Fender Telecaster, Olympic White (1967)

A featherweight vintage Tele that feels and plays this good makes you forget all about all the pre-CBS / CBS-era talk.

It seems like the folks in Fullerton found a floatway piece of Alder to finish this one off at the end of 1967; it's probably the lightest vintage Telecaster we've ever had in the shop.

This 1967 Fender Telecaster came to us from a great local customer who has a penchant for finding the good ones, and that might be an understatement with this Tele. Between the custom color Olympic White finish and figured Maple Cap neck, you've got one of the most desirable spec 60s Teles on the market.

This guitar has certainly seen some playtime throughout its life, with some honest earned finish wear (mostly on the top) where the lacquer top coat had worn through into the Olympic White for some really dramatic contrasting. The back of the body likely suffered the same or worse in terms of contact wear, and looks to have had some lacquer brushed on to "preserve" the original finish. It's not the most glamorous touch-up work, but indicative of some old DIY approach that hasn't really compromised the instrument.

The Maple cap neck is a total joy to play, with a great Medium C carve and a pro refret done by Laurent Brondel. The original pickups are nicely balanced with a present top end; we hear a little more Strat-like qualities out of the neck pickup than we're used to as well.

A nice set of compensated steel saddles have replaced the worn out threaded saddles (included with the sale), and a new pickup selector switch and tone pot were installed at some point. It still has its original bridge, knobs, tuners, and pickguard, along with a nice clean original hardshell case.

If you've longed for a nice lightweight vintage tele, look no further.