James Burton Made in USA Paisley Telecaster

[Butch Snyder]

Hi all,

I posted this over in the "Guitar Owners Club" forum. I kind of doubt it will get any traction since the post before mine was from 2017. I have my eye on a 2019 model. It's the one with the red-flamed paisley finish. Can you guys tell me about it? Tone, feel, etc.?

 

[Peter Random]

Is that the one with 3 pick ups ? i think it is. If it is, it has 3 pick ups a 5 way Switch and An S Switch making you have more tonal varations. I think They are made with special pick ups by Burtons Specifications

 

[John C]

I haven't seen one in person in quite a while. The first version had Lace Sensor pickups - the same set as in the Strat Plus Deluxe of a blue logo neck position/silver logo middle position/red logo bridge position. The blue logo was voiced somewhat in-between a PAF humbucker and a P90, the silver logo was voiced like a "fat" Strat like a Texas Special or something similarly overwound, and the red logo was voiced like a very hot Strat pickup (like a Duncan quarter pounder or something similar).

Of course when Fender parted ways with Lace in the early 2000s these changed to logoless pickups with no exposed coils. I used to hear online that these were still Lace Sensors without the logo (meaning still the old Fender-spec Lace Sensors, not the current versions of the blue, silver and red that are sold by Lace), and I've heard that they are custom pickups of some kind that are voiced closely to the original Lace Sensor set.

The last time I played one was in the 1990s so it had the Lace Sensors, and it sounded pretty much like a Strat Plus Deluxe with the same pickups. Unfortunately at that point in time I would have preferred the Strat Plus Deluxe as I was into Strats and not into Teles at all.

 

[Jakedog]

Watching this thread. Cause this one is on my shortlist. But I’ve never actually played one in person.

 

[Butch Snyder]

I have seen a lot of videos of players demoing this model and none have really floored me; but I'm always looking for something particular in product demos. Now, this one I like.

 

[Tony Forman]

The USA Burton IMHO has one of the nicest neck carves on a Tele. It was supposedly copied from James' Pink Paisley tele. It's chunky without being too much of a handful with a 9.5" radius fretboard. Be aware that it comes with what looks and feels to me as Fender vintage frets. The finish on the neck is satin.
The pickups.... For some reason when I got mine it came with an additional pickup included with the case candy. These are the new James Burton Specially designed pickups. Now here's the thing, after careful examination the additional pickup and comparing it to the pickup teardown that Dylan of Dylan Talks Tone does on a Lace Sensor, I can say for sure that the pickups on the Burton are in no way manufactured like Lace Sensors....they are not Lace Sensors in disguise...they are something else. In fact, looking at the bottom of the Burton pickup it looks more like a cross between a Barden and a Burns Trisonic in the way it's put together. I don't know if they end up sounding like Lace Sensors as I've never had them to compare. One thing that confusing is at what pickup height to you set them. Fender doesn't publish the specs (not that I've seen anyway) and don't be fooled into setting them up to Lace Sensor specs. In the end, I set them up to Barden specs - although they're not altogether Bardens either????
Another thing to be careful of is the weight. Try to inquire before you buy. Some of them, despite being made from Basswood can indeed be boat anchors.

 

[John C]

The USA Burton IMHO has one of the nicest neck carves on a Tele. It was supposedly copied from James' Pink Paisley tele. It's chunky without being too much of a handful with a 9.5" radius fretboard. Be aware that it comes with what looks and feels to me as Fender vintage frets. The finish on the neck is satin.
The pickups.... For some reason when I got mine it came with an additional pickup included with the case candy. These are the new James Burton Specially designed pickups. Now here's the thing, after careful examination the additional pickup and comparing it to the pickup teardown that Dylan of Dylan Talks Tone does on a Lace Sensor, I can say for sure that the pickups on the Burton are in no way manufactured like Lace Sensors....they are not Lace Sensors in disguise...they are something else. In fact, looking at the bottom of the Burton pickup it looks more like a cross between a Barden and a Burns Trisonic in the way it's put together. I don't know if they end up sounding like Lace Sensors as I've never had them to compare. One thing that confusing is at what pickup height to you set them. Fender doesn't publish the specs (not that I've seen anyway) and don't be fooled into setting them up to Lace Sensor specs. In the end, I set them up to Barden specs - although they're not altogether Bardens either????
Another thing to be careful of is the weight. Try to inquire before you buy. Some of them, despite being made from Basswood can indeed be boat anchors.

