Flower Power!

This early Japanese reissue "Blue Flower" Telecaster weighs 8.10 lbs. and has a nut width of slighly over 1 5/8 inches and a scale length of 25 1/2 inches. Solid alder body, one-piece fretted maple neck with 21 frets and black dot position markers. Headstock decal with "Fender" logo in black with gold trim and "TELECASTER" in black beside it. Individual vintage-style Fender Deluxe tuners with oval metal buttons. Single "butterfly" string tree. "Made in Japan" stamped on the back of the neck near the heel. Four-bolt neck plate with large Fender backward "F" logo. Two hot single-coil pickups: one plain metal-cover pickup at neck with an output of 7.62k and one black six-polepiece pickup angled in bridgeplate with an output of 7.67k. Transparent pickguard. Two controls (one volume, one tone) plus three-way selector switch, all on metal plate adjoining pickguard. Chrome knobs with flat tops and knurled sides. Fender combined bridge/tailpiece. Serial number ("A 034105") stamped on the bridge/tailpiece. This guitar is in mint (9.50) condition. Housed in a contemporary (1980s) Ibanez black hardshell case with black plush lining (9.00).

Pink Paisley and Blue Flower Telecasters were made during the height of the Flower Power movement (in 1968 and 1969 -- for two years only). In 1984, the Japanese began to make copies -- the best copies that were ever made. They were great instruments and the limited run (a few hundred made only between 1984 and 1985) sold out almost immediately. This Blue Flower Telecaster is one of the earliest Japanese reissues -- and the next best thing to the original!

"Fender's interpretation of 1960s Flower Power came in the garish patterns of the 'Paisley Red' and 'Blue Flower' Telecasters. A clear plastic pickguard revealed the full glory of the designs, achieved at the inventive Fender factory by attaching self-adhesive wallpaper to the front and back of the body. The finishes do not wear well, but these unusual, striking Telecasters are now much sought after by collectors" (Tony Bacon and Paul Day, The Fender Book, p. 47).