Fender 1998 Telecaster Collectors Edition (1998 made or not)

MailMan · March 6th, 2008, 05:32 AM

Im an owner of number 0955 of this limited run of 1998 beautiful guitars (as pictured in the TDPRI logo ). And in the time that I had it I have been searching for as much info as possible.

Now I've run across 15 - 20, or maybe even more of em on the internet, but none of them had a number that was running in the thousand or higher.

Maybe this was just by chance, or maybe Fender saw this line wasn't as succesful as they hoped and stopped halfway at 999?

I know there are some other TDPRI'ers that have this guitar. What's your number?

AjayTele · March 6th, 2008, 06:54 AM

Good question...may be true.

Mine's #846.

Sarge · March 6th, 2008, 08:53 AM

I have one...I'll get back to you with the number. I did speak to a Fender employee and he told me there were ONLY 1998 made and sent me the spec sheet.

MailMan · March 6th, 2008, 11:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarge

I have one...I'll get back to you with the number. I did speak to a Fender employee and he told me there were ONLY 1998 made and sent me the spec sheet.

Yep the information released with these guitars says there have been only 1998 made. But I also read somewhere that these guitars were far from a succes back then (same goes for the 1997 strat). And when you take 15 guitars and none of them go above 1000, either chance's playing with me, someone has the last 999 of these beauties or there were never more made than 999.

Mark Davis · March 6th, 2008, 03:07 PM

Telenator has one. Maybe his is a higher serial # I do remember he tried out several Teles before he got his.

jwells393 · March 6th, 2008, 03:22 PM

If it's a nice Fender, I'd bet that csapo has one.

csapo · March 6th, 2008, 06:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwells393

If it's a nice Fender, I'd bet that csapo has one.

#409 for me...

Mark Davis · March 6th, 2008, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by csapo

#409 for me...

Shes real fine my 409.

Sorry couldnt resist.

csapo · March 6th, 2008, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Davis

Shes real fine my 409.

Sorry couldnt resist.

Nice Mark

BTW, congrats on hitting the 10k level and thanks for all the great info.

Frank B · March 6th, 2008, 08:46 PM

We had one in a shop in Qc city and I almost bought it. I don't recall the exact number but it was under 1000 I'm pretty sure.

MailMan · March 6th, 2008, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frank B

We had one in a shop in Qc city and I almost bought it. I don't recall the exact number but it was under 1000 I'm pretty sure.

Well more evidence suggesting that there are no numbers above 1000. I'll go and mail Fender to see if their administration is any good.

Frank B · March 6th, 2008, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MailMan

Well more evidence suggesting that there are no numbers above 1000. I'll go and mail Fender to see if their administration is any good.

We usually get the leftovers up here...

So if it was in the 3 digits it means there were none over that

Larry K. Williams · March 7th, 2008, 11:11 AM

I used to own # 785. Look at my avatar.

serialsteve · March 7th, 2008, 11:30 AM

Something tells me that there's a kid in a dusty village in Africa strumming #1550 dressed to the nines in his New England Patriots-2008 SuperBowl champs shirt and hat.

Geo · March 7th, 2008, 07:34 PM

I played one here locally some years back so don't recall the serial number.
Nice guitar although this one was a little roughed up. Think these have
a 9.25" or 9.5" fingerboard radius.

peteb · March 7th, 2008, 08:08 PM

were these 50th anniversary teles?

The reason I ask is that I remember reading, on the subject of the obscure history of the development of the tele, that Fender was unsure of the history of the tele, so much so that they released a 50th anniversary tele based on a beginning date of 1948.

The significance to this thread is maybe they started out making 1998 of them when they thought they had their facts and dates straight, but after the model came out someone must have enlightened them causing Fender to change their plans.

91xlntS-3 · March 7th, 2008, 08:55 PM

Had one and sold it about 5 years ago. What was I thinking?? Don't remember the number, but it was a great guitar!

Larry K. Williams · March 8th, 2008, 01:22 AM

I remember trying to buy one from a guy in Australia. I do remember the number of that one being 4 digits.......so there were more than 1000. I just don't remember the exact number.

