Fender Telecaster 1968 with Bigsby Vibrato

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Seller's description

The Fender Telecaster is one of the most popular electric guitars of all time. Introduced in 1951, it quickly became an industry standard for many reasons -- practicality, affordability, playability, ease of maintenance and most importantly, the sound. Possessing a loud, brash and twangy tone, it was perfect for the music of the time. Rock and Roll, Blues, Pop and probably what the model is most famous for -- Country. The developing world of country music begged for an electric guitar that would give it a unique sound and the telecaster delivered in spades. To this very day, country pickers will tell you the Tele (as the name was shortened to) is essential for the genre. The picking techniques got more and more complex, but the tone stayed the same! 1968 was a pivotal year for the Telecaster. Paul Bigsby had actually designed a version of his “True Vibrato” unit for Fender’s first “Solid Body Spanish Guitar” all the way back in 1953, but for some reason it didn’t catch on until 15 years later when for the first time the ’68 Fender catalog offered a Bigsby equipped Tele. Imagine being able to imitate the polyphonic, swooping vibrato of a steel guitar on a Telecaster! It added a whole new dimension to standard electric guitar playing. A factory Bigsby equipped Tele did not require the “through-the-body” steel ferrule-reinforced holes for stringing, as the entire bridge/vibrato tailpiece assembly was fully top-loaded. This meant the back of the body was plain (no holes), and this detail is the quickest way to tell whether the vibrato unit was installed by Fender or added later. This ’68 model is also notable for having one of the last of the “maple cap” fingerboards. A very thin veneer, approximately 1/8th of an inch thick covers the curved top of the neck over the truss rod cavity and eliminates the need for the walnut “Skunk Stripe” on the back of the neck, in the exact same way the rosewood boards had done for the ‘60s models. The maple cap was very short lived beca