Old Gold

Quite literally an Old Gold this month – a 1971 Telecaster in the rare custom colour ‘Firemist Gold’, to be precise. The real beauty of Leo Fender’s first solidbody guitar design is its simplicity, not to mention its chameleon-like ability to handle virtually every style of music thrown at it. If you scan the roll call of Tele players over the years, it’s hard to believe that one guitar could cover such a wide breadth of music. From Roy Buchanan and Danny Gatton’s tempestuous rock and country hybrid to the likes of Jimmy Page’s majestic riffs on Led Zeppelin’s debut right across to the pure jazz warmth of Ted Greene and Ed Bickert, the Telecaster reigns supreme. Furthermore, the Tele’s parts list has hardly changed over the years; it was virtually perfect by the time the first instruments left the Fullerton factory in 1951.

All this means that the guitar before us is potentially every bit as good as its forebears, despite the somewhat tarnished reputation of post-CBS 1970s Fenders. Its crowning glory, however, has to be the custom colour – and it’s worth taking a little time to examine Fender’s history in this respect. Firemist’s predecessor, the metallic Shoreline Gold, was a Dupont car paint colour (available on Pontiacs) that Fender made available to its customers from 1960-65 for a small surcharge. Firemist Gold (a Cadillac colour) became available in 1965. Fender’s thinking was, allegedly, that Shoreline was more bronze in colour whereas Firemist Gold was, well, more the colour of the bullion it was named after. Firemist was phased out soon after this Telecaster entered the marketpalce; its hue may have darkened over the years due to its clear lacquer overcoat reacting to UV, but it remains a fine example of a Tele that’s ageing gracefully – a true gold standard! Guitarist would like to thank Vintage ‘n’ Rare Guitars, Bath for giving us access to this beautiful instrument. www. vintageandrareguitars.com