MailMan · March 8th, 2008, 06:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peteb

were these 50th anniversary teles?

The reason I ask is that I remember reading, on the subject of the obscure history of the development of the tele, that Fender was unsure of the history of the tele, so much so that they released a 50th anniversary tele based on a beginning date of 1948.

The significance to this thread is maybe they started out making 1998 of them when they thought they had their facts and dates straight, but after the model came out someone must have enlightened them causing Fender to change their plans.

Hmm could be:

"January 29, 1998

This year, Fender pays tribute to the guitar that started it all-the Fender Telecaster. First introduced in 1950 bearing the name "Esquire," the Telecaster laid the foundation for a new breed of electric guitar--the solid body. Only 1,998 of these elegant guitars will be produced for world-wide distribution each bearing a unique pearl inlay at the 12th fret commemorating the year."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Larry K. Williams

I remember trying to buy one from a guy in Australia. I do remember the number of that one being 4 digits.......so there were more than 1000. I just don't remember the exact number.

Do you know if it started with a 1? Because they are all 4 digits, except the numbers below 1000 are like 0954.

Telenator · March 12th, 2008, 10:40 PM

Mine is Serial Number 667. I too have never seen one with a 4 digit serial number. Awesome guitar! I played over 80 Teles before buying this one.

MailMan · March 13th, 2008, 09:24 AM

Now been almost a week since I mailed Fender, but no reply yet.

Seriously, what's the chance that out of 20 guitars none have a number higher than 999? Something close to 0.5^20 I believe.

I think we can claim that the rarity of this guitar suddenly doubled.

Sarge · March 13th, 2008, 11:11 AM

I got the strat also which only 1997 were made.

MailMan · March 13th, 2008, 01:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarge

I got the strat also which only 1997 were made.

Sarge, What number is your Tele?

GreenbackJ · May 8th, 2008, 12:50 PM

I've never seen one with 4 digits.

Mine is number 685.

Dennis68 · May 8th, 2008, 01:15 PM

Welcome GreenbackJ, seems the mystery continues. I'm sure Fender would have the info, I wonder if they ever got back to Mailman?

Mike Aufrichtig · May 8th, 2008, 01:16 PM

Mine (my first Tele, never leaving me) has four digits, but the number is 0202.

March 6th, 2008, 05:32 AM	#1 (permalink)
MailMan TDPRI Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: the Netherlands Posts: 29	Fender 1998 Telecaster Collectors Edition (1998 made or not) Im an owner of number 0955 of this limited run of 1998 beautiful guitars (as pictured in the TDPRI logo ). And in the time that I had it I have been searching for as much info as possible. Now I've run across 15 - 20, or maybe even more of em on the internet, but none of them had a number that was running in the thousand or higher. Maybe this was just by chance, or maybe Fender saw this line wasn't as succesful as they hoped and stopped halfway at 999? I know there are some other TDPRI'ers that have this guitar. What's your number?

March 6th, 2008, 08:53 AM	#3 (permalink)
Sarge Friend of Leo's Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pgh,Pa Age: 53 Posts: 3,549	I have one...I'll get back to you with the number. I did speak to a Fender employee and he told me there were ONLY 1998 made and sent me the spec sheet. __________________ A coward dies many deaths, a Soldier once.

March 6th, 2008, 03:07 PM	#5 (permalink)
Mark Davis Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bakersfield Ca. Age: 58 Posts: 12,856	Telenator has one. Maybe his is a higher serial # I do remember he tried out several Teles before he got his. __________________ I'm so blind my seeing eye dog needs glasses.

March 6th, 2008, 03:22 PM	#6 (permalink)
jwells393 Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Albuquerque, USA Age: 64 Posts: 12,245 101 Photos	If it's a nice Fender, I'd bet that csapo has one. __________________ Jack's Disclaimer: When I say something.... always ask yourself ..... "What the hell does he know?" _ Guys - learn to disable the flash on your digital cameras.

