The Fender Telecaster Guitar - 10 Interesting Facts
The Fender Telecaster guitar has been amazingly popular for many years because of its stylish looks and very individual sound, which is extremely effective in country music and blues. It has of course often been used in other musical styles too.
The guitar has not surprisingly acquired large numbers of famous admirers through the years including Keith Richards, Jimmy Page, Andy Summers and Bruce Springsteen.
Below are 10 quick facts relating to this legendary six string electric guitar:
1. The Telecaster was developed in 1948 in California by Leo Fender. This was a period in time that many of the top guitar makers were experimenting and coming up with exciting designs. As a result the Fender Telecaster needed to be quick off the mark.
2. The guitar came onto the scene in 1949 under the Broadcaster name and is still produced today in one form or another. There have without doubt been many impersonators but the Fender original is the one that counts.
3. In 1950 the very first one pickup model started production and was known as the Esquire.
4. As for the wood used, the fingerboard and neck were built from one piece of Maple. This was duly bolted to a body manufactured from Alder or Ash, which was a less expensive process than Gibson's far more involved 'set neck' style.
5. A semi-acoustic model of the guitar appeared in roughly 1968 and was named the Thinline. The 1969 version of this particular model incorporated a Mahogany body and by the time we got to 1972 the body was Swamp Ash.
6. Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page used a 1958 Telecaster that was given to him by Jeff Beck on the now globally famous guitar solo on the amazing track Stairway to Heaven, from Led Zeppelin's fourth album. Many continue to think that this guitar solo was played on either a Gibson Les Paul or an SG double neck but it wasn't.
7. Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones famously wielded his Custom guitar in an unconventional way during a live concert. Richards used his guitar to beat off an overzealous and potentially crazy fan who ran onstage.
8. The Telecaster bridge pickup sits on top of a steel plate to improve the magnetic field which also helps to give this pickup its lovely and distinctive tone.
9. Fender finally decided to modify the electronics in 1952 to make use of a tone control for the guitar pickups.
10. In 1950 somewhere between the Broadcaster model and the Telecaster, any guitars manufactured in this interim period had no name and as a result are often known as Nocasters.
If you've not ever tested one of these excellent guitars, head down to your nearest guitar dealer a give one a trial run. You'll love it.
About the Author
The author has been a keen guitarist for many years and loves to play, repair and build electric guitars. He recommends Tub Guitar Pickups for excellent Telecaster Pickups and also recommends their excellent Guitar Blog. They can be found at: http://www.tubguitarpickups.co.uk
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