Fender American Performer Telecaster VS Fender American Special Telecaster

Fender came out with a new line of Telecaster called American Performer which is meant to replace the American Special Telecaster. Both guitars have different pickups and finish. In this video, we want to see how similar or different the guitars sound. Both guitars are going into the @Mad Professor Pedals Simble OD, into @strymon Iridium and finally into our recording interface. We are keeping things simple so you can hear the actual tone of the guitar! Do leave in the comments which guitar you prefer. Enjoy. God Bless!
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Guitar:
@Fender American Performer Telecaster
@Fender American Special Telecaster
Pedals:
Mad Professor Simble OD
Strymon Iridium
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[@KRAZEEIZATION]

I bought a Sherwood Green model last year and I always wanted the vintage blonde as a companion for it! That wish came true today!!! This guitar is a beast!

[@brianrollins7275]

Bought the performer in honey burst back in 2021 and it’s been my #1 ever since. I love the rosewood neck, split top tuners and Yosemite pickups. I put a 4-way switch in mine and swapped out the saddles for compensated brass from Philadelphia Luthier Tools and they are great. I love telecasters more than any other guitars. Cheers

[@markpickardlife]

They both sound great. I bought the Performer a few years ago. By the way, I like your playing. Keep up the good work. Thank you!

[@wakz2618]

Love my American Special

[@Juice_Fruit77]

Great job. Great picking 🎉

[@wongsifu425]

I love mine American Special since 2016

[@BrentIraEnman]

Great playing!

[@thadlogan51]

Seriously amazing playing! I think the performer sounded fuller and richer...

[@francisco.amorim]

Great playing

[@boobooau]

Thanks, good job, very helpful.

[@GuitarEmerge]

Very welcome :)

[@AndersMcTee]

Is that Sonic Blue? I love that colour. Great playing 👍

[@GuitarEmerge]

Yea sonic blue Matt finish. Beautiful color. Thanks!

[@Jim-Robbins]

Beautifully played. Although the differences are very subtle, I think the blonde special is slightly more mid-range and less bass sounding than the performer. Overall, I liked the special just a little bit more. It is really a close race.

[@ryanmurphy3897]

Both sound great in different ways. But the performer for me. Love those mids !

[@GuitarEmerge]

Awesome!

[@lesshrubb203]

I purchased a Performer in January 2020 and was very impressed with quality and tone. After sorting out the intonation, it is a really great guitar. It still has the original Fender strings, and I’m looking forward to putting on my favourite Ernie Ball Slinky’s but will probably have to re-sort the intonation again...

[@GuitarEmerge]

Nice!! They are all great value guitars

[@stringlocker]

Big Frets don't squeeze too hard.

[@davebarone506]

Very nice relaxed playing style. Both sound great, the Performer has a fuller sound, The Special is tighter., maybe from the maple fretboard. I'm sure both have a place in the guitar world. I own a Special love it

[@matthiasscheffler548]

Nice video and comparison, but I'm finding that the Texas pickups have more output, bite and bottom end whereas the Yosemite ones have more top end and less output.

[@CoffeeConversationMusicGear]

Great Video! I own a Fender AS Tele and I love the tone of it.I think the Fender AP Tele is a great guitar but for me not warrented to purchase a new guitar. Now that being said the Fender AP Humbucker Tele is a worth while purchase.

[@GuitarEmerge]

Thanks for the insights :)

[@jamieb7799]

The Performer sounds a little more pure but The Special has more character & definitely has more Tele sounding vibes. I have the Special and I love it. Especially the Grease Bucket tone control. But seriously they both sound fantastic. Great playing & comparison as well 👍

[@ghairmichaud5765]

Very nice playing!!! Beautiful chords..I have an American Special Tele, I totally love it

[@GuitarEmerge]

Thanks!

[@daniurbinamusica]

Both incredible sounding, special slightly vintage sounding and performer more modern sounding

[@mikDES10]

Great video man. I love how you played similar leads and chords on each pickup and with the strymon set and let us A/B the guitars rather than just playing one all the way through and then the other. The extra effort and editing is much appreciated! This is how all comparison videos should be made! The special sounds warmer, more vintage, more what I’m used to hearing. The performer is more modern and has better articulation to me but is almost clean to the point of being sterile. I think it may fare better in a band setting though whereas in a stand alone situation like this one I thought it wasn’t as good. What are your thoughts? Also, have you played the performer with the humbucker neck?

[@GuitarEmerge]

Thanks for the positive affirmation! Same sentiments on the 2 guitar. We have not tried the humbuckers. I'm sticking with my special for now :)

[@hanyzaky3284]

Great video , you did fantastic job . I have same performer in honey burst , I love it but I feel it not twang like new tele player . What is your opinion ?