March 6th, 2008, 08:46 PM	#10 (permalink)
Frank B Tele-Meister Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Quebec city, canada Posts: 317 10 Photos	We had one in a shop in Qc city and I almost bought it. I don't recall the exact number but it was under 1000 I'm pretty sure. __________________ "Don't play what's there, play what's not there.” Miles Davis

March 6th, 2008, 06:54 AM	#2 (permalink)
AjayTele Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Sydney, Australia Age: 47 Posts: 1,000 12 Photos	Good question...may be true. Mine's #846.

March 7th, 2008, 11:11 AM	#13 (permalink)
Larry K. Williams Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Athens, GA Age: 48 Posts: 141	I used to own # 785. Look at my avatar. __________________ www.powerplayband.net

March 7th, 2008, 11:30 AM	#14 (permalink)
serialsteve Tele-Holic Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 728	Something tells me that there's a kid in a dusty village in Africa strumming #1550 dressed to the nines in his New England Patriots-2008 SuperBowl champs shirt and hat.

March 7th, 2008, 07:34 PM	#15 (permalink)
Geo Friend of Leo's Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Hendersonville, TN Age: 59 Posts: 2,484 15 Photos	I played one here locally some years back so don't recall the serial number. Nice guitar although this one was a little roughed up. Think these have a 9.25" or 9.5" fingerboard radius. __________________ "Somewhere between culture and agriculture"

March 7th, 2008, 08:08 PM	#16 (permalink)
peteb Tele-Meister Join Date: Apr 2003 Posts: 241	were these 50th anniversary teles? The reason I ask is that I remember reading, on the subject of the obscure history of the development of the tele, that Fender was unsure of the history of the tele, so much so that they released a 50th anniversary tele based on a beginning date of 1948. The significance to this thread is maybe they started out making 1998 of them when they thought they had their facts and dates straight, but after the model came out someone must have enlightened them causing Fender to change their plans.

March 7th, 2008, 08:55 PM	#17 (permalink)
91xlntS-3 Tele-Holic Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 729	Had one and sold it about 5 years ago. What was I thinking?? Don't remember the number, but it was a great guitar!

March 8th, 2008, 01:22 AM	#18 (permalink)
Larry K. Williams Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Athens, GA Age: 48 Posts: 141	I remember trying to buy one from a guy in Australia. I do remember the number of that one being 4 digits.......so there were more than 1000. I just don't remember the exact number. __________________ www.powerplayband.net

March 12th, 2008, 10:40 PM	#20 (permalink)
Telenator Friend of Leo's Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Connecticut Posts: 4,661	Mine is Serial Number 667. I too have never seen one with a 4 digit serial number. Awesome guitar! I played over 80 Teles before buying this one. __________________ Dogs have the right idea!

March 13th, 2008, 09:24 AM	#21 (permalink)
MailMan TDPRI Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: the Netherlands Posts: 29	Now been almost a week since I mailed Fender, but no reply yet. Seriously, what's the chance that out of 20 guitars none have a number higher than 999? Something close to 0.5^20 I believe. I think we can claim that the rarity of this guitar suddenly doubled.

March 13th, 2008, 11:11 AM	#22 (permalink)
Sarge Friend of Leo's Join Date: May 2004 Location: Pgh,Pa Age: 53 Posts: 3,549	I got the strat also which only 1997 were made. __________________ A coward dies many deaths, a Soldier once.

May 8th, 2008, 12:50 PM	#24 (permalink)
GreenbackJ TDPRI Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Terre Haute, In Posts: 10	I've never seen one with 4 digits. Mine is number 685.

May 8th, 2008, 01:15 PM	#25 (permalink)
Dennis68 Tele-Holic Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Hudson Valley Posts: 757	Welcome GreenbackJ, seems the mystery continues. I'm sure Fender would have the info, I wonder if they ever got back to Mailman? __________________ -Dennis

May 8th, 2008, 01:16 PM	#26 (permalink)
Mike Aufrichtig Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: River Edge, NJ Posts: 178	Mine (my first Tele, never leaving me) has four digits, but the number is 0202.