Short Takes: FSR (Guitar Center) and Special Edition Fenders

Short Takes: FSR (Guitar Center) and Special Edition Fenders

Fender made special limited run guitars for Guitar Center, often just enough for a couple of guitars per store. These generally featured some finish or features that set them apart from the regular models (which were 100-200 dollars less). Like the previous part, it explains why I bought it and why it was returned (except with the Strummer Tele).

2011 Fender FSR Classic Player Telecaster with active 9V mid-range boost (like the Eric Clapton Strat). 

A Standard with single coil pickups. The boost was controlled by an outer knob on the tone control.

Why: I was looking for a Telecaster with a mid-range boost, having considered installing one myself. Seeing one in the store with one already installed made it a no-brainer buy at the time for $600.

Not: The mid-range boost was very cool, however, the tele itself in terms of its sound was uninspiring and I've never felt 100% comfortable with active pickups. The sound was no problem, I just didn't like having to put batteries into it. 

2014 FSR '50s Baja Telecaster with a Vegas Gold Sparkle finish. 

It's exactly like it sounds, a Baja with a finish popularized  by Buck Owens and Don Rich.

Why: this was actually the second Baja Telecaster I bought, in this case because of the finish (I'm a Buck Owens and Don Rich fan). 

Not: My problem with both Baja's was the neck, a thick one that players either loved or hated. I don't think I'm alone in rating comfort with the neck as almost important as the sound. Also, my excitement over the gold sparkle faded very quickly once I truly realized that it was an extremely bright and gaudy finish.

The one I got was priced at $650, which was very good for this particular model.

2007 Fender Joe Strummer MIM Telecaster with vintage single coils and distressed finish. Street price around 800-850.

Why: it was a great sounding Tele and though I wasn't wild about the finish, this is a case where it felt and looked pretty good at the time.

Not: The price was way higher than I was comfortable in 2007 for a MIM tele so it created a situation where any "little thing" could stop the purchase. 

That little thing was a problem common to a lot of guitars and amps on the floor at Guitar Centers; in this case the stolen part was a couple of missing custom "rusted" screws off the pickguard. Like with missing tremolo bars and fuses out of vintage amps, any missing part gave me the feeling that maybe a lot more was taken from the guitar then I could see. There was no extra in the store room so I moved on. 

The price of a Mexican Tele in 2007 was a whole lot less so the much higher price was already a factor working against it.

Al Handa 

July 31, 2026

Short Takes: Special Edition, Signature And Tribute Guitars - Part 1

Short Takes: Special Edition, Signature And Tribute Guitars - Part 1

Some of the guitars have been fully reviewed on the site, and others were owned for a brief amount of time and returned. The takes will have a short description and why the guitar was bought and returned.

As this particular series of short takes develops, I'll also cover some of the special edition Guitar Center guitars, some of which I should have kept.

1999 Fender Eric Clapton Strat:

There were different models but the early ones had the very cool vintage voiced lace sensor pickups, as did the early Jeff Beck strat (that one had different lace sensors). 

Why: Loved the mid-range boost and lace sensor pickups.

Not: Couldn't warm up to the Fender scaled soft V neck.

Epiphone Bob Marley Tribute LP Special:

Very nice set neck Epi Les Paul Special with '57 style humbuckers. Featured a Marley graphic on the body, Jamaican colors on neck.

Why: Affordable compared to the Gibson version though not a true repro of Marley's original LP Special. Cool look and '57 humbuckers sound great.

Not: Very flat fretboard works on acoustic but not on an electric (for me). Bob Marley's original LP Special (and Gibson version) had P90s and sounded quite different.

2010 Epiphone Nancy Wilson Fanatic Nighthawk

This was a reissue of the Gibson Nighthawk that had modern Gibson humbuckers instead of the original Bill Lawrence designed ones.

Why: Very nice build quality and finish. From a playing standpoint, the Nighthawk was always an underrated guitar. Modern players will like the ProBuckers, especially the mini version at the neck.

Not: In my case, I preferred the one with the Bill Lawrence pickups. However, the cool mini HB almost compelled me to keep it.

