Telecasters with Tremolos (our top pick)
Fender American Ultra Luxe Telecaster Floyd
As far as Telecasters with a tremolo that are still in production, the American Ultra Luxe with a Floyd Rose system is at the top of the pile. The two primary alternatives both use a Bigsby bridge setup. Several Telecasters that sport some form of a tremolo bar have been discontinued.
If you want to get a Telecaster with some kind of tremolo system, you'll have to spend some decent money. However, the alternative is getting a Telecaster bridge tremolo kit, which you can install or have installed for you at a shop.
We've included links to two such setups in the list below.
Note that we've also included a handful of discontinued models, some of which can still be snagged on Reverb or eBay.
You can see in the graphic below that the Floyd version of the Ultra Luxe Tele actually has two Fender humbuckers instead of the more conventional single coil Tele pickup configuration. If you want the single coils with a tremolo system, you might have to do a little more digging.
This is a more aggressive, hard rock Telecaster design, with a dual humbucker configuration and the Floyd Rose system.
Full List of Telecasters with Tremolo Bars
- Fender American Ultra Telecaster Floyd
- Fender Vintera '60s Telecaster with Bigsby
- Fender Custom Shop Limited-edition Twisted Telecaster Custom Journeyman Relic
- Fender Custom Shop Limited-Edition Cunife Telecaster Custom Journeyman Relic
- VT2 Telecaster Vega-Trem Tremolo
- Fender Classic Player Telecaster Deluxe With Tremolo
- Fender Telecaster Deluxe 1973 - 1977
- Fender Made-in-Japan ’70s Telecaster Deluxe with Tremolo
- Wudtone Telecaster Tremolo Bridge Assembly Kit
The American Ultra Luxe Tele with a Floyd Rose is expensive, but it's a good fit if you want the tremolo bridge feature. Image via GuitarManiac06
One of the problems with the Ultra Luxe Telecaster is that it's a dual humbucker electric, and not the typical two single coil Tele pickup system. Unless, of course, you want a Telecaster with humbuckers. Though most people looking for a Telecaster are going to want the single coil pickup configuration, so if you go with this version of the Ultra Luxe, you're going to have to make that concession.
What is the most conventional option?
If you don't want to spend a ton of money on a Telecaster like the Ultra Luxe or, worse yet, from the Fender Custom Shop, I would probably recommend going with one of the two bridge mods.
Those are easy to install in most cases, so get the Telecaster you want without regard to bridge type. Once you have the guitar in hand, add the Vega-Trem or the Wudtone bridge. Note that we don't partner with them. They're just a good option for this particular modification. For questions about the install, leave them in the comments section. If I can't help, I have a couple buddies that are good with mods that can chime in.
Additions, new or old?
Do you know of any Telecasters with tremolos that I missed? Note that any of the following tremolo systems are fair game.
- Garden-variety floating bridge tremolo
- Floyd Rose with locking tuners
- Bigsby
- Third-party bridge system hardware (for modding)
One quick note:
Don't try and mod a Floyd Rose tremolo onto a Telecaster. Try to go as simple and straightforward as possible, especially if you're doing the work yourself. A one-for-one swap that doesn't require any body cutting or other adjustments is your best bet.
If you know of a Telecaster with a tremolo system that I didn't include here, mention it in the comments section below and I'll take a look. Should we add it to this list, we'll credit you at the top of this page in the update section.
Thanks to all for trusting our content.
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Any suggestions on adding tremolo to a T style guitar with a hum bucker in the bridge? Thinking of the Michael Kelly Mod Shop 55 Duncan that has a Seymour Duncan StagMag in the bridge and Seymour Duncan mini hum bucker at the neck.
Have you looked at something like this? https://www.allparts.com/collections/bridges-for-tele/products/vegatrem-vt2-teletrim-classic
Pricey, but that’s what I would go for.
Thoses Vegatrems don’t work for if you have a humbucker in the bridge
Good to know. Thanks for mentioning this.