1976 Fender Telecaster in blonde...!

This guitar certainly looks the part. Classic combination of blonde finish combined black pickguard, the finish has survived remarkably well with only a few minor marks. It has faded somewhat and here are wear marks in certain places.

The poly finished neck is in good shape, with a few marks but nothing serious. The fretboard shows no real signs of wear and the original frets have plenty of life left in them. The headstock still has the original decal and the finish has faded somewhat. When the current owner purchased the guitar in 1981 it had been fitted with Schaller tuners, the originals left in the case. He later reinstated them. As such you can see a screwhole on the back of the headstock. 

Hardware shows signs of mild corrosion but nothing too extensive. The plastics are in excellent order too. The switch tip has been replaced. Is the pick guard original? They used both black and white plastics in 1976 so yes, it may well be. It is old and has been on there for some time and it also has the correct shape of an original Tele guard.

Electrically everything looks correct without any sign that solder joints have been disturbed. Pots are dated week 09 of 1976.

The guitar comes with a gig bag.

The received wisdom is that 70's tele can be somewhat on the shrill side, almost certainly due to the fact that Fender fitted 1 Meg pots during this period. This coupled with a treble bleed cap certainly doesn’t help matters. As with any vintage guitar, particularly from the CBS era, each guitar is best taken on its own merit. This one certainly delivers that classic tele tone without taking your head off, the neck pickup having that chewy quality that holds its own so well when combined with the bridge pickup. Once in that bridge position, there is that unmistakable Telecaster twang, surely the reason youve picked it up in the first place. The treble bleed does slice off a hefty chunk of low end when the volume is rolled back but this does still produce usable tones in all positions. 

These 70's Fenders can be surprising. With tone and looks like this, it goes to show you should never prejudge a guitar before its on your lap....