Nocasters are Fender’s lawsuit guitars if you will. Gretsch objected to the use of the name Broadcaster and from February 22nd until the summer of 1951, Fender had to modify its decals so that the name did not appear on the headstock. And so a legend is born.

Not only is this guitar special in its own right but it's had a long and illustrious career in the hands of some fine players and very famous owners. It has also been used on countless hit records and number 1 charting albums all over the world. Feel free to get in touch for further details.

This guitar is in great condition. Body shows signs of wear but still looking great approaching its 70th birthday. The lacquer has faded but the colour along with the wear really adds to the overall look of the instrument. On the back you will see the outline of where tape was used to spell out CARL (get in touch for further details.. :-). It's interesting to see that the majority of the wear happened whilst the lettering was on the body. 

The neck is in great shape too, the lacquer having worn comfortably and the fretboard only showing slight signs of wear. The guitar was re-fretted in 1974, the receipt for which is included with the guitar. From inspecting the fretboard under a UV light, it seems like it was probably lightly rubbed at this point as it does exhibit some of the clouding you’d expect but it does not match the other lacquer on the neck.

Plastics and hardware are in good condition although the tuners are 80’s reproductions. We do not have the originals but no extra holes have been drilled.

The original control plate and knobs are included with the guitar as well as some of the original harness. The current control plate was fitted by Steve Prior (guitar tech for Jeff Beck, Pink Floyd, Brian May etc) and is wired as standard, post ‘67 spec. On the original plate the volume pot seems to have been replaced in the 1977 and there is also a 1 Meg 1966 pot in there that by the arrangement of the solder looks to have been a volume pot too at some point. The blend control is  correct as is the capacitor, switch and wire. Pickups don’t seem to have been rewound. 

Serial number is 1032, neck date is 8-2-51 initialed TG, body is dated at 8-9-51 initialed TG. The control cavity also has a date from when the wiring was completed of 8-12-51. The tone pot date is obscured by solder. 

It is quickly becoming a favourite here and is a real joy to play, weighing in at a super light 2.96kgs. Acoustically the guitar is very resonant. Pickups sound just as you would expect with plenty of that classic blackguard tele tone, both smooth and biting in equal measure. There is a reason, and it is not just for their collectability, why original black guards are so sought after…

The guitar comes with an original poodle case which like the guitar, is in very good condition. The previous owner has covered it in a black vinyl.  

Truly one of the greats, I do not think this Tele will disappoint anyone out there who tries it out and everyone who has so far, has had a big grin on their face…