Fender and Mike Campbell unveil the Red Dog Telecaster – a recreation of the Heartbreaker guitarist’s famed modded axe
Before it helped define the sound of Refugee or landed in a Tom Petty music video, Mike Campbell’s Red Dog Telecaster was just a gloriously hacked-up guitar with mysterious origins. Now, Fender has brought it back to life.
The legendary Heartbreakers guitarist has partnered with Fender to release two faithful recreations of his iconic axe: the Stories Collection Mike Campbell Red Dog Telecaster and the Fender Custom Shop Limited Edition Masterbuilt 1972 “Red Dog” Telecaster.
Both signature models honour the quirks and tone of the original – a bright red, heavily modded Tele equipped with three pickups, a Bigsby tremolo, and an onboard electronic boost Campbell calls the “Destruct” circuit.
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“Telecasters are the heart and soul of rock and roll music and this one is a beautiful instrument,” says Campbell. “The humbuckers give it so much power and such a wide variety of tones while the destruct button really sets it apart from just about any other tele.”
The Red Dog Tele’s journey began when a former student offered to sell Campbell the guitar. It was love at first strum, and he immediately put it to work – most notably on the 1979 Heartbreakers track Refugee, where its snarling tone became part of the song’s signature sound. Over the decades, Campbell wielded the Red Dog across his work with Petty, Fleetwood Mac, and his own band Dirty Knobs.
The new Stories Collection version offers a more accessible take on the original, priced at $3,499. The axe features a Red Dog Red Heirloom nitrocellulose finish, two vintage-style humbuckers in the neck and middle positions, a single-coil Telecaster bridge pickup, a Bigsby B5F tremolo, custom Red Dog neck plate, and the infamous “Destruct” circuit – which adds up to 34dB of gain with the push of a button.
For collectors, there’s the $20,000 Masterbuilt Limited Edition, crafted by Fender Custom Shop master builder Dennis Galuszka. Arriving in a faded red metallic finish, this premium model recreates every ”nick, ding and scratch” from the original: Its two-piece select alder body and custom-shaped, one-piece maple neck feature a well-loved Relic lacquer finish, while the hardware is aged to look like it’s been played for the last five decades.
Outfitted with the same signature “Destruct” boost circuit, Bigsby trem, and three-pickup configuration, the guitar also comes with a 7.25” radius fingerboard, 21 vintage upgrade frets, a five-way switch, three-ply parchment pickguard, and vintage-style Jazzmaster bridge with threaded steel saddles.
“The FCS Limited Edition Masterbuilt 1972 ‘Red Dog’ Telecaster is a jaw dropping representation of the instrument as it exists today,” says Fender.
“I could tell The Red Dog was special as soon as I picked it up. It felt like it was in the right place at just the right time,” Campbell adds.
Learn more at Fender.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
