1954 Fender Telecaster
The Last Of The "Black-Guards"
This featherwight fifty-six-year-old Blond beauty weighs just 7.50 lbs. and has a nut width of just over 1 5/8 inches inches and a scale length of 25 1/2 inches. Solid ash body and fretted maple neck with a really thick profile and 21 original thin frets and black dot position markers. Single "round" string tree. Headstock decal with "Fender" spaghetti logo in silver and "Telecaster" in black below it. Individual "no-name" Kluson Deluxe tuners with oval metal buttons. The tuning keys are stamped on the underside "2356766/PAT. APPLD". One plain metal-cover "black-bottom" pickup with slot-head adjusting screws (at neck) with a very strong output of 7.81k, and one black six-polepiece "copper-coated metal plate bottom" pickup with flush polepieces (angled in bridgeplate) with an output of 5.83k. Single-ply black Bakelite pickguard with five screws. Two controls (one volume, one blender) plus three-way "tone" switch and original "patent number" black plastic "barrel-like" tip, all on metal plate adjoining pickguard. Shorter chrome knobs with more pronounced domes and heavy knurled sides. Telecaster combined bridge/tailpiece with three flat bottomed brass "Fender" spaghetti logo in silver and "Telecaster" in black below it. saddles. Serial number "3890" on the bridge plate beneath the words "FENDER/PAT. PEND." The neck is dated in pencil "10-54" and the bridge pickup cavity is dated in blue pencil "11-54X". The potentiometers are stamped "304 432" (Stackpole, August 1954) and the three-way switch is stamped "CRL 1452." According to the previous owner - the neck pickup was apparently re-wound by Lindy Fralin some years ago. There is a small area of surface loss (belt buckle wear) on the back (approximately one inch by one inch). There are some small marks / dings / surface wear on the edges of the body. There is a small amount of playing wear on the fretboard, but far less than is usually seen and the original frets also show very little wear. There are a few small marks on the back of the neck and a small area of varnish loss on the 'skunk stripe' behind the third to the seventh fretsl The lovely grain of the ash body shows very well through the Blond finish and this fifty-six-year-old gem in 9.00 exceptionally fine condition is quite simply one of the nicest "black-guard" Telecasters that we have ever seen. Complete with the original 1954 Fender hang-tag with matching serial number. Housed in it's original Fender 'Tweed' side-pocket hardshell case with tan leather ends and bright red plush lining (8.75).
This exceptionally fine 'transitional' example is one of the very last Telecasters to have the early features of the serial number on the bridge-plate, a black bakelite pickguard, a flat-pole bridge pickup and three brass saddles.
It has the new for late '1954 'creamier' shade which allows the 'blueish' grain of the ash to show through so beautifully.
"Both the Telecaster and the Esquire kept their basic 1951 appointments until the mid-50s. In retrospect, their most striking features -- at least cosmetically speaking -- are a typical yellowed blonde finish (a.k.a. 'butterscotch' finish) and a black pickguard, hence the often cited notion of early 'black guard' Tellies. The combination of the two actually gives a distinct look to the early 50s models, which are otherwise considered by many as the ultimate classic Telecaster guitar because of their tone... Besides its peculiar hue, the original blonde finish nicely showcases the ash body heavy grain pattern that later whiter finishes would subdue...[1954] marks the beginning of a number of changes in the appointments of Telecaster guitars. By Fall, the bakelite black guard was replaced by a single ply white trim and a few months later steel superseded brass for the bridge saddles. FENDER also changed the finishing process of the blonde finish... The typical 'butterscotch' colour gave way to a creamier shade which would soon evolve into a lighter off-white finish. Finally, 1954 is also the year when the serial number was removed from the bridge plate to be stamped on the neck anchor plate... (A.R. Duchossoir, The Fender Telecaster, p. 16).
