FENDER
TELECASTER
THINLINE
The Thinline has been a staple of the Fender
catalog since its release date of 1969. Upon
its release, its most notable deviation from
the Telecaster formula was its semi-hollow
mahogany body and distinctive F-hole on
the upper bout. This unique design came
about for two reasons; competition with
Gibson, and a shortage of light ash body
wood. A previous abundance of light ash
lumber had allowed Fender to keep the
solid-body Tele’s weight manageable, but
as light ash planks became harder to source
the company needed a solution to the
guitar’s ever-increasing mass. This solution
came via celebrated German-born luthier
Roger Rossmeisl, who found inspiration in
Gibson’s very popular semi-hollowbody,
the ES-335, and subsequently created a
Tele design with a solid core and hollow
wings. This novel construction method
accomplished the weight reduction while
also giving Fender a means of competing
with Gibson in the semi-hollow guitar
market. In 1972 the Thinline was further
updated with a pair of Seth Lover-designed
Fender Wide-Range humbuckers, an
ash body, a hardtail Strat bridge, and a
redesigned pickguard, bringing it a little
further into Gibson territory (though this
fact didn’t seem to impress itself on the
average consumer). The Thinline went out
of production from 1979 to 1985, but has
enjoyed steady popularity since being
reintroduced in ‘86 by Fender Japan.
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TONE TALK //
A Player’s Field Guide to Tele Variants