Blonde telecasters are iconic. Be it the earlier blackguard, butterscotch incarnation or the parchment blonde when Fender moved over to white guard , the combination of ash body and the translucent (to various degrees) finish made for an unmistakable combination. This 1963 Telecaster came to us as a stripped body example so we just had to return it to its former glory.

The guitar looks great. Neil Ivision has done an excellent job refinishing and lightly aging the blonde finsih. It arrived here with us as a natural finish having probably been stripped in the 70s and clear coated. The neck too had been over sprayed and has now been refinished and aged to match the body. A new decal has also been applied as the previous refinish had removed the original decal.

The neck has been refretted previously with a new nut. The tuners have been changed for more modern repros (mixed set) but no extra holes have been drilled out. Pickguard is heavily faded original but it does have a couple of cracks as you can see in the pics.

The electronics have a 1963 Stackpole for volume and a 1974 CTS for the tone, The capacitor too is correct though this was rescued from another guitar. Pickups are correct though the neck has been rewound and the bridge pickup has had the string covering replaced by Monty’s.

The guitar comes with a non original hardshell case.

This guitar’s ash body has quite a resonant tone with a bite that sits wonderfully with the bridge pickup. The neck pickup has a darker tone which mixes well in the middle position. This guitar isn’t shrill but has plenty of the attack we look for in a good telecaster and is typical of the transition era Teles that are not quite as shrill as the later models.

This guitar delivers the the twang without breaking the bank. Grab it before it gets away….