1971 Fender Telecaster, Refin Blue
Super cool, single owner 1971 Fender Telecaster with a body only refin. The guitar was refinished by the previous owner as the original finish had started to look a little worn and tired. The shade of blue chosen wasn’t from the Fender Custom Colour chart but from the Royal Air Force paint chart, and we think the guitar looks great for it.
The body has no diagonal route between the neck pickup, a trait often seen from 1969 onwards and the neck pocket is notched as is expected until 1973. Aside from the refin there is no evidence of any further modifications or repairs. There are areas where the finish has worn revealing what looks to be the original Blonde or Olympic White finish beneath. The neck has a nice Indian Rosewood Fingerboard with Pearl dot inlays. The original frets were heavily worn when the guitar came in so we’ve had the guitar refretted with a set of sympathetic sized fret wire. The bold Telecaster decal has two patent numbers and is beneath the lacquer along with a single string tree, and the neck is stamped 3 Aug 71B at the butt in the pre-CBS format.
The electronics comprise of two CTS potentiometers with the matching date code 134 6636 and a CRL 1452 3-way switch, the original pickups have a mixture of yellow, black and white poly coated wires with no evidence of coils being rewound.
Hardware is all correct with Fender Schaller ‘F’ logo tuners, chrome bridge plate with 3 steel barrel saddles and white, three-ply, 8 hole pickguard. The hardware is showing the patination of age that suits the guitars overall aesthetic.
The guitar weighs in at only 7.2 lbs, a very good weight for this era. Acoustically the guitar has a loud zing when strummed and when plugged in the guitar has a nice rounded punch to the bridge pickup with none of the ice pick treble that some ‘70s Telecasters can have. The neck pickup is warm with good clarity. Bridge pickup measures 6.1K and the Neck pickup 7.1K. The neck is has a fairly large, rounded profile for this era, it isn’t quite the large profile early fifties Teles are known for but is a pleasant surprise for players that prefer a larger neck. The neck measures 22.71mm at the 1st fret and 24.56 at the 12th with the standard Fender ‘B’ nut width of 1 5/8”or 40.95mm.
The guitar comes with a period aftermarket case in fair condition.