NGD - 1966 Fender Telecaster (player)

[Despot]

You're right Todd. I'm not in the least superstitious ... but I remember when Brad would talk about picking up a guitar sometimes and just going "nope" for no objective reason. I think a lot of us will have done the same - known as soon as we picked up a guitar that it wasn't for us. The opposite holds true. I knew when I picked up my JM that it was 'the one' - I haven't had a case of GAS for Jazzmasters since I got it. I'm done for Jazzmasters. And it's the same with this Telecaster.

I should be able to confirm the date of the body by taking off the bridge - if it has a date in '60 or '61 then I'll also know that the bridge plate is original (which makes sense - I couldn't understand the ageing on it if it was a new or repro ... it had non of the hallmarks of stuff that had been artificially aged). Next time I restring it I'll check and post pics.

[Ursa Minor]

Wow, really interesting developments. Love how all of this has influenced your thoughts on the guitar and allowed to bond with it even more already.
It sounds like it was truly meant to be.

Super curious about body and if you find a date in there.

Man...I would LOVE to find an old Tele that was within reach.

[Telliot]

Man...I would LOVE to find an old Tele that was within reach.

You and me both.

[MrFingers]

Remove the pickguard. If it's got nail-holes underneath it (one near the opening for the trussrod), then it's clear, since nail-holes weren't used anymore in 1966. Neckpocket should be plain as well for a 1960, no paintstick marking.

[Despot]

Thanks for that MrFingers - I'll look for that when I have the strings off next time (I'll pop the neck again). It's been routed for a neck humbucker so there's nothing conclusive to see under the guard unfortunately. I'm pretty sure that when i popped the neck there was no paint stick mark (I wasn't looking at the neck pocket as much as the heel stamp at the time).

I'm guessing that a plain neck pocket and date in the bridge pickup rout will more or less confirm it.

I imagine that the seller took the '60 neck (that was in the video above) and mated it with an un-mollested 1960 body (one without the rout for the humbucker), then stuck the 1966 neck on this to sell it. Quite possible that it was also gutted for pickups/pots when he did that too, which would explain where everything went.

Here's an interesting question ... if I do date the body to 1960, is it a 1960 Telecaster, a 1966 Telecaster or a mutt?! I can't think of it as a mutt - it's a vintage parts caster now, but not a mutt. It's too damn good for that!

[Ursa Minor]

Here's an interesting question ... if I do date the body to 1960, is it a 1960 Telecaster, a 1966 Telecaster or a mutt?! I can't think of it as a mutt - it's a vintage parts caster now, but not a mutt. It's too damn good for that!

I'd call it a "60/66".

[Telliot]

Yep. Me too.

[terminalvertigo]

a sixty, six

This just gives you another side quest.. when a '60 neck comes up somewhere, you will feel that urge to mate them

[UlricvonCatalyst]

Seems like it'd be a good idea to PM the guy who posted the YouTube video and ask him for some input, no?

[Despot]

Seems like it'd be a good idea to PM the guy who posted the YouTube video and ask him for some input, no?

Yep. Email gone to the seller as well.
Let's see what comes back

[PixMix]

a sixty, six

A sexy, sixty, six! The tele is an absolute stunner. I love the color, a perfect yellowed white, as noted above. And I think it's very cool that you were able to find out so much about it, with probably more info on the way.

[Despot]

TINFOIL RESET ALERT!

Nope. It's not an earlier body. Here we go:



So ... back to the start. Looks to be an original neck/body. Back to the start - non-original bridge, pickups and pick guard. Neck pickup is a later pickup but from the era, so fine by me.

[Telliot]

'66 it is!

[Despot]

I forgot to mention - I had the bridge plate off earlier to check out the bridge pickup. The only details I had on it were that it was some "custom wound pickup - no idea about it other than that".

Well ... it sounds pretty damn good to my ear. So I hadn't asked too much about it, but I thought that given I was poking holes in everything else perhaps I should find out what it was too.

It looks like a CBS era type stagger pole pickup - the base plate has a sticker that reads "75 Proto - A. Hinds #1 - Virgil Arlo 2/16".

That meshes with everything else.

I'd never heard of this guy before - and there's a bit of word of mouth on the usual forums (TGP etc). Of course everyone seems to be praising his work. I can only go on the sound of this bridge pickup - and it's a damn fine sounding Tele pickup. I've played some that have been shrill or too bright, but this one has a bucket load of treble yet never sounds thin. Might I replace it with a vintage pickup - yep ... I'd like to get this guitar back to as close to stock as it should be ... but I won't be going out of my way to do that.

[Despot]

Update...

So I managed to get an original 1968 pickup. Totally unmolested and straight. I was warned in advance that it had been replaced because it was ice picky bright and a little brittle sounding. And so it turned out to be...

The repro pickup on there has a lot more body to it. It never sounds thin, whether it's low/high volume, clean or dirty. Yet it's still a bright pickup.

I guess this explains to me why people take vintage pickups out of guitars ... the only reason you'd do it would be if the pickup didn't sound that good to begin with.

I put the repro back in for the moment.

In the meantime, following a bit of advice re: price from Fenderguy (thanks again Michael) I've found a '69 bridge plate on eBay that comes with a rewound '69 pickup. Having tried a 'straight' '68 pickup, I'm curious to hear whether a rewound pickup is closer to the sound of some of the really nice sounding pickups I've heard on telecasters from this era. I managed to get this at a reasonable price too (the bridge/pickup at the same price that Vintage Correct Parts were charging for the bridge plate alone!). Even if I go back to the Virgil Arlo pickup (which I may well do if it still trumps the rewound '69), I'll be able to sell a rewound '69 pickup and still have the 'right' bridge on the guitar.

Part of me keeps thinking "why are you spending more money on this guitar"? That's a good question - I love it how it is right now. But the changed parts on it will bug me so I'd at least like to see whether or not they make a difference ... I can always sell them again if I don't keep them. Worst case scenario, the guitar doesn't sound better with the changes back to vintage ... in which case it stays an old guitar with some replaced parts that sounds killer. Best case scenario I find a bridge pickup that sounds as good as the Arlo pickup or better. Lets see...