Tuesday guitar.
A really nice double neck styled Telecaster guitar from the workshop of Nick Huber, very stylish.

Labels: double neck guitar, maple top, nick huber, Telecaster

Sunday Tele guitar.
A nice Telecaster styled guitar from Ruokangas Guitars in Finland, the Mojo Supreme.

Labels: arctic birch, Ruokangas, Telecaster

Telecaster guitars or Telecaster styled guitar has always been a one of my favourite guitars, or as my old grandma always used to say "you always look great with a Tele on stage".
I have always enjoyed building Telecasters, but there are also a lot of different / great looking Tele styled guitars from other builders out there, and during the upcoming 10 days I will feature a new Telecaster each day from various builders, and from guitars that I have found on the net. Hope that you like them as much as I do.

Friday guitar

A great Tele" from the guitar builder John Suhr

Labels: John Suhr, quilted maple, Telecaster

A truly modern Tele® guitar built for big sounds. As lead guitarist for Slipknot and Stone Sour, Jim Root is one of todays leading heavy guitarists.

This Tele was a labor of love for both artist and Fender, combining several unique features to give it an identity all its own. Special features include a mahogany body, EMG pickups, 22 Dunlop 6100 jumbo frets, black locking tuners and hardware, and a single volume knob. Available in a black finish with a maple neck and fingerboard with a white pickguard or in white with a maple neck, ebony fingerboard and a black pickgaurd. Includes black tweed hardshell case with red interior.



Model Name: Jim Root Telecaster®
Model Number: 013-4444-(Color#)
Series: Artist Series
Colors: (706) Flat Black or (780) Flat White, (Polyurethane Finish)
Body: Mahogany
Neck: Maple, Modern “C” Shape, (Satin Polyurethane Finish)
Fingerboard: Ebony on (780) Flat White, or Maple on (706) Flat Black, 9.5” Radius (241mm)
No. of Frets: 22 Medium Jumbo Frets
Pickups: 1 EMG 60 (Neck); 1 EMG 81 (Bridge)
Controls: Master Volume
Pickup Switching: 3-Position Blade. Position 1. Bridge Pickup, Position 2. Bridge and Neck Pickups, Position 3. Neck Pickup
Bridge: Black 6-Saddle Strings-Through-Body Hardtail Bridge
Machine Heads: Black Fender®/Schaller® Deluxe Cast/Sealed Locking Tuning Machines
Hardware: Black
Pickguard: 1-Ply White On: (706) Flat Black, 1-Ply Black On: (780) Flat White,
Scale Length: 25.5" (648 mm)
Width at Nut: 1.650" (42 mm)
Unique Features: Mahogany Body, Active EMG Pickups, Ebony or Maple Fingerboard, Black Hardware, Flat Finshes
Strings: Fender Standard Tension ST250L, Nickel Plated Steel, Gauges: (.009, .011, .016, .024, .032, .042),
Accessories: Black Tweed Case with Red Plush Interior
Introduced: 7/2007

Labels: Jim Root, Slipknot, Telecaster

Nice bluesy playing by Tommy Kim on a Swing T-thru Telecaster styled guitar.

Labels: Swing guitars, Tele, Telecaster, Tommy Kim

This is a Telecaster inspired guitar made by Fernandes for the Japanese market. It usually goes by the name of Fernandes Hotei. It has been made in many different versions, with routed or graphic fronts, tremelo or hard tail bridge, single coil or humbuckers etc.

The Hotei is quite popular in Japan, with prices ranging from around $220:00 for common models, and up to $1500:00 for limited edition models.

Below are a few images on some of the models that has been made.

This one is a limited edition Hotei in simulated concrete finish.


Cheaper model with pink graphic and single coils.


More unusual model with routed top.


One more expensive TE340-HT Hotei professional.

Labels: Fernandes, Hotei, humbucker, single coil, tele clones, tele graphics, Telecaster

If you are planning to build or put together your own version of Nancy from part suppliers, one of the crucial parts are the pickups. There are a lot of makers today who wind custom pickups, and also make clones on the pickups in Nancy.
Two of the most respected makers for Nancy clones are Don Mare and O C Duff, and their "Nancy" pickups get great reviews on various Telecaster forums from guitar players who try to recreate that amazing Roy Buchanan tone. Both the makers can age them for you, so they fit that reliced look of a well played keeper.

You will find Don Mare and his pickups >> here.
You will find O C Duff and his pickups >> here.

Labels: Don Mare, Nancy, OC Duff, Rosie winding, Roy Buchanan, Telecaster, vintage guitar sound

If you want to read up on Roy Buchanan, his life and his music, I recommend the following article from Vintage Guitar - The life and times of Roy Buchanan - By Phil Carson.

I managed to find one image on Roy Buchanans 53 Telecaster Nancy on my hard drive, but I don't remember where I originally found it.

Labels: Nancy image, Telecaster, The life of Roy Buchanan

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