystics. Hardware includes aged Kluson-style slotted tuners in nickel, looking the part and holding tune just fine.
Under the hood, things get serious: a set of handmade scatterwound pickups, built to vintage specs with AlNiCo II magnets, plain enamel wire, and a brass baseplate on the bridge. Output clocks in around 6K, right in that golden zone of clarity and snap. They’re warm, dynamic, and full of that “did I just record this in 1955?” energy.
This one’s got tone for days, and looks that just keep getting better. Plug in. Play loud. Pretend it’s 1952. Or 1997. Or just today—but way cooler.
Beware - comes with some serious attitude.
This instrument received a full professional setup with deep body clean, neck deep clean and full electronics check. Restringed with D'addario 10-46 nickel-plated steel strings.
This guitar will be shipped around UK with Parcelforce and UPS couriers, safely packed into a sturdy guitar cardboard box. 24h courier service provided to UK customers. We also ship to USA, Canada, Japan, Australia and many other places, but at the moment we don't ship to EU or Northern Ireland.
Fender Telecaster - 52 Reissue - Japan - Olympic White nitro relic (1997)
SPECS:
MODEL: Fender Japan 52 Vintage Reissue Telecaster
YEAR: 1997
COLOUR: Aged Olympic White nitro refin over original 2-tone sunburst finish
PICKGUARD: vintage-accurate Bakelite (phenolic resin) 1-ply matt black
NECK: Soft V-shape figured maple neck, honey amber gloss finish; neck heel stamp TL-52DEX2 APR97
NUT: synthetic bone
FRETBOARD: maple, 7.25-inch radius
FRETS: 21 vintage frets with moderate wear
TUNERS: Kluson vintage style slotted tuners, aged nickel finish
BODY: ash body, original SS body routing
TOTAL WEIGHT: 3.4 kg
BRIDGE: Fender USA 52 vintage reissue "Pat Pend" bridge with upgraded brass saddles with compensated design for better intonation
WEAR: all wear purely cosmetic; no structural damage
PICKUPS: handmade scatterwound vintage-accurate single-coils with AlNiCo II magnets, plain enamel wire, brass underplate on the bridge pickup and vintage output (6K)
WIRING: USA-spec wiring with CTS solid shaft A250K pots, Orange Drop tone capacitor, Oak USA 3-way switch, Electrosocket output jack mount, Neutrik jack, cloth-covered wires
DISCLAIMER
Please note that although we put our heart and soul and also all our knowledge into every single guitar we sell, a setup is a personal preference. However, we try to get the best playability out of every guitar and set them up so you can play both rhythm and lead. We also pull them all apart to clean and check every single component and replace all unreliable parts with new ones, from dodgy pots to the whole wiring, tuners, string trees, nuts and etc. All the work done is described in detail in the listing.
We make sure that every guitar we sell is problem free and take full responsibility for the accuracy of our listing descriptions. All photographs are done by a professional photographer and processed on a calibrated monitor. Some colours might look slightly different on your monitor, but we will always put the official Fender colour name in the listing description, so please study pictures of other guitars with the same colour if you are unsure. We focus on finding great quality guitars and making them reliable and inspiring to play.