1970 Blonde Fender Telecaster

This guitar certainly looks the part. The iconic combination of blonde finish with maple neck is certainly well represented here. The first thing you’ll notice are the remnants of some stickers that seem to have been applied quite soon after the guitar was new and then left there for a while. These join some dinks and scratches that add to the character of the instrument.

The neck has been finished in poly as is usual for 1970 and is in good shape. There are a few marks and scratches again but nothing serious. The fretboard shows some signs of wear and the original frets have plenty of life left in them. The headstock face has been finished in nitro, as was the case until the late 70s so has faded a little. A cigarette burn and a Tweety Bird decal really finish things off.

Hardware shows signs of corrosion but nothing too extensive. The plastics are in excellent order too.

Electrically the neck pickup has had some work done on it, carried out by Montys here in Cheltenham. Elsewhere everything looks correct without any sign that solder joints have been disturbed. Even though we have a guitar made in 1970, these pots read as week 36 of 1966 which is such a common sight during this period.. Don't forget that CBS are firmly in control by this stage. 

The guitar comes with its correct black tolex hardshell case.

Our previous experience with 70's tele has been somewhat on the shrill side, almost certainly from the fact that they were fitted with 1 Meg pots during this period. This guitar on the other hand delivers that classic tele tone without taking your head off. The neck pickup has that chewy quality that holds its own so well when combined with the bridge pickup. Once in that bridge position, there is a depth to the sound which is so uniquely Telecaster and flies in the face of your expectations of this guitar.

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. Grab it before it gets away.