My take on the Fender FMT HH Telecaster

[Beachbum]

You certainly have a right to your opinions. However, I can't help but notice that of the +- 40 replies to your posting everyone that has direct experience with the FMT seem to like it and have good things to say about it. Evidently the pro vs. con ratio for the FMT at least on this thread is overwhelmingly on the side of the pro vote. In addition from my personal experience I read just about every review you can find on this guitar before purchasing mine and cannot recall finding a single negative one.

We all have our opinions and a right to them so after owning an FMT for over a year here's mine.

BUILD QUALITY - I own 14 guitars which run in pricing from low end to high and were manufactured in America, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, and Mexico.My opinion about American vs. Overseas quality is very different from yours.I would rate the overall build quality by country of the guitars I own as follows. 1. Japan 2. Korea 3. Indonesia 4. America 5. Mexico. In the case of my FMT I rate the fit, finish and build quality as even higher than my Am. Std. Tele.

FEATURES - For those who don't have experience with this guitar it's important to note that we are talking about 1. Bound body and neck. 2. Flamed maple top. 3. Rear body cut away. 4. Carved top. 5. Abalone fretboard markers. 6. Seymor Duncan "Pearly Gates" and "59" pickups. 7. Coil tap pup wiring.

SET UP - I can only speak for my guitar but out of the box mine was perfect. All I had to do was lower the strings to my taste. Frets were dressed well and I was able to get a very low action without having to do any fret leveling.

WEIGHT - Since you seem to have a problem with sustain on yours I have to say that mine is excellent in that category. I just don't believe that body thickness and weight effect sustain as much as you seem to think it does. A perfect example would be the Gibson "SG" which is every bit as thin and lite as the FMT. If weight and body thickness determine sustain then one would have to wonder why "SGs" sustain so well. I'm thinking you might want to look at other factors for your sustain problem.

IS IT A TELE? - In my opinion not really. I'm thinking it's more like an SG with a Tele shape. Then again so what. I didn't buy the guitar to sound like a Tele. Anyone who knows anything about Teles has to know up front that this guitar is not configured that way. I also don't get your assertion that the FMT is being marketed as a "shredder" guitar. The appearance is totally wrong for that market and the pickups certainly wouldn't be a shredders first choice. I just can't see much "shredder" in the FMT.

SO WHAT IS IT? - Simply put it's a great guitar that does a wonderful job putting out a sound that I wanted to add to my arsenal. Nothing more nothing less.

I'M JUST HAVING A HARD TIME UNDERSTANDING WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE.
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JUMBO FRETS? YEP - AND I JUST LOVE EM
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STAY AWAY FROM THIS GUITAR - IT'S OBVIOUSLY JUNK
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[ChickenKiller]

Well said Beachbum I agree with ya 100%.

I really like mine, it is the black cherry burst...

 

[Randypttt]

I'd like to reiterate what beachbum said but let me add my 2 cents. This vid might not satisfy everyone but it gives you an idea how it sounds.

That aside, I've owned mine for about 6 years and enjoy playing it every time I get it out. It's all over my recordings (check signature below) and all the attributes that were listed in the OP's first post are the things I like most; jumbo frets, SD pups, set neck, weight, the whole shebang.

To compare it to a Tele in build is presumptuous but it can do Tele as the video shows. It's really more of a Gibson SG. I compared many of the specs on both so I don't say that lightly. Now I'm being redundant
Thanks for that well laid out review above beachbum.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

 

[jamester]

These guitars remind me of Ian Anderson guitars, which I love but can't afford. I've thought about getting one in the past, but I don't like the thin body and comfort contour on the back. Shame cuz otherwise I think they're cool as hell!

As for this thread, I think the point is that anyone can certainly post their experience with a guitar, postive or negative, but to say something is total crap and warn people not to get one kinda crosses a line, since there's bound to be folks out there who feel the opposite. I wouldn't want to hurt someone's feelings about their guitar just because *I* don't/didn't like it...I mean we're talking about a real Fender here, not some off-brand department store junk.

