I purchased this new in 2015. This is ultra mint. Never left my home. Has a Dimarzio Super Distortion in the bridge. I will ship the original with the guitar in the event you want to change back. Comes with the case and Candy. Still has the protective wrap on the pick guard. We take a look at one of Fender's revamped Vintage Hot Rod range of Telecasters - another marriage of new and old from the guitar giant.Innovation in the world of the solidbody electric guitar tends to fare best when it arrives on the market with stealth. Perhaps it's because, compared with traditional orchestral instruments, our beloved plank is something of an infant, and there's still much to be said for the effectiveness of the first wave of designs in almost any modern musical context short of drop-tuned, bottom-heavy metal.Or perhaps we guitarists are mostly backward-looking, curmudgeonly types. Either way, as much as we admire the style and form of the 1950s and 60s, when you take a guitar out into the real world, there are practicalities to consider."The mere mention of Fender's American Vintage instruments unites the office in a collective swoon, but we'd be forced to admit that they are not for everyone"For example, as much as the mere mention of Fender's American Vintage instruments unites the office in a collective swoon, we'd be forced to admit, somewhat grudgingly, that they are not for everyone. Such features as thin fretwire and 184mm (7.25-inch) fingerboard radii might be examples of FMIC's painstaking efforts to make 'em like they used to, but it's a combination that's not for the faint-hearted player when high-register lead breaks come around.Recognising this, Fender launched its first Vintage Hot Rod guitars back at Winter NAMM 2007, and they immediately proved popular with players who, though still head over heels in love with the look and the sound of the company's golden era, find the slavish accuracy of the American Vintage reissues a little limiting.