{"id":607437,"date":"2026-04-15T01:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T01:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/607437\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T01:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T01:32:09","slug":"slipknots-jim-root-explains-why-fender-telecasters-are-like-sunglasses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/607437\/","title":{"rendered":"Slipknot\u2019s Jim Root explains why Fender Telecasters are like sunglasses"},"content":{"rendered":"

While many metal guitarists might reach for a Jackson<\/a>, Charvel<\/a>, or an ESP<\/a>, Jim Root<\/a> has consistently made the case that Fenders also belong in the metal conversation. A longtime Fender<\/a> signature artist, the Slipknot guitarist currently has a signature Stratocaster<\/a>, Telecaster<\/a> and Jazzmaster<\/a> to his name, all loaded with EMG<\/a> pickups and characteristically minimal, metal-ready spec sheets.<\/p>\n

And as he explains in a new video, it was precisely the fact Fender guitars weren\u2019t typically associated with metal that drew him to the brand in the first place.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe aesthetic of seeing all these legendary rock icons with a Telecaster, sort of mixed with\u2026 wanting to go against the grain of being in a band that was labelled as nu metal or metal\u2026\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I thought it would be cool to have something that\u2019s just not even close to being associated with metal in a band like that. There\u2019s sort of a juxtaposition to that, that to me is kind of like a \u2018Fuck you.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026And that\u2019s kind of the whole metal, punk rock, rock and roll attitude. It\u2019s anti, and going against the grain. And if somebody tells you to do something, you\u2019re gonna do the opposite.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody thought I should be coming out with some pointy metal guitar that\u2019s got 12 points or whatever. No, how about we just do a classic slab iconic guitar? Guitars, in my opinion, are like sunglasses. The classics never go out of style. They\u2019ll always be there. People will make their version of it, but there\u2019s only one Fender Telecaster.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

In 2026, Fender is celebrating 75 years of the Telecaster, after the now-legendary model was launched back in 1951. In fact, the Telecaster started life in late 1950 as the Broadcaster, but due to a trademark conflict with Gretsch over its Broadkaster drum kit, the Broadcaster was renamed the Telecaster the following year.<\/p>\n

Just last month, Fender unveiled its line of limited-edition 75th Anniversary Telecasters<\/a>, comprising five models across the brand\u2019s Player II, American Professional and American Ultra II ranges, and including a Cabronita model.<\/p>\n

\"Sam<\/p>\n

Sam is the Associate News Editor for Guitar.com and MusicTech. Thoroughly immersed in music culture for the majority of his life, Sam has played guitar for 20 years, studied music technology and production at university, and also written for the likes of Guitar World, Total Guitar, Metal Hammer and MusicRadar.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While many metal guitarists might reach for a Jackson, Charvel, or an ESP, Jim Root has consistently made…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607438,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[4624,64,63,153780,134,2295,136],"class_list":{"0":"post-607437","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-artist","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-electric-guitars","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-gear","14":"tag-music"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607437"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607437\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607437"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}