Xotic California Classic XTC Series

07 Aug 2018 by Jef | Approximate reading time: 2 Minutes

Xotic California Classic XTC Series · Source: Xotic

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Xotic has just unveiled its new California Classic XTC series. The US-built line of boutique Telecaster-style guitars that blend classic vintage looks with modern hardware.

Essentially this range has a few fairly important aspects that you can order to your taste. So, for instance, you can have for example a premium ash or a weight-relieved alder body. This can also be finished in one of the following ways including light, medium, heavy and super heavy relic finishes.

Finish wise they are all thinly coated with nitrocellulose paint jobs and then aged to your taste.

They all come with a modern C-shape roasted flame maple neck and you can choose between either a 9.5 or 12-inch fingerboard radius. There is also the option to ‘upgrade’ the neck wood to ‘Master Grade’ tonewoods. These include AAAAA flame maple and Indian rosewood fretboards. All the necks come as standard with a natural oil coat finish.

Xotic California Classic XTC Series – Boutique Telecasters

Boutique choice

Hardware on these guitars includes a custom made Xotic bridge with compensated brass saddles. You can choose what fret size you want including jumbo, medium jumbo and tall-narrow. Each guitar comes with Gotoh vintage locking tuners as standard.

Pickup wise Xotic uses Raw Vintage USA TE single-coils, which should sound pretty decent. They are aimed at vintage tones, with plenty of bite when required.

With five pickguard options and eleven stock colours as well as a further nine premium finishes and even an option for matching headstocks, these guitars can be tweaked to your taste when you order.

On paper, these sound like some really nice guitars. But if you live outside the USA then with import duties they could get really pricey. However, if you aren’t bothered about having the ‘F’ logo on your headstock, then these do look like really nice guitars.

RRP – Starting at USD 2500