Who though this was a great idea?

[Michael Smith]

I was browsing the old Fender product catalogs online to find when the Fender thinline tele was first introduced (looks like 1972, the same year the Telecaster Deluxe was introduced), and kind of chuckled when I read about the finish on the guitar. My Squire Classic Vibe 70's thinline tele has the same finish, and I am not a big fan of it.

 

[1stpitch]

The Thinline was introduced in 1969. The 2 humbucker version came in 72.

 

[Michael Smith]

The Thinline was introduced in 1969. The 2 humbucker version came in 72.

I see the first thinline tele in the 1970 product catalog. Perhaps they were available in late 1969. But you're right, the ones with 2 humbuckers were introduced in 1972.

 

[1stpitch]

Actually they became available in July 1968.

 

[Leonardocoate]

I did not like my 70's Thin Line. It looked cool, sounded great and played great, BUT...It was heavy as a LP and had monstrous pups. The thick clear coat made it feel like a big piece of plastic. I wanted to like it, but my 60s Thin Line prevailed. It's interesting to see that it was marketed that way and it says lightweight (not). I wonder if they still use the micro tilt in any of their current models?

 

[tubedude]

I was browsing the old Fender product catalogs online to find when the Fender thinline tele was first introduced (looks like 1972, the same year the Telecaster Deluxe was introduced), and kind of chuckled when I read about the finish on the guitar. My Squire Classic Vibe 70's thinline tele has the same finish, and I am not a big fan of it.

View attachment 1102551

Made to cancel excess tone.

 

[Festofish]

After 30 years I’ve come to admit that I love a glossy guitar with 25”-25.5” scale and dual humbuckers.

 

[Michael Smith]

I did not like my 70's Thin Line. It looked cool, sounded great and played great, BUT...It was heavy as a LP and had monstrous pups. The thick clear coat made it feel like a big piece of plastic. I wanted to like it, but my 60s Thin Line prevailed. It's interesting to see that it was marketed that way and it says lightweight (not). I wonder if they still use the micro tilt in any of their current models?

According to the Fender website, their American Vintage II 1972 Telecaster Thinline does have the micro tilt adjustment. Retails for $2,400. I got my Squire Classic Vibe Thinline tele for around $380 with free shipping in December of last year. I don't think mine has the micro tilt feature. It is a heavy guitar for a semi-hollow body.

 

[Dan German]

Ah yes, the days when the strength and durability of the finish were actually positives…

 

[Little Red Tele]

The thick finish was an answer to the easily worn thin lacquer finish previously used. Once upon a time new-looking guitars looked more professional. But then we all realized the thick poly was too plastic-y and sounded dead.

 

[Boreas]

It is a heavy guitar for a semi-hollow body.

People forget semi-hollows are not solid bodies with material removed. Typically, they are a hollowed-out frame with THICK plywood tops and back glued to them. Glue is heavy! Plywood is heavy because of the glue. Fender called them Thinlines, not Air-o-casters. I am not sure what is "thin" about them, but they typically aren't light.

 

[ChicknPickn]

After 30 years I’ve come to admit that I love a glossy guitar with 25”-25.5” scale and dual humbuckers.

Hmmmmmm . . . . . PRS? Just sayin', because I've dipped a toe in that pool myself.

 

[Boreas]

The thick finish was an answer to the easily worn thin lacquer finish previously used. Once upon a time new-looking guitars looked more professional. But then we all realized the thick poly was too plastic-y and sounded dead.

5 MPH bumpers were becoming cool.

I guess thick poly was to protect your investment from the elements, negligence, and wear. I don't know why Fender continued supplying cases.

 

[58Bassman]

"This new finish is so durable that you could use your Tele as a bat, to knock a row of beer bottles off of the bar and it will look like the day it was made", said the Marketing Department.

I call this the 'hard candy coating'.

Someone needs to test one body with one neck, to determine the difference in resonance with thick finish and with thin finish. Using two bodies isn't a valid test because the wood can't be identical in both.

 

[Killing Floor]

Back in the olde days road worn had a different meaning.

 

[dlew919]

Was it somwehere here that someone said that guitarists are the only people who want their guitar to look worn? Most products are designed to look as new as possible for as long as possible.

 

[USian Pie]

Was it somwehere here that someone said that guitarists are the only people who want their guitar to look worn? Most products are designed to look as new as possible for as long as possible.

Blue jeans

 

[Michael Smith]

I actually sanded my early 70's pawn shop Gibson SB450 Bass (except for the Gibson decal) and applied several light coats of a light satin finish. I hated the way it was all scratched up, especially on the back. Now, I probably would not do that to a valuable vintage bass.

 

[John C]

I was browsing the old Fender product catalogs online to find when the Fender thinline tele was first introduced (looks like 1972, the same year the Telecaster Deluxe was introduced), and kind of chuckled when I read about the finish on the guitar. My Squire Classic Vibe 70's thinline tele has the same finish, and I am not a big fan of it.

View attachment 1102551

As has been discussed - 1972 was when the revised HH Thinline with the 3-bolt/microtilt/bullet truss rod neck was released; the catalog shows the bullet truss rod headstock. I've seen this catalog scanned online; it is the 1972 catalog.

Who thought the "thick skin" was good idea? Fender "real" customers, the musical instrument dealers, who wanted instruments that didn't get super dinged up while hanging on the wall as inventory. What the players wanted was secondary - until the point where the "thick skin" finished instruments that looked great hanging on the wall stayed unsold on the wall.

Of course in the 1970s we were also into heavy guitars, lots of heavy brass hardware, etc. - things that people don't really want anymore. I remember playing a really great Yamaha SG2000 (maybe it was an SBG2000 - they played around with the name here in the USA in the late 70s/early 80s) that was heavy as hell; it even had a chunk of brass under the tune-o-matic bridge to add to the sustain - and the weight.

Hmmmmmm . . . . . PRS? Just sayin', because I've dipped a toe in that pool myself.

PRS has moved to some kind of cellulose finish now - I think the change happened in 2020 for the Core line and 2021 for the bolt-on line - not sure about the glossy S2 line (and of course the SEs are poly of some kind).

 

[Wrighty]

I was browsing the old Fender product catalogs online to find when the Fender thinline tele was first introduced (looks like 1972, the same year the Telecaster Deluxe was introduced), and kind of chuckled when I read about the finish on the guitar. My Squire Classic Vibe 70's thinline tele has the same finish, and I am not a big fan of it.

View attachment 1102551

It was an early production error re dimensions, (bit of a Stonehenge job!) Someone wrongly spec'd the body to be too thin, even for a thin line. By the time anyone noticed they had, according to records, 1,234 'skinny' bodies on the shelf. Scrapping them would have been ridiculously costly and a quick market survey suggested that a guitar with those body dimensions wouldn't be a big seller.

Eventually, a guy buy the name of Tommy Hickcoat working on the production line came up with the idea of an extra thick coating to bulk up the body. It made sense, all Fender then had to do was 'sell it' to the punters as a benefit. Seems to have worked, those first run ' 'T. Hickoat' Teles fetch a premium on the market, if you can find one.