As a co-host of the CMA Awards since 2008, regular performer on dozens of other televised country music award shows and specials, top-grossing touring and chart-topping country radio...
As a co-host of the CMA Awards since 2008, regular performer on dozens of other televised country music award shows and specials, top-grossing touring and chart-topping country radio artist and several-time performer at the White House, Brad Paisley is probably the most visible “ambassador of the Telecaster” to come along over the last decade or so.
But while he’s almost always seen with a Tele-style guitar—either a sweet vintage model or a custom ax built for him by Bill Crook—in his hands, Paisley was never recognized with a signature model electric guitar until Fender announced the Brad Paisley Road Worn Telecaster at this year’s Summer NAMM Show in Nashville.
For devotees of Paisley’s blazing fretwork as well as dedicated fans of Tele twang, the Brad Paisley Road Worn Telecaster was worth the wait.
The model, which is based on a 1963 Telecaster that is one of Paisley’s main stage instruments, faithfully adheres to the classic vintage Tele template with its dual single-coil pickups, 21-fret maple neck and “ashtray” bridge with three brass saddles, but it also delivers custom flair with its Silver Sparkle nitrocellulose lacquer finish, black-and-silver paisley pickguard, distinctive enhanced V neck profile and unique bridge pickup wound to Paisley’s specs. Paisley opted for light relic aging on the guitar as he wanted it to have a broken-in feel while still being new enough for players to add their own character and battle scars.
The Brad Paisley Road Worn Telecaster’s most unusual feature may be its body construction, consisting of a lightweight Paulownia core sandwiched between thin layers of spruce on the body’s top and back.
“Bill Crook made a custom guitar out of Paulownia for me,” says Paisley, “so I thought it would be cool if Fender could get enough of that wood to make my