Thanks for the post! I thought that the "unbranded Lace Sensor" rumor had been debunked so thanks for proving that. I haven't played a current Burton plugged in, and it's been decades since I played either the original Burton or a Strat Plus Deluxe so even if I played a current one I would be comparing it to a 20-year-old memory.

It would be nice if Fender would update the service manual for the Burton - it goes back to when it changed to the custom pickups and to the paisley-inside-flames finish in the early 2000s - so at least you could get the specs for the settings.

 

[boris bubbanov]

The USA Burton IMHO has one of the nicest neck carves on a Tele. It was supposedly copied from James' Pink Paisley tele. It's chunky without being too much of a handful with a 9.5" radius fretboard. Be aware that it comes with what looks and feels to me as Fender vintage frets. The finish on the neck is satin.
The pickups.... For some reason when I got mine it came with an additional pickup included with the case candy. These are the new James Burton Specially designed pickups. Now here's the thing, after careful examination the additional pickup and comparing it to the pickup teardown that Dylan of Dylan Talks Tone does on a Lace Sensor, I can say for sure that the pickups on the Burton are in no way manufactured like Lace Sensors....they are not Lace Sensors in disguise...they are something else. In fact, looking at the bottom of the Burton pickup it looks more like a cross between a Barden and a Burns Trisonic in the way it's put together. I don't know if they end up sounding like Lace Sensors as I've never had them to compare. One thing that confusing is at what pickup height to you set them. Fender doesn't publish the specs (not that I've seen anyway) and don't be fooled into setting them up to Lace Sensor specs. In the end, I set them up to Barden specs - although they're not altogether Bardens either????
Another thing to be careful of is the weight. Try to inquire before you buy. Some of them, despite being made from Basswood can indeed be boat anchors.

The MIM James Burton has a really nice/huge "U" neck section. I thought the USA/Flames model had a fairly slim neck.

I agree with what John C says, except that I have seen a lot more of the USA examples, than the MIM version. Although, none in the last year.

 

[Jakedog]

RE: Pickups.

Ok, so the current pickups are NOT lace sensors. And apparently are not similar. This is something I’ve been wondering about because all of the factory and retail specs and descriptions are about as clear as mud.

My big question is- Are they still noiseless like Lace Sensors? Cause if they aren’t, that could be a major factor in whether or not I buy one. The noiseless aspect of the Lace pickups is a big part of the reason I like them.

 

[Tony Forman]

RE: Pickups.

Ok, so the current pickups are NOT lace sensors. And apparently are not similar. This is something I’ve been wondering about because all of the factory and retail specs and descriptions are about as clear as mud.

My big question is- Are they still noiseless like Lace Sensors? Cause if they aren’t, that could be a major factor in whether or not I buy one. The noiseless aspect of the Lace pickups is a big part of the reason I like them.

In my experience they are not noiseless. From underneath each pickup looks like a single bar magnet sandwiched between two blades with the coil of copper wire going around all of that. The whole thing looks to be potted in clear epoxy and is two conductor. They are only noiseless when in the 2 and 4 positions.....just like a regular strat. In fact you can hear the noise in this clip. Check out around 0.45 as James goes to tune the guitar. For a brief moment you can hear the single coil noise

 

[dean]

My first Tele was a James Burton in Frost Red. It had a chunky neck that I have not been able to replicate. Of course, I sold it (stupid, stupid, stupid). One of the nicest guitars I’ve ever owned. It looked like this: