Lol. I find it amusing that there is a line of Fender signatures at 5 figures where the main feature is putting ugly stickers and other crappy art on the guitar. I don't like any guitar player enough to like that guitar.
Is there a smoky backroom somewhere in which guitar company bosses bet each other as to who can actually sell the ugliest guitar and charge the most?
Not knocking Terry Kath...loved his writing and playing, but, if you want "his" guitar...why not make one yourself? That's pretty much what Terry did...and, Fender was kind enough to give you the specs!
on a related note: his daughter was 2 years old when he passed, and she documented her later adult journey to get to know him better through her own research:
For all the Terry Kath fans out there, your wait is finally over.
The price is steep, but like Eddie's Frankenstein, Andy Summers Tele...and numerous others, you're not buying a guitar as much as you are buying a piece art, not to mention Rock-n Roll history.
Not for me, but I'm sure Terry's fans are drooling!
The home builders will have lots of fun with this one, now that all the intricacies have been made available. Won't be long until decal sheets start to appear...the rest is pretty straight forward.
I found the Terry Kath documentary referenced above to be very worth watching. I saw them in, I think, 1968 at the KCIR in Kansas City right when their first album was making waves. They were an amazing band for those first few LP's and Terry was a huge part of that.
Yeah- the look of that guitar doesn't do much for me- but, as others have mentioned, the documentary about him made by his daughter was very informative and entertaining, I thought. I learned quite a bit about the band's early and best (IMHO) years that I hadn't known previously- he was really the driving force. Talented dude.
The band Chicago. (assuming you are serious) I’d heard the name, couldn’t place it.
Just never associated Chicago with a guitar player band, it was always the horns & harmonies.
A tele with stickers. I could do that.
May have to go back for a listen myself.
When I first heard about this new tribute guitar there was something about it that just didn't sit right with me. A post on a Telecaster forum kind of put words to my thought - Kath experimented extensively with this guitar, because, he wanted something different than what Fender provided....so Fender is going to. in a sense, "claim" that as theirs?
I do like that this will likely bring some much-warranted attention to Terry Kath - an amazing musician that was so sadly taken from us too soon.