Telecaster and My Obsession!

The Fender Telecaster..! Here's a lil' intro, to my friends who loves Blacktop Telecaster HH..
SCANDAL Haruna once used it too..!

That's a lil bit introduction from few of many Telecaster lineup, so let's start the story!..
Hajimeeee~~~!!!!!!

When I still was a child, I was surrounded by many musical influences..Such as Kiss, Stryper, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, new wave, and everything that was popular and introduced to me during my childhood. I have watched many video clips during that day, and opened my eyes a lot on music. One of them that attract me is The Rolling Stones, and later I found out that their guitarist is Keith Richards. I amazed when I see he played his guitar sooo freely, so attractive with his body move..That’s a true show for me..

But later, I was too busy in school, and afterward..The music interest start to grow up again..The Rolling Stones came back to strike again with Bridges To Babylon albums..And I still found the same style of Keith Richards, and look it up for more into his guitar..what’s that? That guitar looks so simple, with two pickups, tone, volume knobs, and switch..that’s it. Looks too plain..but how he could play it with so much fun?..I search more and more..and I found that name, Telecaster..Fender Telecaster!

Fender Esquire

Ok, let’s break the pages for a while with the brief history of Telecaster. Shall we?

At 1950, this guitar was introduced as Broadcaster. Dual pick-up and solid body is the original mainstream of Tele. It was developed by Leo Fender in California, 1950. During that time, there’s not many solid-body guitar who could made a significant impact to the market. Many of them were hollow-body guitar like Gretsch (now owned by Fender).  Before it became Broadcaster, it was named Esquire, produced in single-pickup. But Esquire has no truss rod, so many of them replaced due to bent-neck problems. Later this model was discontinued, and then came out two pick up models guitar known as Broadcaster. From this time onward, all of Fender guitars necks use truss rod. But Broadcaster name was claimed as one of Gretsch line drums, Broadkaster. As a new player on the guitar industry, Fender decided to changed the name to Telecaster, after the newly popular medium of television. And the Esquire is also reintroduced as a low price one-pickup Telecaster.

Telecaster Thinline

The Telecaster is known for its ability to produce both  bright, rich, cutting tone or mellow, warm, bluesy tone. The solid body allows the guitar to deliver a clean amplified version of the strings' tone. This was an improvement on previous electric guitar designs, whose hollow bodies made them prone to unwanted feedback. These design elements allowed musicians to emulate steel guitar sounds, making it particularly useful in country music. These characteristics make the Telecaster a versatile guitar, usable for most styles of music including country, blues, rock and jazz.

Telecaster Variants: Telecaster Thinline, Telecaster Deluxe, Telecaster Custom, Telecaster Plus and Tele Jr.  Many artist use Tele as their main gear, it’s widely use in various music genre. But mainly use on country, electric blues, funk, and rock n’ roll. Several musicians use it on Jazz too.

Syd Barrett

 These are few from many musicians using Telecaster..:

1.    Syd Barrett (1946–2006), guitarist/singer/songwriter of the band Pink Floyd; used a unique mirror-disk covered Esquire.

Jonny Greenwood

2.    Jeff Beck (born 1944) Emerging in the mid 1960s with The Yardbirds, Beck proved that a ragged Fender Esquire could moan like a fuzzed-out violin. His lines in “Heart Full of Soul” and “Evil Hearted You” defined psychedelic guitar.

3.    Jonny Greenwood (born 1971) of Radiohead has made extensive use of the Telecaster since the '90s. He exclusively uses the Telecaster Plus model with a humbucker in the bridge position and a cut off button.

Waylon Jennings

4.    Waylon Jennings (1937–2002), a country legend, played many 1953 Telecasters which were covered with white-and-black leather carved in an oak leaf and floral motif. He also had some other Teles, but he mostly played two of his '53s. He has been honored by Fender with a Waylon Jennings Tribute Telecaster.

5.    Alex Lifeson (born 1953), the guitarist of Rush, frequently uses the Telecaster in live performances and in studio recordings.

6.    Jimmy Page (born 1944), though more known for his use of the Gibson Les Paul, used a Telecaster in his earlier work with The Yardbirds and on Led Zeppelin's first album, as well as on Stairway to Heaven, one of Led Zeppelin's most famous tracks.

Bill Frisell

7.    Keith Richards (born 1943) has composed many classic riffs with The Rolling Stones using a variety of Telecasters. His main axe is a '52 Tele named Micawber, which features a 5-string open G tuning and a humbucker in the neck position.

8.    Andy Summers (born 1942) of The Police almost always used his '61/'63 Telecaster Custom, which was customized with a Gibson neck humbucker, a preamp and a phase switch. Fender now make the Andy Summers Tribute Telecaster.

Pete Townshend

9.    George Harrison (1943–2001) of The Beatles received a prototype Rosewood Telecaster as a planned gift from Fender in 1968. Fender selected the better of two prototypes built, flew it to England in its own personal seat along with a courier, and hand-delivered the guitar to Apple offices in December 1968. Harrison used this guitar during The Beatles famous 'Get Back Sessions' as well as on the Beatles' 1970 album Let It Be and 1969's Abbey Road. Of equal notability, Harrison used the rosewood Tele for the Beatles' last public performance in 1969, famously referred to as 'the Rooftop concert'.

John 5

10.    Bill Frisell (born 1951) jazz guitarist noted for his atmospheric legato sounds, has, for the last several years, used the Telecaster as his primary guitar.

11.    Joe Strummer (1952–2002) of The Clash was "the most visible Tele player" in late 1970s punk, using his famous stickered instrument throughout his career, up until his death.