 

[Beachbum]

I'd like to reiterate what beachbum said but let me add my 2 cents. This vid might not satisfy everyone but it gives you an idea how it sounds.

That aside, I've owned mine for about 6 years and enjoy playing it every time I get it out. It's all over my recordings (check signature below) and all the attributes that were listed in the OP's first post are the things I like most; jumbo frets, SD pups, set neck, weight, the whole shebang.

To compare it to a Tele in build is presumptuous but it can do Tele as the video shows. It's really more of a Gibson SG. I compared many of the specs on both so I don't say that lightly. Now I'm being redundant
Thanks for that well laid out review above beachbum.


View attachment 90153

That pretty much says it. Thanks for the great demo.

 

[syrynx]

FenderNashville, my biggest disagreement with your post is with the title, because what's right for you is not necessarily right for me or any other guitarist. And it could be that you got a lemon, but (as numerous other witnesses have already testified), not all FMTs were as unsatisfactory to their owners as yours was (is?) to you.

I'm trying to let others know to not make the same mistake I did.

{snip}

I ordered one of these about 3 years ago sight unseen and un-played.

{snip}

Don't make the same mistake I did.

I heartily agree with these parts of your post. You bought the wrong guitar for you, and had no way of knowing it because you hadn't had the opportunity to try it.

But I wonder why you didn't exchange it for a different FMT, or for another instrument more to your liking.

BTW, I've bought a number of guitars that weren't right for me, even after trying them in my own two hands. These included my first (and, to date, only) Fender Telecaster, an original 1972 Custom with factory (F logo) Bigsby-- the clone of the one pictured in this post (or possibly even the same guitar).

I had wanted a Tele desperately since 1956 or '57, when a kid in my school played one at a talent show. This one was especially appealing because I had found a NOS Bigsby Palm Pedal in a little M&P music store in a smallish town; I could just pop the Bigsby off, put the Palm Pedals on-- it seemed like that Tele and I were destined for each other.

It didn't work out that way.

For starters, the Palm Pedal mounting holes didn't match up with the Bigsby mounting holes. Heh... No problem: Either tailpiece would conceal the mounting holes for the other. So I drilled.

I gigged with the Palm Pedal-equipped Tele for a three-night weekend; that was all I could take. The palm levers projected so far past the bridge that my ability to play was seriously crippled. On Monday, the Bigsby went back on, and I began the lengthy process of trying to adapt to the guitar's other quirks:

The neck was too narrow; the fingerboard radius was too small; I disliked the sound of the Wide Range Humbuckers; I didn't care for the Gibson-style volume and tone controls. Most especially, though, I hated the Jaguar/Jazzmaster-style rocking bridge; I found it very hard to eliminate buzzes.

I struggled to adapt to that guitar for well over a year before I gave up and traded it, plus ten dollars in cash, for a brand new Korean-made Washburn SBT21, which immediately became my main gigging guitar and remained so for several years.

But aspects of the '72 Tele Custom which were insuperable flaws for me are desirable features for other guitarists. Hey, when I bought mine, in the '80s, Keef was touring with one very much like mine...

So I don't feel it's my business to tell anyone to stay away from original '72 Tele Customs (or their reissues, or the Squier versions), and I don't feel it's your business to tell me to stay away from Fender FMT HH Teles.

 

[backporch guy]

The guitar Beach Bum showed in his pictures is exactly the on I have. He expressed the qualties of this guitar much more eloquently than I could have. Thank you Beach Bum

 

[Dan German]

One thing for example, sustain. My FMT guitar when I had it had very very little of it and it was again, due to the piss poor weight.

It was certainly the lightest guitar I've ever played. Like, light enough to where I'm 100% that it killed it.

Uh-oh... I think I might have time-traveled to the '70s! As if living through them once wasn't enough.

 

[Malikon]

Hey Beachbum that amber Tele is beautiful.

"reviews" like this make me laugh.

"I tried one model of one guitar and didn't like it, so people should stay away from them."

