When was the fender telecaster first made

Rosewood fretboard on maple neck, white binding on body. Not to be confused with neck-humbucker Telecaster Custom — Fender's first semi-solid Tele, single f-hole in semi-solid body, regular pickups. Later from two humbuckers, six-saddle bridge. Humbucker at neck and regular single-coil at bridge, Gibson-like four-control layout, large pickguard.

Not to be confused with bound-body Custom Telecaster — Strat-style large headstock, contoured-back body, two humbuckers, Gibson-like four-control layout, large pickguard. Long-running group of US-made period-vibe reissues, with regular models recalling '52 , '58 , and '64 styles, plus a '62 Custom bound-body , '69 Thinline f-hole , '72 Custom neck humbucker , and '72 Thinline f-hole, two humbuckers.

Japan-made period-vibe model available in Japan, and elsewhere from until Early examples known as JV series their serial-number prefix. Shortlived early attempt at a revised high-end Tele, two new-design white-cover pickups, active circuitry, six-saddle bridge. Not to be confused with American Elite Teles — Long-running new-standard modern take on traditional model. Two-major runs from — and — Known as American Series Telecaster , — Affordable Japan-made then Mexico-made — regular Teles, usually with modern touches such as a six-saddle bridge.

MIM had three major runs from — , — , and — Mexico-made versions of regular US models, often with non-standard feature sets, including Nashville Tele with Strat center pickup, five-way switching. High-end versions of contemporary American Standard models, the regular Tele with compound-radius board, contoured-back bound body. Major runs dated — , — , and — Ash-bodied American Deluxe Telecasters not bound and without contoured back offered between — and — Affordable Mexico-made takes on contemporary American Vintage models: '50s Telecaster , '60s Telecaster , Thinline with '69 or '72 specs , '72 Custom , and '72 Deluxe.

Not to be confused with Classic Player series —18 that matched Custom Shop know-how with Mexico production. Vintage vibe with contemporary mods and upgrades: '52 Telecaster adds compound-radius board, neck humbucker; '60s Telecaster adds compound-radius board, Strat center pickup. Mexico factory's take on the Custom Shop's Relic idea, offering various models with aged finishes. Part of Classic series from Replaced with similar American Professional II adding push-push series switching, sculpted neck heel; also two-humbucker Deluxe.

Period-vibe models with vintage-correct features: '50s Telecaster is regular model with U-shape neck; '60s Telecaster is C-shape-neck regular model or f-hole Thinline; '70s Telecaster is neck-humbucker Custom.

American Performer Telecasters are relatively affordable US-made models, C-shape satin-finish neck, 22 jumbo frets, high-ratio tuners, '70s-style headstock logo, Greasebucket tone system, three-brass-saddles bridge. A year later, Fender introduced the first Telecaster that represented a major design departure from the original—the Thinline Telecaster, engineered by German luthier Roger Rossmeisl. Rossmeisl hollowed out the Telecaster body, allowing it to breathe with a tasteful F-hole above a revamped pickguard.

Players took to it quickly, and have continued to enjoy its unique musical offerings ever since. CBS-controlled Fender also leaned into the flower child vogue, releasing a pair of psychedelic Telecasters—Paisley Red and Blue Flower—that had a short moment in the sun, but faded relatively quickly. Overall, though, CBS's involvement in the Fender brand came to prioritize corporate sales and quantity over the craftsmanship that had made Fender great.

Many of the guitars produced during the CBS era came to seen as inferior to the Fender guitars that preceded it. While many unforgettable tunes were recorded on Telecasters in the late 60s and 70s, Stairway to Heaven among them, the Telecasters used by players like Jimmy Page were often lates models—not CBS produced guitars.

A reckoning was coming for the CBS-controlled Fender and would arrive in the early 80s. Nevertheless, the Telecaster had plans to transcend the corporate bullshit and keep growing through the 70s.

The decade included some of the most notable innovations in Telecaster tech since its inception. The Telecaster Custom arrived in , a nearly glorious redesign that included a four-knob control layout set sweetly in a fresh pickguard design, with a beefy humbucker in the neck position, officializing a modification Tele players were already affectionate for.

A year later, the Custom was Classic were joined by the Telecaster Deluxe, another formidable variation on the Telecaster's magic that included some adventurous aesthetic options, including a Stratocaster headstock and double chrome humbuckers. Even in the context of corporation nonsense, fate had favored the Telecaster—attracting technicians and talents that would cement its legacy in the context of a decade during which quality began to decline at Fender.

The 70s and 80s saw global explosions of musical experimentation and genre-bending. The mid-century dialectic of rock 'n roll vs everything else had been eclipsed as supreme talents expanded the world's sonic palette.

And in every genre and sub-genre, one thing remained the same: the Telecaster always found a role to play. From Americana rock to punk to new wave, legends continued choosing the Telecaster as their axe of choice, using it to reimagine the confines of popular music time and again. The more music expanded, the more the Telecaster expanded with it. With the triple threat of its three models—Classic, Custom, and Deluxe—the Telecaster could morph its tone to find a home in almost any guitarist's heart.