12.    Pete Townshend (born 1945), though famous for his Tele smashing in the 1960s with The Who, spared his favorite guitar, a 1952 vintage Telecaster.

13.    Graham Coxon (born 1969) has relied on the Telecaster for the majority of his career, achieving a distinctive sound underlined by an inventive use of effects that played an integral part in Blur's success during the 1990s. He uses a blonde 1968 Telecaster with a Gibson PAF Pickup, a 1960 Lake Placid blue Telecaster Relic, and a 1972 Telecaster Deluxe, while his time with Blur saw him use a reissue 1952 blonde Telecaster.

14.    John 5 (born 1971) is a heavy metal/country guitarist who has played with Marilyn Manson and who is known for his proficiency at shredding. Fender now produces a J5 Signature Telecaster which John 5 co-designed.

Jim Root

15.    Jim Root (born 1971) of Slipknot, Stone Sour, now plays Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster, after trying other brands like Charvel.

In keeping with other models Fender distinguishes product lines manufactured in different locations;

1.    The moderately-priced Standard, Classic and Deluxe Telecaster models are manufactured in Mexico, Japan and Korea. Each of these instruments has a feature set which makes them more affordable.

2.    The American Standard, American Vintage, American Deluxe, Special Edition and Highway One model lines are manufactured in the United States.

Micawber

Now, let’s back again to my time travel! Keith Richard Tele!..Why he could play it so freely? Here’s the secret..His guitar that I saw is ‘Micawber’, a 1953 Fender Telecaster, his most famous trademark guitar. This guitar is set on Open G tuning (G, D, G, B, D-->low to high) and its famous for 5 string set guitar with the 6th string removed (same as all of his Open G tuning guitar). And, that’s the reason why I saw him so freely when he touches the guitar and play the rhythm or melody part.

Fender Vintage Hot Rod '52

Then, afterward when I was in university, I had a jamming band consist of me on guitar, my friend on bass, and other on drums. We play every weekend at the studio near campus. All we did is play instrumental songs, we just flow..just create the song right on the spot. My favorite set on effect is to set it all up in half..(I use only boss-metal zone) It creates a nice sound which is not too loud or too distorted, but fit enough to play the rhythm or the melody part. One day, I spotted new guitar in the studio, a custom guitar, and were made looks like standard Telecaster (like Keith’s guitar on the pic). It’s really a well-crafted guitar..Well, it won’t harm u just to try it, right? I use it..and (here comes the exaggerated part) when I touch the fret..Voila! I felt that I could play anything on this guitar, any note, any style..I felt like, wow, this is the guitar that I really want. I could play soft and touchy, or I could play lil’ bit fast (I’m not good at shredding..lol), but still melodic.. I’m amazed..really..I wonder if it’s really a true Tele, then I’ll be on the top of the world..(naah, that’s too odd..hehe). That sensation is so great, so cool, so unforgettable..And I kept that in minds, that now Telecaster is became my obsession.

Haruna's Telecaster Thinline Deluxe

Afterward, I search some guitarist who use Tele beside Keith..and so many of them. But, most of it were played on certain genre only, like country, blues, and rock n’ roll. Lots of Japanese musician use Telecaster, e.g SCANDAL Haruna (vox,rhythm) with her Telecaster Thinline Deluxe (currently also using Squier Telecaster).

But, none of them were played in more aggressive sounds of music. Until I found this two badass guitarist..James Root of Slipknot and Stone Sour, and John Lowery a.k.a John 5, former guitarist of Marilyn Manson and now became Rob Zombie’s guitarist.

Jim use a simple Telecaster without tone knob, only volume knob.. He collaborated with Fender on a huge-sounding signature Telecaster guitar that complements his heavy playing style.

Jim Root Tele - White

Jim Root Tele -Black

While John 5 breaks the standard Tele, he uses triple pickup and add tremolo, as can seen on his J5 Triple Tele Deluxe, or the modern-vintage looks on his Fender Custom Shop J5 Bigsby Signature Telecaster. 

J5 Triple Tele Deluxe

Fender Custom Shop J5 Bigsby Signature Telecaster.

Still the standard Tele is the best I could rate of. Though, its siblings, Stratocaster, is more famous, widely known and used for melody and for more aggressive music sound, but the Telecaster has prove that they could provide more than we thought. Its unique tone made it more recognizable than other guitar could..And from Keith Richards, I ended up to John 5..It’s quite a ride, but it surely made me know other music genre. Thanks to Telecaster..!

And, here's few from many Telecaster lineup products..

60th Anniversary Telecaster®

American Vintage '52 Telecaster® Reissue Left-Handed

American Vintage '62 Custom Telecaster®

American Vintage '69 Telecaster® Thinline

Blacktop™ Telecaster® HH

Classic Series '50s Telecaster®

FSR Classic Series '72 Telecaster® Deluxe

Fender® Select Carved Maple Top Telecaster®

Jim Adkins JA-90 Telecaster® Thinline

Old Growth Redwood Telecaster®

Road Worn® Player Telecaster®

Special Edition Custom Telecaster® FMT HH

Standard Telecaster®

Fender Telecaster documentary!

Notes:

There’s several line that I quote directly from its source, especially on Telecaster player list.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Telecaster

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Telecaster_players
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truss_rod

http://www.thekeithshrine.com/~Blue_Lena/guitar.html

http://members.tripod.com/blue_lena/guitar2.html

http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0134444706

http://john-5.com/main/gear/
http://scandal4gear.web.fc2.com/haruna/

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3SrVJNbizg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruvXCd1Z3RU