Yo, Katastrophe, I bought an awesome Fender Telecaster recently that is really incredible.
It is the Fender Special Issue FMT HH telecaster. This stands for flammed maple top double humbucker telecaster, but the name is left in the dust by this super great tele.
It is an all mahogany body and set neck telecaster, a rarity. It has an incredible neck. The finish on my black cherry burst flammed maple top is incredible. But looks is just a facade when it comes to guitars. It is the sound where it's really at and this FMT HH really delivers like you would not believe.
Here it is at MF:
http://guitars.musiciansfriend.com/p...tar?sku=511262
These new versions have dual Seymour Duncan, real Seymour Duncan, open coil humbuckers that sound really hot, sweet, and full of heavy tone and melodic musicality not found in most guitars.
The pickups are Seymour Duncan Pearly Gates in the bridge and reverse polarity '59 in the neck. Full sized HB's.
I love this tele. Professional friends of mine that have played it thru a Kustom '36 Coupe awesome combo tube amp and were more than highly impressed with its playability and especially its tone; stating that it got into some telecaster territory while still getting into some relatively LP tonal areas. The tone knob is very usable to shape the sound of this awesome telecaster. The action is the lowest of any of my guitars and there is zero buzz or string slap. Unless you make it slap of course.
If you are thinking of a twin HB tele I would strongly suggest finding and trying one of these, or considering ordering one and if you don't absolutely love it, return it; because of how strongly I feel about how awesome this twin humbucker tele is.
It costs a lot more than the John 5, but it is another animal. Superb build quality, etc. Totally one of my best guitars since I began upgrading my collection. I ordered it straight from Fender thru the dealer. The day it came in they were setting it up for me and some dude saw it and was flabbergasted, probably would have bought it on the spot. They told him to not even think about it, it was a guitar a customer orderd in. The black cherry burst flammed maple is an eye mesmerizer, beautiful binding, etc.
MF wants 699 but I got mine for 525 out the door at a local store that ordered it in from the latest factory shipment. I buy a lot of items from them and they usually offer me great deals. Like on the Ibanez SZ320 goldtop, new old stock, I just got for 250 out the door with a free set of strings. This is also one of the best, possibly the best guitar I own, despite its low price.
If you want a dual full sized hb tele, think about checking into the Fender FMT HH Telecaster shown in the link above.
I admit, the John 5 is a cool looking tele. Black is one of my favorite all time guitar colors, the more black the better. Like my Peavey Generation EX Triple Single tele in all black including the pickup covers, and my Squire Vintage Modified Custom II P90 telecaster with the maple fretboard. I really like itthe John 5's look, but this Fender is at another point in the pattern of reality; the question is, is it what you want to have, etc.?
To each their own, but that's why we share our diverse experiences here at the Fret, right? I would be remiss if I didn't mention this awesome, inexpensive Fender, relatively speaking; considering that you are thinking about something like this.
Not that many people, even Fender afficianados, probably even know about this awesome guitar. And then again some Fender snobs have no use for such an unconventional tele as this. But again, to each their own. My experience is that it is truly an awesome guitar, a player, not a profiler; but super good looking nonetheless.
Hope this info is found to be interesting.