I could almost see if you'd tried 20 of them in different stores and build quality was horrible, but this just sounds like a guitar you don't care for and didn't bond with. Just sell it and find one you like. It's really no big deal.

 

[Timbo9799]

A perfect example would be the Gibson "SG" which is every bit as thin and lite as the FMT. If weight and body thickness determine sustain then one would have to wonder why "SGs" sustain so well.

Having owned several, it's been my experience that sustain is not one of the primary characteristics of the SG. It's a fine guitar, but not really known for that. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Mur]

I'm trying to let others know to not make the same mistake I did.

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guit...tion-custom-telecaster-fmt-hh-electric-guitar

I ordered one of these about 3 years ago sight unseen and un-played. The reason I did so, is because on paper, this guitar looked awesome.

Set neck...
Flamed top....
r/w fretboard with jumbo frets
and Seymour Duncan pickups..

How can that not be good?

Well, here's my feedback.

* First off, the guitar is thinner and lighter than an ordinary telecaster, and I mean by FAR. I almost want to say that it didn't weigh over 5 lbs. It felt almost like a toy, rather than a guitar.

* The Jumbo frets are...jumbo. I mean, huge. Largest frets I have ever played on.

* The build quality was very so-so. I had to do some fret work, much like what you'd need to do to any guitar made overseas. I believe these are made in Mexico or Indonesia.

* Worst off, the sound. It did not have great sustain, or a solid tone, especially when played unplugged. It sounded more like decent pickups that were bolted to a plastic body.

Don't make the same mistake I did. These guitars will not sound like a quality Ibanez, and they don't come close to a Wolfgang. They won't sound like a telecaster either. They will sound like toy guitars...save your money and get a custom RI HH or something.

JMO.

My Tele has some of the same attributes ...light, jumbo frets, no sustain.
.
.

 

[Randypttt]

I ordered one of these about 3 years ago sight unseen and un-played. The reason I did so, is because on paper, this guitar looked awesome.




This is the part I have a real problem with; Ordered sight unseen/unplayed??!!
But to each his own.

 

[e-merlin]

I love mine! 'Nuff said! YMMV, CLL, Boogity, boogity, boogity. Blah, blah. blah.

 

[PJ55]

I had one of the Showmaster models. Same basic layout and electronics, different body style. Nothing about it was remarkable, so I sold it. Haven't been enamored with anything other than a Les Paul for straight-up hummer tones. So, I understand where the OP is coming from.

 

[FenderNashville]

My current tele replaced that FMT.The tele I have now absolutely bests that guitar in every which-way. It took $600-700 in addition to the price of the guitar I have now, and lots of hard work in addition to sculpt what I wanted from a tele. Which is a low-action shredder with warm, rich, and crunchy overdrive sounds that can do anything from AC/DC rhythm on up to the current Satriani tones.

My current tele is easier to play on, has better sustain, has a real tonal sound from wood of a considerable weight (not something that is 4 lbs), better craftsmanship, better electronics, and better wiring. That said, it also has a maple fretboard and Fralin p90s, which you wouldn't think would fit the bill for that, but it certainly does tremendously. Eat your heart out, FMT. Shreddability and tone hungry rock sounds are best played on my Frankentele

Try before you buy on this one is all I'm saying. And before anyone keeps coming down hard on me, remember that I probably had a slightly different model. Mine didn't have a maple cap (which probably made it lighter...I'm telling you, this guitar was LIGHT. So light to where I believe the tone was affected). It did have the Dimarzios. It was coil switching. It did have those oversized jumbo frets. They just sound hollow, harsh, artificial, and lacking to me.

Cheers to the happy owners though.

 

[boris bubbanov]

You certainly have a right to your opinions. However, I can't help but notice that of the +- 40 replies to your posting everyone that has direct experience with the FMT seem to like it and have good things to say about it.

I know some guys like these, but please don't overlook many of those on TDPRI who either:

1) Rejected the model flat out based on specifications or origin only;

2) Tried to like this model or its sister set necked Special Edition (026) models in person and after playing them a good bit, decided not to bite;

3) Guys who looked at them and decided they were afraid of the neck separation or terrible resales value stories they heard about them, and decided not to buy; and finally

4) Guys who just can't generate enough enthusiasm to enter a post about them.

