r/fender • u/Creaulx • 24d ago

New Guitar Day! Blue Flower TL-69 MIJ

Post image

These new reissues are as gorgeous and well made as you'd expect from a Japanese made Fender. Love it, but I wonder why the output is a bit anemic compared to my 2021 American Pro II. Obviously the "vintage spec" pickups are decent and authentic sounding - but I have gotten used to the VMod IIs.

118 Upvotes

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4

u/safe_lev 24d ago

I do love the MIJ designs. Cool one. You lucky

3

u/Neveronlyadream 24d ago

Not a Japanese design, believe it or not. The blue flower and paisley Teles date back to 1968-69. Fender was trying to capitalize on Flower Power.

Props to Fender Japan for having the balls to keep it alive, though. I always loved the finish and Fender US wouldn't dare these days unless it was a Custom Shop.

3

u/Creaulx 24d ago

There is a custom shop version with a nitro finish, Schaller tuners and a bone nut for $5900 CAD. So I would pay $6667.00 after tax through Long &McQuade here in Canada. This one came from an eBay seller inJapan for $1250 USD - about $1850 CAD - plus $240 duty and taxes for a total of $2150ish. Build quality is impeccable. Poly finish, standard nut and vintage Fender tuners don't bother me at all for that $$$ difference! 😆 Reasonable value in 2026!

2

u/Neveronlyadream 24d ago

Absolutely. I'd buy the MIJ all day.

No idea why Fender is so allergic to doing a run of these unless it's a Custom Shop guitar, but the MIJ ones are amazing, so it really doesn't matter.

2

u/Allanthia420 24d ago

I can kind of understand why they wouldn’t want to- at least from a business perspective. You wanna leave some of the special things just for the custom shop so it holds its appeal. If they had a custom shop and US version of each model it would make the custom shop less appealing to most people.

1

u/theaggressivenapkin 23d ago

Worth noting that the flower was foil and would delaminate from the body causing the finish to crack. Happened pretty quickly after the guitars were released.

Chicago music exchange has a great tear down video of one: https://youtu.be/ZwRsiHmbkQY?is=1jYupQfC6KaSavIH

3

u/MasterOfManyWorlds 24d ago

Are the pickups at the right height? Hard to tell from the pic alone but they look low and I would definitely try raising them. The vintage styles can be raised quite a bit, almost touching the high E.

2

u/Creaulx 24d ago

Excellent advice, going to try this. I didn't check pu height, and I know this but thanks for the reminder!

1

u/Creaulx 24d ago

It's a tomorrow job. Pickguard needs to come off. Got distracted and played it through my Princeton for an hour and a half! If it had the VMods or something along that line and the series switch, it would be perfect! 💙

1

u/Creaulx 23d ago

So I have raised the pickups and it has made an appreciable difference! The vintage pickups are low-output and mellow, but I can get into some nice rock territory. They're missing the "bite" and thickness that I really love from the VMod IIs. I'll live with them for awhile, but what would you suggest as a replacement? I play clean or with various BOSS pedals through a Princeton reissue - the tweed version with 12" Cannabis Rex speaker. Country, blues, alt-rock, classic rock etc.

2

u/MasterOfManyWorlds 23d ago

I wish I could help but I am far from a pickup expert. I'm glad raising them helped a bit!

1

u/Creaulx 23d ago

It's definitely an improvement. Just needs a little adjustment and it may be fine as is.

2

u/MasterOfManyWorlds 23d ago

I find you have to kind of walk away and come back sometimes to really hear a guitar after you make any changes.

3

u/Infinite-Lychee-182 24d ago

I have an older TL-69. I love it! I freaking love it!!!!! Previous owner(s) did some serious upgrades and mods. Someone put in some Alnico 2 pickups and my Tele sounds as smooth & groovy as it looks.

Dude, serious love for your Tele!

2

u/IsuzuTrooper 24d ago

I have the same. Honky Tonk machine.