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Chris Shiflett reveals there’s a signature version of his master-built Telecaster Deluxe in development, and it sounds “f***ing amazing”
The signature version of his “super-duper fancy master-built” guitar is predicted to come in at a lower price point.
Image: Vincent Sandoval / Getty
Solo artist and Foo Fighters guitarist Chris Shiflett has revealed that he’s working with Fender on a signature version of his master-built Fender Custom Shop Telecaster Deluxe which was fitted with P-90 pickups, and was “really expensive”.
Further details on this forthcoming signature, including its proposed cheaper price point, are yet to be revealed. The master-built model came shortly after the release of his 2012 signature Tele, which was fitted with humbuckers and was based on his favourite 1972 Telecaster Deluxe.
Speaking to MusicRadar, Shiflett says, “I don’t know how familiar you are with my signature model, but the original one is a production model that has humbuckers in it. It was geared towards rock and what I do in Foo Fighters. Then we did a super-duper fancy master-built version that had P-90s and it was really expensive.
“One was really affordable and one was really, really expensive. So we’ve got one that’s coming out kind of down the middle that’s an American-made production version of the one with P-90s.”
He adds, “The master-built version had noiseless Lindy Fralin P-90s in it,” says Shiflett. “The production model has sort of a Fender version of that, I believe Tim Shaw designed them. And it sounds really good. It’s very close to the Fralins.”
Shiflett has already tested the model out – a Charcoal Frost prototype – on the road during a Foos show in Washington DC last week, which he has shared a snap of to Instagram.
“It was the first time I got to play one of the prototypes through my actual touring rig,” he says of the show. “[I got to] soundcheck with it, tweak it, and see what it does. It sounds fucking amazing. It sounds really good.”
In other Foos news, just shy of a week ago Epiphone launched the DG-335, a version of Dave Grohl’s signature Gibson DG-335. It is of course finished in the famous Pelham Blue colour that’s become somewhat synonymous with Grohl, and features a layered maple/poplar body, one-piece mahogany neck, Firebird-style headstock and laurel fretboard. Electronics include a pair of Gibson USA Burstbucker humbuckers, controlled by two volume and two tone pots.
View all of the latest products from Fender, or see all of Shiflett’s upcoming tour dates (where you can keep your fingers crossed you might catch another early glimpse at the prototype).