1972/1980s Fender Partscaster Telecaster Esquire Electric Guitar

Overview: So, what is this beautiful thing? First-off -- it's not a relic job at all -- this thing has 100% natural, thrashed-about wear and tear. The neck is a '72 Fender neck with bullet-style rod (my favorite adjustment type for Fenders because it's easy to get to) and it has a '73 neck plate (though perhaps these were original to one another?). The body is an '80s Chandler ash one with a blonde finish that's been appropriately destroyed (loved?) in all the best ways. It really does very much look like a proper '70s blonde Tele body. Until the owner told me that I was  scratching my head about why there weren't the proper Fender stamps at the pocket!

The story goes that at one point at a gig a long ways back the neck pickup stopped working and so the shop the owner took it to wired it up as an Esquire for him, swapped-in a blank pickguard, and away it went for the rest of its life. I've left it that way, though there are routes for fitting a Tele neck pickup if desired. I did rewire it a little from the "interior" photos seen to use a simple 0.01 Mallory cap for the "first" position on the 3-way switch. It's like having your tone control rolled-off 1/3 of the way but, because it's a "straight cap" in the circuit, it gives a hair of that "wah" sound to it that makes it really useful for chordal backup.

I also had to replace the "original" saddles with some parts-bin ones as the old ones were so encrusted in rust that they wouldn't even move anymore. I had to chop them off of the guitar.

As far as sound goes? Well, it's a classic Tele bridge sound, of course. It's got a Duncan STL521 pickup that sounds very retro. These are built like a vintage Tele bridge pickup but have a mix of A2 and A5 polepieces that help even-out the sound string to string.

Repairs included: I gave it a level/dress of the frets, tweaked the wiring a bit, cleaned it up a lot, replaced the non-functional old saddles, replaced missing strap buttons with Gotoh repro-style ones, and set it up. It's playing spot-on and ready to serve! I compensate with straight barrel saddles by gently bending the adjustment bolt for the saddle to get the proper tilt for good intonation. Once set like this, minor alterations can be made by simply turning the bolt (which allows the saddles to swing a little bit as it rotates).

• Weight: 8 lbs 0 oz
• Scale length: 25 1/2"
• Nut width: 1 5/8"
• Neck shape: medium/fuller-shoulders C
• Board radius: 9 1/2"
• Depth at first fret: 0.87"
• Depth at seventh fret: 0.91"
• Body width: 12 3/4"
• Body depth: 1 3/4"
• Body wood: ash ('80s Chandler body)
• Bridge: old Fender 3-saddle-style (very rusty)
• Fretboard: maple
• Neck wood: maple
• Pickups: 1x Duncan STL521 "Five-Two" bridge single coil
• Action height at 12th fret: 1/16” overall (fast, spot-on)
• String gauges: 46w-10 lights
• Truss rod: adjustable
• Neck relief: straight
• Fret style: medium/lower (refretted at some point)

Condition notes: It's a partscaster, so this is sort-of not applicable, but suffice to say this guitar has been played into submission. The neck has had almost all of its rear finish played-off and the fretboard finish is essentially played-off as well except for near the fret slots. The bridge is very rusty (though I cleaned a lot of it off) and a lot of the other hardware shows a little pitting here and there. The tuners are not original to the neck but are in the right style. The body is full of finish checking, nicks, dings, pickwear, and some hairline cracking in the clearcoat (there's a longer one extending from the neck pocket on the back -- not in the wood, but in the clearcoat). The neck has had threaded inserts installed in place of the usual bolts and its micro-tilt insert removed. The neck pocket was shimmed-up just a hair on the treble side.

It comes with: It has a decent gigbag.

Consignor tag: KRBY