Brad Paisley has revealed that the “Lost” Telecasters he personally builds will have many notable differences compared to the versions produced by Fender.
The collaboration between Paisley and Fender was announced in May with the launch of the limited-edition “Lost Paisley” Telecaster, inspired by his extremely rare 1967 blue paisley model. This partnership celebrates both Paisley’s namesake and the short-lived original paisley Telecasters, which were released during the “Summer of Love” era but discontinued due to delicate finishes.
Fender’s Custom Shop in Corona, California, will manufacture 67 units of the signature model, which will be sold through their dealer network. Meanwhile, Paisley, working alongside Fender’s Nashville R&D team, will handcraft 19 additional paisley guitars as a tribute to the original’s legacy. These 19 will be sold exclusively through Paisley’s own channels.
In a recent interview with Guitar World, Paisley explained that his personally made models will differ from Fender’s in areas such as pickups, finishes, and more. “There’ll be a lot of differences,” he stated.
“For the 19 that I make, I have a style of making these that is similar, but different. With mine, I’m getting the guitar in pieces, and then I’m applying the finish to it myself, and you’ll get a time-lapse video of that being done. And Fender has standards, I don’t,” Paisley shared.
He added, “I don’t know what the pickups are going to be. I may put one together and go with a Seymour set, or I may put one together and go with a Lindy Fralin in the bridge. I might feel like it needs a Curtis Novak neck pickup because I have guitars like that.”
“That’s the beauty of that. Maybe I’ll tell you what’s in it, or maybe you’ll have to take it apart to see. [laughs] I’m going to give birth to 19 of these, and they’re all going to be different.”
The first Lost Paisley model released features a lightweight body crafted from alder, paulownia, and spruce, paired with a custom ’60s oval C-shape maple neck, a round-laminated maple fretboard, and Seymour Duncan Custom Shop Hand-Wound Lost Paisley pickups.
