Fender Telecaster Custom with Bigsby Model Solid Body Electric Guitar (1969), made in Fullerton, California, serial # 191930, sunburst finish, alder body, maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, black gig bag case.

This nicely preserved Telecaster Custom was built around 1969, 4 years after Fender became CBS/Fender. It is factory fitted with a Bigsby vibrato, a fairly rare sighting on a bound-body Tele. The neck does not carry a clear date code, only "38031" in black ink stamped on bottom of neck heel. This style neck was introduced in 1969, made in the one-piece maple pattern with a "skunk stripe" on the back but fitted with a rosewood fingerboard. This slightly odd look was the result of Fender changing their tooling back to the older 1950s pattern but still offering the rosewood as an option.

The Telecaster Custom is distinguished from the standard by its bound edge body, usually finished in sunburst. These were introduced in 1959 and made in much smaller quantities than standard blonde Teles. They were somewhat more expensive, flashier looking but offered the same sonic character. The Bigsby vibrato tailpiece was a introduced in 1967 as an extra-cost option for the Telecaster but is more common on the standard blonde model. This original style bound-body Custom would be discontinued in 1972, replaced by the similarly named Telecaster with a plain body but humbucking neck pickup.

The features of this guitar are typical for the 1969-70 period, also confirmed by the serial number. The pots are coded to the 34th week of 1966, still drawn from the huge lot CBS purchased that year. This guitar has a 3-ply laminated white plastic pickguard over the bound 3-tone sunburst body, now the first-generation Poly finish. This is not as heavy as the "Thick Skin" Poly finish Fender would move to in the early '70s. "SPECIAL" is stamped in the lead pickup rout, indicating its custom ordered Bigsby-destined status.

The comfortable slim neck has an early Poly finish, also not as heavy as the Poly used in the 70s. The headstock has the "big" logo decal (supposedly instituted by CBS in 1967 so the guitar would be more recognizable on TV) and the Fender-made "F plate" tuners. This is a cool and rather rare end-of-the-1960s Telecaster variation that plays and sounds as great as it looks!

Overall length is 38 3/4 in. (98.4 cm.), 12 5/8 in. (32.1 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 3/4 in. (4.4 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).

This Custom Telecaster is not completely untouched but it really is pretty clean, a mostly original guitar showing some signs of use but no heavy wear. The sunburst has a lovely deep and vibrant red hue, with minimal fade and only minor dings and dents. One small dink in the top above the pickguard has been visibly touched up. The back of the neck has some small spots into the finish but overall is not really noticeably worn down. There is some minor checking on the face of the headstock.

All hardware is original; the lead pickup has been potted and wrapped in shielding foil but does not appear to have been rewound. A few metal parts show some wear, most noticeable on the bridge saddles. The guitar has been refretted with frets somewhat larger then stock; these are fairly tall but can be taken down if desired. It plays very well, with a bright and spanky sound typical of the era. There is no case provided, it currently rests in a modern gig bag.

Overall Excellent - Condition.