It is currently Mon Mar 16, 2020 11:46 pm

All times are UTC - 7 hours



Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 12 posts ] 
Author Message
Post subject: My Grandfathers Telecaster
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 3:35 am
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2011 3:20 am
Posts: 3
My grandfather recently passed away and i've inherited his favorite guitar.
I was hoping I could learn a bit about the guitar and eventually learn to play it.

I know that he had a good friend make him a really nice custom neck for the guitar but he kept the old one.

I know this is a telecaster deluxe, and that's pretty much all I know about it.
I've spent a little while on google but all i've been able to find out is that these were originally made until ~1981 and then they started making them again years later.
From the pictures i've seen, none seem to quite match this one, making me think there's been some other custom touches I dont know about. I'd be happy to learn if this is from the first or second run of the telecaster deluxes, what genre of music this guitar is best suited too, and what if anything is still original on this thing. I'd also be curious to find out where this was made.

I only have some cell phone pics until tomorrow, so please bear with me.

Thanks in advance

Image

Image

Image

Image


Top
Profile
Fender Play Winter Sale 2020
Post subject: Re: My Grandfathers Telecaster
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 12:15 pm
Offline
Roadie
Roadie

Joined: Sat May 28, 2011 8:17 am
Posts: 284
Location: Lost In The Woods
Judging by the triangular, 3-screw neck plate, the model of the Tele is somewhere in the 70's probably, because as far as I know that type of neck plate was only used in that era. Another forum user may be able to tell you the specific year, using the serial number, but I don't have enough knowledge of that, personally, and I don't want to tell you anything wrong. The curious thing is that it has an access hole for a micro-tilt neck adjustment, and is labeled as such, yet there is no access hole in the body underneath it.

Yes, your guitar has been customized all to hell and back. Besides the neck (which you're already aware of) it has what appears to be a Stratocaster hardtail bridge on it and I've never seen any Fender with a toggle switch on the upper part of the pickguard like that. Not sure if Fender had any HH-configured models in the 70's or not, so I can't comment on that. But I can tell you for certain that the old neck is NOT an original Tele neck. That is definitely a Stratocaster headstock.

To be honest, your guitar is some kind of a "Frankenstein" hybrid. And I can't be certain if it is a real Fender, or a fake. Maybe some other forum members that know more than I do can tell you for sure, but that's what I suspect as of now.

_________________
"It's about sound and sound alone. Looks are irrelevant. You can have the best-looking guitar on earth, but if the sound isn't there it is nothing more than a beautiful piece of trash. The sound it makes is the soul of any guitar."


Last edited by Stratfreak51 on Mon Aug 29, 2011 12:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: My Grandfathers Telecaster
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 12:19 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:08 am
Posts: 9034
Location: Louisiana
Seems like we've seen this guitar before. :?


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: My Grandfathers Telecaster
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 12:23 pm
Offline
Roadie
Roadie

Joined: Sat May 28, 2011 8:17 am
Posts: 284
Location: Lost In The Woods
fhopkins wrote:
Seems like we've seen this guitar before. :?


Yep, it does look familiar.

_________________
"It's about sound and sound alone. Looks are irrelevant. You can have the best-looking guitar on earth, but if the sound isn't there it is nothing more than a beautiful piece of trash. The sound it makes is the soul of any guitar."


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: My Grandfathers Telecaster
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 1:51 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2011 3:20 am
Posts: 3
Now i'm REALLY curious.

Could you elaborate on having seen this guitar before?

I know that he's had it for ~9 years, it was used when it was given to him, and he's never been an internet user, so i'm not sure how pics would show up unless maybe they were taken and uploaded by the friend who made the new neck.

