Susan Tedeschi on the making of her long-awaited signature Telecaster and the next generation of blues guitar heroes
Sound the hotly-anticipated gear release klaxon, because Susan Tedeschi – blues powerhouse and joint bandleader of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, alongside husband Derek Trucks – has teamed up with Fender to bring us her first signature guitar.
It’s based on her 1993 Standard Telecaster in Caribbean Mist, an instrument that’s been with her for the majority of her career and which appears on the cover of her 1998 breakout record Just Won’t Burn. It’s a collaboration we’ve been crossing our fingers over for years – especially since Fender CEO Andy Mooney pledged to up the brand’s game in terms of female artist signatures in 2019.
Tedeschi describes being invited to work on the project in humble terms, calling it “incredible” and “an honor.” But she also states “it would have been very inspirational” if there’d been greater female representation in the guitar market when she was an up-and-coming artist.
“I think they should have made a signature model 20 years ago for Sue Foley,” she says. “She’s a badass guitar player who always played a Pink Paisley Telecaster. That was one of the reasons I went with a Tele.”
It’s an illustration of how significant role models and their gear can be in shaping the playing aspirations and purchasing behaviors of next-gen guitarists, particularly in more underrepresented groups.
“I think it’s important for women to know that you can play an electric guitar because so many times you’ll start on an acoustic,” adds Tedeschi, who began her own guitar journey that way. “Sometimes the acoustic is harder to play than an electric – but you don’t realize that.”
Her signature was developed with a few key criteria in mind. “I wanted it to be comfortable to play, not too intimidating and not too heavy,” she says. “I want women to know that they can pick up this guitar, play it and rock it.”
It features the same stunning finish and tortoiseshell pickguard as her original, a standard alder body, slim Tedeschi C-shaped maple neck with a 9.5” radius rosewood fingerboard and 22 medium jumbo frets. It also boasts two custom-voiced single-coils and a Treble Bass Expander (TBX) tone circuit for “more range and more options of the sounds you can get.”
How did you come to choose your 1993 Standard Telecaster in the first place?
“I was living in Boston, Massachusetts at the time. There used to be this really cool old music shop called Cambridge Music; I would go in and look at the guitars and basses hanging on the wall. One day, I saw that Tele and I thought, ‘Wow, that thing looks really cool!’
“I pulled it off the shelf. It sounded great and felt great; I plugged it in and played it for a while. Then I put it back on the wall. I literally had a dream about it that night, so I went back and got it the next day! I think it was $600. It was used when I bought it in 1995 – which was actually right around the time that I started playing electric guitar.
“I fell in love with it; it just seemed to be set up really nice. A friend told me I really should change out the saddles for graphite ones, so I put those on and I never broke a string! I bend pretty hard – I use 11s – and I’m pretty rough on it, but it seemed to be really tough and reliable.
“I really like the feel of it and the sound it makes. It’s pretty universal; it tends to fit in with blues, soul and rock. It’s also in contrast with Derek’s Gibson SG, which has humbuckers, so it’s nice to have them side by side.”
You’ve collected a lot of famous autographs on the original. What’s the story with those?
“My first one was Clarence ‘Gatemouth’ Brown; I had him sign it in 1997. I was supposed to open up for him on Martha’s Vineyard, but President Bill Clinton decided to have a party for his secretary and take over the place! So they ended up bouncing me, and Carly Simon opened for him because she owned the club. Gatemouth was like, ‘You can stick with me today.’ So, I got to hang out with him and he signed my guitar.
“The next year, I went on tour with B.B. King and Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan, Dr. John – all these great artists. So they all signed it. Buddy’s on the back of my headstock. Jimmie signed the bottom. Dr. John came off, unfortunately, because he was in a place where you get wear and tear.
I got to meet all the people that make the guitars, and I was blown away by how many women were in there
“It’s all people I’ve played or recorded with – Herbie Hancock, Willie Nelson, Ron Wood from The Stones. From jazz to blues to country, all these different people are on there; and it’s not just one genre of musicians, which is cool!”
Presumably, this new signature model will bear just one actual signature?
“Yeah! Mine’s on the back of the headstock, where Buddy’s is on mine.”
How did the opportunity to work with Fender come about?
“They approached me, and it was perfect timing, what with the 25th anniversary of Just Won’t Burn last year. It took about two years to go through the whole process.
“The idea came about to make it like my American Standard Tele – with a couple of little perks here and there to make it special – and to make it as close to mine as possible. I worked with Stephen Taylor and Patrick Harberd from Fender.
“I also got to go and meet all the people that make the guitars, and I was blown away by how many women were in there – especially Spanish-speaking women. Women never get the cred, never mind Spanish-speaking women.
“They’re just kicking ass on these huge old machines, doing everything from making the frets and doing the fretboard and the saddles. It’s a lot of the work!”
What does it mean to have been recognised in this way?
“It gives me the opportunity to show women that you can do anything. If I’m here, you can definitely be here. I always wanted to play guitar. It’s definitely something that I’m still a little insecure with, but this helps give me some confidence to be like, ‘Wow, maybe I am doing okay at this and maybe people do like it!’”
What aspects of the instrument are you most excited to share?
“First off, I love the color, and the tortoiseshell pickguard is just really pretty. But I’m most excited for people to just get out there. It’s a nice sturdy guitar. You don’t have to baby it. It’s okay to be rough with it and just try stuff.
I’m going to try a country record… some very talented country artists are willing to work with me
“It’s going to sound different with different amps and in different situations. It’s going to be great to go and sit in on a blues jam or a country night – you can play anything on it!”
Are there any rising stars of guitar that have caught your ear lately?
“There’s a girl called Grace Bowers, who is probably 17 years old now. She’s got this crazy blonde curly hair and she’s very pretty and very sweet – but she can rip it and she has a nice understanding of chords. I think, because she’s so young, she could really get somewhere in the next 10 years. She really could be a household name.
“Then there are girls like Katie Skene, who’s a singer and guitar player; and Bella Rayne, who’s very young and just getting out there. She’s got more of a hippy style, like Jerry Garcia, where she can really jam and be improvisational, which is what you want to see.”
Are you working on any other projects at the moment?
“We’re touring for the rest of the year, so it’s hard to do multiple things. But we’ve been writing a bunch. I’m getting excited because I’m going to do some more writing separately from the band. I’m going to try to do a country record.
“I have some very, very talented country artists that are willing to work on a project with me, including Chris Stapleton and Sturgill Simpson, so I really want to take advantage of that.”
For more information on the Susan Tedeschi Telecaster, head to Fender.com.