"Leo Fender's new solidbody was the instrument that we know now as the Fender Telecaster, effectively the world's first commercially successful solidbody electric guitar...The guitar was originally named the Fender Esquire and then the Fender Broadcaster, and it first went into production in 1950. It was a simple, effective instrument. It had a basic, single-cutaway, solid slab of ash for a body, with a screwed-on maple neck. Everything was geared to easy production. It had a slanted pickup mounted into a steel bridge-plate carrying three adjustable bridge-saddles, and the body was finished in a yellowish color known as blond. It was unadorned and like nothing else. It was ahead of its time (Tony Bacon, 50 Years of Fender, p. 10).
"When the first electric Spanish guitar was introduced in 1950, it came with a 4-digit serial number stamped on the bridge plate which, despite its format, did not dovetail into the schemes already in use on other products such as lap steel guitars. It can be therefore assumed that the serialization of the all-new model theoretically started with #0001 (NB a zero counts as one digit) and progressed on a roughly cumulative basis. Although correct in principle, this theory is not entirely corroborated by the actual numbers found on 1950 guitars. For instance, the numbers of some of the very few documented Esquires without a truss-rod read #0013, #0043 or #0087 and are indeed higher than those of some later guitars with a truss-rod. In fact, the numbers on the Spanish guitars made in 1950 do vary substantially and may show jumps in tens, hundreds and even thousands, while production did not probably exceed a hundred guitars or so. Such an erratic pattern is largely verified during the early 50s with serial numbers stamped on the bridge plate. Thus a '52 model may be fitted with a number in the 3000s whilst one from '53 or '54 may show a lower number in the 2000s. For example: Esquire #2782 with a 4-54 neck date [and] Telecaster #2961 with a 12-53 neck date [and] Telecaster #3686 with a 12-52 neck date [and] Esquire #3735 with a 7-52 neck date.
This leads to the conclusion that during the early 50s:
* Serial numbers were not used sequentially on a cumulative basis, i.e. the lower the number, the older the instrument
* There is no strict correlation between neck dates and serial numbers, which were basically allotted at random regardless of the period of issue.
* Serial numbers were not stamped on an "ad hoc" basis, but probably pre-stamped in quantities".
(A.R. Duchossoir. The Fender Telecaster p.75).
This featherwight fifty-six-year-old Blond beauty weighs just 7.50 lbs. and has a nut width of just over 1 5/8 inches inches and a scale length of 25 1/2 inches. Solid ash body and fretted maple neck with a really thick profile and 21 original thin frets and black dot position markers. Single "round" string tree. Headstock decal with "Fender" spaghetti logo in silver and "Telecaster" in black below it. Individual "no-name" Kluson Deluxe tuners with oval metal buttons. The tuning keys are stamped on the underside "2356766/PAT. APPLD". One plain metal-cover "black-bottom" pickup with slot-head adjusting screws (at neck) with a very strong output of 7.81k, and one black six-polepiece "copper-coated metal plate bottom" pickup with flush polepieces (angled in bridgeplate) with an output of 5.83k. Single-ply black Bakelite pickguard with five screws. Two controls (one volume, one blender) plus three-way "tone" switch and original "patent number" black plastic "barrel-like" tip, all on metal plate adjoining pickguard. Shorter chrome knobs with more pronounced domes and heavy knurled sides. Telecaster combined bridge/tailpiece with three flat bottomed brass "Fender" spaghetti logo in silver and "Telecaster" in black below it. saddles. Serial number "3890" on the bridge plate beneath the words "FENDER/PAT. PEND." The neck is dated in pencil "10-54" and the bridge pickup cavity is dated in blue pencil "11-54X". The potentiometers are stamped "304 432" (Stackpole, August 1954) and the three-way switch is stamped "CRL 1452." According to the previous owner - the neck pickup was apparently re-wound by Lindy Fralin some years ago. There is a small area of surface loss (belt buckle wear) on the back (approximately one inch by one inch). There are some small marks / dings / surface wear on the edges of the body. There is a small amount of playing wear on the fretboard, but far less than is usually seen and the original frets also show very little wear. There are a few small marks on the back of the neck and a small area of varnish loss on the 'skunk stripe' behind the third to the seventh fretsl The lovely grain of the ash body shows very well through the Blond finish and this fifty-six-year-old gem in 9.00 exceptionally fine condition is quite simply one of the nicest "black-guard" Telecasters that we have ever seen. Complete with the original 1954 Fender hang-tag with matching serial number. Housed in it's original Fender 'Tweed' side-pocket hardshell case with tan leather ends and bright red plush lining (8.75).
