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1951
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- The Fender Telecaster was first released in 1951, and it popularized the new idea of solidbody electric guitars.
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The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the tele / ˈtɛli /, [1] is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it was the world's first mass-produced, commercially successful [note 1] solid-body electric guitar.
- The Archtop Era
- Enter Leo Fender
- The Esquire
- The Broadcaster
- Tele Tweaks
- The Player's Perspective
- The Tele Legacy
As twilight fell on the Big Band era toward the end of World War II, small combos playing boogie-woogie, rhythm and blues, western swing, and honky-tonk formed throughout the United States. Many of these outfits embraced the electric guitarbecause it could give a few players the power of an entire horn section. Pickup-equipped archtops had reigned ...
Fender recognized the vast potential for an electric guitar that was easy to hold, easy to tune, and easy to play. He also recognized that players needed guitars that would not feed back at dance hall volumes like the typical archtop. (Many guitarists had to stuff rags into their elegantly crafted guitars to stop the howling.) In addition, Fender s...
Don Randall, who managed Fender's distributor, the Radio & Television Equipment Company, recognized the commercial possibilities of the new design and made plans to introduce the instrument as the Esquire Model. (Although Randall – the company's de facto namesmith – gave the Esquire its moniker, Fender supported the name, saying that it "sounded re...
The factory finally went into full production in late October or early November 1950, and the name Randall chose for the dual-pickup guitar was "Broadcaster." Musical Merchandisemagazine carried the first announcement for the Broadcaster in February 1951 with a full-page insert that described it in detail. The guitar had what Randall called a "Mode...
In 1952, Fender replaced the Telecaster's blend control circuit with a conventional tone control. Now the switch's rear position selected the lead pickup, the middle position selected the rhythm pickup, and the front position delivered the "deep rhythm" sound. Teles were equipped this way until the mid-'60s, when the modern switch setup was introdu...
In the early 1950s, a broad spectrum of Tele players established themselves in combos – even young blues guitarlegend-to-be B.B. King spanked the plank. With its versatile sound, ease of playing, and reasonable cost, what better guitar to yellow with perspiration and cigarette smoke? Most serious students could afford the $189.50 price, ensuring a ...
By the late '60s, it was clear the Telecaster had shaken the foundations of the music industry. The Tele – and the host of solidbody models introduced as a result of its success – changed the way the world heard, played, and composed music. Ironically, Leo Fender, who worked incessantly after '51 developing new models such as the Strat, Jazzmaster,...
The Telecaster would become the foundation of the “Bakersfield Sound” pioneered in the later 1950s and popularized in the 1960s by Owens and his band, the Buckaroos, Merle Haggard and the Strangers, and others. The Telecaster also made great inroads in the 1950s as a must-have studio session instrument.
- Jeff Owens
Jun 11, 2021 · In 1954, Fender started producing Teles with a white pickguard. The Telecaster has seen a lot of firsts; Nat King Cole guitarist Oscar Moore’s Ermine White ’51 Nocaster with gold hardware debuted the Fender custom colour.
- Jonathan Horsley
Sep 23, 2022 · Even in 1949, Fender had a few successes under his belt that suggested a solidbody electric might be the way forward. He’d launched a range of wooden-cabinet valve amplifiers including the Princeton, Deluxe and Professional the year after the war ended.
Oct 20, 2022 · The earliest T-type bridge pickups started out with Alnico III, but around 1954 Fender began using more powerful Alnico V slugs. Initially flush with the top, the slugs became staggered in 1955, just like the recently introduced Stratocaster pickups.
