NAMM 2025: When a version of Jack White’s Triplecaster was made available to the wider guitar world, it was big news: here was a Tele that was really pushing the boundaries of Fender lore. It retained most of what made White’s model so brilliantly bonkers, but part of us wondered: will we ever see a replica of the real thing?
Well, hold the phone, because the Custom Shop is making a fully spec’d-out Blue Sparkle Triplecaster a reality.
The news was confirmed to us by White’s tech Dan Mancini, who gave us the skinny on the forthcoming model, which was available to play at the Third Man Hardware booth at NAMM 2025.
There have been a host of changes since White first started road-testing the guitar, making constant tweaks and improvements, even since we saw the last incarnation at NAMM 2024.
The first thing you’ll notice is just how clean the guitar looks – there’s a complete absence of screws and polepieces around the pickups and, indeed, the pickguard. The former are rear-mounted – highly unusual for Fender – which hides the screws around the back, while the scratchplate is secured with adhesive. The end result is a little like if Apple had a hand in designing the Telecaster back in the ’50s.
White himself even showed us the guitar’s new neck shape – it’s less pronounced than the deep V of his previous incarnation, and gently contours towards the heel to allow better access to the upper frets.
Speaking of, the partial scallops of the previous model have returned, starting at the 7th fret. They’re subtle under the fingers, and give the fretboard an effortless playability on the upper three strings. The headstock has swapped from a Stratocaster-style to a Tele, too, to reduce weight.
The three pickups remain the same as the production Triplecaster: a CuNiFe Wide Range humbucker in the neck, JW-90 in the middle and a custom Jack White humbucker in the bridge. They’ve just been given custom covers and that rear-mounting for a cleaner look.
Like the production model, there’s the Hipshot Xtender drop-D tuner on the back of the headstock, as well as the Bigsby B-5 vibrato and three-saddle bridge, arcade-style stutter switch, and a knob that doubles as a three-way toggle to mute the signal or route pickups direct to the jack.
But the Custom Shop version also gives you the Glaser Bender – Nashville luthier Joe Glaser’s take on the B-Bender – for yet another form of expression.
White later announced the model on his Instagram account, sharing a photo of last year’s model and the forthcoming incarnation, so we can all play spot the difference.
“Wanted to show y'all a sneak peek of the first Fender Custom Shop Limited Edition Triplecaster (on the left),” he wrote.
“You can see all the subtle changes that have happened compared to the Franksteined model from all the years of road testing next to it on the right! Too many interesting features to mention at this moment, but this brand-new creation is at NAMM right now at the Third Man Hardware booth for you to play, it’s not for sale… yet.”
A release date and price tag have yet to be set for the new model, but we’ll bring you more as we have it.
