Fender Telecaster Custom
Encyclopedia
Fender Telecaster Custom is a model of electric guitar
made by Fender. This model should not be confused with the "Fender Custom Telecaster" model manufactured between 1959 and 1968, which only differs from a standard Telecaster in having a bound body. Ever since the release of the Telecaster Custom the market generally refers to the guitar as the "1972 Custom", indicating the year this model was originally released.
and Mike Bloomfield
plugged their humbucker-equipped Gibsons into over-driven Marshall amps. Many players began to look for a thicker, creamier sound that the standard Telecaster didn't deliver. To achieve this sound, many players replaced the standard single coil pickups on their Telecasters and installed aftermarket humbuckers (a good example of this is Andy Summers
' modified Telecaster). Another reason for replacing the Tele neck pickup was that many players felt it lacked a "Rock and Roll vibe". The original single coil neck pickup excels in jazz and blues tones but players felt replacing it with a more powerful humbucker pickup would give the Telecaster a second rock voice to match the Tele's popular bridge pickup.
The Telecaster Custom (along with the Thinline
and Deluxe
models) was an attempt to enter the humbucker
market largely dominated by Gibson
. Fender's first humbucking design was the wide range
humbucker created by Seth Lover
, who had overseen the development of the original Gibson humbucker. When Lover's association with Gibson came to an end Fender approached him to design a pick-up which would enable them to compete with his previous employer. The resulting pick-up first appeared in the Thinline and Deluxe range of Fender Telecasters introduced in 1972. Lover's Fender humbucker is felt by many to be brighter with more bottom end than his Gibson versions, and a better match for the classic Fender bridge pickup.
The original Telecaster Custom was in production from 1972 until 1981, sporting a curly "Custom" logo and "Witch-Hat" volume and tone knobs until the first half of 1977, when the knobs changed to Stratocaster types and the "Custom" logo to the standard italicized block typeface used on most Fender guitars and basses of the period.
Fender used denser wood for this model, resulting in a significantly heavier instrument (nine lbs versus the average Tele's seven) with inherently greater sustain. The resulting sound is much thicker and less sharply defined. Though the Telecaster Custom was in production for only 8 years, many felt it was the perfect combination of the Fender and Gibson sounds.
Few well-known players of the time picked up on the Tele Custom apart from Keith Richards
, who used a couple alongside his modified Gibson humbucker-equipped Teles and Mick Green
(guitarist for The Pirates, Johnny Kidd, Bryan Ferry, Van Morrison and Paul McCartney) who wielded a natural-finish 'second-version' Custom.
Were this not enough, the Custom was also more expensive than the standard Tele. Despite high hopes, sales never reached the levels that Fender had anticipated.
facility in Mexico
- the MIM reissues are now the predominate versions in Europe and the USA. It is generally accepted among players that the Japanese version is superior to the Mexican version in construction, though some believe the Japanese ceramic humbucker suffers by comparison with the Mexican model's Alnico humbucker. The higher-end Factory Special Run (FSR) editions of the guitar are made at the Fender Custom Shop (USA).
Differences: The re-issues and road worn copies feature a different bridge to the original Telecaster Custom, and re-issues are supplied only in a choice of either black or sunburst. The re-issue body differs from the original in having the deeper upper cutaway characteristic of modern standard Telecasters. Perhaps the most well-known difference is the reissue Wide Range Humbucker pick-up.
Both the Mexican and the Japanese versions feature a reissued version of the Fender Wide Range humbucking pickup, each of which differs fundamentally in construction from the original. The original WRH used magnetized CuNiFe (copper, nickel and iron) polepieces ("slugs") with a copper wiring around the slugs, while the reissue has a standard non-magnetized set of slugs with an AlNiCo (aluminum, nickel, Cobalt) magnetized bar underneath. This standard humbucker is fitted in the larger casing of the original pickup, using wax to fill the void. The original WRH measured an average of 10.6 kΩ and used a 1 MΩ volume pot and a 250 kΩ tone pot, while the reissue measures a fairly standard 8 kΩ and uses 250 kΩ volume and tone pots. This results in a much darker sounding reissue wide range pickup.
Cricisms of the reissue Wide Range Humbucker and the escalating cost of parted-out original pick-ups has led to the establishment of a small but thriving aftermarket sector. Suppliers of boutique WRH replacements can be found in the USA and the UK. Some pick-up specialists also offer a re-winding / rebuilding service designed to return the reissue pickup to the original Seth Lover
specifications.
