Vintage Fender Telecaster Guitars

The Fender Telecaster Electric Guitar was commercially available in 1951. It was actually officially invented in 1949 as the Esquire, which was then upgraded from a one-pickup to a two-pickup design and renamed the Broadcaster. After suffering a trademark dispute with another company selling Broadkaster drums, it was renamed again and called the Fender Telecaster.

It was a fairly boring ‘slab-like’ design with a wide single-piece neck made from maple. The Telecaster had a very simple design purely because Leo Fender designed it to be mass-produced and as such, wanted to keep production costs down and make the prospect of repair as quick and easy as possible. Traditional guitar design at this time involved the neck being glued in place but the Telecaster neck was bolted on to allow easy access if a repair was necessary and there was also a removable control plate to allow easy access to the electronics. The body was made of ash or alder and sported two single coil pickups. At a later date the Esquire was reintroduced as a cheaper version of the Telecaster featuring a single-coil pickup.

Nowadays there are several versions of the Telecaster including: Telecaster Thinline, Deluxe, Custom, Plus and Jr.

The Telecaster Thinline was actually a semi-hollow design. It appeared in 1968 and is now available in two editions; one with a mahogany body and two standard pickups and another with a solid ash body and two wide range pickups.

The Telecaster Deluxe was most notable for its two humbucking pickups which help reduced electrical interference. It was originally distributed over nine years between 1972 and 1981 but this model was reintroduced again at a later date.

The Telecaster Custom came on the scene in the early seventies and had a wide range humbucker and bridge pickup. It was a favourite of Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards who really brought it to the forefront of popularity.

The Fender Telecaster Plus was a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar using lace sensor pickups. During the seventies Fender suffered a decline in the quality of their production so the Telecaster Plus was brought in to try and improve the reputation again.

The Fender Telecaster Jr. was a very limited edition electric guitar made in the early nineties. There were only 150 of these produced. Its body and scale design closely resemble the Telecaster but its electronics more closely resembled Gibson guitars than Fender. This really appealed to an audience who were fans of both Fender and Gibson but wanted something of a combination of the two.

Along with the Fender Stratocaster, The Fender Telecaster Electric Guitar is one of the most well-known guitars in the world and earlier versions are worth a fortune.

Used Vintage Guitars » Fender Telecaster Electric

Vintage Fender Telecaster Guitars

Fender Telecaster Vintage Electric Guitar