1973 Fender Telecaster. Blonde. Excellent Condition + OHSC
Very clean and lightweight early ’73 Tele with ’72 spec. Quintessential looking blonde maple board Tele. Lots of bite and twang.
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If you’re looking for an affordable vintage Tele then the early 70’s examples are very much worth looking at. The 1970 to early ’73 Telecasters are essentially the same spec as their slightly older and more expensive ’69 siblings.
Fenders from the early 70’s onwards could vary enormously in weight, but we’re pleased to say that, weighing in at a sprightly 7lb 4oz, this early ’73 example is nice and light.
This Tele benefits from a new refret by Ian Allerton at Guitar Works and plays superbly with many, many more years of life left until another refret is required. With the exception of the refret, the switch tip, and possibly the tone pot, this example is all original and in excellent overall condition. The volume pot is a CTS pot dated 34th week of 1966 – which is common on late 60’s and early 70’s Fenders. The tone pot is a Stackpole pot dated 48th week of 1972. This may be a replacement but is the correct 1 Meg value, and as far as we can see there is no evidence of disturbed solder anywhere in the cavity, so it is more than likely original.
The neck is stamped Jan ’73 in the typical post ’62 fashion – in March ’73 Fender switched to a different numbered system on necks. Also at some point in ’73 the body shape changed slightly on Telecasters – the point where the body meets the neck on the bass side had a straight edge on the neck pocket. This example pre-dates this change and has the correct ‘notch’ on the neck pocket, a feature that has been on Tele’s from the very start, up until this point. These features make this example more desirable that the later March ’73 onwards Telecasters.
Sonically this guitar has the typical Tele twang and bite that we all know and love and has a good natural resonance when played acoustically. The neck profile is a medium C and has a nice depth.
Overall a very good, clean and affordable vintage Telecaster. Comes with the original hard shell case.
Weight: 7lb 4oz
Pick up readings: Neck 6.8k, Bridge 5.9k