(Telecaster research quoted from Walter Carter's book Classic Electrics, ISBN 978-1-906002-19-0).
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
made by Fender. This model should not be confused with the "Fender Custom Telecaster" model manufactured between 1959 and 1968, which only differs from a standard Telecaster in having a bound body. Ever since the release of the Telecaster Custom the market generally refers to the guitar as the "1972 Custom", indicating the year this model was originally released.
History
During the 1950s and early 1960s Fender's twangy single-coil sound enjoyed considerable popularity. This began to wane by the mid-1960s as new stars like Eric ClaptonEric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
and Mike Bloomfield
Mike Bloomfield
Michael Bernard "Mike" Bloomfield was an American musician, guitarist, and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, since he rarely sang before 1969–70...
plugged their humbucker-equipped Gibsons into over-driven Marshall amps. Many players began to look for a thicker, creamier sound that the standard Telecaster didn't deliver. To achieve this sound, many players replaced the standard single coil pickups on their Telecasters and installed aftermarket humbuckers (a good example of this is Andy Summers
Andy Summers
Andy Summers is an English guitarist born in Poulton-le-Fylde, Lancashire, England. Best known as the guitarist for rock band The Police, he has also recorded twelve solo albums, collaborated with many other artists, toured extensively under his own name, published several books, and composed...
' modified Telecaster). Another reason for replacing the Tele neck pickup was that many players felt it lacked a "Rock and Roll vibe". The original single coil neck pickup excels in jazz and blues tones but players felt replacing it with a more powerful humbucker pickup would give the Telecaster a second rock voice to match the Tele's popular bridge pickup.
The Telecaster Custom (along with the Thinline
Fender Telecaster Thinline
The Fender Telecaster Thinline is an electric guitar made by the Fender company. It is a Telecaster with body cavities. Designed by German luthier Roger Rossmeisl in 1968, it was introduced in 1969 and updated with a pair of Fender Wide Range humbucking pickups, Bullet truss-rod and 3-bolt neck...
and Deluxe
Fender Telecaster Deluxe
The Fender Telecaster Deluxe is a solid-body electric guitar originally produced from 1972 to 1981, and since re-issued by Fender in 2004 as the '72 Telecaster Deluxe.-History:...
models) was an attempt to enter the humbucker
Humbucker
A humbucker is a type of electric guitar pickup, first patented by Seth Lover and the Gibson company, that uses two coils, both generating string signal. Humbuckers have higher output than a single coil pickup since both coils are connected in series...
market largely dominated by Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
. Fender's first humbucking design was the wide range
Fender Wide Range
The Fender Wide Range Humbucker is a humbucker guitar pickup, designed by Seth Lover for Fender in the early 1970s. This pickup was intended to break Fender's image as a "single coil guitar company", and to gain a foothold in the humbucker guitar market dominated by Gibson.The pickups enjoyed some...
humbucker created by Seth Lover
Seth Lover
Seth Lover is most famous for inventing the humbucker or hum-cancelling electric stringed instrument pickup, most often used on the electric guitar....
, who had overseen the development of the original Gibson humbucker. When Lover's association with Gibson came to an end Fender approached him to design a pick-up which would enable them to compete with his previous employer. The resulting pick-up first appeared in the Thinline and Deluxe range of Fender Telecasters introduced in 1972. Lover's Fender humbucker is felt by many to be brighter with more bottom end than his Gibson versions, and a better match for the classic Fender bridge pickup.
The original Telecaster Custom was in production from 1972 until 1981, sporting a curly "Custom" logo and "Witch-Hat" volume and tone knobs until the first half of 1977, when the knobs changed to Stratocaster types and the "Custom" logo to the standard italicized block typeface used on most Fender guitars and basses of the period.
Fender used denser wood for this model, resulting in a significantly heavier instrument (nine lbs versus the average Tele's seven) with inherently greater sustain. The resulting sound is much thicker and less sharply defined. Though the Telecaster Custom was in production for only 8 years, many felt it was the perfect combination of the Fender and Gibson sounds.
Few well-known players of the time picked up on the Tele Custom apart from Keith Richards
Keith Richards
Keith Richards is an English musician, songwriter, and founding member of the Rolling Stones. Rolling Stone magazine said Richards had created "rock's greatest single body of riffs", and placed him as the "10th greatest guitarist of all time." Fourteen songs written by Richards and songwriting...
