Jonny picking through the intro of 2+2=5 Lollapalooza Berlin on September 11, 2016 (radiohead.com). The reddish outer ring is unusually prominent in this photo.
For a while now, we’ve referred to the finish on Jonny’s No1 Telecaster Plus V1 as “Tobacco Burst.” While Jonny’s Tele is often called a “sunburst”, on closer inspection the finish is little different. A traditional sunburst has three sections: a semi-transparent yellow center, a red ring around that center, and black edges. In contrast, the finish on a 1990s Tele Plus lacks a clear red ring (though it does turn reddish near the edges), and the central yellow section is darker than on a traditional sunburst. So the darker “Tobacco” version of a burst seemed accurate. It doesn’t help that the guitar is often in low-quality footage and under stage-lighting, both of which can mask the details of a guitar’s finish.
In fact, Fender’s official name for the finish on the 1990s Telecaster Plus V1 is “Antique Burst.”Thank you to Ben for pointing us to uploads of some official Fender price lists from the early-90s (click the download links on that page to view spec/price lists for all Fender guitars, not just Strats). Checking those price lists, we can see that Fender used the “Antique” finish for their modern, higher-end instruments. The finish is offered for the “Signature”, “Designer”, “Set-Neck”, “Ultra” and “Plus” series instruments. In contrast, the 1992 “American Standard Telecaster” was offered in a traditional “Sunburst”, while the 1992 Mexican-made “Standard Telecaster” wasn’t even available in any burst colors. Vintage reissues had their own set of bursts in 1992: “2-Color Sunburst” for the ’52 reissue and “3-Color Sunburst” for the ’62 reissue.
Jonny playing his No1 Tele during My Iron Lung at the Chicago Metro on April 6, 1996. Jonny had only recently acquired the guitar after his original No1 Tele Plus was stolen in Denver, hence the lack of stickers. Some combination of lighting and digitization has totally masked the details of the finish, giving it a “2-tone” appearance. But it’s still recognizable as the same guitar, note the wear to the finish on the edge of the lower bout.
A closeup of Jonny’s Telecaster from Radiohead’s show at Victoria Park on June 25, 2008 (photo by Neil Lupin).
On many sunburst Fender guitar from the 1950s, the red ring would fade with exposure to sunlight, sometimes fading entirely and leaving behind a 2-tone burst. Some good examples can be seen in this TDPRI forum thread, along with some 3-tone burst guitars from the 1960s (after Fender found a way to prevent the red from fading). Presumably, the “Antique Burst” is so-named because it resembles the faded finish on a 1950s guitar.
Jonny’s “No1” Tele Plus shouldn’t be confused with his “No2” backup Tele. The backup is originally an American Standard Telecaster, but Plank converted the guitar to Plus specs (though by necessity it has a full bridge plate, rather than a humbucker ring like an original Tele Plus). The American Standard wasn’t available in “Antique Burst”, but was instead offered in the more common “Sunburst” finish.
Jonny playing his No2 Tele during Ful Stop at the Glastonbury festival on June 23, 2017 (photo by Sara-Lou Bowrey). This guitar has the more common “Sunburst” finish, if you look closely around the Kaoss Pad and all the stickers!
For some further confusion, check Fender’s official “instrument finish chart.” The online chart includes both “Tobacco Burst” and “Antique Burst”. However, the picture for “Antique Burst” is distinctly reddish, more closely resembling the “Crimson Frost” on an early-1990s Tele Plus (and not to be confused with the mid-1990s “Crimson Burst” finish, which lacks the black edges). The online chart doesn’t include “Crimson Frost” or “Crimson Burst”, and instead lists a “Crimson Red Transparent” color that isn’t on any price list from the 1990s. So it appears Fender may have switched some names around to more accurately describe the colors (for example, the 90s “Crimson Burst” is really more transparent than burst).