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Fender American Original 60s Telecaster
Fender American Original 50s Telecaster
VS
Playability
68
Sound
72
Build
69
Value
60
Score
70
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Playability
68
Sound
72
Build
69
Value
60
Score
70
FIND IT ON:
Sweetwater logoMusician's Friend logo
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Fender American Original 60s Telecaster vs American Original 50s Telecaster Specs Comparison
Fender American Original 60s Telecaster American Original 50s Telecaster
General
Brand: Fender Fender
Year: 2018 2018
Configuration: SS SS
Strings: 6 6
Made in: United States United States
Series: American Original American Original
Colors: Sunburst, Blue, Pink Yellow
Left-Handed Version: No Yes
Body
Type: Solid Body Solid Body
Body Material: Double Bound Alder Ash
Bridge: 3-Saddle Vintage Style Tele with Barrel Steel Saddles 3-Saddle American Vintage Strings-Through-Body Tele with Brass Saddles
Neck
Neck Joint: Bolt-On Bolt-On
Tuners: Pure Vintage Single Line Fender Deluxe Pure Vintage Single Line Fender Deluxe
Fretboard: Rosewood Maple
Neck Material: Maple Maple
Decoration: White Pearloid Dot - 7mm Black Dot
Scale Size: 25.5" 25.5"
Shape: Mid 60s C Fender Vintage U
Thickness: 1st Fret: 0.825'' (21mm) - 12th Fret: 0.975'' (24.8mm) 1st Fret: 0.88'' (22.4mm) - 12th Fret: 0.99'' (25.1mm)
Frets: 21 Vintage Tall Nickel Silver 21 Vintage Tall Nickel Silver
Fretboard Radius: 9.5" 9.5"
Nut: Bone Bone
Nut Width: 42mm (1.654'') 42mm (1.654'')
Electronics
Bridge Pickups: Fender Pure Vintage 64 Gray-Bottom Single-Coil Tele (Single Coil / Passive) Fender Pure Vintage 52 Single-Coil Tele (Single Coil / Passive)
Middle Pickup:
Neck Pickup: Fender Pure Vintage 64 Gray-Bottom Single-Coil Tele (Single Coil / Passive) Fender Pure Vintage 52 Single-Coil Tele (Single Coil / Passive)
Switch: 3 Way 3 Way
Knobs: Dome Dome
Pickup Mods: None None
Volume Controls: 1 1
Tone Controls: 1 1
Hardware
Strap Lock: No No
Hardware Color: Chrome Chrome
Show Diagrams Comparison
Fender American Original 60s Telecaster and Fender American Original 50s Telecaster pickups switch and push knobs diagram
Fender American Original 60s Telecaster and Fender American Original 50s Telecaster's switch options

Reasons to Get
Fender American Original 60s Telecaster over American Original 50s Telecaster

Neck Profile
Mid 60s C vs Fender Vintage U
Comfortable neck that works for most people
Neck Thickness at 1st Fret
0.825'' (21mm) vs 0.88'' (22.4mm)
More comfortable open chords for small hands
Neck Thickness at 12th Fret
0.975'' (24.8mm) vs 0.99'' (25.1mm)
More comfortable at higher frets for small hands

Reasons to Get
Fender American Original 50s Telecaster over American Original 60s Telecaster

Neck Profile
Fender Vintage U vs Mid 60s C
Comfortable neck with more grip
Neck Thickness at 1st Fret
0.88'' (22.4mm) vs 0.825'' (21mm)
More comfortable open chords for big hands
Neck Thickness at 12th Fret
0.99'' (25.1mm) vs 0.975'' (24.8mm)
More comfortable at higher frets for big hands

Other Key Differences
Fender American Original 60s Telecaster vs American Original 50s Telecaster

