Fender introduced the John 5 Bigsby signature model in 2003. John 5 joined Marilyn Manson after spending years as a Los Angeles session guitarist proficient in many styles (including bluegrass and country), he got his start working with the likes of k.d. lang, David Lee Roth, Wilson Phillips, Rick Springfield, Rob Halford, Lea Andreone and Robin Zander. John 5 wanted his Fender signature guitar to equal parts shocking, rocking and versatile.
Fender Custom Shop J5 Bigsby Telecaster has pure Tele styling and cutting-edge modifications. At first glance it appears to be a standard Tele guitar, a closer look reveals a custom three-on-a-side headstock bolted onto a double-bound premium ash body with a shaved maple neck (for behind the nut bends) complete with a rosewood fingerboard. The J5 Tele guitar comes equipped with a Seymour Duncan Hot Rails humbucker in the bridge and a Fender Custom Shop Twisted Tele single-coil pickup in the neck -- and a Bigsby-licensed vibrato tailpiece.
Also available was a hardtail version utilizing two-volume wiring, allowing separate volume controls for each pickup and a three-way toggle switch and with a Fender Enforcer instead of the Hot Rails pickup.