The Fender Telecaster, also known as a Tele, is a typically dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender. The Fender Telecaster 's simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacture and popular music. Introduced for national distribution as the Broadcaster in the fall of 1950, The Fender Telecaster was the first guitar of its kind to be produced on a substantial scale. The Fender Telecaster 's commercial production can be traced as far back as the spring of 1950, when the single- and dual-pickup Esquire models were first sold. From that time to the present, the Fender Telecaster has been in continuous production in one form or another, making the Fender Telecaster the world's senior solid-body electric guitar 

The Fender Telecaster is known for its bright, cutting tone. One of the secrets to the Fender Telecaster 's sound centers on the bridge pickup, which is wound more than the neck pickup and hence has a much higher output, sometimes having twice the inductance of the neck pickup. At the same time, a capacitor is fitted between the slider of the volume control and the output, allowing treble sounds to bleed through while the mid and lower ranges are dampened. A slanting bridge pickup enhances the Fender Telecaster 's treble tone. The Fender Telecaster 's solid body allows the guitar to deliver a clean amplified version of the strings' tone. This was an improvement on previous electric guitar designs, whose hollow bodies made them prone to unwanted feedback, and which sometimes suffered from a muddy, indistinct sound. These design elements allowed musicians to emulate steel guitar sounds, making it particularly useful in country music. Such emulation can be enhanced by use of a B-Bender (B-string bending device co-introduced by country picker Clarence White), enabling a smooth change of pitch for a single string within a chord. A notable B-Bender user was Will Ray from the slinging guitar trio Hellecasters.

A semi-hollow thinline version appeared in 1968/69, designed by German guitar maker Roger Rossmeisl. Wide-Range humbucking pickups, Bullet truss-rod and 3-bolt neck fixing were added around 1972. In the meantime, two new Fender Telecaster models of the CBS period were introduced: the Fender Telecaster Custom and the Fender Telecaster Deluxe guitars, featuring Wide-Range humbuckers and a 3-way toggle selector switch; the Fender Telecaster Deluxe sported a large headstock Stratocaster maple neck and a contoured body, as well as a tremolo bridge on models manufactured after 1973/74. The Fender Telecaster Custom was popularized by Rolling Stones' guitarist and composer Keith Richards since its introduction in the early '70s, featuring a Wide-Range humbucker in the neck position and a single-coil pickup in the bridge. Fender manufactures these CBS-era Teles as a part of the Classic series line in Mexico and Japan since 1999. There are also American-made Fender Telecaster Factory Special Run versions sporting the same specifications and made at the Fender Custom Shop in Corona (California).

The Fender Telecaster has also been a long-time favorite guitar for hot-rod customizing. Several variants of the Fender Telecaster appeared throughout the years with a wide assortment of pickup configurations, such as a humbucker in the neck position, three single-coil pickups and even dual humbuckers with special wiring schemes. Fender offered hot-rodded Teles with such pickup configurations, the Fat and Nashville B-Bender Telecasters around 1998.

The top-of-the-line American Deluxe Fender Telecaster  (introduced in 1998 and upgraded in 2004) features a pair of Samarium Cobalt Noiseless pickups and the S-1 switching system. Other refinements include a bound contoured alder or ash body and an abalone dot-inlaid maple neck with rosewood or maple fingerboard, 22 medium-jumbo frets, rolled fingerboard edges, highly detailed nut and fret work. The American Deluxe Telecaster HH sports an ebony fingerboard, quilted or flamed maple top and a pair of Enforcer humbuckers with S-1 switching. A Fishman Powerbridge was briefly offered on the American Deluxe Fender Telecaster  made from 2000 to 2001. Fender currently offers the Fishman bridge on the Mexican-made Deluxe Series Nashville Tele guitar.

The American Series Fender Telecaster model uses two single-coil pickups with DeltaTone system (featuring a high output bridge pickup and a reverse-wound neck pickup). Other features include a parchment pickguard, non-veneered alder or ash bodies and rolled fingerboard edges. There were also HS and HH guitars with Enforcer humbucking pickups and S-1 switching which debuted in 2003; they have been discontinued in 2007.

The American Nashville B-Bender guitar is modeled after the personally customized instruments of some of Nashville's top players, featuring a Fender/Parsons B-Bender system, two American Tele single-coils (neck, bridge), a Texas Special Strat single-coil (middle) and a five-way "Strat-O-Tele" pickup switching. Ideal for country bends and steel guitar glisses, this Tele is available only with a maple fingerboard.