Bridge Pickup
Fender Pure Vintage 64 Gray-Bottom Single-Coil Tele vs Fender Pure Vintage 52 Single-Coil Tele
Different Bridge Pickup
Neck Pickup
Fender Pure Vintage 64 Gray-Bottom Single-Coil Tele vs Fender Pure Vintage 52 Single-Coil Tele
Different Neck Pickup
Body Wood
Alder vs Ash
Different Body Wood
Fretboard Wood
Rosewood vs Maple
Different Fretboard Wood

Shared Features
Fender American Original 60s Telecaster vs American Original 50s Telecaster

Neck Wood
Maple
Same Neck Wood
Headstock
6
Same Headstock
Nut Material
Bone
Same Nut Material
Strings
6
Same playing style
Body Type
Solid Body
Feedback free
Switch Positions
3
Same pickups versatility
Volume Knobs
1
Same volume control
Tone Knobs
1
Same tone control
Pickups
SS
Beautiful cleans
Number of Frets
21
Same maximum octave
Nut Width
1.654'' (42mm)
Same string separation at the nut
Paint Finish
Poly
Resistant paint that ages well
Bridge
Fixed
Good sustain and needs no set-up
Scale Length
25.5'' (647.7mm)
Same string tension and fret separation
Fretboard Radius
9.5'' (241.3mm)
Same fretboard comfortability
Pickups Power
Passive
Cleaner sound and no battery needed
Neck Joint
Bolt-On
Allows you to detach and swap the neck
Type of Frets
Vintage Tall
You'll feel the fretboard when pressing down the strings

Common Strengths

  • High-Quality Nut
  • From a High-Quality-Standards Country
  • Top Pickup Brand
  • Expensive Wood

Common Weaknesses

  • Neck-Through Build
  • Pickup Alter Switch/Knob
  • Weight Relief
  • Locking Tuners
  • Stays in Tune (Evertune)
  • High-Quality Frets
  • Compound Radius Fretboard
  • Luminescent Sidedots
  • Strap Lock
  • 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • Active/Passive Preamp

Price History Comparison

Fender American Original 60s Telecaster Prices

SET PRICE ALERT

Fender American Original 50s Telecaster Prices

SET PRICE ALERT

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Hand Size Comfortability

And after taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that the Fender American Original 50s Telecaster favors large hands more than the Fender American Original 60s Telecaster.

Fender American Original 60s Telecaster:
Big Hands
Small Hands
Fender American Original 50s Telecaster:
Big Hands
Small Hands

Beginner Friendliness

The Fender American Original 60s Telecaster meets 6 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Fender American Original 50s Telecaster meets only 5. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players.

New Player Friendliness

Fender American Original 60s Telecaster
  • Comfortable shape
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Tall frets
  • Narrow nut
  • Comfortable neck
  • Short scale
  • Locking tuners

New Player Friendliness

Fender American Original 50s Telecaster
  • Comfortable shape
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Tall frets
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Comfortable neck
  • Locking tuners

Sound Quality Comparison

The wood used in an electric guitar or bass is not as important to determine the final tone. However, some people prefer specific wood types, so we'll take a look at those first. Then, we'll take a look at the electronics to determine the versatility and sound quality of each instrument.

Woods Used in Both

Maple wood pattern used for guitar building
Maple

Maple is one of the most popular necks for good reasons. It is a strong wood that is relatively cheap to make and looks beautiful. The highest quality maple is the hardest that comes from North America. Find out more about Maple.

Woods Used in the Fender American Original 60s Telecaster

Rosewood wood pattern used for guitar building
Rosewood
Alder wood pattern used for guitar building
Alder

Rosewood is an almost purple-looking wood that is used mainly for fretboards since it's heavy, rare, and expensive. It's sometimes used on acoustic guitar bodies to create stronger warm tones. Find out more about Rosewood.

Alder is the most popular wood that Fender uses in most of their guitars nowadays. Even though they say it's because of its balanced tone with an emphasis in the upper midrange, it probably is because it isn't too expensive, and it's also pretty lightweight—more than Mahogany. Find out more about Alder.

