Fender 75th Anniv AmPro Cabronita IBM

I’ve always loved the Telecaster shape, and as someone who mainly plays alternative rock and punk rock with moderate gain, this 75th Anniversary Cabronita felt like it was made for players like me.

First of all, this guitar is absolutely stunning in Ice Blue Metallic. Secondly, the TV Jones pickups are exactly what I was looking for: not traditional single coils, but not aggressive humbuckers either. They sit somewhere in between, offering both a pleasant growl and that unmistakable Telecaster sparkle. Finally, I’ve always loved the minimalist Cabronita concept. To me, it’s almost like Fender’s answer to the Les Paul Junior: clean, simple, one volume knob, yet still surprisingly versatile. In short, exactly the kind of guitar I was looking for.

When the guitar arrived from Thomann, my first impression was fantastic. No photo or video truly captures how beautiful it is in person. Every detail looks carefully considered: the pearloid tuners, the gorgeous one-piece maple neck, the Ice Blue Metallic finish. The satin neck deserves a special mention as well — it feels wonderful in the hand and is extremely comfortable to play.

Unfortunately, the excitement didn’t last long.

As I always do with every new instrument, I took it to my trusted luthier for a full inspection. During the inspection we found several manufacturing defects:

* the guitar was delivered without a bridge ground wire, so my luthier had to install one;
* the volume potentiometer was crackling and had to be replaced;
* there were also scratches on the fingerboard near the nut.

Many reviewers describe this model as a guitar you can take straight out of the box and onto the stage. Sadly, that wasn’t my experience. An instrument with defects like these isn’t stage-ready, and more importantly, they simply shouldn’t exist on a brand-new guitar costing around €1,680.

Once import duties were added, the total cost came close to €2,000. At that price, I expect a professional instrument, not one that needs repairing before I can properly use it. If all I wanted was a beautiful picture rather than a reliable instrument, I could have bought a poster instead.

What makes this even more disappointing is that this isn’t my first Fender with manufacturing defects. In fact, it isn’t even the second.

It’s a shame because Fender did an excellent job celebrating the Telecaster’s 75th anniversary. The marketing is excellent. The design is beautiful. They just forgot that, first and foremost, they’re supposed to build great guitars.

For a company that wants to be seen as the world’s leading guitar manufacturer, that’s a difficult disappointment to accept.

I genuinely feel cheated.