The American Series Ash Telecaster is based on the '52 vintage reissue. It features an ash body, one-piece maple neck/fingerboard with 22 frets and two Modern Vintage Tele single-coil pickups.

The Custom Classic Telecaster is the Custom Shop version of the American Tele guitar, featuring a pair of Classic and Twisted single-coils in the bridge and neck positions, as well as a reverse control plate. Earlier versions made before 2003 featured an American Tele single-coil paired with two Texas Special Strat pickups and 5-way switching.

The Highway One Telecaster (introduced in 2003) features a pair of distortion-friendly Alnico III single-coils, super-sized frets, Greasebucket circuit and '70s styling (since 2006). The Texas Telecaster sports a 1-piece maple neck/fretboard with a modern 12” radius and 21 jumbo frets, solid ash body and a pair of Hot Vintage pickups.

The moderately-priced Standard, Classic and Deluxe Tele guitars are made in Mexico, Japan and Korea. Each of these instruments has a feature set which makes them an affordable value for any budget.

Over the years, many famous guitarists have made the Fender Telecaster their signature instrument. In the early days, country session musicians were drawn to this instrument designed for the "working musician." These included Waylon Jennings, James Burton, who played with such stars as Ricky Nelson, Elvis Presley, and Merle Haggard (a Signature Telecaster model player himself). Burton's favorite guitar was his famous Pink Paisley model Fender Telecaster. Danny Gatton blended diverse musical styles (including blues, rockabilly and bebop) with such great proficiency and clarity that he became known as the "telemaster." Roy Buchanan and Albert Collins proved the Telecaster equally suited for playing the blues. Muddy Waters also consistently used the Fender Telecaster and Mike Bloomfield also used the guitar on his earlier works. Soul sessionist Steve Cropper used a crisp, spare Tele sound to perfect effect with Booker T. and the M.G.'s. Additionally, George Harrison used a Rosewood Telecaster during the recording sessions for The Beatles' Let It Be album, on which the sound of the Telecaster was modified by being amplified through a revolving Leslie cabinet speaker.

With the development of rock, the Fender Tele inspired and sustained yet another genre. Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones has composed many classic riffs on his battered "Micawber" Tele. With endurance to match that of his guitar, Bruce Springsteen has given many energetic performances with his Esquire. Another remarkable Fender Telecaster player is Andy Summers of The Police. Summers's guitar playing defined much of the Police sound. At the nexus of pop, rock, soul and funk, musical prodigy Prince sported a pawn shop-purchased Tele in his teens and later in his career adopted a unique Fender Telecaster-style model made by Hohner, one of Fender's competitors. Jimmy Page used a psychedelic-colored 1958 Tele, (painted by Page himself, and also known as the "Dragon Telecaster") on the first Led Zeppelin albums, and also for the lead solo in the iconic 1971 song "Stairway to Heaven". Albert Lee's extensive use of the Fender Telecaster earned him the nickname of "Mr. Telecaster." Steve Howe used a Fender Telecaster almost exclusively on the 1974 Yes conceptual album Relayer. The members of Radiohead have made extensive use of Telecasters, especially Jonny Greenwood who has used a Fender Telecaster Plus for much of his career. Joe Strummer (frontman of the legendary punk band The Clash) used his worn and battered 1966 Fender Telecaster (originally Sunburst but spraypainted black) with its distinctive "Ignore Alien Orders" sticker from the beginning of his musical career until the day he died.

The Fender Telecaster was important in the evolution of country, electric blues, rock and roll and other forms of popular music, because its solid construction allowed the guitar to be played loudly as a lead instrument, with long sustain if desired, and with less of the whistling 'hard' feedback (known in sound reinforcement circles as 'microphonic feedback') that hollowbodied instruments tend to produce at volume (a different kind to the controllable feedback later exploited by Jimi Hendrix and countless other players). Even though the Fender Telecaster is more than half a century old, and more sophisticated designs have been coming out since the early 1950s (including Fender's own Stratocaster), the Fender Telecaster has remained in constant production. There have been numerous variations and modifications, but a Fender Telecaster model with something close to the original features has always been available.

from Wikipedia,licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.