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Telecaster Deluxe!The Fender '72 Reissue Guitar With Wide Range HumbuckersTelecaster Deluxe It took a few years for demand to grow, but after an absence of more than two decades, Fender realized electric guitar players wanted the Telecaster back. And by all accounts, the reissue model lives up to the vintage original’s respected name and unmatched sound. While the original Deluxe was made from 1972 to 1981, the reissue model didn’t find its way onto the market until 2004. 
In fact, the original Deluxe was the result of Fender realizing it was about to miss the boat. Other electric guitar makers were already using humbucking pickups to great effect, getting growling, thick sound from solid-body electric guitars, while the Telecaster was stuck with its single-coil pickups. But those other guitars didn’t have Fender’s distinctive alder and maple body or its 25½-inch scale. Simply put, the competition may have had better pickups, but they weren’t better guitars. Fender realized that combining the new pickup technology with their already-popular electric guitar could make them some money. By matching the newly-widened Stratocaster headstock with the classic Telecaster body and also the new pickups with better electronics to control them, they created the Telecaster, launched in 1972. Customers weren’t immediately impressed -- they were already getting good guitars from the competition -- and sales didn’t reach expected levels. In 1981, the company gave up on the Deluxe. Its popularity on the used market caused renewed interested in it, however. In 2004, Fender brought out the Classic Series ‘72 Telecaster Deluxe. This reissue model features a pair of the company’s Wide Range humbuckers and four skirted knobs to control everything. The body is made of alder and the fretboard is maple. It features the large headstock, a three-position switch and vintage hardware. It also uses the C-shaped maple neck design. Reviewers generally give both the classic original and the reissue model high marks. While lack of interest caused the vintage model to be discontinued, lack of quality had nothing to do with it. Players simply weren’t willing to replace their perfectly functional guitars from other makers with this model. The Telecaster model gained popularity on the used market later because players finally realized its high quality when compared alongside other models. The Telecaster Deluxe reissue model is now one of Fender’s most popular. It just took a few decades for the Deluxe idea to catch on. But a company with a history as long as Fender’s can wait if they have to. Tell us what you know about this guitarUpload your images, or send us the url to your video. We'll embed it on this page, and give you plenty of feedback. |