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'59 Fender Telecaster |
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1959 was the first year for rosewood fingerboards. Known as "Slab" knecks due to the thick piece of rosewood that was glued onto a maple neck for the fingerboard. These rosewood slabs are flat on the bottom, later rosewood necks used a thinner curved piece of wood for the fingerboard. The truss rod was laid under the fingerboard instead of mounting it from behind, eliminating the strip of wood (skunk stripe) inlaid on the back of the neck.
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I am not sure what the original finish on this guitar was. It was already refinished like this when I purchased the guitar back in 1977. There is evidence of a thick yellow finish under the pickgaurd and bridge, but it seems to be too thick for the Butterscotch finish of the time. It is not opaque at all, the grain is not visible through it. I have grown very fond of this finish though, it shows off the grain pattern of the ash wood very well. The body appears to be made of two pieces joined together. The seam is visible just about midway between the rear pickup mount and the switch plate. This seam was pointed out to me by Ol Fuzzy, the #1 Telecaster fan on the net. |
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In 1959 Tele's were made with "top loading" bridges (the strings mounted thru holes in the back of the bridge, not thru the body), not the standard thu-body string mounting. While these top loading bridges may exist, they are certainly more rare than the standard thru-body mounting, and it should not be taken to believe that all '59 models should have the top loading bridge. In fact, on page #73 of A. R. Duchossoir's book "The Fender Telecaster" there is a picture of a bridge pickup pocket with the date of 5/59 and the body is drilled for thru-body string mounting. When it comes to old Fenders only one thing is certain, and that is that nothing is certain. I offer here proof that as early as February of 1959 at least some bodies were drilled for thu-body string mounts. Check out the naked pics on the next page. |
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Click on the button below to see "naked" pictures! |
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