late 60s Fender Telecasters

[morroben]

Are there any opinions on late 60's telecasters around here? I know some of you folks deal in older archtops, but not sure about solidbodies.

The CBS era is generally frowned upon, but some of the classic tele offshoots came out of that era. I have reissues of the '69 Thinline and the '72 Custom and like them both. The originals would have been CBS era.

I don't know...I've been in the market for an older player-grade tele for a while and pre-CBS are just plain out of my price range. But if I get into later 60's with maybe some downgrades (refin, pup swap, etc) I could swing it.

I just love older guitars. I currently have a '53 Gretsch and used to have an early 50's Fender lapsteel. There's just something cool about an old guitar. And teles are my thing. It just seems like I should have an old one.

Believe it or not, my wife is currently supporting this idea, as long as I don't go too nuts on price.

[cosmic gumbo]

as long as I don't go too nuts on price.

There are reasonably priced vintage late 60s teles out there?? Where?

[rNeil]

I've got a '68 Tele that started out life as a Blue Floral. Those were ugly as all get out, and the floral wallpaper (no bs.!) tended to flake off pretty badly.

Mine was already sanded and refinished satin/natural "blond" when a kid came into the music store I was working in back in 1975 and wanted to trade it for something with a humbucker.

He wasn't really aware of the value of a good playing Tele, and was quite happy with a knockoff LP and small SS amp.

So I got my boss a good deal. Boss then told a visiting music supply rep about the great deal "he" had made on a good playing Tele. The rep asked me if it was really that good ... yes, I said, the neck is awesome and it's straight Tele sound.

Boss says (being magnanimous in front of rep) "You could have it for the $175 I've got in it." (The combined cost of the guitar and amp I'd given for it.) Knowing my new young wife he felt VERY safe.

Ain't no way I was getting a guitar of that quality for that price. So next morning I showed up for work with $175 cash in hand rather than a check. (Knowing Will would have a real problem turning down cash in his face.)

"No, you wouldn't do that to me would you?" As of course it killed the profit he was expecting. Yes, I would as a matter of fact ... he'd recently dropped me from full time to fill in. Newly married as I was. And ... no, he couldn't turn down cash waving in his face.

I still have it, the neck has always been as nice as any Tele I've ever played. Love that rig. Played a TON of rock on it.

These days it's got 11 flats, and mostly is my 2nd Jazz guitar.

Yea, it's a CBS, but it's a great rig. Had many others play it over the years, it's been considered a heck of a deal.

So ... I'd have no problem with a late-60's Tele. I'd play it first of course ...

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

[zcostilla]

I just love older guitars. I currently have a '53 Gretsch and used to have an early 50's Fender lapsteel. There's just something cool about an old guitar. And teles are my thing. It just seems like I should have an old one.

I owned a Fender Champion lap steel for about two months. I regret selling that, but something was wrong with it. It was just really shrill, with no sweetness to it at all. But I was young and dumb and wanted a dobro to play bottleneck, and ended getting a turd of an Oscar Schmidt on a straight trade. But I was an ignorantly happy 20-year old who finally felt like a real blues player.

[Greentone]

I've owned several Telecasters through the years (plus a '57 Esquire, briefly). I've owned them from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. I find all periods to be generally quite good. My '83 top-loader is a particularly nice example.

However, my favorite was a plain Jane 1969 blonde Telecaster. It featured the older style 7.25" radius neck. I liked it VERY much. There wasn't anything that the '69 couldn't do well.

Yep, there's some love on the forum for late-60s CBS era Telecasters.

[Stringswinger]

I have a friend who is a big-time Tele fan and owns three Teles, a genuine 52 (lucky him) a 68 and a 52 reissue. I have played them all. The genuine 52 is the best by far. It is light, very resonant, has a thin finish and has tone that is as thick and warm as a Les Paul. The 68 and 52 reissues are simply "OK" guitars. I have played better 52 reissues and I assume there are better late 60's examples. Every piece of wood is different. One observation is that the finish on the 68 seems pretty thick and I know that at some point Fender started using a Poly undercoat. Use caution as the late 60's examples, while not nearly as costly as the Pre CBS examples, are still pretty expensive. Make sure for those kind of prices, you get one that floats your boat.

[Jonathan0996]

As expensive as '60s teles can be I'm not sure you wouldn't do better with something like a Nash or K Line or something, unless you want it for future collector's value. Those late '60s teles are nice guitars, but not necessarily that nice.

[morroben]

As expensive as '60s teles can be I'm not sure you wouldn't do better with something like a Nash or K Line or something, unless you want it for future collector's value. Those late '60s teles are nice guitars, but not necessarily that nice.

Valid point, but I already have guitars like that. I don't expect it to be like a modern boutique guitar. To be honest, I would be surprised if it's as nice as a couple of my MIM Teles.

But as I said, I like old guitars too. They're just cool. I also drive a '69 Jeep Wagoneer most of the time. I have a modern (2015) vehicle that I could drive. It gets better mileage, handles better, has A/C, a cool stereo, has no fear of overheating....but I drive the old Wagoneer 95% of the time. It's just fun.

But as far as pure quality of guitar build etc, you're absolutely right.

[jads57]

With all of the Partscasters availa le as well as Musikraft, Guitar Mill,Warmoth,etc.
Why would anyone pay serious $ for such a basic guitar?
If actually playing the guitar is the purpose as opposed to collector value.

[morroben]

With all of the Partscasters availa le as well as Musikraft, Guitar Mill,Warmoth,etc.
Why would anyone pay serious $ for such a basic guitar?
If actually playing the guitar is the purpose as opposed to collector value.

Because they already have a Warmoth partscaster, they like cool old guitars, they like Teles, and they can afford it.

[John A.]

In my experience, CBS Teles are not bad in the way that CBS Strats are. They are different because of the brighter/twangier pickups, but they don't seem to have the same level of manufacturing defects (e.g., neck pocket issues, bridges that fall apart, whammies that don't work), except for the atrocious tuning machines that all Fenders had after a certain point. The late 60s/early 70s Teles I've tried have all been pretty decent from a basic QA standpoint, although I much prefer the sound of the older/hotter pickups and reissues thereof. If you like the vibe, I don't think there's anything wrong with getting a CBS Tele (though I have a hard time thinking of anything that was manufactured after I started playing as vintage). Also, if you want real "wide-range" humbuckers (as on a CBS Tele Custom or Deluxe, or a Starcaster), CBS-era is the only option for the real thing. I can't really say the same for Strats. I realize there must be good ones out there, but most of the ones I've played from the early 70s through the end of CBS have been really bad. I had a 71 or 2 that was just awful, and I can't imagine wanting one from that era.

John