This is a custom built Fender Vintera 70s Telecaster Deluxe consisting of 2022 Sonic Blue Alder body with a 3-ply Parchment pickguard paired with a 2020 Maple neck from a Black model of the same series. While technically a "Partscaster" they are of the same model guitar and year and not something ridiculous like a Tele neck on a Strat body, they just weren't offered in this combination from the factory. If you've followed me the last few years you know I specialize in offering guitars that are unique but also look like they could've come out of the factory like that. What I was going for here was a 50's Fender inspired color scheme but on a 70's model that obviously wasn't around in the 50's. With the recent unveiling of the Vintera III series, for whatever reason the Telecaster Custom got snubbed for a second time and didn't get a refresh. Since it had also been a few years since I've done one from the original Vintera series I figured it'd be a great time to do another.

Condition wise, aside from some light signs of handling and a small scratch or nick here and there on the body and neck, most notable would be some light finish dings around the tuner bushings on the front of the headstock. Otherwise it's in excellent condition overall with essentially no fret wear and fully functional.

If you're familiar with my posts they're long winded, but I like to be as detailed as possible with the care and attention I put into my guitars so please read further as I assure you it is worth your time:

Light weight at just 7.7 lbs

-WD Music 3-ply Parchment pickguard. Rather than go with the pickguard that comes stock on the Sonic Blue and Fiesta Red bodies I ordered a custom made one from WD to go with my 50's inspired scheme. Mint green was too dark and plain white was too light for my liking so I went with parchment for the more subtle contrast on the sonic blue. In addition I also manually drilled the indicator holes around the control knobs just like they come on the genuine Fender ones

-The stock Wide Range humbucker pickup has been replaced with a Mojotone Alnico 5 vintage style Wide Range pickups with a Fender logo chrome cover and the bridge pickup replaced with a Fender Hot Shaw 50s Telecaster bridge pickup. Unlike the stock Wide Range pickups, which are essentially PAF humbuckers with bar magnets underneath the covers, this pickup is built with individual adjustable pole magnets and full size bobbins, just like the vintage ones. The main difference is the magnets used are not CuNiFe but Alnico 5. Both are great magnets for these style pickups but just like with a single coil Tele pickup that uses Alnico 3 or Alnico 5 they have their own sound. Alnico 5 is typically punchier and a little more articulate than CuNiFe. Mojotone, along with Lollar and Fralin are some of the few pickup makers that use threaded Alnico 5 magnets in their Wide Range pickups while most others use FeCrCo (another very different magnet). But all three pickup makers make their versions quite different from each other.

What I've done is modified the pickup so they're more like underwound Lollar versions. Mojotone's versions have varied over the years (at least amongst the many sets I've owned) and some had their magnets degaussed by about 20-25% and also use plastic reflector plates so they don't raise the inductance of the pickup. I'm guessing they did this to try to emulate the weaker pull of the vintage Fender CuNiFe versions. My thought was why not let a pickup be what it is and not have it emulate what it's not. So I changed the covered rods to non-threaded Alnico 5 poles and fully charged both the threaded and non-threaded magnets. In the past I've had spare metal reflector plates to replace the plastic ones, but since I didn't it wasn't a significant change in inductance. As a result the reading went from roughly 9.8k/3.7h to 9.8k/3.8h neck and sound and feel like the underwound Lollar Regal clones whose specs are roughly 10k/4.2h. The vintage Fender CuNiFe pickups from the 70s were roughly around 10.6k/4.5h so the bridge on these are basically in that range with an underound neck. The main difference being the magnet material, with Alnico 5, giving them a more punchy and modern sound.

The Hot Shaw 50s bridge pickup's reading is around 7.6k/3.8h and use non-staggered Alnico 5 magnets, heavy formvar magnet wire, black fiber bobbins and vintage cloth push back lead wire. It’s essentially a Broadcaster/Blackguard pickup but instead of plain enamel magnet wire it uses heavy former. Since the bridge pickup is so hot it's a nice balance with the neck pickup and less of a drastic drop off but still has that single coil sound and feel.

-The stock CTS 500k neck and stock 250k pot values for the bridge pickup have been retained. These are ultimately still going to be the best values for both of the new pickups.

-Treble bleed cap/resistor circuits on the volume pots (1/4w 150k resistor with .001uf cap in parallel). This mod allows you to turn the volume pot down while still retaining the highs. A really nice mod especially for humbuckers

-022uf tone caps retained on both tone controls

-Electrosocket with Switchcraft 11 1/4" output jack just like on the American model. Normally I prefer having the jack flush since I don't know right angle plug cables, but I know a lot of people do like using them, so I extended the jack further out so you can use them. As you may or may not know, this is a common complain with the old Tele style jack cup. That and the fact that it easily comes loose. This solves both problems.

-Fully shielded body and control cavities and additional grounding post added to help minimize noise. This is a massive improvement

-Genuine Fender bone nut like on the American Original 70's and current American Vintage II '77 models. As I do with all of my nut upgrades, I radius'd, sanded, smoothed and polished the nut and sharp edges for a more comfortable than most American Fender guitars

-Fender American Original/Vintage "Pat No." Bridge 60s/70s bridge plate. This is similar to the stock plate but with the additional "Pat No." on it which is a subtle but nice touch. I've also included the "Ash Tray" cover which these models don't come with

-USA made Compensated Steel 1/4" slotted compensated steel saddles. These are awesome saddles that mostly retains the original look and sound of the stock steel saddles but with spot on intonation

-Lock washer added to 3-way toggle to prevent slippage

-Fender/Schaller strap locks and buttons with white felt washers

-Fender G&G Deluxe style hard Case in Tweed with brown leather ends/handle and orange plush interior from an American Vintage II model (a $299 value alone). This is a huge upgrade considering these only came with gigbags. (the keys, strap locks and bridge cover are in the compartment)

On top of these upgrades, it has also been cleaned, polished and fully setup, with new D'Addario EXL110 (10-46) strings with enough relief in the neck balanced for both lead and rhythm and a light touch (5/64" string height on the low E and 4/64" on the high E). The saddles have been perfectly intonated and adjusted to the 7.25" fretboard radius. The nut slots have been cleaned and filed for optimal contact and take off points for better sustain. The bridge pickup heights are adjusted to 5/64" on the bass and treble side and the neck pickup 8/64" on the bass side and 8/64" on the treble.

I fully stand by the work and believe you'll get a much better playing and sounding guitar here because of the selection of upgrades and attention to detail in the setup than if you pulled even an American Original '70s Telecaster Custom or similar American Vintage '72 Telecaster Customs off the shelf let alone similar Vintera model. I'll take it a step further and gladly put this guitar against a real vintage 70s model any day of the week, and for a lot less and without all of the QC issues. Why not get something truly unique with all of the electronics/components/hard case taken care of and be done with it :)

Here's more body and neck specs below:
Body

• Body shape: Single cutaway
• Body type: Solid body
• Body material: Solid wood
• Top wood: Not applicable
• Body wood: Alder
• Body finish: Gloss Polyester
• Orientation: Right handed

Neck

• Neck shape: C
• Neck wood: Maple
• Joint: Bolt-on
• Scale length: 25.5 in.
• Truss rod: Standard
• Neck finish: Gloss Urethane

Fretboard

• Material: Maple
• Radius: 7.25"
• Fret size: Vintage-style
• Number of frets: 21
• Inlays: Dot
• Nut width: 1.65 in. (42 mm)