Marrying the punch and focus of alder with the warmth added by a round-lam rosewood fingerboard, this new combination of tonewoods, alone, used for Fender Telecasters of the early '60s managed to enhance the signature Tele twang. But in 1963, the brass saddles in the bridge used for Telecaster guitars throughout the 1950s were changed to triple threaded-steel saddles, which increased the twanginess. These threaded-steel saddles have since become the preferred bridge of many of the Telecaster's most devoted players.

A prime example of the Tele's quintessential twang, the American Vintage II 1963 Telecaster features a triple threaded-steel saddle bridge, and is available in Crimson Red Transparent over mahogany, as well as 3-Color Sunburst or Surf Green over alder.