Used Vintage 1966 Fender Telecaster

Condition Report

As you might guess, this guitar has been modified from its original state, and it has developed some awesome-looking vintage wear. The biggest mod is an aftermarket P-90 installation. To accommodate the larger pickup, someone used a router and chisel to enlarge the pickup cavity. While performing this mod, it appears that someone added a phase switch to the pickguard's upper horn, and they used a chisel to route a channel for the switch's wiring. There's a similar smaller channel from the neck pickup to the bridge that appears to have once been used for a ground wire but is no longer in use.

Although the P-90 is not original, much of the guitar is, including the bridge pickup, tuners, knobs, control plate, output jack, switch tip, and strap buttons. The pots may or may not be, as they date to early 1967 while the neck plate and neck date to '66. So, it's possible that Fender assembled it and sold it to music store early in 1967, or someone replaced the pots within a couple years of the initial sale. In the pickup cavity, there are some flakes of red paint that were once attached to the bridge plate, and the cloth wiring around the pickup also has some red coloring. Perhaps it was painted red at some point? Regardless, the bridge pickup measures 6.36 ohms and the neck P-90 measures 5.36 ohms, and both sound magnificent.

Cosmetically, this serial has typical vintage battle scars that give it some awesome mojo. The Fender label on the headstock has mostly flaked off, although you can still see its impression. It also some some awesome checking throughout the finish, especially on the headstock face.

All in all, it's a marvelous example of a vintage Tele, and it comes with a non-original 1970s Fender hardshell case with a sales receipt from 1970.