But by the early the s, Fender was on the fritz. The CBS reckoning had arrived—it had become impossible to ignore the falling quality of newly produced guitars, and Fender's modern reputation was on the line. Almost an act of blasphemy, the Telecaster's body-shape had been slightly warped to accommodate computer-controlled machinery. Under Schultz's direction, Fender set about modernizing it's US manufacturing facilities, shifting the center of production to Japan while the new American facilities got outfitted.

Telecasters from the Japanese era included curios such as a Vintage Reissue series and a 70s-style Squi Telecaster. Schultz oversaw the successful rehabilitation of Fender's brand, and the return of the Telecaster to its glory as a testament to superior craftsmanship. Fender's new president actually joined together with a group of investors to buy Fender from CBS in , and three years later, in , they established the now world-famous Fender Custom Shop—the creative source of the some of the most epic electric guitars in history.

More than one timeless Telecaster has emerged from the Custom Shop. If Bill Schultz's Fender legacy was measured on that one item alone, it could be considered a success. Since the 90s, the Telecaster has conquered another three decades of musical innovation, expansion, and reinvention.

Despite the continual fracturing of rock into seemingly limitless sub-genres, the Telecaster never wears out its welcome, and has stood with some of the greatest alt-rockers of all time, Radiohead's Johnny Greenwood included. Fender has never stopped tinkering and further tailoring the Telecaster to accommodate and appeal to more and more players around the world.

After more than 50 years, it remains at the forefront of Fender's brand image, and has undergone a great number of rereleases and limited modifications, including a rarified 50th anniversary model of which only 50 were made—all boasting Leo Fender's signature on the headstock.

As it approaches its 75th anniversary, the Telecaster stands apart as an unrivaled achievement. It is, without a doubt, one of the most consequential inventions in the history of mankind, a symbol of simple dedication to craft—the perfect combination of form and function.

In Fender's entire history, the Telecaster remains unparalleled but for one other gift it gave the world: the Stratocaster. Sign up for our Newsletter and be the first to hear about new and incoming inventory, as well as upcoming events and all of the latest Walt Grace happenings! Group 2 Created with Sketch. Search Right. Log in. Group 3 Created with Sketch. Cart 0. Subscribe to our blog. When the sun went down, Leo Fender went to work.

Fender dropped the new model as the Fender Broadcaster, but found himself in a lawsuit. But as the s dawned, everything was about to change. All across the Old World, rock 'n roll was falling, along with the Telecaster, into the capable hands and hearts of what would become some of the most talented players and songwriters in history— Richards. The boat-paddle guitar just kept paddling.

Telecasters from the Japanese era included curios such as a Vintage Reissue series and a 70s-style Squi Telecaster Schultz oversaw the successful rehabilitation of Fender's brand, and the return of the Telecaster to its glory as a testament to superior craftsmanship. But that, of course, is a whole different story. He could not tune a guitar. The only time that Leo learned to tune a guitar was in later years, really later, when strobe tuners came out. He did not know one chord position on guitar.

So as a guitar builder, I do not believe Leo would have been so successful in building guitars if he had been the sole person doing it. He had lots of knowledge of electronics, but not of other things. It had a semi-lute-type head on it, which came as close as you could imagine to the fancy one that Paul Bigsby had made. And of course we knew Paul Bigsby, he was in Downey, about 15 miles from Fullerton.

Course, we knew Merle Travis, used to see him play at different places. But there again, in those days nothing was available, we had to redo and undo all kinds of things. We moved to keys on one side of the head. On most guitars that had keys on one side, the strings would go up to the bone nut and then they would slant off to one side. Leo liked it so they were straight from the bridge to the post, with no bending sideways. That was one of the basic things about it that made it look good and made it work wonderfully well.

It was a design thing, rather than trying to copy somebody, that made it a better tool for the musician. The guitar on the far right of this Fender catalogue shot is featured up close here. I was the only guy who could handle him and make him do things. So we put out just a few of them without a neck rod, and then we put a neck rod in. We started with the single pickup, mainly to get the thing designed and working. We were basically interested in those fabulous highs from that bridge, and by [slanting] the pickup, we got better bass on it.

And that proved to be the thing that a lot of the country players especially liked. Rock and every kind of music likes it, and still do. It was still brand new, and we went to work with a few local people.

But it was hard, because in those days, guitar players were like cowboys and not a very well-accepted type of thing. Not only did you have this little slab of wood, as they called it, but they had been used to these real old things.

So the guitar player would kind of look down his nose at this piece-of-wood thing. Even clear up into the San Francisco area, where my brother lived, little place called Manteca. He said bring it up here, we got an awful lot of country western music here — and they did.

Went up there, and it was kinda like going back to Oklahoma. They had these nightclubs going and these guys were playing honky-tonk, country western. I remember the first time going up there, I took five units with me, these were the early one-pickup Esquires. It lasted about 30 minutes and it quit. That was what was wrong with the instruments, as simple as that. But anyhow, that was the start of it. Went to this club over there, the Riverside Rancho, a dancehall [in Glendale].