[1] Designed to compete with Gibson's Les Paul as rock music grew heavier in the 1970s, the Deluxe differs from most Telecaster models by featuring two humbucker pickups, each with its own volume and tone controls, and a larger pickguard.

The popularity of hard rock in the late 1960s led Fender to re-think its strategy of exclusively using single coil guitar pickups,[2] as they were not perceived as being suitable for the thick sound and extended sustain favored by heavier rock guitarists using double-coil "humbucking" pickups.

Consequently, Fender hired former Gibson employee Seth Lover, the inventor of the P.A.F., to design what would become the Wide Range humbucker, which debuted in 1971 in the semi-hollowbody Thinline Telecaster model.

[6] Multiple signature models based on the Telecaster Deluxe have been made by Fender, including for Deryck Whibley of Sum 41, John 5, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram, and Chris Shiflett of the Foo Fighters.

[1] Designed to compete with the Les Paul, the Telecaster Deluxe features several design similarities with Gibson's competing guitar model, including the use of two humbucker pickups, separate tone and volume controls for each pickup, and a three-position pickup-selector toggle switch on the upper bout.