James Burton

Burton mentions a pink paisley Telecaster in this 2014 Guitar Player article.

Have you ever heard a guitar that sounded any better? [Laughs.] The story behind that guitar is Fender called me and said, “James you must come down here because we have a guitar with your name on it.” I asked if they could just send it to me, but they insisted that I come to the factory. So I went there, and when I opened up the case and that pink paisley Tele jumped out I said, “Oh no, that’s not for me, man!”

Burton earlier mentioned his acquisition of a 1952 Telecaster in this 2000 Mix Online article about Merle Haggard's "Mama Tried".

Mother and dad bought me a '52 Tele, and I got into playing slide and steel guitar early on. I experimented with using banjo strings on the guitar to get a lighter sound and an unwound third string to get a twangier, funkier sound. I was able to create a whole different sound and technique, using the fingers and finger-picks to create banjo-like rolls on both the guitar and dobro. I used this technique on ‘Mama Tried.’

I was going from a Frank Sinatra date to a Beach Boys date or Jerry Lee Lewis to Merle Haggard. It got kinda crazy. But it sure was interesting to play all those things and using one guitar – the Telecaster – to do all of it.

Was it still the ’53? Yes, sir, that’s what I played until we opened the Las Vegas show with Elvis.

James Burton mainly plays a dark-red '53 Fender Telecaster that he bought in a Louisiana music store when he was thirteen. He's performed a lifetime's worth of hot licks and fluid solos on it, on songs such as Dale Hawkins' "Susie Q" and Ricky Nelson's "Hello Mary Lou." As an in-demand Sixties sessionman, Burton played often-uncredited guitar and Dobro on countless records by artists ranging from Buck Owens and Buffalo Springfield to Frank Sinatra. In the Seventies he anchored the touring bands of Elvis Presley and Emmylou Harris. Burton's country-rock style combines flatpicking and fingerpicking; he's also a master of a damped-string, staccato-note "chickin' pickin'."

James can be seen in the picture with his Signature Fender Telecaster that is now available for sale.

I’ve always loved playing slide and fingerstyle on a resonator, like I did on Merle Haggard’s records. I’ve used Dobros on so many records with different artists. As a matter of fact, when Johnny Cash called me to do “Shindig,” he wanted me to play slide Dobro. Mine were all in storage at the time – I had just come back from Europe – so Johnny came walking into the TV station dragging a 1948 Dobro on the concrete (laughs)! I said, “Oh, Johnny! Don’t do that, man.” (Picture #5)

In the documentary "Stars and Their Guitars: A History of the Electric Guitar," James Burton demonstrates his Fender US Signature James Burton Telecaster, as presented by YouTube user FenderGitarrist.