NGD! First tele in 20 years

Okay, maybe a little less than 20 years. Sold my '74 Telecaster Deluxe cause it weight a ton and had neck issues. Before that I had a great sounding MIM Classic Series '50s tele, which had a u-neck profile that my hands couldn't get used to. The pic flipped when I uploaded it, don't know how to fix it.

Classic Series '72 Custom Telecaster. One of the older ones, with an actual rosewood fretboard, and a SD bridge pickup replacing the stock one. Took me a while to find one in black/rosewood, and with a 7,25" fretboard and tiny frets.

It's a fire breading monster. Super stoked, I haven't been this in love in ages

 

They're surprisingly rare on the used market too, here in the EU at least. Fender hiked up their prices considerably since the strat of the Classic Series, and with no black/rosewood '72 Tele Custom in the current catalogue, these guitars are going for pretty inflated prices. Supply and demand and all that, I guess.

I've played my share of japanese and american Fenders, and apart from maybe a number of details (plastic nut, cheap pots, generic bridge PU), I'd say this tele is at least as good as any of the '90s MIJ fenders I've played. Mine has some obvious wear, it's clear it hasn't had a lot of rest over the years.

It doesn't at all feel or sound like a 'budget' tele. Aside from the black finish, the new Vintera 70s Tele Custom would've cost me nearly twice what I payed for mine, and it doesn't have the rosewood fretboard nor the SD bridge pickup.


I used to be somewhat of a tele purist..."A tele with a humbucker is not a tele"
But the mix of the warm and "round" sounding hb and the bite of the bridge pickup, with the option of switching to just one or the other...makes it an extremely versatile tele. A good amount of jangle and twang, suits all kinds of indie/punk as wel as more classic rock/blues tones really great.

So yeah, still stoked