Fender 0134444780 Jim Root Telecaster Ebony Fingerboard Electric Guitar - Flat White

I'll start by admitting that I'm not the biggest Slipknot fan; I listen to them occasionally, but I have to be in the right mood to do so.Despite that, this guitar caught my eye. Myself and a friend of mine were wandering about our local music shop; whilst he was mucking about with electric drum kits, I had a look at a wall covered in Fenders. This Telecaster stood out to me. Among all these bright, glossy shades of surf green, candy apple red and lake placid blue was this plain, black and white slab without a tone control to its name. It's a simplistic guitar, but it's quite striking in its simplicity.The guitar itself has quite a substantial weight to it; there's no mistaking how well crafted the instrument is, it's built like a tank. The neck shape is based on that of a Jackson/Charvel. Combine that with a satin finish, flat fingerboard and beautifully finished jumbo frets and you have a guitar that is ridiculously easy to play. It can handle power chords and rhythm playing with ease, but really comes into its own with intricate lead playing.As for sound, the tone is very well projected when the guitar is unplugged, but connecting it to an amplifier really proves how powerful this thing is. The EMG 81/60 set is famous for being the original pickups of choice for Metallica's James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett. The pickups cover a lot of ground: the neck pickup is very similar in sound to a single coil pickup and, as such, has a nice, chiming clean tone and some very bluesy low-gain sounds. Being EMGs, however, they excel at hard rock and heavy metal sounds. It is nigh on impossible to get a bad sound out of the guitar, and believe me I've tried. These pickups will create almost any rock and metal tone possible, from Rammstein to Alter Bridge, Megadeth to Soundgarden.To top it all off, the guitar includes a set of Fender-branded Schaller strap locks and a vintage-style grey tweed case. The strap locks themselves are reliable, but the black finish on the buttons does wear off quite easily. The case is very protective, and certainly looks the part; like the guitar, it is vintage with a contemporary edge.Put simply, this is a superbly-crafted musical instrument that will survive almost anything you can throw at it (the thin lacquer finish will proudly display the scars of such throwing). If you value quality in construction and tone, then this is the guitar for you.If you're a jazz player, however, I'd look elsewhere.