Texas Special B Bender CS Tele..anyone see this?

I didnt want to start another thread but I didnt see this one around here anywhere.

Cool guitar someone actually played it! Look at the frets.

ebay item # 260958135675

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Fender-Telecaster-b-bender-custom-shop-RARE-Leather-/00/s/MTYwMFgxMDcx/$(KGrHqJ,!q!E8WqKwsIMBPPDcHY2vw~~60_12.JPG

Funny that if you had a guitar like that you wouldn't replace a saddle with a brass one...

Someone got a hell of a deal for $1925!! I bet there's a great smell to it when you take it out of the case.

The body had some Custom Shop markings. I didn't see any CS mark on the neck so who knows what it is.
Nice looking though.

It should be here in a few days, and I have a 14 day approval period. I'll let y'all know how it turns out. It appears to be the 60th of the 60 Texas Special Teles made in 1991 , with the added bonus of a B Bender and a leather cover--(I think the T-ROJO Texas Special Tele made for producer Robert Johnson and the other one made for Mark Pollack make it a total of 62 in the series). I believe I can tell who made the leather cover from looking at the photos, but I'll have to see it in person to be sure. Looks like fun, though not quite the Tele (or Esquire) of my dreams. I haven't had a Parsons-White style Bender in years (not since I sold My Nashville West Clarence White copy), and I have been a sucker for leather covers ever since I bought Waylon's Michael Stevens Custom Shop Tele in 1997. Still, nothing beats a plain old Esquire - and the lighter the better (my lightest swamp ash partscaster is 5.3 pounds, and my lightest Fender Custom Shop Nocaster is 6.1 pounds).

By the way, another one of the Texas Special Telecasters just turned up on eBay (it had been on a regional Craig's List as recently as yesterday). The eBay item number is 251003430760. GrinningElk Music Company also has one in original condition. A link to their website is contained within the eBay listing. It is a good historical reference for anyone interested in these relatively rare Telecasters.

Congrats on getting it Johnny, let us know how she plays.

Funny that if you had a guitar like that you wouldn't replace a saddle with a brass one...

Someone got a hell of a deal for $1925!! I bet there's a great smell to it when you take it out of the case.


Probably Aluminum......maybe stainless. Helps with "clarity" of the E & A strings......= Hot Rod. Here's a photo of Rutter's set.

"KEEEEEEEEEP ON A PICKIN" WPO

I didnt want to start another thread but I didnt see this one around here anywhere.

Cool guitar someone actually played it! Look at the frets.

ebay item # 260958135675

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Fender-Telecaster-b-bender-custom-shop-RARE-Leather-/00/s/MTYwMFgxMDcx/$(KGrHqJ,!q!E8WqKwsIMBPPDcHY2vw~~60_12.JPG

Very, very nice!! Congrats........BEAUUUUUTIFULLLLL GUITAR!!

"KEEEEEEEEEEEP ON A PICKIN" WPO

Parsons White bender fits in nicely.

Nice !!

Wow !!! :shock: Pure awesomeness... Enjoy !!!

Beautiful guitar...
Good look for the Country Mucic.:lol:

Congrats! That is a cool guitar.

Johnny, that is one nice looking guitar....and with a nice bender, to boot. Please give us a review after you receive it!

The guitar arrived the other day. Here's a bit of an update.

The pickups are by Keeso. The neck pickup is labeled: "Tele neck. Wind: CW.7.37K. Polarity-North Up". The bridge pickup is labeled "J&H Tele bridge. 6.07k/8.4K. Polarity-South Up". I am not familiar with Keeso pickups, though I did find one profanity-laden rant about them on another site. All I can say is that these pickups sound superb.

It has a 4 way switch and a push-pull tone pot (which I didn't even notice at first and still haven't figured out).

The body, neck, and neckplate clearly identify as #60 of the Texas Special Telecasters made in 1991 from the Fender Custom Shop. The knobs appear to be Callaham (Heavy Knurled).

The neck plays like a dream - a very soft V, and this guitar's tone is as good as any tele I have ever played. The tooled leather cover is very well done, though I will have to examine it more carefully to determine who made it. I haven't compared it part-for-part, but I believe the B-Bender to most likely to be from Gene Parsons.

It has a Hipshot D-tuner, and the E/A saddle was changed-out from brass to steel.

I'd say this was owned by a player who knew what he wanted and customized this Custom Shop guitar to his liking (too many purchasers of Custom Shop guitars treat them as museum pieces).

I still have a few days left on my approval period. The only downside is it's weight...it weighs precisely 10.5 pounds. I'd imagine that before the leather cover was put on it was around 8.5 pounds...typical for one of these Texas Special guitars. I favor lightweight teles, but one thing for sure, this one ain't neck-heavy, and is actually surprisingly comfortable to play. I've played VERY heavy basses many times and I have marched many a mile in parades through the years carrying a 15 pound baritone sax or even a 20 pound bass sax, and I've never complained about their weight.

So, I'll decide in the next couple days whether or not to keep it, but it sure is a fine guitar. If not for the weight, I wouldn't even have to think twice about it.

I hope you keep it! Sounds like a real special guitar....I wouldn't let it get away!

I like light teles myself, but I'd keep that one.

Looks amazing!

Weight-schmeight...play bass for a while and you'll beg for a "heavy" Tele!

It has a 4 way switch and a push-pull tone pot (which I didn't even notice at first and still haven't figured out).

Since that bridge pickup has two output strengths listed on it (6.07k/8.4K) I would guess that the push/pull pot is a coil tap for the two windings.

Sweet looking guitar.

The push-pull pot is switching the coil taps on the bridge pick-up.
Edit- guess I should read posts to the bottom before i respond.
But that is what it does. And that is a Glendale Twang set of bridge pieces with and an alumuinum E-A.

if you sold a Nashville West you will pass on this guitar......its the same thing

I checked the push -pull with the meter, and it indeed switches between the 6.07k/8.4K coils (I checked it out on the meter to be sure...it was hard to hear on the practice amp i the house but sure came through on the 1964 Twin Reverb and the 1957 Vibrolux). The E/A saddle doesn't appear to me to be a Glendale...it doesn't look at all like my other Glendales and my magnet assures me it is not aluminum. From the diameter and the string grooves, I suspect it might even be a Fender saddle from a few years back. Comparisons with either of the two Nashville West guitars which I sold a few years back are inevitable...they were top-notch instruments in all respects. But selling them was simply a financial decision I made at the time (simply to help finance the purchase of one of my Martin N-20's as I recall). I wouldn't mind having that Clarence White Nashville West back again, though my true search is for a nice lightweight beat-up and/or refinished Esquire. I enjoy benders, but I'm not really much of a bender guy (though Forrest Lee Jr. tells me he bought his first tele from my store years ago, so I have a small place in bender history)

Welcome to the leather club. I love mine.
http://www.jamesfaron.com/leather tele.jpg