Used Vintage 1974 Fender Telecaster Custom

Sonic Evaluation

Faced with the choice between eating lunch and enjoying this Telecaster for half an hour on my break, I opted to deal with a rumbling stomach because I simply could not put it down! As far as vintage Tele Customs go, this one is about as good as it gets. It has the kind of vocal cluck and twang that Tele dreams are made of, and its EQ curve is perfectly sculpted. The low-end is nice and tight but present, the midrange packs a focused, snappy bite, and the highs are gloriously open and sparkly.

However, its most impressive characteristic is how touch-sensitive it is! It has been some time since I encountered an electric guitar with a tone that can be changed this drastically by varying one's right-hand dynamics. At low volumes, it sounds sweet, warm, and open. When you dig in, everything sounds ruder and meaner as the frequency response gets more focused and more beautiful musical compression happens. It makes for a delightfully expressive playing experience.

The Wide Range Humbucker in the neck position absolutely rips. It's warm and beefy, but it has more clarity, articulation, brightness and chime than a comparable humbucker from the era. It lends lead lines plenty of meatiness, but it's also clear enough to be a world-beating fat rhythm sound. The single-coil in the bridge will certainly help you Twang Chung tonight, as its woody, twangy attack almost has a cocked-wah type attack when you dig in. Its focused snarl in the midrange, tight lows, and sparkling, open high-end help it complement the neck pickup the way peanut butter complements jelly (and if you guessed that those qualities make the middle position glorious, you are correct!).

If you're looking for a monster Tele Custom with a murdered-out black finish, this serial will carry you on its shoulders to Vintage Fender Valhalla!

Condition Report

This '74 Tele Custom is in awesome shape! It shows typical wear for a guitar of its age, and it has tons of vintage mojo. There's one lacquer repair on the back, which looks like it has been brushed on. AA previous owner modified the he neck pickup rout to accept a modern humbucker. The bridge assembly may or may not be original, but we do know that it's era-correct. The neck pickup is original and measures 10.62k ohms, but a previous owner replaced the original bridge pickup with a late '60s/early '70s Fender single-coil, which measures 6k ohms.. It looks like the pots got swapped out at some point, too. However, the pickguard, knobs, strap button, and tone caps are original. The frets show moderate to heavy wear (always an indication that a vintage guitar is hard to put down!) and they measure .078 inches by .028 inches. To top it off, it comes with its original hardshell case.