Fender Custom Shop: Inside the Limited Edition Waylon Jennings Telecaster

A celebrated pioneer of the Outlaw Country movement, Waylon Jennings' legendary fifty-year career saw him make history as a platinum-selling solo artist and as one of the Highwaymen, alongside Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson.

With his burly tenor and unmistakable Telecaster tone, Jennings was a memorable chronicler of the rough and rowdy ways of those condemned to live on the margins. His songs are full of criminals, con-men, cowboys and scarlet women. His signature sound was a unique blend of rock ‘n’ roll, honky-tonk and Tex-Mex influences, presented with a tough-guy attitude and a spry sense of humor. 

Jennings’ best-known compositions, like "I've Always Been Crazy" and "Mammas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys" are standards that have been covered hundreds of times and he remains a key influence on a whole new generation of edgy Nashville stars like Eric Church, Sturgill Simpson and his son, Shooter.  

To celebrate his legacy, Fender Custom Shop partnered with the Jennings family to replicate Waylon’s iconic leather-covered mid-’50s Telecaster. Using two of his go-to guitars as inspiration, Masterbuilder David Brown meticulously selected modifications and details from both to recreate a version of what Waylon’s guitar would have looked and sounded like in the mid-to-late ’70s.

The Limited Edition Waylon Jennings Telecaster features a two-piece ash body finished in period-correct Butterscotch Blonde and wrapped in a distinctive, hand-tooled leather cover designed by renowned craftsman Cody Hixon. Other notable details include Custom Shop Hand-Wound ’50/’51 Blackguard pickups and Schaller M6 tuning machines with a low E banjo tuner to capture Waylon’s signature tone and sound. 

The result is a rare, refined and remarkable instrument worthy of the legend it is inspired by. To hear the origin story of Jennings’ leather-clad Tele, how Custom Shop designed this limited edition model and hear it in action, check out this video featuring Shooter Jennings and David Brown. Click here to purchase.