All right, guys—here’s what’s on the bench today: a 2021 Fender American Professional Telecaster out of Corona, California that came in for a restring. Before I even touch the strings, I plug it in and check the basics, and right away the output jack is acting a little wonky. I hit it with a little DeoxIT to see if it’s just dirty, but it still isn’t right, so I pop the plate and take a look at the electronics. Everything looks clean in there, and this one’s got a push-push switch, but the jack is definitely a pain to get to on these. After that, I check the neck with my notched straight edge and find there’s a good bit of relief, which is why the action is sitting high. I do a quick truss rod adjustment under full string tension, get the neck nice and flat, and then I pull the old strings. I shine the guitar up with some polish and throw on my string choice for the day: Fender Pure Nickel Wound 10–46 (and yeah, they’re only seven bucks). Once it’s tuned, I do a quick intonation check on the three compensated brass saddles—most of it looks great, and if something reads sharp you’ve gotta watch how hard you fret. Wrap it up with a quick sound check, show off that out-of-phase-ish thing in the middle position with the push-push, and then it’s time to call the customer: come pick your Tele up.