Fresh from dropping an “unreal” signature Telecaster with one of 2025’s coolest finishes, country icon Brad Paisley has discussed the guitar’s origins with Guitar World – revealing there will be stark differences between the Paisley- and Fender-made versions of the electric guitar.
The limited edition release is an honest reflection of everything the guitarist loves in vintage Teles, reviving Fender’s cult classic Paisley finish, which first decorated its builds in 1968, in the process.
Despite having killer looks, those guitars faced some setbacks, and the colorway was shelved just a year later. The composition of the finish made it a sitting duck for chipping and flaking, so getting a hold of an original Paisley Tele is now akin to winning the lottery.
Unsurprisingly, Brad Paisley was drawn to his namesake colorway and, for his latest signature run, he will be personally responsible for piecing together 19 examples. Fender will handle the other 67 in the exclusive $7,000-priced run, meaning the Whiskey Lullaby songwriter is getting more hands-on with his signature guitar than most.
“There’ll be a lot of differences,” he tells Guitar World when asked about the differences between his Paisley Teles and Fenders.
“With the 19 that I make, I have a style of making these that is similar, but different. With mine, I’m getting the guitar in pieces, and then I’m applying the finish to it myself, and you’ll get a time-lapse video of that being done.
“And Fender has standards, I don’t,” he contrasts.
He adds too that some of the guitar’s specs are not a guarantee. The guitarist loves to improvise on stage, so if his guitar solos are never the same, why would his guitars buck that trend?
“I don’t know what the pickups are going to be,” he confesses. “I may put one together and go with a Seymour set, or I may put one together and go with a Lindy Fralin in the bridge. I might feel like it needs a Curtis Novak neck pickup because I have guitars like that.
“I mean, that’s the beauty of that. Maybe I’ll tell you what’s in it, or maybe you’ll have to take it apart to see. (laughs) I’m going to give birth to 19 of these, and they’re all going to be different.”
The nature of applying the finish, which uses a paper template placed on top of the guitar, will also heighten each of the 19 guitar’s uniqueness.
“When you glue that paper on, it’s not going to be the same pattern,” he says. “One of the paisley’s going to be up by the arm, and on one, it’ll be down five inches.”
Of course, at $7,000, the guitar isn’t the cheapest around, but considering its one-of-a-kind conception and raft of features – which includes a Glaser “G” Bender system for “fluid, pedal-steel-like bends” à la Paisley’s trademark style, and period-correct details galore – there is an element of justification at least.
Pressed on whether it’ll be ‘thank you goodnight’ after the 19 are finished, or if there’s a possibility of an encore, the Grammy winner says he’s eager, even if Fender isn’t.
“Oh, I have plans,” he beams. “I don’t know… they (Fender) are probably sitting here and going, ‘We’ll see how it goes.’ But I’ve got plans. We won’t stop with this. I think there’s a lot more that you can do with this.”
Paisley, alongside Billy Gibbons and Chris Shiflett, was among an exclusive number of high-profile guitarists who helped launch Fender’s new Nashville HQ last year. Fellow Tele-obsessive Keith Urban was also in attendance but he has since revealed that he’s working with PRS on a T-style signature that does key things that a Fender can’t.
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