How many telecasters have been made

Even clear up into the San Francisco area, where my brother lived, little place called Manteca. He said bring it up here, we got an awful lot of country western music here — and they did. Went up there, and it was kinda like going back to Oklahoma. They had these nightclubs going and these guys were playing honky-tonk, country western. I remember the first time going up there, I took five units with me, these were the early one-pickup Esquires.

It lasted about 30 minutes and it quit. That was what was wrong with the instruments, as simple as that. But anyhow, that was the start of it. Went to this club over there, the Riverside Rancho, a dancehall [in Glendale]. We went to one side of the stage, and what we wanted to do was wait until the rest time, we wanted the guitar player to look at this guitar. So during this time there was a young fella came in, good-looking young guy, came right over there to where we were and started talking with us.

Saw this guitar, he picked it up, looked at it, tried it a little bit. He just kind of backed up and sat on the side of the stage, just picking on this. He says sure, so they moved the amplifier to the side of the stage, plugged that thing in, and there he sat with this guitar, playing it. He was the centre of attention. And it was Jimmy Bryant, probably one of his biggest steps in getting on.

Jimmy played things on guitar that nobody could play. And, of course, this was an electric with low action — and with that cutaway, he could go right up the neck. So, naturally, we put one in his hand, and this was like starting a prairie fire.

That was one of the starting points of that guitar. But we had to eliminate that because Gretsch was using the name. Leo had his radio-repair shop, and when television was brand new, he probably had the only place in town that had televisions.

Every night, Leo had this set up. He was always interested in people and what people thought and what people did. Leo wanted people involved in whatever he did, and so naturally he picked up Telecaster as a name for that new guitar. I started playing when I was In the window, they had this beautiful blonde Fender Telecaster, and I stopped and admired that guitar for the longest.

I went home and told my mother about it. I was already starting to play a little bit. That first one was such a sweetheart. Unheard song featuring George Harrison and Ringo Starr played for the first time. Gretsch launches Richard Fortus signature Falcon guitars. Fuzz Was The Future: Now but not yet. Greuter Audio Fokus review: A boost to cut through the mix and the competition.

Electric Guitars. Posts: Jun 3, 4. Age: 62 Posts: 7, Jun 3, 5. Posts: 9, Yeah It would be nice to know, there was some talk of a 'Blackguard' register, did that ever get off the ground? I would love to compare the figures, we all see the dreadful attempts on fleaBay to sell "vintage" Tele's to suckers but i wonder how many blackguard owners are playing forgeries that were made in the 70's or 80's.

There have been 'partscasters' certainly from the mid - late 70's i made one , the one i made will now be 30 years old and though relicing was unheard of then i wonder what that thing looks like now and who it would fool. The so-called Nocaster offered a taste of things to come; within months it was renamed the Telecaster. Unlike Les Paul, Leo was not a player.

He relied on feedback to refine his instruments. Then, as now, artist endorsement was vital. When players saw the hot-shot Jimmy Bryant playing a Broadcaster, everyone wanted in. In , Fender started producing Teles with a white pickguard. By , all players could pay five percent extra for a custom colour of their own.

In the hands of players such as Bryant and James Burton, the Telecaster quickly established itself. Blues players such as Albert Collins took to them. Collins would use a variety of alternate tunings — open F minor and open D minor among them — and a capo for an instantly recognizable sound.

Richards applied a reverse-mount PAF humbucker to his, later modding the hardware. Page applied mirrors and used a top-loading bridge that allowed for easier string bends.