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Fender American Vintage '52 Telecaster |
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The Telecaster was first introduced in 1951 with a number of changes made in the 1952 version. The Vintage '52 Tele is one of Fender's American Vintage Series guitars. The original '52 version had an all maple neck (which this guitar has) and the serial number stamped on the ashtray bridge. This guitar has the original style bridge with an 'Ash Tray' cover and three brass saddles. Many guitarists think that the 3 brass model bridges are superior sound wise because there is more pressure holding the string against the body. This is because there are two strings per brass saddle. It's true that it’s a little more difficult to get the intonation correct but it’s very doable. The maple neck has the original 'black dots' as inlay position markers and the silver spaghetti 'Fender' logo (the F is reversed as usual). The truss rod adjustment is found at the bottom end of neck, near the neck pickup. You adjust it using a 'flat headed' Phillips screwdriver. It wasn't until the early 70's that the bullet truss rod adjustment was introduced. The tilt of the neck was only adjustable but placing small pieces of wood (shims) in-between the neck and the body to change the pitch angle. This again was replaced with the bullet truss rod that allowed you to change the pitch of the neck. Also on the original '52 neck there was another neck serial number which was written in pencil next to the Phillips head screw adjustment. The neck is also made of a single piece of maple and has a skunk strip down the back side. It wasn't until the late 50's and early 60's where the neck was made using a separate 'fretboard' which was glued on top of the neck. This allowed the truss rod to be placed inside the neck without the need of routing out the back and having a skunk strip. This guitar has the original style neck with the neck shape being the classic 'U' shape which is thicker than necks found on latter models. Many of the modern day Fenders have a 'C' shaped neck which is considered to be easier to play. The 'U' shape is said to deliver more tone and sustain mainly because there's more of it. The electronics on the '52 tele where somewhat different to that of the earlier version. The normal 3-way pickup selector wasn't introduced until the last 60's which meant that there was no 'both' pickup setting that included a tone control (See next paragraph). This is somewhat significant in that the '52 version has a slightly more 'advanced' pickup selector system than that found previously. The '52 electronics consist of two single coil pickups, a volume control and a tone control. The tone control worked when the selector was in the rear and front settings and not in the middle setting. Fender calls this the 'Vintage Circuit' in that the 3-way pickup selector does select between the pickups but there is no setting where both pickups are on simultaneously. The pickup selector when in the rear (bridge) position turns on the bridge pickup with the tone control working normally. In the Middle position the front (neck) pickup is turned on with the tone control working as you would expect. Now when the pickup selector is placed to the bridge pickup setting the front (neck) pickup is turned on and has a more dark sound. The tone control does nothing. Pickup Switching 3-Position Blade:
The guitar also includes a Capacitor and Wiring Diagram which allows you to change the electronics to the more modern pickup selector circuit (but why would you want to do that?). On the earlier versions (before '52) still had two pickups, a 3-way selector switch, a volume control, an in place of the normal tone control there was a balance control. The selector switch when moved to the back position would enable both pickups with the balance (which is now the tone control) control knob controlling the volume of the 'neck' pickup. This allowed you to blend the two or turn down the neck pickup completely. When the pickup selector was in the middle and front positions the 'balance' control did nothing. When the 3-way pickup selector was in the middle position it gave the neck pickup a normal tone and in the neck position gave a bassier tone. The pickups are made using to the same specs and with the same materials as that found on the original. They use Alnico3 magnets with enamel coated wiring. The bridge pickup has the original copper plated steel base plate which gives the pickup more midrange. The neck pickup uses alnic3 magnets as well and is covered with a nickel plated chrome pickup cover. Very vintage looking and sounding. The body is made of premium quality ash and is only available in butterscotch blonde with a nitrocellulose lacquer finish just like the original. The single cut-a-way body shape is to the same dimensions as that on the 1952 version. Over the years apparently the specs/sizes had changed slightly. The pickguard is single-ply and black in color. This is what was used on the earlier Teles. In 1954 the pickguard was changed to white. As mentioned the bridge used is a vintage style bridge. The 25.5 inch scale length neck is made of a single piece of maple and has the classic 'U' shape. Being a single piece of maple it has a maple fretboard and 21 frets with a radius of only 7.25 inches. The Standard version has a radius of 9.5 inches which is slightly more flat. The position markers are black dot again like the original while the machine heads are Gotoh Vintage style tuners. The electronics and pickups are vintage as well. They are made to the same specs as used in 1952. The pickups are American Vintage single coils with the slant rear pickup and the front straight pickup. The 3-way pickup selector was previously described above. It's not your normal switching arrangement. This Telecaster is Fender's longest running guitar which was introduced back in 1951. This is very close to the first models and still has the original tele sound. It includes a tweed hardshell case, strap, ashtray bridge cover, guitar cable, and polishing cloth.
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