Woods Used in the Fender American Original 50s Telecaster

Ash wood pattern used for guitar building
Ash

Ash is a type of wood that Fender used almost exclusively in the 50s, and it's still used by many brands. It's a dense wood with a light color that works well for a transparent, natural finish because of its beautiful patterns. In terms of sound, it's known for emphasizing the mid and high frequencies, but with strong low end. Find out more about Ash.

Winner: Tie.

Pickup Configuration

Both pickup configurations are SS. SS is the classic Telecaster configuration. It's used mainly for playing clean or with low-gain distortion, and it's very popular for the country genre because of their brightness. It doesn't give you as much versatility as a Strat SSS configuration, but you might like the cleaner look of a guitar body with fewer pickups.

Pickups Quality

Both come with some of the top pickups on the market. You can't go wrong with either of them. You'll probably never need a pickup upgrade.

You can purchase similar pickups to the Fender American Original 60s Telecaster's and use them on any guitar:

We found the same or similar pickups to the Fender American Original 50s Telecaster's online:

Both use Passive pickups. This is what's used for most music genres. They have a regular output and will serve you for both high-gain and clean tones. The alternative (Active pickups) offer a higher output that is mostly used for heavy music.

Winner: Tie.

Versatility Comparison

Some instruments offer you more ways to explore your creativity than others. Below you'll find how both compare when it comes to versatility.

Switch Options

Both are equal when it comes to the pickup switching option.

Neither of them come with some kind of coil split or pickup mod option. This makes both lacking in terms of versatility.

When evaluating versatility, we also take into consideration bridge and neck joint type, number of frets, switch options, amount of pickups and more.

Winner: Tie.

Final Sound Quality Scores

Fender American Original 60s Telecaster
Pickups 100
Sustain 65
Versatility 54
Tuning Stability 70
Sound 72
Fender American Original 50s Telecaster
Pickups 100
Sustain 65
Versatility 54
Tuning Stability 70
Sound 72

Build Quality Comparison

When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Fender American Original 60s Telecaster compares to the Fender American Original 50s Telecaster.

Country of Origin

The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. Both in this comparison where made in United States.

The United States is considered one of the best electric guitar manufacturers in the world. A guitar made in this country is supposed to have world-class quality control. Nowadays, guitars made in other countries can beat some of the ones made in the US, but most of the time, this country offers the best you can get. Of course, that comes at a price.

Winner: Tie

Nut Material

If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.

In this case, both have Bone nuts. It's a type of nut found in high-quality instruments. They sound similar to Ivory since they give a lot of sustain and a bright sound (at least when striking open strings). The only problem they can run into is that you may get a bone piece that simply doesn't sound as well as others because that's just how natural materials are.

Fret Material

Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.

Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.

Winner: Tie.

Bridge

The perfect bridge for you will depend on your playstyle because they all have advantages and disadvantages. However, some bridges are more expensive—like Floyd Roses and Evertunes—and thus add more value to a guitar.

Both come with a similar bridge: Fixed. It's a simple bridge that is very beginner-friendly since it doesn't require any set-up. You can swap strings easily. It might also give more sustain since it doesn't have complex moving parts that make the strings lose vibration. However, it doesn't have the same versatility as a tremolo bridge.

Since we need to be objective, the most expensive type of bridge will be the winner of this section. In the end, this doesn't matter if you're not going to use the bridge for its original purpose, so choose the bridge that fits your playing style better.

Winner: Tie.

Tuners

Both come with regular tuners. Both come with Pure Vintage Single Line Fender Deluxe.

Winner: Tie.

Neck Joint

Contrary to popular belief, the difference in sustain and tone that some neck joints give to a guitar is simply unperceivable—if they're all well built. However, some of them do have advantages over the others.

Both have a Bolt-On neck joint. This neck is joined to the body by 4 bolts that you can simply unscrew. This allows you to replace the neck or take it off for travel. It's the most common and cheapest way to build a guitar.

Winner: Tie.

Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:

Strengths & Weaknesses
Fender American Original 60s Telecaster
  • Made in United States
  • Expensive Wood
  • Bone Nut
  • Top Brand Pickups
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • No Neck-Through Build
  • No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
  • No Weight Relief
  • No Luminescent Inlay
  • No Tremolo
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Strap Lock
Strengths & Weaknesses
Fender American Original 50s Telecaster
  • Made in United States
  • Expensive Wood
  • Bone Nut
  • Top Brand Pickups
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • No Neck-Through Build
  • No Push Knob or Extra Switch Option
  • No Weight Relief
  • No Luminescent Inlay
  • No Tremolo
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Strap Lock

Final Build Quality Scores

Fender American Original 60s Telecaster
Quality of materials 61
Features 50
Quality Control 95
Build Quality 69
Fender American Original 50s Telecaster
Quality of materials 61
Features 50
Quality Control 95
Build Quality 69

Playability Comparison

Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.

Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.

Nut Width

Fender American Original 60s Telecaster Nut Width
Both Guitars Have The Same Nut Width

The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, both have a nut width of 42mm (1.654'').

This is considered a narrow width for a 6-string guitar. This means that this guitar will have a narrower string separation at the nut, which will affect your fretting hand.

If you are a player with big hands, you might find it difficult to play chords without muting strings. However, this is good for players who have smaller hands, as it will allow them to reach each string more easily at the nut.

Scale Length

Fender American Original 60s Telecaster and Fender American Original 50s Telecaster's Scale Length
Both have the same scale length

The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.

In this case, both have a scale length of 25.5".

This is the scale used in most Stratocasters. It's slightly longer than the typical 24.75'' size found in Les Pauls, and it's one of the main reasons why Stratocasters have such a bright sound in general. A longer scale also means that the strings will have higher tension. This will help you get lower action without suffering fret buzz, which will also be helpful when playing in lower tunings without having to increase your string gauge.

However, this also means that there will be more separation between frets, which can make it more difficult to play. Also, bending the strings will require more strengths due to the increased tension, but remember that a tremolo guitar will offset this difficulty.

Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.

Neck Profile

Fender American Original 60s Telecaster Neck Profile
Fender American Original 60s Telecaster's neck profile
Fender American Original 50s Telecaster Neck Profile
Fender American Original 50s Telecaster's neck profile

No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.

In this case, both have different neck shapes:

The Fender American Original 60s Telecaster has a C type of neck. This is what you'll find in most modern guitars. Most people feel like the thickness of a C neck is simply the less intrusive one for playing fast, while at the same time allowing you to grab the neck easily for resting if you want to.

The Fender American Original 50s Telecaster, on the other hand, has a U neck. This is also referred to as ''baseball neck'' because of its shape. It's usually thick, which is why some people with big hands like it. However, they can also be thin, similar to a C shape, but with more shoulders for a better grip.

Fretboard Radius

Fender American Original 60s Telecaster Fingerboard Radius
Both Guitars Have The Same Fretboard Radius

Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.

Both the Fender American Original 60s Telecaster and the Fender American Original 50s Telecaster have the same fretboard radius of 9.5". This is the most common radius for Stratocaster guitars. It's considered curved when compared to most other models. This allows you to play chords very easily without muting strings accidentally and gives you more space between strings for fingerpicking. However, this curve also gives the guitar less allowance for lower action. If you bend too hard at the high frets, some of your notes might get muted because the curve will make the string fret out.

Fret Size

Fender American Original 60s Telecaster and Fender American Original 50s Telecaster Frets Size
Both have a similar Vintage Tall fret size

Both have a Vintage Tall fret size. This is a confusing name for a fret size because vintage frets are known for being short. However, this size usually means that the crown width is narrower than most modern frets, but the height is a bit taller than the usual vintage fret. You should feel the fretboard when playing with these frets, but they're not as hard to press as real vintage frets.

Final Playability Scores

Fender American Original 60s Telecaster
Bending & Vibrato Ease 65
Chord Playability 80
Solo Playability 60
Playability 68
Fender American Original 50s Telecaster
Bending & Vibrato Ease 65
Chord Playability 90
Solo Playability 50
Playability 68