Fender Telecaster Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1968), made in Fullerton, California, serial # 244494, blonde polyester finish, ash body, maple neck, original black tolex hard shell case.
This is a cool player Fender Telecaster from the turn of 1968/9, still looking and playing great with a mix of features characteristic of that early-CBS era. It retains its original appearance and character but has seen a decent amount of alteration and then restoration along the way. Here us a rundown from the headstock down: The neck dates to October 1968; it is a late example of the "maple cap" construction about to be replaced in '69 by the return of Fender's original 1950's style one piece neck.
The maple fingerboard has been refretted with somewhat taller wire and overfinished lightly with some older divoting and wear visible under this. The back of the neck was sanded down to bare wood and feels like it was slimmed just a bit by this process, the heel area retains the original finish. The headstock remains original including the newer large-letter decal introduced in 1967 and retains the original Fender "F" style tuners and string tree.
The visible parts of the body retain the original translucent blonde finish, somewhat heavier than typical mid-60s lacquer. There is almost no ash grain visible, and it has yellowed quite a bit over time. The guitar was once routed for humbucking pickups and the area under the pickguard has been correctly filled back in and overfinished, a very clean job. The bridge is a correct style period piece but likely not original to this guitar. The bridge pickup is an original Fender unit from the early '70s, nicely rewound and sounding great. The neck pickup is recent. The 1966-dated pots and some of the original cloth wiring remain, the switch is the sometimes seen "alternate" style specific to '68 Telecasters. The 3-ply pickguard is a recent repro.
At 7.74 lbs. this guitar is not featherweight but still lighter than many late '60s-70's examples and handles excellently. Even with its checkered history of alteration and restoration and slipping into that "true-CBS" Fender period it still has the classic Tele sound and character in spades.
Overall length is 38 1/2 in. (97.8 cm.), 12 3/8 in. (31.4 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.)., 7.74 lbs.
As noted this Tele has been reworked more than once but remains in excellent playing condition overall. The original body finish has some typical light checking and dings and dents with typical wear to the wood on the edges. There is some random scratching and some old areas of dirt and smoke built up to give it character, something modern "relics" never catch. The area under the pickguard has a more recent overfinish due to the filled routs, but this work is very cleanly done and not visible at all when the guitar is assembled.
The originally lacquer-finished neck is down to the wood on the back and the fingerboard is lightly refinished with lacquer, The original finish on the headstock shows some checking but the decal is very well preserved.
The bridge unit is correct but likely not original to the guitar, the tuners, pots and switch, knobs, strap buttons and the screws remain original. The bridge pickup is an older Fender unit rewound, the neck pickup recent with plastic lead wires. Both neck and bridge sound great, the bridge pickup sound is quite hot but well defined retaining the typical spanky '68 Telecaster tone but never getting shrill as Teles from this era sometimes can.
The frets are fairly tall showing just very light wear in the lower positions and play great. This Tele is housed in the somewhat battered but functional original black Tolex Fender HSC. Overall this is a fine player's Fender with a lovely bright but full sound, still a much better feeling and sounding guitar than many 1969-70 and beyond examples. Very Good + Condition.
