My go-to Tele for recording and gigging just dropped by $240 in the Fender Summer Sale – here’s why I use it every day
My favorite Tele just got a massive discount in the Fender summer sale

The Prime Day guitar deals have well and truly arrived, but if you ask me, the best deals are available elsewhere. If you’re looking for a new guitar, then you should head over to the official Fender shop where you can bag yourself up to 20% off an excellent range of Fender and Squier guitars.
Included in the sale is my regular gigging guitar, the Fender Player Plus Tele, which has got a cool $240 reduction at the moment. I’ve been using mine for the last three years or so, whether that’s in the studio, writing at home, or playing with my band. I’ve used it on alt rock, punk, metal, and even reggae tracks to great effect - it never lets me down.
I always considered myself a Strat player before I bought my Tele, but as soon as I’d played a Tele for a couple of weeks, I was immediately converted. I’d always heard about the Tele versatility, but it’s hard to understand until you actually use one day in, day out. The combination of bright bridge tone and dark neck sound makes for a really versatile instrument, especially once you start adding pedals into the mix.
My Player Plus Tele has a secret weapon though. Pull the tone knob up and you engage a series circuit, which feeds the output of the bridge pickup into the neck, creating an almost humbucker-esque tone. Once engaged, you can get a really fat tone that’s great for smooth leads and chugging palm-muted riffs. It also adds a little boost, so I like to use it to accentuate chorus or lead guitar sections when I’m playing on stage.
If you’re in the market for a new Fender or Squier guitar this summer, then this is the guitar I think you should go for. With a massive $240 discount, it’s superb value for money, largely thanks to the addition of a series circuit that unlocks humbucker-esque tone. With rounded fingerboard edges and a set of locking tuners, you’ve got yourself a proper gigging workhorse for less than a grand.
It’s not just the great variety of tones I love about the guitar. I’m a big fan of the Fender modern ‘C’ profile, and the Player Plus Tele has rounded fingerboard edges, which make it feel super comfortable in my fretting hand. It doesn’t have the rosewood ‘board of the Player II Telecaster, but having reviewed that model, I don’t really feel that much of a difference between the two.
The Player Plus Tele also has locking tuners, which aren’t on the Player II model. It definitely makes the guitar’s tuning more stable, I find I rarely have to adjust the tuning, even when I’m playing the guitar every day, and it also makes string changes an absolute breeze. I can do a full set of electric guitar strings in about five minutes now!
If you’re considering a Player II Telecaster, I’d definitely recommend you check out a Player Plus model too. You get a lot of cool features for your money, and although it won’t please those looking for a traditional Telecaster, it’s a properly great gigging workhorse.
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Matt is a Junior Deals Writer here at Guitar Player. He regularly tests and reviews music gear with a focus on guitars, amps, pedals, modelers, and pretty much anything else guitar-related. Matt worked in music retail for 5 years at Dawsons Music and Northwest Guitars and has written for many music sites including MusicRadar, Guitar World, Guitar.com, Ultimate Guitar, and Thomann’s t.blog. A regularly gigging guitarist with over 20 years of experience playing live, writing, and recording in bands, he's performed everything from jazz to djent, gigging all over the UK in more dingy venues than you can shake a drop-tuned guitar at.