I am puzzled why any guy holds on to a guitar for 3 years and gradually gets more and more resentful about having gotten stuck with it. Then I recall; it has happened to me once as well.

I'm pretty sure my type of play is nothing like that of the OP. I think there's something devious about making a T shaped guitar and then reinventing it for uses that have next to nothing to do with what a 1953 Telecaster is for. I think it would be better for FMIC not to dilute the essence of what the Telecaster is. One should not cross shop any Tele against an Ibanez, just out of basic sensibility. It is like shopping a motorcycle against a chainsaw, if you know what I mean.

But mostly I could not resist the suggestion that since 40 guys were excited about their Korean or Indonesian HHs that this range is an unqualified success. I'm not sure that it has been, or currently is a success.

I don't know. Maybe having a "Tele" in a guitar store that is clearly "different" and won't float the boats of certain players, helps a buyer to recognize that the other "more real" Teles are just right and should be purchased right then.

 

[e-merlin]

I just have to point out that I have owned plenty of tratitional Teles in the last 20 years and I own many still. My FMT HH is a different tone in my arsenal.

Mine didn't have a maple cap (which probably made it lighter

Uh, if it doesn't have a maple top, it's not a FMT, which means Flame Maple Top...

 

[Beachbum]

I know some guys like these, but please don't overlook many of those on TDPRI who either:

1) Rejected the model flat out based on specifications or origin only;

2) Tried to like this model or its sister set necked Special Edition (026) models in person and after playing them a good bit, decided not to bite;

3) Guys who looked at them and decided they were afraid of the neck separation or terrible resales value stories they heard about them, and decided not to buy; and finally

4) Guys who just can't generate enough enthusiasm to enter a post about them.

I am puzzled why any guy holds on to a guitar for 3 years and gradually gets more and more resentful about having gotten stuck with it. Then I recall; it has happened to me once as well.

I'm pretty sure my type of play is nothing like that of the OP. I think there's something devious about making a T shaped guitar and then reinventing it for uses that have next to nothing to do with what a 1953 Telecaster is for. I think it would be better for FMIC not to dilute the essence of what the Telecaster is. One should not cross shop any Tele against an Ibanez, just out of basic sensibility. It is like shopping a motorcycle against a chainsaw, if you know what I mean.

But mostly I could not resist the suggestion that since 40 guys were excited about their Korean or Indonesian HHs that this range is an unqualified success. I'm not sure that it has been, or currently is a success.

I don't know. Maybe having a "Tele" in a guitar store that is clearly "different" and won't float the boats of certain players, helps a buyer to recognize that the other "more real" Teles are just right and should be purchased right then.

I can sympathize with your concerns but in the end I have to protest. After all appealing to those who have not voted or weighed in on the issue isn't really fair. Since they have not spoken for themselves and have chosen not to participate how do we know they really exist and aren't just figments of the imagination.

 

[FenderNashville]

The guitar I had is the same as the FMT EXCEPT:

Carved mahogany top instead of flame maple
Ebony finish
Cream colored DiMarzio Air Norton in the neck with cream pickup ring
Cream colored DiMarzio Tone Zone in the bridge with cream pickup ring

It was a limited edition run. Definitely a limited edition run in my possession.

 

[boris bubbanov]

I can sympathize with your concerns but in the end I have to protest. After all appealing to those who have not voted or weighed in on the issue isn't really fair. Since they have not spoken for themselves and have chosen not to participate how do we know they really exist and aren't just figments of the imagination.

I apologize.

I'm just simply guilty of keeping track of what too many guys had to say about why they didn't buy one of this range. But TDPRI needs to be the big tent, and I was wrong to try and put anybody out of the tent. I've got at least 10 T guitars with most of the basic characteristics of this model (except the set neck part) and I can certainly visualize how more than just a few TDPRI'ers could find serious use for such a design.