That's how good this Telecaster is.
Behold ... a beaten and battered, but otherwise mostly straight (*) 1966 Fender Telecaster!!
The Story (because there's always one)
My guitar store owning friend bought this from the US. He has been looking for a '60s Tele for himself for a long time, and the price was right on this one. The reason for the price being right was that the bridge pickup had died and had been replaced with a custom wound replica. I'm not sure who did the work, but it sounds pretty damn good, so I'm not complaining. The neck pickup and everything else is straight/100%. There are some replaced dots on the side of the neck too ... but ... meh. He got the guitar, took it out of the gig bag it came in and I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn't going to keep it. I also knew why without having to ask him ... he has a particular neck profile that he likes on Fenders that roughly translates as the thicker the better ... this one has an extremely slim neck that sort of feels like the AVRI reissue necks. You know how I've always said that actual 1962 Jazzmaster don't have a neck like the '62 AVRI Jazzmaster (the vintage ones feeling fatter across the back)? Well it turns out that AVRI necks feel like 1966 Telecaster necks...
Anyway ... a few weeks passed since he got it and I went in to say hello earlier. I asked about the Telecaster - he pulled out a case containing an original Fiesta Red Stratocaster from 1963 that he'd also bought and was keeping (and yep ... it had the same neck as my Dec 62 Jazzmaster so I can see why!). As he was keeping the Strat he couldn't keep the Telecaster. I made the mistake of plugging it in and falling in love with it...
I knew that the only thing I had that he'd any interest in (well ... apart from my Jazzmaster, but that's never being sold) was my '65 ES330. He had actually nearly bought it before me, so he's always had a 'thing' about that guitar (being the one that got away). We worked out a trade deal ... and I got the Telecaster.
Now ... a while back I mentioned a '67 CAR Telecaster that haunts my dreams ... it's owned by a collector in Dublin that I've bought a few bits from, but he's always said he'd never sell it. Given that he's a tough guy to trade with, I knew that if he ever did sell it the guitar would cost me a kidney as well as a leg, so I've been trying to erase that guitar from my mind. That '67 had a slightly fatter neck than this one, but I have to say as much as I loved that CAR one, this one sounds a little better to my ear.
It's a surprisingly full sounding guitar. The bridge pickup has that Tele treble/bite, as it should ... but without a hint of shrillness. I'm not sure what year/specs the pickup has been wound to, but it almost has a '50s Tele sound ... that slightly hotter pickup sound. The neck sounds like every great Telecaster I've heard on recordings ... and the middle position ... awww man. It's just heaven. There's no other word for it.
I've sort of discounted ever owning a '60s Telecaster of any sort ... given the price. But the deal on this worked out for both of us, and I've finally managed to snag something I'd written off as unobtainium. I had a feeling that one of the ES330s would go this year ... and as much as I loved that '65 ... I actually prefer the '59 reissue that I recently acquired. So all in all - decent Saturday.
* Update (thanks Michael)
- So ... it looks like there was at least one thing I didn't spot ... the changed bridge plate. I'm not sure where the current bridge plate came from, but it's not the proper type for the year and likely a modern vintage reissue. That being said, the tarnish suggests it's been on the guitar for a while.
- I'd though the scratch plate wasn't right ... but again, it's been on the guitar for a long time.
- Volume pot has been replaced.
- Side position markers on the neck have been replaced with slightly bigger markers. I'd say this was done purely to make them easier to see on a dark stage over the original markers. They look fine.
What a great-looking guitar! 
) - volume pot has been changed, but the tone pot and tone cap are original. Switch looks original too. 
