1988 Fender USA Vintage '52 Telecaster Reissue Butterscotch Blonde

Weight: 10.2 lbs 

Case: Original Hardshell Case

Year: 1987 - 1988

Condition: Very good with various wear/scratches/dings throughout.  Some finish wear on body and neck.  Some fretboard chip out on both sides as well.  Please take a close look through our listing photos for a detailed look at this piece.  

Tech Notes: 

• Guitar, Hardware, and Electronics have been cleaned/tested and are functioning appropriately. Fretboard cleaned and Frets polished. Minor Fret wear mostly on G/B/e strings 1-5 however doesn't have any impact on the playability of the guitar. Clearly been leveled in the past however there is still life left on the fret height. Setup with minimal neck relief and medium/low action. Plays great throughout the entire neck with consistent intonation. Fantastic feeling/sounding instrument with a long life ahead of it!
• The neck cavity has no clear date markings, however the neck marking format matches when Fender transitioned to the (MMM - DD - YYYY). It is slightly smudged but to the best of our ability appears to show (198?) so certainly sometime after 1982, the bridge plate serial (9495) is 4 digits which could be between 1982 - 1988. They switched to 5 numbers late 1988. This would be closer towards the end before they moved to 5 digits, aka past 10000.
• Neck finish and wear marks appear to be all original and not relic'd (more on the body below).
• Appear to be original pots comparing to other listings of similar years. Current Markings (019064 - R8925).
• Neck marking Gastelum. Made by Herbie Gastelum, a famous builder for Fender who retired in 2018 after 56 years of employment!
• Original nut. Original Frets. 

Mods/Repairs/Issues: 

• No ashtray bridge cover.
• Neck Pickup appears to be original with a removed cover. Plastic Black/White leads consistent with pickups of the era/model. 
• Non-original Bridge pickup (Changed to Seymour Duncan, 1BQ Marking) Flat Poles. 

• Body has undergone some DIY refinishing at some point in the past. You will notice some of the eras where it looks like it was hand sanded/relic'd. These appear to have been resprayed/touched up with some spots of overspray. Definitely a little interesting. When comparing the side of the neck pocket to the neck finish they match. 

Neck Profile: Slim C

Neck Thickness: 1st: 0.82" / 12th: 0.90"

Fingerboard Radius: 7.25"

Nut Width: 1.67"

Scale Length: 25.5"

Electronics Layout: Volume x1, Tone x1, 3-Way Pickup Selector

Pickups: Seymour Duncan Flat Pole Set (1BQ Marking) Appears to be a set of Vintage for Broadcaster. 

String Gauge: 9 - 42

Tools Included: None

Please note: All measurements are taken in-house. While we strive for accuracy, slight variations may occur compared to manufacturer specifications due to the nature of hand-measuring.

All of our guitars come with a FREE professional setup to a comfortable action as specified by that instrument’s manufacturer. Our setups always include inspection of (and necessary adjustment to): action, intonation, tremolo angle, truss rod, frets, nut, bridge, and more. We can accommodate special setup requests - additional charges and/or shipping delays of 1-2 business days could occur.

After 15 years of innovation in our photography process, Ish Guitars has developed a way to get you the most accurate true-to-life color of every instrument we sell. We never embellish, oversaturate, or misrepresent our images, so that your buying experience can be as much like visiting our showroom as possible. Keep in mind that various computer screens can show colors a bit differently, so the color on your screen may not match the real thing perfectly no matter how hard we try. Also, unless otherwise noted, we individually list and photo every piece of gear that comes through our doors.

Experience our innovative Video Appointment service! Connect with our Gear Experts to hear this instrument played live over Zoom and receive one-on-one guidance. Contact us to schedule your appointment!