Fender 1990 Telecaster James Burton Signature Pearl White

Fender 1990. Telecaster James Burton Signature in Pearl White Finish.

First year of Production.

All Maple Neck.

3 Lace Sensor Pickups.

Gold Hardware.

#E901747.

James Burton

When James Burton resumed talks with FENDER, he took the second route as he wanted a Telecaster with a broader tone spectrum.

To this end, James requested a third pickup in the middle position for Strat-style sound variations.

In terms of electronics, he became interested in the radically new Fender-Lace sensors which first appeared on the Strat Plus in 1987.

At first, only the 50s-type gold sensor was available but other variants (silver, blue, red) were soon devised to cater for a variety of sounds. After a period of trials and errors, J.B. finaly settled for three different Lace sensors as he discovered the distinct tones he liked in each version. A 5-way switch was then added with a specific wiring to provide appropriate combinations.

Structurally, the guitar is built around a light ash body and an ovalled-shape satin finish Maple Neck with a 9.5’ fretboard radius. lames kept the original 21-fret neck with a traditional truss-rod instead of the more recent 22-fret neck with Biflex.

Several options were considered for the finish but since 1969 a Paisley Red Telecaster was pretty much James’ trademark instrument. A modern rendition of the original Paisley graphic was also designed as an optional appointment. Unlike the late 60s stickum feature, the new Paisley finish is silkscreened for a more durable finish.

James worked back and forth with FENDER R&D (in particular George Blanda) to finalize his Signature model. The earliest prototypes were completed in late 1988, but the JAMES BURTON TELECASTER was not officially announced until January 1990 at the Winter NAMM show where it was released in four distinct finishes:

• Black with Gold Paisley and gold plated hardware
• Black with Candy Red Paisley and black chromed hardware
• Pearl White with gold hardware and no Paisley graphics
• Frost Red with black hardware and no Paisley graphics

Incidentally, the Candy Red Paisley finish is achieved by spraying transparent red over a black guitar with a silkscreened Gold Paisley.

Anyway, more than 8 years after he was first talked into it, James Burton signed a contract with FENDER on November 22, 1989 to finally lend his name to a Telecaster!