Designed in close collaboration with the Grammy-winning Brothers Osborne guitarist, the John Osborne Telecaster is a road-worn, B-Bender-equipped Tele that marks a significant first for Fender's in-house design team.
Seventy-five years into the Telecaster’s life, Fender is still finding new things to do with it. The John Osborne Telecaster has arrived, and it’s built around what might be the most talked-about feature on any Tele in recent memory: a Fender B String Bender designed entirely in-house for the first time.
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For those unfamiliar, a B-Bender is a mechanism built into the guitar that raises the B string by a full step, unlocking pedal steel-style bends without a foot ever touching a pedal. It’s a device long associated with country guitar heroes, and it’s central to John Osborne’s playing. Fender’s decision to design one itself, rather than sourcing it externally, is a notable milestone for the brand.
Osborne is best known as one half of Brothers Osborne, the multi-platinum country duo behind hits like ‘Stay a Little Longer’ and ‘It Ain’t My Fault.’ He’s also a Grammy winner, a sought-after producer, and by most accounts a player’s player, whose tone and technique are central to everything he does. His personal ’68 Telecaster was the starting point for this design, and that heritage shows throughout.
The guitar wears a Road Worn Olympic White finish that captures that well-loved, well-gigged look, paired with a ’68-style maple neck and maple cap fingerboard. Custom-voiced pickups deliver shimmer to growl, and three compensated brass barrel saddles keep intonation accurate while preserving the signature Tele snap. A custom pickguard rounds out the aesthetic.
“There are a lot of amazing guitars in this world, but none are as versatile as the Telecaster,” Osborne said. “It just works with every song, works with every genre; I want someone to pick it up and take this instrument that I’ve played for so long, and blaze their own trail with it.”
“From the B-string bender to the road-worn feel, it’s unmistakably John’s guitar, but it’s built to inspire anyone who wants to explore that sound and make it their own,” says Fender’s Chief Product Officer Max Gutnik.
The John Osborne Telecaster is available now. Brothers Osborne are also currently in the studio working on new music due later this year.
