1985 Fender Japan TL-69 Rosewood Telecaster Electric Guitar

This is an early version of one of these reissue rosewood-bodied Telecasters from the '80s and judging by the bridge serial number (A062386) it dates to '85. It's a Japanese-made TL-69 model (TL-69-98) and the body is made up of two sections of multi-piece solid rosewood with a maple stripe down the center of the sides. There are chambers cut in the rosewood for weight reduction and you can see them in the control cavity. Still -- being rosewood -- it's a heavy guitar. The neck as well as the fretboard are rosewood, too, and as you might know, these are interpretations of the original late-'60s rosewood Telecasters which themselves are production-run versions of the custom rosewood guitar made for George Harrison in '68.

Now that that's out of the way -- what do we think about this one? It's got a classic, '60s-style neck, it's very clean, it's completely original, and it sounds full and juicy. Yeah, and it's also pretty. Bridge cover, too? Yessir.

All I had to do was give it a quick setup before hanging it on the wall. The frets have only the mildest wear and there's only a teeny, tiny bit of wear (all pictured) on the body. The pickguard definitely shows average pickwear, though, but it's not ugly. It basically looks "shopworn" rather than used.

Repairs included: setup.

Body wood: solid rosewood w/maple center strip

Bridge: 6-saddle vintage-style

Fretboard: rosewood

Neck wood: rosewood

Pickups: original Tele single coils

Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast)
String gauges: 46w-10

Neck shape: medium C

Board radius: 7 1/4"

Truss rod: adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium

Scale length: 25 1/2"

Nut width: 1 5/8"

Body width: 12 3/4"

Body depth: 1 3/4"

Weight: 9 lbs 6 oz

Condition notes: it's very clean save a ding on the side of the headstock (pictured), some pickwear on the pickguard, and a tiny ding or two on the body (pictured). It's also entirely original. The frets are very lightly played but not worn enough for a level/dress job (which I usually do as a matter of course). 

It comes with: an original hard case.