1973 Fender® Telecaster® Blonde, Near Mint, Original Hard,

It’s amazing how Leo Fender got the Telecaster so right so early on in the electric guitar’s history. What was original the Broadcaster became the Telecaster in 1951 because of a dispute over the name with Gretsch and the model name for their drum kit at the time. The standard Telecaster went through modest changes for a Fender guitar throughout 1970s. The Telecaster featured two single coil pickups, solid Ash body (usually, for opaque finishes) and Maple neck with a four bolt neck joint. There has always been a market for the Fender Telecaster.

This Tele has survived in gorgeous original condition and continues sound and play great today. The original blonde finish is in wonderful condition with only the very tiniest of scratches. The neck has barely been played and the case is in equally good condition. This one must have spent a long time under the bed. It did require a few maintenance items in order to be in tip top playing condition. The neck pickup was weak so I opted to have Lindy Fralin rewind the original pickup to period correct specifications within the stock output range (although I did ask for it to be on the hot end of that range). Now it sounds wonderful with enough smoothness to round out the bridge pickup but enough output to have some bite of its own. The frets had been filed down very low when I got it because that’s how the player wanted it (not from playing wear). I decided that they were too low for most players so I had the board refretted with period correct wire. This player must have liked the Coronado style knobs but I prefer the standard Tele knobs. I purchased reproduction knobs to put on there but the buyer will receive both sets. Other than those items, this Tele is perfectly original and comes with original blue strap and coily cable. The plastic strap adjuster is broken but could be repaired with some glue. I wanted to keep the strap with the guitar.

Many will mistake this 1973 Fender Telecaster as a modern reproduction because of how clean and unplayed it is. The buyer will always know that this came from the original Fullerton Fender factory that produced all the original Fender products so coveted today.