The archetypical Fender Telecaster is a solid-body electric guitar with a flat symmetric single-cutaway body; the body is usually made from alder or ash.
The neck is usually made from maple and attached to the body with screws (often referred to as "bolts") and has a distinctive small headstock with six tuning pegs mounted inline along a single side; the fingerboard may be maple or another wood, e.g. rosewood, and has at least twenty-one frets.

The Telecaster's body is front-routed for electronics; the bridge pickup is mounted in a metal plate attached to the guitar's bridge, other pickups are mounted in a plastic pickguard, and the controls are mounted in a metal plate on the lower bout of the guitar.
Most Telecasters have two single-coil pickups, a pickup selector switch, a single volume control and a single tone control.
Fixed bridges are almost universal, and the original design has three individually adjustable dual-string saddles whose height and intonation can be set independently. (
Many newer models have six saddles.)
The output jack is mounted on the edge of the lower bout of the guitar.
Many different colours have been available.
The Telecaster's scale length is 25.5 inches (648 mm).

There have been minor changes to the design over the years and models with features that differ from the archetypical design.
However, the essential character of the design has remained constant.
The archetypical Fender Telecaster is a solid-body electric guitar with a flat symmetric single-cutaway body; the body is usually made from alder or ash. The neck is usually made from maple and attached to the body with screws (often referred to as "bolts") and has a distinctive small headstock with six tuning pegs mounted inline along a single side; the fingerboard may be maple or another wood, e.g. rosewood, and has at least twenty-one frets. 
The Telecaster's body is front-routed for electronics; the bridge pickup is mounted in a metal plate attached to the guitar's bridge, other pickups are mounted in a plastic pickguard, and the controls are mounted in a metal plate on the lower bout of the guitar. Most Telecasters have two single-coil pickups, a pickup selector switch, a single volume control and a single tone control. Fixed bridges are almost universal, and the original design has three individually adjustable dual-string saddles whose height and intonation can be set independently. (Many newer models have six saddles.) The output jack is mounted on the edge of the lower bout of the guitar. Many different colours have been available. The Telecaster's scale length is 25.5 inches (648 mm).
There have been minor changes to the design over the years and models with features that differ from the archetypical design. However, the essential character of the design has remained constant.
Fender Telecaster