If you want a genuine Fender Telecaster with some mojo, you have 3 options.
Early Edition
2009 Fender Telecaster
Roadworn Series!
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(1) buy a genuine one from the '50s or '60s for $20,000 to $40,000; (2) buy a Custom Shop Relic for $4,000, or (3) buy a Roadworn for under a thousand Dollars.
Word has it that the first Roadworns, easily identified at the MZ serial number, were so well made that they cut heavily into Fenders very own Custom Shop sales.
Thus, in early 2010, with the event of the MX serial numbers, the party was over. The relic' ing got mellower, pickguard and knobs where left untouched, and what used to be a medium relic became a Journeyman treatment at best.
The 2009 Fender Roadworn Telecaster presented here, serial # *MZ9362203* is from the first series.
I really babied this guitar, kept it inside a hardshell case in a temperature-controlled environment. The body has been kept pristine with guitar detailer, the frets have been polished, and the fretboard treated with Music Nomad Fretboard F-ONE oil cleaner and conditioner.
All the relic' ing you see is from the Fender factory. I don't think I added even a single kink or scratch to it. There is no visible fret wear either, and all of the case candy is still sealed in its factory plastic bag!
Enjoy the photos!
Note: I sold this Roadworn Telecaster in 2019, when I was able to get my hands on a '59 Fender Custom Shop Tele in faded Candy Tangerine.