Fender John Jorgenson Hellecaster Reviews 
5 / 5 based on 1 reviewsJapanase made, special edition, 500 made, 1997. Playing for 20 years now, EC signature strat, Danny Gatton Custom Shop Tele and John Jorgenson Hellecaster, DRRI, Twin Amp. Blues, country, Classic Rock.
Buyed used in 2007, ebay. 1000 USD
One of the most interesting and great sounding instruments Fender has ever created. You get 5 pickup options + 2 more pickup combinations via a pull / push tone knob for 7 magnificent sounds to work on, great Telecaster and Stratocaster sounds, the best of both worlds. Features and sounds are very similar to a GandL Comanche. But all of this is only true if you do a slight modification. Itīs time that someone tells the TRUTH about this guitar, there is no info on the internet and that is outrageous. This guitar had a factory flaw back in 1997 when it was produced. They made a limited edition run, about 500 guitars in the Japanese factory. Very well made and beautifully crafted, very similar to a custom shop guitar. For some reason there was not very good communication between the factory and the people that design it, resulting in an extra capacitor in the push/pull tone knob. The guitar as it came out of the factory was a lemon. Fender never made a recall, nor told the music stores about the mistake and the guitar that the costumers paid their hard earned money for sounded like crap. There was no way to create a decent sound out of it without the mod. People started selling the guitar because of it. No matter how many reviews you find telling that the guitar is unique because the sound is like no other strat, itīs only lies, people trying to justify the $ spent in it. Unless the review is of the guitar with the mod made. IF you do the mod then the guitar sounds AMAZING, just like it was designed and intended to sound as. I did the mod 3 years ago when I bought it from e bay, and Mr. Jorgenson himself via e-mail told me which capacitor to take of. Itīs a thing of beauty. If Fender had the balls back in 1997 to accept the mistake and communicate how to do the mod (which is very easy to do, you donīt even have to take the complete pickguard to do the modification) this guitar would be a classic and a very sought after guitar, just like the Jerry Donahue counterpart. This guitar is underrated, Itīs simply one of the best musical instruments Fender has ever made, but then again, without the mod is simply one of the WORST instruments Fender has ever made, bar none.
Another great feature is that the other tone knob is like a Fender Delta Tone knob prototype. This is not informed in the very detailed ownerīs manual, and has not been confirmed by Fender nor Mr. Jorgenson, but Iīm not stupid, it works and sounds just like it and EVEN has a detent on the max rotary level. For those not familiar with the Delta Tone (no load knob) there is plenty of info in the net.
The other tone knob (push/pull) functions as a bass cut and also activates 2 more pickup configurations.
Shame on Fender that even 13 years later they donīt have the balls to tell what happened. I can only guess that Mr. Jorgenson is sick to his stomach having to politely answer every question owners make about what capacitor to remove from his signature guitar.
Quality is top notch. Great craftmanship. Made in Japan, very similar to a custom shop guitar.
One of the finest instruments Fender has ever made, if you do the mod. If you donīt then you have in your hands one of the worst instruments Fender has ever made.
daltieri rated this unit
on
2010-09-28.
