1969 Fender Telecaster, "Blonde" with Maple Neck #238895 - Sold

Fender

$0.00

I am going to kick this one off with some "Teletalk" for those in the know!  1969 is the last year of the "Maple Cap", which is present on this guitar, so there is no "Skunk Stripe" on the back of the Neck. This is almost certainly a very rare one piece body, I keep looking for a join and there is nothing at all to indicate anything other than one piece, it is also the poster boy for "featherweight", which appears to add an extra dose of resonance to Tele's. It is a pre "Notch" guitar, in that the body joins the neck at the  17th Fret (soon to change to the 16th for some reason I can't understand). The 3 layer celluloid pickguard has the the thin "Pearloid" layer underneath. No one has added the dreaded and useless extra "String Tree" on the headstock, which also came along officially from Fender, not long after this era. The neck shape is slightly "fuller" than the previous years of the maple capped necks, which is typical for 1969. It has a super thin finish (Neck and Body) as you can probably tell from my pics, this is a little unusual and most welcome, as you will know if you play Telecasters. The thin finish on the Neck means that the Fret heights aren't "compromised" by having a build up of Finish either side, giving the Neck a great playability that is often missing at this time, due to them feeling as though they are "buried" in the finish. If you know about the wiring of this era and the different cap and pot used, these Tele's are extra "Twangy" and in this case it is a real good example of that. As you can see, from a "Mojo" point of view, it is has survived pretty well, enough to see that it has been played, but treated pretty well.! A great looking and playing Telecaster, that is factory original, that sounds terrific, by any standard. Think Roy Nichols on the "Okie from Muskogee" Live Album, recorder in late 1969 interestingly.