Gretsch G5810 Bo Diddley

There were two Bo Diddley models, one full size and one a smaller 3/4 type. Both were quite popular in their time on a cult level, and today are much sought after vintage guitars that are reasonably priced. 

Why: Very nice Gretsch humbuckers that did a great job of reproducing the old Bo Diddley sound.

Not: The square body looked a lot better than it played from an ergonomic standpoint, at least in my case. Also, the orange finish is classic, but I would have preferred a cherry finish.

2006 Epiphone Chet Atkins CE Nylon String

This is a lower cost version of the Gibson nylon string model. The early versions had a problem with the piezo pickup in the bridge. Epiphone took care of mine on warranty but it had to stay in the guitar shop for a couple of months until more of the pickups could come in from Japan.

Why: It did a good job of amplifying a nylon string guitar without feedback. The sound was very accurate.

Not: My fault, the piezo pickup didn't amplify the strings very well in a drop tuning, which I hoped it would do.

2007 Epiphone B.B. King

This was a reproduction of his BB King ES-355 with a six position varitone switch and dual mono and stereo jacks.

Why: If you want to sound like The King, this guitar can help you do that. Varitone settings are as versatile as advertised.

Not: My fault again; it sounded great in the store, but thought putting Gibson HBs would make it better. The change made it sound more like a 335, but not like B.B. I reinstalled the PUs. I kept it for a while but at a certain point quit buying or playing semi-solids and hollow bodies. If you buy one for it's original purpose, you won't be disappointed.

Epiphone Joe Pass II

It was basically a rebranding of an earlier model with cosmetics that made it look similar to a guitar Joe Pass used.

Why: For a long time it was one of the gold standards for mid-range priced jazz guitars. If upgraded with Gibson pickups, it was an excellent gigging guitar.

Not: It did Jazz very well, but even upgraded with Gibson pickups it didn't really do much else. I couldn't use it for roots or rock or Blues, but that's hardly the guitar's fault. When criticism at the time was that the cosmetics were too much on the gaudy or ornate side.

2005 Squier Tom Delong Strat

This was a Fender strat with a single Seymour Duncan SH-8 Invader HB in the bridge position. The Squier had a Duncan Designed Detonator HB.

Why: The Detonator was a great high gain pickup, lots of fun on any amp.

Not: In my case, it was just another strat that I never kept but, and this is my opinion only, if you wanted a strat that had the same kind of characteristics as a Blackmore strat, which was similar in the sense that it mainly used the bridge pickup, this wasn't a bad second choice.

2004 Fender MIM Muddy Waters Telecaster 

This was a Mexican made Strat that was essentially American parts assembled in mexico. It had different tone knobs and an ash body.

Why: Great looking tele in candy apple red finish, amp knobs very cool and great vintage sound.

Not: I'm not exaggerating when I say that it was so heavy that it took a lot of the fun out of playing it. Great sound though 

1972 Harmony Buck Owens Acoustic 

I actually saw this guitar a couple years after the last batch from 1972. It hung on the wall of one of my regular guitar store haunts for a couple of years and then one day it was gone. I almost bought it but it frankly just didn't sound. Later on, I read that it became a collector's item because it was actually made by Gibson who were eager to get a connection to Buck Owens.

Why: The red, white and blue coloring was as cool as a guitar could get. Nice cheap price also.

Not: Even if it was made by Gibson, it was a very bland sounding guitar with a surprising lack of highs. I had tried it a couple of times and never decided to buy it.

1996 Jimmy Vaughan "Tex Mex" Strat 

This was an earlier version of what eventually became the actual Jimmy Vaughan strat. It featured the beefed up pickups that were called Tex-Mex and used on both strats and telecasters. 

Why: I immediately bought one about when it came out because the Guitar Center employee gave me an excellent deal on one and I had been looking for a strat at that time. 

Not: I generally liked Tex-Mex pickups on a tele but couldn't understand why I didn't like the same type on a strat. The actual reason I returned this particular guitar was the fit and finish was terrible. Definitely a QC problem more than anything wrong with the model itself.

Al Handa

July 31. 2026