My favourite guitar have always been the Fender Telecaster. The timeless design together with the range of tones and it's versatility, makes it "numero uno" , or as my old grandmother used to say "you always sound and look good with a Telecaster on stage".


The Telecaster player to me is without doubt Roy Buchanan and his trusted battleax Nancy. Nancy is an aged butterscotch blonde finished ash body Telecaster and was made in 1953, the serial number is 2324. The guitar's body had the date "3/11/53" written in the neck cavity, while the end of the neck (where it meets the body) is dated "3/26/53". Other features include an a replacement bakelite switch tip.

Roy Buchanan was one of America's most soulful players of the electric guitar. Still today, he commands the respect of his fellow guitarists and a devoted army of fans. The Buchanan sound was totally unique, heartbreaking, searing solos, trademark shimmering tone, and a mixture of snarls, wails and squeals that mark him as a wizard of the guitar. He was a pioneer in the use of controlled harmonics, and although this technique has been used by rock's greatest guitarists, especially Jeff Beck, Robbie Robertson and Z.Z. Top's Billy Gibbons, all acknowledge Buchanan as the master.

Buchanan once told an interviewer that one day, someone with a battered old Telecaster® under his arm walked past the barbershop where he worked by day.
Buchanan recalled, "I walked out, right in the middle of a haircut, and I said, 'Where'd you get that guitar?'. I just told him, 'I want it'. I said, 'I'll get you the most beautiful guitar you've ever seen, and I'll trade you straight across.'"
"I left work that day and went to a friend of mine with connections and said, 'I want a purple Telecaster.' He had it before the sun went down. We swapped guitars, man. That was it. It was like he knew it was my guitar, too."

Interestingly enough, Roy didn't have a case for his guitar and literally carried it under his arm from gig to gig. Legend has it that one night, he was attacked in New York City while walking to where he was staying. Onlookers reported seeing him use the guitar like an axe to club the would-be mugger! No doubt this accounts for some of the hard life this guitar endured.

Roy's musical career took him from underground club gigs in the sixties and seventies to national television, gold record sales and worldwide tours in the eighties with the likes of Lonnie Mack, the Allman Brothers and many other blues/rock guitar icons. Buchanan died in Virginia in 1988. He was 48 years old.

Earlier, Don Mare (who makes great Telecaster pickups a la Nancy) had a very nice gallery with over 100 images on Roy Buchanans Nancy Telecaster, but it is no longer avaliable. I hope he will put it back up again ASAP, as it is really missed.

Roy's Blues Part 1 - Not with Nancy
Roy's Blues Part 2 - Not with Nancy

Labels: Fender, Guitar Player, Nancy, Roy Buchanan, Telecaster