Fender American Professional II Telecaster 2021, Dark Night

Finish. We went over the front, the back and both edges and could not find a ding, a chip, a scratch through the clear coat or a buckle mark. The back of the body is the place that matters most on a Telecaster, because there is no rear contour and a strap buckle shows up there before anywhere else, and it is clean right across. Both edges are clean and still glossy.

Frets and board. The frets are full. The crowns are unmarked under the string paths from the first position up, which is where a player wears them first. The rosewood shows no finger grooving and no build up in the slots. The nut is clean, with no chipping at the slots.

Neck. The satin back of the neck has no polish through behind the first three frets, which is the other place a played guitar gives itself away. The maple is unmarked front and back.

Pickguard and control plate. This is the one thing worth naming. Under strong light at an angle there is fine surface swirl on the black pickguard between the bridge pickup and the control plate, the kind a pick leaves on any gloss guard, and the control plate shows the same sort of fine polishing marks. Neither shows at normal exposure and neither is damage.

Hardware. Bright throughout. No pitting on the bridge plate, the three brass saddles, the tuner housings, the string ferrules, the jack cup or the neck plate. The Fender script on the bridge plate is crisp, and the serial number and the 75th anniversary logo on the back of the headstock are sharp.

Electronics. We have played it. It plays and the controls work.

Strings. The strings on it now are played strings, not fresh.

Case. The Fender molded case has been photographed closed and is undamaged on the outside.

The guitar and its Fender molded hardshell case, black with the embossed Fender script and grey latches. That is the case type this model shipped in.

The case has only been photographed closed, so nothing inside it is part of the sale. If the truss rod wrench, the paperwork or the hangtags matter to you, ask before you come and we will open it and tell you what is in there.

A Telecaster is the guitar you pick up when you want the part to sit on top of a mix without anybody reaching for an EQ, and the American Professional II is the version Fender builds for people doing that every week. The bones are unchanged: two single coils, a three way switch, master volume, master tone, and strings pulled through the body onto three compensated brass saddles. What the II adds is comfort. Rolled fingerboard edges, a Deep C neck in a satin finish that does not go tacky under a hot light, and a sculpted heel so the top frets are reachable without fighting the joint.

This one was built in Corona, California, serial US210071176, and it carries the 75th anniversary mark Fender used on the back of the headstock in 2021.

Dark Night does something most dark finishes do not. It reads flat black from across a room and turns metallic blue the moment a light catches it, which is why the body looks like two different colours from one frame to the next. The natural maple neck and the rosewood board sit against it well.

We have played it. It plays and the electronics work. It has also been looked after. Across the front, the back, both edges and the neck we could not find a ding, a chip or a mark through the finish, the frets read full, the nut is clean and the hardware is bright. The condition notes carry the whole account, including the one thing we did find.

Pickup only. We are not shipping instruments yet, so this one is bought here: 215 East Lewis Street, third floor, Livingston, by appointment.

Right for somebody who wants a Telecaster that is finished properly and playable now rather than a project. It covers country, roots, rock, indie and session work, and the rolled edges and sculpted heel make it easier on the hands than a vintage spec Tele over a long night. If you already own a Strat and want the other half of that vocabulary, this is the one to put next to it. It is also a sensible first serious electric, because the fretwork on this line is good enough that a beginner is not fighting the instrument.

Buy something else if you want vintage correct. The modern neck profile, the nine and a half inch radius and compensated saddles that let each string intonate are the point of this guitar, and none of it is what a fifties reissue is for. If you want a humbucker at the neck, look at a Telecaster Deluxe rather than planning to route this one. If you want a maple board and the brighter attack that comes with it, this is not that guitar either. And if you need something to knock around in a van, this finish is clean enough that you will notice the first mark you put in it.