I'll try to get some better pics up tonight. Hopefully some better detail and a few more angles could clear some things up.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: My Grandfathers Telecaster
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 2:08 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:08 am
Posts: 9034
Location: Louisiana
Not positive it's the same guitar but we have a lot of first time posters with similar stories and guitars. I'm probably wrong but it just looks familiar to me. Oh well, no big deal. Good luck on finding information on your guitar. Maybe someone else will pop in and help you out.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: My Grandfathers Telecaster
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 2:16 pm
Offline
Hobbyist
Hobbyist

Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2011 3:20 am
Posts: 3
I really appreciate any and all help.
If there's any specific pictures I can take that might help, please let me know.

My grandfather was a real handy man who liked to customize things to suit his needs. So hearing that it's been modified to hell and back is no real surprise.

Also, when I google "statocaster headstock" I get this:
Image

When I google "telecaster deluxe headstock" I get this:
Image

I honestly dont know how to tell the difference.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: My Grandfathers Telecaster
Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2011 6:50 pm
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Fri Oct 10, 2008 6:45 pm
Posts: 2770
Location: Kansas
As you say this is a highly modified guitar. Now the Fender Telecaster Deluxes did, from the factory, have 2 humbuckers, that Strat-type bridge, and have the toggle switch in that position.

You have the original neck - which looks period-correct, and you know the neck had been replaced. The neck plate has the serial number which would be correct for a Tele Deluxe built between 1972 and 1975-76ish (the serial numbers migrated to the headstock about that time). The Tele Deluxe headstock you turned up and posted above has replacement tuners; these should have had chrome plated "F" tuners.

Now on to more mods - I think the body was refinished; I don't think that color is a factory Fender color. The pickguard looks custom-made as well - these should have had a black/white/black pickguard from day 1 (other Fenders didn't change to this style until the mid-70s). The bridge might have been modded - it looks like it has solid saddles like my '79 Lead II and I'm pretty sure these came with bent saddles like a hard-tail Strat - I can't quite tell if they are bent or solid from the photo. The knobs are probably replacements - the originals used knobs more like Fender amps, and the knobs on the guitar right now are standard Fender knobs like what is found on a Strat.

The pickups have definitely been replaced - they are regular humbuckers (probably DiMarzios since they appear to be double cream and DiMarzio has a trademark on humbuckers where both coils are cream colored) instead of Fender's "wide-range" humbuckers which have chrome covers like what is found on the MIM reissues. Here is the MIM from the Fender website:

Image


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: My Grandfathers Telecaster
Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 4:53 pm
Offline
Rock Star
Rock Star
User avatar

Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2011 3:10 pm
Posts: 5646
Location: Gateway to the West
+1 John C. I think you nailed Everything on that one :!: :!: :!:

T2

_________________
-----------------------------------------------------------
What time is it? It's Fender Time.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: My Grandfathers Telecaster
Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 5:01 pm
Offline
Rock Icon
Rock Icon
User avatar

Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:08 am
Posts: 9034
Location: Louisiana
From what I've seen John C. usually does nail it! :wink:


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: My Grandfathers Telecaster
Posted: Mon Sep 05, 2011 9:36 pm
Offline
Aspiring Musician
Aspiring Musician
User avatar

Joined: Fri Feb 19, 2010 4:55 pm
Posts: 723
That tele is FANTASTIC. Vintage modding mate!, fantastic looking plus it all came from your grandfather. You must be stoked, regardless of what parts are on there. Congrats on the guitar and sorry for your loss, your grandad looked like (to use a period correct term) one hip cat.

_________________
My Rig: Guitar into Pedals then into Amps and out into Speakers.


Top
Profile
Post subject: Re: My Grandfathers Telecaster
Posted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 7:24 am
Offline
Professional Musician
Professional Musician

Joined: Fri Oct 10, 2008 6:45 pm
Posts: 2770
Location: Kansas
Thanks for the shout out guys - I've just got a good memory for details. It comes in handy in my work as I'm a marketing researcher - I've done a lot of "ethnographic" projects where you observe and discuss someone's interaction with an item to improve it (like a website, store layout, etc.). My "dream job" would be doing that kind of work for a guitar manufacturer. :D


Top
Profile
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 12 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 7 hours

Fender Play Winter Sale 2020

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Search for:
Jump to: