Among the most impactful designs in the world of electric guitars, Fender's Telecaster was first introduced to the world under the name "Broadcaster" in 1950 before being renamed "Telecaster" in 1951.

The design of the Telecaster remained essentially unchanged throughout the 1950s, with the exception of the switch to a white pickguard in 1954. The first significant change to the design occurred in 1959 when the slab rosewood fingerboard was introduced and the long walnut plug that sealed off the truss-rod was eliminated.

The ‘Slab Board’ era was brief and by sometime in 1962 Fender had adopted a practice of gluing a thin rosewood veneer fretboard onto a pre-radiused maple neck (we call those veneer boards). Another cosmetic change came in late 1963 when Fender moved away from the single-ply white Telecaster pickguard, opting for a three-ply celluloid guard that was already being used on all their other professional-level guitar models, including the Custom Telecaster.

Early '60s Telecasters are surprisingly rare guitars. With the success of the vibrato-equipped Stratocaster and Jazzmaster models and the introduction of the Jaguar in 1962, retailers were choosing the latest Fender models over the Telecaster, seeing it as an out-dated, low-tech model. Fender’s Telecaster production fell dramatically as such, so finding a slab-board Tele today can be hard to do.

Built in 1963, this veneer-board, white-guard Telecaster has survived the past six decades in completely unmodified and overall excellent condition. The original pickups sound exceptional. The bridge pickup (6.9K) delivers a full-bodied tone with clarity and bite, and is complemented beautifully by the creamy and airy voice of the neck pickup (6.0K). The original dark-cap is still intact, offering a rich and wooly tonal quality when engaged. The '63 neck profile, with a first fret depth of 0.810" and a twelfth fret depth of 0.988", is truly heavenly and sits in the hand perfectly. If you have not had the chance to play a Fender guitar from this era, we encourage you to jump at this opportunity if you’re local to the store.

The original Blonde finish has aged attractively and shows light playwear. The original frets remain very playable, with light wear. The only flaw on the guitar is a minor stress-crack that runs between tuner posts on the back of the peghead. This crack has been stabilized and does not extend through the headstock onto the face of the guitar. Set-up in our shop.

With original case and hangtags.