1996 Fender Telecaster 50th Anniversary “Custom”

Details

This is my dad’s guitar, purchased at Portman’s Music in Savannah, Georgia. It’s a very cool anniversary model Telecaster, made in Japan and present in their catalog. It’s hard to find much information on these, but I do occasionally see them for sale and there are two other variants, a creme bodied one and a black one with a black pickguard.

The body is slab style, so a bit uncomfortable to play sitting for extended periods, but it does have some beautiful details - like a double bound body. Nearly invisible from far away, the body binding is black pearloid. This looks great against the gold hardware and the attention grabbing pickguard, plus a black painted headstock and vintage gloss lacquered neck. The fingerboard has a very curved 7.25” radius like a vintage telecaster, but luckily has a nice six-saddle bridge instead of the old school 3-saddle style.

I still have the original case, strap, and sales receipt for this guitar.