, who used a couple alongside his modified Gibson humbucker-equipped Teles and Mick Green
Mick Green
Michael Robert "Mick" Green was an English rock and roll guitarist who played with Johnny Kidd & The Pirates and Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas.-Biography:He was born Michael Robert Green, in Matlock, Derbyshire...
(guitarist for The Pirates, Johnny Kidd, Bryan Ferry, Van Morrison and Paul McCartney) who wielded a natural-finish 'second-version' Custom.
Popularity
The Tele Custom was introduced just around the time that Fender began to lose its reputation as a quality instrument company. Blighted with Fender's allegedly unstable 3 bolt adjustable neck joint and the characteristic 1970's-style "notchless" upper cutaway, the Custom was also tarnished by negative perceptions surrounding the Pre / Post-CBS quality control debate.Were this not enough, the Custom was also more expensive than the standard Tele. Despite high hopes, sales never reached the levels that Fender had anticipated.
The Reissue 1972 Telecaster Custom
As with the other guitars in the '72 reissue series, the Custom has enjoyed much of its popularity long after the cessation of its original production run. Fender Japan was the first to release a reissue of the Custom, which benefited from being substantially lighter than the original and thus less tonally inert. Following the Japanese re-issue, Fender moved production to its EnsenadaEnsenada, Baja California
Ensenada is a coastal city in Mexico and the third-largest city in Baja California. It is located south of San Diego on the Baja California Peninsula. The city is locally referred to as La Cenicienta del Pacífico, or, The Cinderella of the Pacific...
facility in Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
- the MIM reissues are now the predominate versions in Europe and the USA. It is generally accepted among players that the Japanese version is superior to the Mexican version in construction, though some believe the Japanese ceramic humbucker suffers by comparison with the Mexican model's Alnico humbucker. The higher-end Factory Special Run (FSR) editions of the guitar are made at the Fender Custom Shop (USA).
Differences: The re-issues and road worn copies feature a different bridge to the original Telecaster Custom, and re-issues are supplied only in a choice of either black or sunburst. The re-issue body differs from the original in having the deeper upper cutaway characteristic of modern standard Telecasters. Perhaps the most well-known difference is the reissue Wide Range Humbucker pick-up.
Both the Mexican and the Japanese versions feature a reissued version of the Fender Wide Range humbucking pickup, each of which differs fundamentally in construction from the original. The original WRH used magnetized CuNiFe (copper, nickel and iron) polepieces ("slugs") with a copper wiring around the slugs, while the reissue has a standard non-magnetized set of slugs with an AlNiCo (aluminum, nickel, Cobalt) magnetized bar underneath. This standard humbucker is fitted in the larger casing of the original pickup, using wax to fill the void. The original WRH measured an average of 10.6 kΩ and used a 1 MΩ volume pot and a 250 kΩ tone pot, while the reissue measures a fairly standard 8 kΩ and uses 250 kΩ volume and tone pots. This results in a much darker sounding reissue wide range pickup.
Cricisms of the reissue Wide Range Humbucker and the escalating cost of parted-out original pick-ups has led to the establishment of a small but thriving aftermarket sector. Suppliers of boutique WRH replacements can be found in the USA and the UK. Some pick-up specialists also offer a re-winding / rebuilding service designed to return the reissue pickup to the original Seth Lover
Seth Lover
Seth Lover is most famous for inventing the humbucker or hum-cancelling electric stringed instrument pickup, most often used on the electric guitar....
specifications.
2010 Fender Custom Shop Q1 Limited 72 Telecaster Custom
In 2010 the Fender Custom Shop released a limited issue of 30 '72 Telecaster Custom relics. While they used some of the original '72 design features such as the three bolt neck and the classic look these guitars had many more differences from the originals. The body is made of ash and features a belly cut. The neck is one piece maple with a flatter 9.5 inch radius and larger 6105 frets. The head stock has the original design "Custom" logo. The neck pickup is a custom wound wide range humbucker. Alnico 2 magnets were used which more closely resemble the sound of the CuNiFe magets used the original Seth Lover pickup (I have only been able to verify this with a phone call to Fenders customer service). The bridge pickup is a "hot nocaster". The overwound pickup has more output which better matches the output of the neck pickup. These guitars are distinguished from production reissues by a "Custom Shop Limited Edition" logo on the back of the head stock and also on the neck plate.(Telecaster research quoted from Walter Carter's book Classic Electrics, ISBN 978-1-906002-19-0).