Fender American Professional II Telecaster Review: Is It Worth the Price?
The Fender American Professional II Telecaster is the core American-made Tele in Fender's current lineup. It sits above the Player Series and below the American Ultra, and it represents what Fender considers the standard-bearer for what a production Telecaster should be. Landon is a self-confessed Telecaster fan and acknowledges upfront that this review comes with some inherent bias. What follows is still one of the most thorough teardowns of this guitar available, covering everything from the pickup resistance measurements to the case candy. The guitar was purchased from Lauzon Music in Ottawa.
Get the Fender American Professional II Telecaster
What Changed from the American Professional I
The American Professional II arrived in late 2020 as a revision to the original American Professional series. The changes were not cosmetic. The most significant upgrade is the V-Mod II single-coil pickups, which replaced the V-Mod I pickups from the first generation. Fender redesigned the voicing for more clarity and output without sacrificing the vintage character the original series was known for. The result is a bridge pickup with more presence and definition, and a neck pickup with better warmth and a smoother top end.
The neck profile also changed. The American Professional II uses a Deep C shape, which is rounder and fuller than the modern C found on the Player Series. Players who find modern C necks too thin or flat often describe the Deep C as a significant comfort improvement, particularly for longer playing sessions. The rolled fingerboard edges are another detail that does not show up in a spec sheet but is immediately noticeable when you pick the guitar up — every fret end feels smooth and finished rather than sharp.
Other updates include a cold-rolled steel bridge plate, a refined headstock silhouette, and updated tuning machines. These are incremental improvements rather than a complete redesign, but together they make the Am Pro II a noticeably more polished guitar than its predecessor.
Full Specs
| Body | Alder |
| Body finish | Gloss urethane (Dark Night) |
| Neck | Maple, Deep C shape |
| Fingerboard | Rosewood (Dark Night) / Maple (other colours) |
| Fingerboard radius | 9.5" (241 mm) |
| Frets | 22 narrow tall |
| Scale length | 25.5" (648 mm) |
| Nut width | 1.685" (42.8 mm) |
| Nut material | Bone |
| Pickups | 2x V-Mod II single-coil Telecaster |
| Controls | Master volume, master tone with grease bucket circuit |
| Pickup switching | 3-way blade |
| Bridge | 3-saddle strings-through-body with cold-rolled steel plate |
| Tuners | Fender narrow-post locking |
| Country of origin | USA (Corona, California) |
| Includes | Molded hardshell case, strap, cable, polish cloth, tremolo arm, tools |
The Neck: Why Landon Calls It the Best Tele Neck
The Deep C neck profile on the American Professional II is the detail Landon singles out most emphatically in this video. It is fuller and rounder than the Modern C on the Player Series without being as chunky as the vintage U profiles found on older American Vintage guitars. For players who have worked their way up from Squier or Player Series guitars and found the necks comfortable but slightly thin, the Deep C is a meaningful step forward. It fills the hand more completely, which makes bending and vibrato feel more controlled and less effortful.
The narrow tall frets are another detail worth knowing about. Where medium jumbo frets are wide and low, narrow tall frets are narrower in width but taller in height. This makes string bending easier because your fingertip contacts the string higher above the fingerboard, requiring less effort to push the string to pitch. Players who do a lot of lead work often find narrow tall frets significantly more comfortable than medium jumbo. It is a spec detail that can genuinely change how a guitar feels to play.
The bone nut is also worth noting. Most guitars at and below this price point use a synthetic bone or plastic nut. Real bone contributes to the guitar's open-string resonance and sustain in ways that are subtle but real, and it is a detail that speaks to the overall quality standard Fender is maintaining on this instrument.
Inside the Guitar
The Grease Bucket Tone Circuit
The grease bucket circuit is one of the more interesting practical features on the American Professional II. On a standard Telecaster, rolling back the tone knob loads the circuit and causes the volume to drop slightly as the tone darkens. The grease bucket circuit eliminates that interaction. You can roll the tone all the way back without losing output level, which makes it a genuinely useful tool for shaping tone on the fly without worrying about the volume compensation that normal tone controls require.
It is the kind of detail that experienced players will appreciate immediately and beginners may not notice for years. But once you know it is there, it changes how you interact with the instrument.
Tone Samples
Clean and dirt tones through a Fender Princeton Reverb start at 10:33. The V-Mod II bridge pickup delivers a bright, cutting Telecaster tone with excellent note definition — individual notes in chord voicings stay clear and separated even through gain. The neck pickup is warm and round with a glassy quality on clean tones that works particularly well for jazz and clean rhythm playing. The middle position blends both for a sound that sits nicely in a mix without dominating.
Dirt tones through the VOX AC10C1 follow at 13:00. The Tele bridge pickup through a VOX is one of the classic guitar sounds, and the V-Mod II delivers it cleanly. The guitar responds well to picking dynamics — dig in and it opens up, back off and it cleans up immediately. That touch sensitivity is a characteristic of the American-made Fender pickups that is harder to find at lower price points.
How It Compares to the Player Series
The American Professional II costs significantly more than the Player Telecaster, and the question every buyer has to answer is whether the gap is justified. The honest answer is that it depends on how much you play and what you value. The V-Mod II pickups are noticeably better than the Player Series pickups. The Deep C neck is more comfortable for most players. The narrow tall frets are a genuine playability improvement. The bone nut, cold-rolled steel bridge plate, and grease bucket circuit are quality details that add up.
What you are paying for is not just better components, but better execution at every stage of construction. The fretwork on an American Professional II is more precise than on a Player. The finish is more carefully applied. The setup that comes from the factory is more refined. If you play every day, spend time on stage, or simply want a guitar that will serve you for decades without limitations, the American Professional II justifies its price. If you are still developing your playing or do not need the extra quality headroom, the Player Series is excellent value and the right choice.
Pros and Cons
- Deep C neck profile is one of the most comfortable available
- V-Mod II pickups deliver excellent clarity and touch response
- Narrow tall frets make bending noticeably easier
- Grease bucket tone circuit is genuinely useful
- Bone nut adds resonance and sustain
- Cold-rolled steel bridge plate improves tone and sustain
- Locking tuners keep the guitar in tune reliably
- Comes with a proper hardshell case
- Made in USA quality throughout
- Significantly more expensive than the Player Series
- 3-saddle bridge limits precise per-string intonation
- Dark Night finish shows fingerprints easily
- The price gap to the Player requires justification for many buyers
Verdict
The Fender American Professional II Telecaster is an exceptional guitar that earns its price tag. The Deep C neck profile alone will convert a lot of players who have found previous Telecasters slightly thin-feeling in the hand. Add the V-Mod II pickups, the grease bucket circuit, the bone nut, and the overall quality of the American construction, and you have a guitar that does not ask you to make any compromises. Landon's admitted bias toward Telecasters aside, the objective evidence in this video makes a compelling case for why this guitar sits where it does in the lineup.
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