[@GuitarEmerge]

Thanks! Yea the performer sounds more modern to me. The special has more twang.

[@KRAZEEIZATION]

There’s no difference really, both entry level USA. Great value Teles. The range before that from 2002-2010 was the Highway One, and I own 2 HW-1 Teles and a Strat. Theses are cooler because the finish was thin and wore off easily! It self-reliced!

[@KRAZEEIZATION]

They both sound great. Very tasty playing too.

[@GuitarEmerge]

Thanks!

[@KRAZEEIZATION]

I bought a 2018 Special in Sherwood recently and it’s awesome. The Texas Special pickups are mighty. The Performer has the clearer Yosemite pair.

[@guitarocd9984]

I have a love-hate with the Texas Heat pickups.

[@GuitarEmerge]

Dang. Hopefully its leaning on more love than hate :P

[@guitarocd9984]

I've had them in and out in and out but now they are back in. I like the greasebucket tone control it tames the bridge pickup. All in all it's a thumbs-up for the American special. I've had mine for a while. I took the neck off and tinted it with the Amber paint. Thanks.

[@toadstkr]

I like my special but they both sounded pretty close to me

[@Superboygamer1028]

The tone of the Fender American Performer is more prominent, i'll be maybe because of the pickups, interestingly even though it has rosewood neck it more punchy for me.

[@goldcoins9311]

I like the blue Tele the best.

[@GuitarEmerge]

Blue has a more modern voice :)

[@beatsbykeat]

The color of the american special just does something different for me😵😵😵😯 it looks sm more inviting to play for sum reason

[@GuitarEmerge]

Haha yes the classic tele color!!

[@tonytribble2977]

I’ve had the high dollar Fenders. Love the American Special. Just keep on replacing the great models Fender. I’ve got the Am. Special Tele & Strat & they aren’t going anywhere ! Best neck Fender ever made , love the Texas Specials & Greasebucket tone control. Listen to that blue one start clipping when you dig in. Yuck !

[@brisson182]

Do you know if the performer has the same neck as the special?

[@nhutpham5254]

They sound the same to my ears

[@datanautastv3188]

I like tele special's twang WAY better. If im looking for a modern sounding Tele why would I even be in the market for a Telecaster?? Might as well look into other models. Every now and then (when we jam), I play a friend's Tele AS and absolutely love it, it's effortless getting good vintage tones out of that one. He loves his Tele Special too and has a very decent collection of guitars, some that you'd no doubt think he'd prefer over this tele but it's the other way around.

[@GuitarEmerge]

Yea we love the special twang. That's why we still have the guitar till today :)

[@Clive007]

the twang I think is because the Special has a Maple neck and the Performer is Rosewood. I've always thought a Tele should be Maple neck.

[@hmelprince4481]

Hello

[@luckitteddu82]

the performer's headstock is bigger/fatty?

[@GuitarEmerge]

Looks the same to me

[@topografer]

Maple sounds much better on a tele. While with strats its not that clear. I don't know why

[@galbeeri8360]

I like the preformer sound. Its more full i think.. but both sounds great

[@topografer]

@@galbeeri8360 lately I've been wanting to try an ash rw tele. Like 60s blondes. Robben Ford plays one. You can't find one that isn't too expensive though

[@thadlogan51]

I have a classic vibe telecaster with a maple neck and a performer telecaster with a rosewood neck. The classic vibe is much brighter and has more bite the performer is much warmer sounding and smooth. I prefer my performer for general rythm playing and the classic vibe for lead playing... both different both great depending on tone you are after...

[@topografer]

@@thadlogan51 I've actually decided to go with a rw strat and a maple tele to have a flavour of both. The strat is alder and the tele is ash though so not directly compareable. To me the ash/maple is brighter with a bit more hollow-like sound if it makes sense. The alder/rw is a very familiar sound. Has the warmth of the rw and the punch of the alder. Great sound overall

[@thadlogan51]

@@topografer makes sense. I have an American professional strat too which I love. I also bought and sold an American professional II telecaster which I didn't care for... missing that magic sparkle that you described. But for some reason I absolutely love the performer telecaster for clean tones. You definately should try one in person... they just sound so warm and full clean compared to any other telecaster I've tried... I love it. But again it doesn't have the brightness and attack that other ones have and need for some really biting, twangy stuff.... but as an overall guitar it's one of my favorites...

[@mrgfit2218]

La American performer es mejor en mi opinión

[@elenka.svaliva2]

Good but it could be more intresting to play some different styles, rock and funk.