This exceptionally fine 'transitional' example is one of the very last Telecasters to have the early features of the serial number on the bridge-plate, a black bakelite pickguard, a flat-pole bridge pickup and three brass saddles.
It has the new for late '1954 'creamier' shade which allows the 'blueish' grain of the ash to show through so beautifully.
"Both the Telecaster and the Esquire kept their basic 1951 appointments until the mid-50s. In retrospect, their most striking features -- at least cosmetically speaking -- are a typical yellowed blonde finish (a.k.a. 'butterscotch' finish) and a black pickguard, hence the often cited notion of early 'black guard' Tellies. The combination of the two actually gives a distinct look to the early 50s models, which are otherwise considered by many as the ultimate classic Telecaster guitar because of their tone... Besides its peculiar hue, the original blonde finish nicely showcases the ash body heavy grain pattern that later whiter finishes would subdue...[1954] marks the beginning of a number of changes in the appointments of Telecaster guitars. By Fall, the bakelite black guard was replaced by a single ply white trim and a few months later steel superseded brass for the bridge saddles. FENDER also changed the finishing process of the blonde finish... The typical 'butterscotch' colour gave way to a creamier shade which would soon evolve into a lighter off-white finish. Finally, 1954 is also the year when the serial number was removed from the bridge plate to be stamped on the neck anchor plate... (A.R. Duchossoir, The Fender Telecaster, p. 16).
"Leo Fender's new solidbody was the instrument that we know now as the Fender Telecaster, effectively the world's first commercially successful solidbody electric guitar...The guitar was originally named the Fender Esquire and then the Fender Broadcaster, and it first went into production in 1950. It was a simple, effective instrument. It had a basic, single-cutaway, solid slab of ash for a body, with a screwed-on maple neck. Everything was geared to easy production. It had a slanted pickup mounted into a steel bridge-plate carrying three adjustable bridge-saddles, and the body was finished in a yellowish color known as blond. It was unadorned and like nothing else. It was ahead of its time (Tony Bacon, 50 Years of Fender, p. 10).
"When the first electric Spanish guitar was introduced in 1950, it came with a 4-digit serial number stamped on the bridge plate which, despite its format, did not dovetail into the schemes already in use on other products such as lap steel guitars. It can be therefore assumed that the serialization of the all-new model theoretically started with #0001 (NB a zero counts as one digit) and progressed on a roughly cumulative basis. Although correct in principle, this theory is not entirely corroborated by the actual numbers found on 1950 guitars. For instance, the numbers of some of the very few documented Esquires without a truss-rod read #0013, #0043 or #0087 and are indeed higher than those of some later guitars with a truss-rod. In fact, the numbers on the Spanish guitars made in 1950 do vary substantially and may show jumps in tens, hundreds and even thousands, while production did not probably exceed a hundred guitars or so. Such an erratic pattern is largely verified during the early 50s with serial numbers stamped on the bridge plate. Thus a '52 model may be fitted with a number in the 3000s whilst one from '53 or '54 may show a lower number in the 2000s. For example: Esquire #2782 with a 4-54 neck date [and] Telecaster #2961 with a 12-53 neck date [and] Telecaster #3686 with a 12-52 neck date [and] Esquire #3735 with a 7-52 neck date.
This leads to the conclusion that during the early 50s:
* Serial numbers were not used sequentially on a cumulative basis, i.e. the lower the number, the older the instrument
* There is no strict correlation between neck dates and serial numbers, which were basically allotted at random regardless of the period of issue.
* Serial numbers were not stamped on an "ad hoc" basis, but probably pre-stamped in quantities".
(A.R. Duchossoir. The Fender Telecaster p.75).
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