Hands on comparison with the Fender Player Plus Nashville Telecaster and the Fender Player Standard Telecaster.

 I tried out two almost identical guitars from Fender in the same Butterscotch finish at PMT Cambridge.  The most significant difference between the two being the middle pick up on one of them.  Yes, I have had the opportunity to try out the Fender Player Plus Nashville Telecaster and compare it with the Fender Player Telecaster.  Is the Nashville going to be the obvious choice in terms of the better guitar just because it has more features and a higher price tag?  Let's see with this hands-on comparison.

Setting the scene...

In my home town we have only one guitar shop, PMT Cambridge.  They very kindly allowed me to try both of these guitars and the amp of choice was the Boss Katana set to edge of breakup.

In my head I wanted to see if the simplicity of the standard telecaster won against the more feature rich Nashville.  It is an unfair comparison in this case as I am comparing the Player version of one with the higher spec Player Plus version of the other.  So with the Nashville I was expecting better workmanship and set up etc.

First up let's check out the specs as they read from the Fender website...

Player Plus Nashville Telecaster Specifications

BODY

Body Material

Alder

Body Finish

Gloss Polyester

Body Shape

Telecaster®

NECK

Neck Material

Maple

Neck Finish

Satin Urethane

Neck Shape

Modern "C"

Scale Length

25.5" (64.77 cm)

Fingerboard Material

Pau Ferro

Fingerboard Radius

12" (305 mm)

Number of Frets

22

Fret Size

Medium Jumbo

Nut Material

Synthetic Bone

Nut Width

1.685" (42.8 mm)

Position Inlays

White Pearloid Dot

Side Dots

White

Truss Rod

Single Action, Head Adjust

ELECTRONICS

Bridge Pickup

Player Plus Noiseless™ Tele®

Middle Pickup

Player Plus Noiseless™ Strat®

Neck Pickup

Player Plus Noiseless™ Tele®

Controls

Master Volume, Master Tone

Switching

5-Position Blade: Position 1. Bridge Pickup, Position 2. Bridge and Middle Pickup, Position 3. Middle Pickup, Position 4. Middle and Neck Pickup, Position 5. Neck Pickup

Configuration

SS

Auxillary Switching

Push/Pull Switch On Tone Adds Neck Pickup To Positions 1 and 2

HARDWARE

Bridge

6-Saddle String-Through-Body Tele® with Block Steel Saddles

Hardware Finish

Nickel/Chrome

Tuning Machines

Deluxe Cast/Sealed Locking (all short posts)

Pickguard

3-Ply Mint Green

Control Knobs

Knurled Flat-Top

Switch Tip

Black

MISCELLANEOUS

Strings

Fender® USA 250LR Nickel Plated Steel (.009-.046 Gauges), PN 0730250404

Legal Notice

WARNING: Cancer and Reproductive Harm - www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.

ACCESSORIES

Case/Gig Bag

Included: Deluxe Gig Bag

Player Telecaster Specifications

BODY

Body Material

Alder

Body Finish

Gloss Polyester

Body Shape

Telecaster®

NECK

Neck Material

Maple

Neck Construction

4-Bolt Standard

Neck Finish

Satin Urethane Finish on Back, Gloss Urethane Finish on Front

Neck Shape

Modern "C"

Scale Length

25.5" (64.77 cm)

Fingerboard Material

Maple

Fingerboard Radius

9.5" (241 mm)

Number of Frets

22

Fret Size

Medium Jumbo

Nut Material

Synthetic Bone

Nut Width

1.650" (42 mm)

Position Inlays

Black Dot

Truss Rod

Standard

Truss Rod Nut

3/16" Hex Adjustment

ELECTRONICS

Bridge Pickup

Player Series Alnico 5 Tele® Single-Coil

Neck Pickup

Player Series Alnico 5 Tele Single-Coil

Controls

Master Volume, Master Tone

Switching

3-Position Blade: Position 1. Bridge Pickup, Position 2. Bridge and Neck Pickups, Position 3. Neck Pickup

Configuration

SS

HARDWARE

Bridge

6-Saddle String-Through-Body Tele® with Block Steel Saddles

Hardware Finish

Nickel/Chrome

Tuning Machines

Standard Cast/Sealed

Pickguard

3-Ply Parchment

Control Knobs

Knurled Flat-Top

Switch Tip

Barrel Style

Neck Plate

4-Bolt with "F" Logo

MISCELLANEOUS

Strings

Fender® USA 250L Nickel Plated Steel (.009-.042 Gauges), PN 0730250403

Legal Notice

WARNING: Cancer and Reproductive Harm - www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.

ACCESSORIES

Included Accessories

None

The Video Demonstrations...

Below I have included a couple of video demonstrations.  They were literally recorded on my phone perched on top of the amp.  You can hear the difference in tones but just bear in mind the lack of quality of the recordings.  

The Fender Player Plus Nashville Telecaster. No Talk, Just Tones Demonstration.

The Fender Player Telecaster. No Talk, Just Tones Demonstration.

What I noticed that made a difference to me between the two guitars.

Essentially the specs are almost identical apart from the extra pickup and build quality of the Nashville.

As you can see from the videos, I spent more time on the Nashville than the Player Tele.

Both were great guitars, very playable and in terms of the neck almost no real difference apart from the rolled frets on the Player Plus Nashville which was nice.

To me the Player tele was heavier but judging by the specifications I have no idea as to why.

What I liked about the standard Player Tele was the simplicity of the guitar.  There is no messing with this guitar.  Tonally the options are one of the pick ups or both and they sounded great in whichever format.  Compared to that of the Player Plus in the same configurations, I thought I detected a broader palette of wavelengths.  The tones seemed more colourful to my ears.

When trying out the Nashville I had the further option of using the middle pickup and the option of combining the neck pick up with that of the bridge pickup with the five way switch and push/pull pot.

The Nashville uses the Player Plus Noiseless pickups but I didn't notice any perceptible difference in noise between the guitars but to be fair I was in PMT and they were playing heavy rock music in the background and I had two other guitarists trying out guitars around me.

I have to be honest, I was captivated by the Nashville Tele.  It was more comfortable to play and the range of tones makes the guitar so very likeable and to be fair it is only about £200 different in cost.

Both are great guitars.  If I was to get the standard tele then I would get the Player Plus version as there is more tonal options with switching between parallel and series wiring (parallel gives a brighter sound with lower output, series gives a higher output but darker sound).

For me, my preference is the Nashville as this gives me a hybrid approach to getting not only Telecaster tones but also Stratocaster tones.  Hopefully you will have worked out that my influences are Strat players, but I have always loved the Telecaster.

Could the Nashville be the one?  What are your thoughts?