The Fender Telecaster Bass launched in the surprisingly late year of 1968, though its appearance is very much like the original, revolutionary 1951 Precision Bass. From a modern perspective, there isn’t a lot to the Fender Telecaster Bass.
Vintage
Built during 1968, we’ve nicknamed this beautiful aged-blonde Fender Telecaster ‘Don’ in reference to the letters once affixed to the top. Over time, the blonde finish darkened to a lovely butterscotch tone and when the letters were removed, the lighter finish remained. The Fender Telecaster has proven to be an excellent illustration of design fitting its purpose, and for nearly 75 years this model has been built and sold with really only minor variations.
Here we’re looking at a Martin D28 Marquis, built during 2008 at the Martin plant in Nazareth, Pennsylvania. This example pairs an Adirondack Spruce top with Indian Rosewood for the sides, back, and head plate. Typical of Martin guitars, the body blocks and neck are Tropical Mahogany, and as part of the Style 28 feature set, the fingerboard and bridge are Ebony.
Introduced in 1954, the Gibson J-160E flat top electric turned out to be one of the more successful of Gibson’s slope-shouldered dreadnoughts. Intended as a companion to the then-new Les Paul solidbody, the Gibson J-160E was one of the first mass production electrified steel string guitars. This model was discontinued in 1979, and is occasionally re-issued.
This beautiful 1935 Gibson Super 400 Sunburst with McCarty Pickguard guitar has a history – it is one of the guitars that the late Ed Bickert used before settling on his Telecaster. This example dates to 1935 and was built at the historic Parsons Street plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan. 88 years old at time of writing, it is in overall good and completely playable condition.
The Gibson ES-175T is based on the classic full bodied ES175, but with sides just over half the thickness. This model appeared in Gibson Catalogs from 1976 to 1979. Before being discontinued, approximately 333 were shipped in the Natural finish seen here, Wine Red, and Sunburst.