“A simple and beautiful guitar that is like a warm piece of furniture”: Fender Japan leans into the gear furniture trend with the Fragment Telecaster – a fresh take on the traditional rosewood Tele template
Featuring a rare rosewood and alder body and traditional 1960s specs, the Hiroshi Fujiwara-designed beauty represents one of 2024’s most unique Telecasters
(Image credit: Fender Japan)
Fender Japan has launched two Fragment Telecaster guitars in collaboration with fashion designer, music producer and musician, Hiroshi Fujiwara.
Available in White and Black versions, the Fragment Tele features a rosewood-centric design that plays off the traditional ’60s Tele template, though further adopts Fujiwara’s approach to manufacturing mastery.
“Rather than making a guitar, this model was made with the concept of making traditional clothes or furniture,” he explains. “I have created a simple and beautiful Telecaster guitar that is like a warm piece of furniture.”
Rosewood has been hand-selected for the body top, head, and sleek inlay-less fingerboard of the electric guitar.
“I wanted to use rosewood because it has a beautiful grain,” the designer explains “It's quite rare to lay down rosewood this thick, [but] it turned out to be a very simple and beautiful design.”
(Image credit: Fender Japan)
Of the inlay-free fingerboards, he adds: “The dots on the side of the neck are easier to see, and I've always thought that that's all I need. I have a few classical guitars, and the first thing I do when I get one is put a dot on the side of the neck with a white marker [laughs]. I think that's enough.”
The neck, back of the body (which is alder), and pickguard are all meanwhile given either White or Black solid color finishes. The 6mm rosewood top and alder body combine for a “well-balanced” sound, complemented by Vintage Noiseless Tele pickups.
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The Fragment Teles have been given modern C-profile necks, 9.5” radius fingerboards, and narrow-tall frets.
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The Fender Japan Fragment Telecaster photographed in the Fender Tokyo store by GuitarWorld.com EIC, Michael-Astley Brown(Image credit: Future)
(Image credit: Future)
Each guitar comes with an original black tweed hard guitar case and a certificate of authenticity, with the collaboration also producing guitar straps, picks, and apparel.
This isn't the first time Fujiwara’s FRGMNT brand has collaborated with other manufacturers. He's also worked with Pokemon, Beats by Dre, and Louis Vuitton, to name just three, having put his name on everything from cars to tents and headphones.
The Fragment Telecaster is due to be released on December 6.
A freelance writer with a penchant for music that gets weird, Phil is a regular contributor to Prog, Guitar World, and Total Guitar magazines and is especially keen on shining a light on unknown artists. Outside of the journalism realm, you can find him writing angular riffs in progressive metal band, Prognosis, in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original, churning that low string through a variety of tunings. He's also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy, mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot.
