One of the fastest chicken-pickers under the sun, 12-time Guitarist of the Year Brent Mason is clearly one of the most sought-after session musicians in Nashville. Reason enough for Fender masterbuilder Kyle McMillin to reproduce the country icon's heavily modified Telecaster as faithfully as possible as part of the Fender Limited Edition Brent Mason Telecaster Heavy Relic MN Flat Silver Satin. Of course, the Brent Mason Telecaster comes as a genuine offshoot of the Fender Custom Shop in the stylish Fender Deluxe Hardshell Case and matching strap and enclosed certificate of authenticity.
For resonant and lightweight construction, the Brent Mason Signature Telecaster uses a two-piece hand-selected ash body with a traditional off-center seam. To create the sound, look and feel of this unique Tele, Kyle McMillin used a selection of top-quality woods, as evidenced by the stunning AAAA-grade maple neck with a Quarter Sawn Maple Round-Lam fingerboard. This features the classic 1967 C profile, which was determined in painstaking analysis of the original and implemented with millimeter precision from headstock to neck heel.
For tone transformation, Brent has always relied on his powerful SSH pickup setup from US pickup winder Seymour Duncan. At the bridge, the Seymour Duncan Vintage Stack Tele Single Coil provides lively twang sounds with unmistakable character, while the SM-1N Vintage Mini humbucker adds powerful double coil sounds in the neck position. In addition, the middle position features a Strat-borrowed STK-2S Hot Stack Strat Single Coil, which expands the Brent Mason Telecaster's tonal options many times over. Neck and bridge have separate volume controls and a Master Tone knob whose push/pull function activates the middle pickup.
Probably the most interesting feature of the original Brent Mason Telecaster is of course also used in the Fender Limited Edition Brent Mason Telecaster Heavy Relic MN Flat Silver Satin MBKM. The B-Bender system, developed by Joe Glaser, allows for classic pedal steel country sounds and is easily operated via the additional strap pin on the neckplate. As soon as the instrument is played on the strap, the system raises the pitch of the B-string by up to two semitones to give both chords and leads that classic country flair.