Description
Review of the Fender Player Telecaster HH Electric Guitar
The Fender Player Telecaster HH takes the standard Telecaster outline and replaces the usual single coil pair with two Player Series humbucking pickups. The result is a full scale, alder bodied electric in a silver gloss finish with a pau ferro fingerboard, aimed at a player who wants Telecaster ergonomics with a thicker, higher output voice. It sits above the entry level bracket and is built for someone moving past their first guitar.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Two humbucking pickups instead of the traditional single coils, which cancels the hum single coils pick up from lighting and screens.
- Alder body, a tonewood Fender has used for decades and one that gives a balanced response rather than an exaggerated bass or treble.
- Modern C neck profile, a rounded shape without the bulk of vintage style necks, comfortable for both chording and single note playing.
- 9.5 inch fingerboard radius, flatter than vintage Fender specifications, which makes string bending less likely to choke out.
- String through body bridge with bent steel saddles, a design that anchors the strings through the body itself and adds sustain and tuning stability.
Cons
- Humbuckers on a Telecaster body remove the bright, cutting bridge single coil that most players associate with the model, so this is not the guitar for classic country twang.
- The bridge is a hard tail with no tremolo, so there is no vibrato arm for pitch effects.
- Nothing in the listing indicates that a case, gig bag, strap or cable is included, so the supporting gear is a separate cost.
- No published information about the neck pocket tolerance, fret size or nut width, all of which affect feel and are not in the specification table.
Detailed Product Description
The body is alder with a gloss finish. Alder is a medium weight timber with a fairly even frequency response, which is why it became a Fender staple. It does not add a strong colour of its own, so what reaches the amplifier is largely defined by the pickups and the bridge.
The fingerboard is listed as morado, the trade name commonly used for pau ferro, which is the wood named in the product title. Pau ferro is denser and lighter in colour than rosewood and tends to sound a touch tighter and more focused, with a slightly slicker feel under the fingertips.
The 9.5 inch fingerboard radius is worth understanding. Radius describes how curved the board is across its width. A tighter radius such as the vintage 7.25 inch feels comfortable for chording but causes bent notes to fret out against the higher frets. At 9.5 inches the board is flatter, so string bends can travel further before choking, while the board still has enough curve to sit naturally under a fretting hand.
Both pickups are Player Series humbuckers. A humbucker uses two coils wired out of phase with each other so that electrical hum picked up by one is cancelled by the other. The side effect is a thicker, louder and darker output than a single coil, with less of the top end sparkle and more midrange push. On this guitar that turns a traditionally bright platform into something better suited to rock, blues and heavier overdriven playing.
The bridge is a hard tail with a string through body design and bent steel saddles. Strings pass through ferrules in the back of the body rather than terminating at the bridge plate. That extra coupling between string and body is generally credited with more sustain and a firmer attack, and it makes restringing slightly slower but tuning noticeably more stable. Strings are nickel steel and there are six of them.
What Comes with the Product
The listing covers the guitar itself in the silver finish with a pau ferro fingerboard. No case, gig bag, amplifier, cable, strap or tuner is listed as part of the package. A buyer should plan on adding a bag or case, a cable and an amplifier separately.
Who It Suits
This suits a player who already knows their way around a guitar and wants a step up in build and hardware. The humbucking layout points it at rock, blues, indie and heavier styles rather than at country or clean funk. It also suits anyone who finds single coil hum a problem in a home studio or under office lighting.
It suits a complete beginner less well. A first time player is generally better served by a package that includes an amplifier and the basic accessories, because a bare guitar cannot make a sound on its own. Anyone specifically chasing the classic Telecaster bridge pickup bite should look at a single coil version instead, such as the Squier Classic Vibe 50s Telecaster or the more affordable Squier Sonic Telecaster. Players who want a tremolo and a broader pickup selection may prefer the Fender Player Stratocaster HSS. The difference between the two brands is set out in the guide to Fender versus Squier, and the wider selection sits in the electric guitars archive and the full guitar review index.
How to Maintain
Wipe the strings and the fingerboard down after playing. Pau ferro is naturally oily and needs far less conditioning than rosewood, so a light wipe at each string change is enough and heavy oiling should be avoided.
Restringing a string through body guitar takes a little more care. Feed each string through the ferrule in the back before threading it over the saddle, and keep tension on it so the ball end seats properly. Change strings one at a time to keep neck tension steady rather than removing all six at once.
Tips and Recommendations
Roll the guitar volume control back rather than reaching for the amplifier when a humbucker sounds too thick. Backing the volume off cleans up the signal and recovers some of the top end that the humbuckers soften.
Since the scale is 25.5 inches, string tension at a given gauge is higher than on a short scale guitar. A lighter gauge set makes bending easier if the strings feel stiff, and the trade off is explained in the guide to guitar string gauge.
Product FAQ
What pickups does it have?
Two Player Series humbucking pickups, one at the neck and one at the bridge.
What is the scale length?
25.5 inches, the standard full scale Fender measurement.
Does it have a tremolo arm?
No. The bridge is a hard tail, string through body design with bent steel saddles.
