What's the difference between........

beez · January 2nd, 2004, 11:04 PM

I've always wondered this, buy never thought to ask, (though I am sure it has been answered here MANY times), but what exactly is the difference between the Broadcaster (ok, I know that some had steel saddles), a Nocaster, and a 51/52 Blackguard tele?

cowboytwang · January 2nd, 2004, 11:33 PM

The biggist differance is the decal. Most everything from Oct. 1950 though the end of 1951 were the same specs, just the names were changed.

Colo Springs E · January 3rd, 2004, 12:05 AM

My Tele coffee mug says (I think?) "since 1951"

Is that the year it was officially called a Telecaster??

0le FUZZY · January 3rd, 2004, 12:35 AM

Is the cross route. IMHO!!

On or about April 1951.

.

---0.F.---

iluvblackfrancis · January 3rd, 2004, 12:42 AM

This is probably a stupid question...but which is which?

cowboytwang · January 3rd, 2004, 01:35 AM

The Tele Time line:
1948 Fender starts working on a solid body prototype.
1949 a few prototype are produced.
June of 1950 the Fender Esquire start production(1 and 2 pickup models)
October of 1950 the Broadcaster becomes the two pickup model.
January of 1951 Gretsch tells Fender that they own the trademark on the name "Broadkaster".
February 1951 Fender cuts of the name "Broadcaster" off of the remaining decals(some say that they had 1000 "Broadcaster" decals made up and only used about 500, so they just cut off the word Broacaster and used up the rest)
February 1951 through the end of May 1951 They were the "Nocaster" guitar, as the peghead decal just says "Fender" on it.
June 1951 they start using the Name "Telecaster" on the pegheads.
The early two pickup Esquire's, the Broadcasters, and the most of the Nocasters have the wires running from the neck pickup to the bridge pickup then to the control plate through a drilled out hole. Then (as Fuzzy said) around April 1951 they changed the wires to run strait to the control plate with a route in-between.
The Broadcaster's also have a hole drilled between the bridge plate and control plate for a ground wire that was never used.
The first Broadcaster's(Oct-Nov 1950) had steel bridge saddles, then changed to flat bottom brass ones in November.
Some of the first Brodcaster's (the first few weeks in Oct.) didn't have the string retainer on the peghead.
Other than that from October of 1950 through 1952 they were the same.In 1952 they changed the "blend" knob to a tone control and started using phillip screws instead of the sloted screws.
In '53 they started to change a few other little things and in '54 they changed the pickups from flat poles to staggered.

'48/'49 Prototype

January 2nd, 2004, 11:04 PM	#1 (permalink)
beez Tele-Holic Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 755	What's the difference between........ I've always wondered this, buy never thought to ask, (though I am sure it has been answered here MANY times), but what exactly is the difference between the Broadcaster (ok, I know that some had steel saddles), a Nocaster, and a 51/52 Blackguard tele?

January 3rd, 2004, 12:05 AM	#3 (permalink)
Colo Springs E Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Colorado Springs Posts: 5,204 5 Photos	When was the name changed? My Tele coffee mug says (I think?) "since 1951" Is that the year it was officially called a Telecaster?? __________________ Think I'll pack it in and Buy a pickup Take it down to LA...

January 3rd, 2004, 12:35 AM	#4 (permalink)
0le FUZZY Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Kolly-forn-knee-ya Posts: 10,001 6 Photos	Biggest diff I kin think of Is the cross route. IMHO!! On or about April 1951. . ---0.F.---

January 3rd, 2004, 12:42 AM	#5 (permalink)
iluvblackfrancis Tele-Meister Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: california Posts: 208	This is probably a stupid question...but which is which? __________________ Take my hand, I'm shaking like milk.

January 2nd, 2004, 11:33 PM	#2 (permalink)
cowboytwang Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: mojave desert Posts: 1,582 14 Photos	The biggist differance is the decal. Most everything from Oct. 1950 though the end of 1951 were the same specs, just the names were changed.

January 3rd, 2004, 01:35 AM	#6 (permalink)
cowboytwang Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: mojave desert Posts: 1,582 14 Photos	The Tele Time line: 1948 Fender starts working on a solid body prototype. 1949 a few prototype are produced. June of 1950 the Fender Esquire start production(1 and 2 pickup models) October of 1950 the Broadcaster becomes the two pickup model. January of 1951 Gretsch tells Fender that they own the trademark on the name "Broadkaster". February 1951 Fender cuts of the name "Broadcaster" off of the remaining decals(some say that they had 1000 "Broadcaster" decals made up and only used about 500, so they just cut off the word Broacaster and used up the rest) February 1951 through the end of May 1951 They were the "Nocaster" guitar, as the peghead decal just says "Fender" on it. June 1951 they start using the Name "Telecaster" on the pegheads. The early two pickup Esquire's, the Broadcasters, and the most of the Nocasters have the wires running from the neck pickup to the bridge pickup then to the control plate through a drilled out hole. Then (as Fuzzy said) around April 1951 they changed the wires to run strait to the control plate with a route in-between. The Broadcaster's also have a hole drilled between the bridge plate and control plate for a ground wire that was never used. The first Broadcaster's(Oct-Nov 1950) had steel bridge saddles, then changed to flat bottom brass ones in November. Some of the first Brodcaster's (the first few weeks in Oct.) didn't have the string retainer on the peghead. Other than that from October of 1950 through 1952 they were the same.In 1952 they changed the "blend" knob to a tone control and started using phillip screws instead of the sloted screws. In '53 they started to change a few other little things and in '54 they changed the pickups from flat poles to staggered. '48/'49 Prototype