# Here's a rare Tele !!!!



## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

A fellow worker on a TV show I'm on came up to me the other day and said "I hear you are a guitar player. Well I've got a guitar you might interested in.
It's a 71 Tele Thinline in a sick Green. I'll bring it in for you a look at"

Well he brought it in to work last week and let me borrow it for a couple of days. He bought it new in 71'. The only thing he has changed is the neck pickup. While the guitar in in very good shape, there are almost no frets left on it. He must have played it day and night for many years.
I have to tell you I have never seen a vintage Fender in this colour before. I do know that there is a Clapton Strat colour (7-Up green) that is close. But that is a contemporary guitar, not a 38 year old tele. At any rate, here is a couple of pix I thought you all might like.

Cheers
pete


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

No way have I seen that colour before. Maybe it was a custom order that didn't go to the original orderer? Sure is a clean example.

Peace, Mooh.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

Did it come with a can of Uncola? Gee I actually bought one of those 7 up lights that flickered.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

John Deere green? Was he a farmer? I suppose a bit light for that.


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## ezcomes (Jul 28, 2008)

you say the frets are toast? the neck looks pretty new...or has he replaced it? or is it just the way the photos look?


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

ezcomes said:


> you say the frets are toast? the neck looks pretty new...or has he replaced it? or is it just the way the photos look?


No all original as I said in the post. The neck and the guitar in general is in great condition. The frets are just extremely low.


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

Mooh said:


> No way have I seen that colour before. Maybe it was a custom order that didn't go to the original orderer? Sure is a clean example.
> 
> Peace, Mooh.


Hey Mooh........the owner has done some research on it and while he doesn't know the official colour name, he says they made 300 green thinlines from 71'.
That is the only year and only model they used it on.

cheers
pete


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## Overt1 (Aug 31, 2009)

i've rarely seen a guitar in that color. looks awesome on that tele though


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## Guest (Nov 2, 2009)

Awesome Pete! But why isn't this post in the FS section? 

How's it sound?


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## Mooh (Mar 7, 2007)

faracaster said:


> Hey Mooh........the owner has done some research on it and while he doesn't know the official colour name, he says they made 300 green thinlines from 71'.
> That is the only year and only model they used it on.
> 
> cheers
> pete


Cool, thanks. That's the sort of detail/trivia/minutia that makes the guitar business so interesting. Now, I wonder where the other 299 are!

I suggested the custom order idea because I almost bought a custom Tele in the late '80s that was a refused order. Kick myself regularly for it too.

Peace, Mooh.


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

iaresee said:


> Awesome Pete! But why isn't this post in the FS section?
> 
> How's it sound?



LOL !!!!! hwopv (you do know me eh?) Well it's not mine damnit !!! I'd have jumbo frets in that sucka' so fast it would make your head spin. I don't think the owner is even contemplating even a "what can I get for this" thought. He bought it new and he loves it. Although I did lend him my 65' Strat and my 56' Les Paul conversion for a couple of days and I thought I'd never see them again the way he was talkin'.


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## michelj (Mar 24, 2007)

keto said:


> John Deere green? Was he a farmer? I suppose a bit light for that.


LOL, sure looks like the JD green or very close to it.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

hmmm an 89' Strat showed up on Kijiji the same colour 
http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-...s-89-clapton-stratocaster-W0QQAdIdZ165936714#


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

shoretyus said:


> hmmm an 89' Strat showed up on Kijiji the same colour
> http://toronto.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-...s-89-clapton-stratocaster-W0QQAdIdZ165936714#


That's a 89' Clapton Strat with the Candy Green colour I was talking about. Similar, but not the same as the Tele. The Clapton colour is metal flake, and brighter than the green on the Tele. 
I have still not found any other picture or info on that green on the Tele thinline in 71'. I showed it to the boys at Capsule and the 12th Fret. They had never seen anything like it. Very Rare !!!


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## Lester B. Flat (Feb 21, 2006)

That's a really cool looking guitar. Seems odd that the nitro on the face of the headstock hasn't yellowed after nearly 40 years. Or is it just the pics?


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

Lester B. Flat said:


> That's a really cool looking guitar. Seems odd that the nitro on the face of the headstock hasn't yellowed after nearly 40 years. Or is it just the pics?


That's a poly finish. Last year for nitro on Fender's is 68'. So it is virtually in new condition.


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

faracaster said:


> That's a poly finish. Last year for nitro on Fender's is 68'. So it is virtually in new condition.


....not entirely true. They used nitro on the headstock faces of Fenders well into the '70's. Look at a '70's Strat with yellow headstock face and compare it to the rest of the neck...usually a very different shade and the face is usually checked.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

nonreverb said:


> ....not entirely true. They used nitro on the headstock faces of Fenders well into the '70's. Look at a '70's Strat with yellow headstock face and compare it to the rest of the neck...usually a very different shade and the face is usually checked.


Because the necks were built at a different factory?


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

nonreverb said:


> ....not entirely true. They used nitro on the headstock faces of Fenders well into the '70's. Look at a '70's Strat with yellow headstock face and compare it to the rest of the neck...usually a very different shade and the face is usually checked.


Well I did not know that. I have not read that in any of the Tele books. Very weird that they would do the headstock faces in nitro and the rest of the neck in poly. What purpose would that serve? But yes I have seen the faces only yellow in some cases. At any rate this neck is original finish and not yellowed. The neck has that terrible thick poly feel, as does the body. 

Cheers
pete


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## nonreverb (Sep 19, 2006)

faracaster said:


> Well I did not know that. I have not read that in any of the Tele books. Very weird that they would do the headstock faces in nitro and the rest of the neck in poly. What purpose would that serve? But yes I have seen the faces only yellow in some cases. At any rate this neck is original finish and not yellowed. The neck has that terrible thick poly feel, as does the body.
> 
> Cheers
> pete


Strange indeed, and yes it does appear that the practice was not applied consistently. I have heard that part of the reason was due to the decal application. However it might have been a purely esthetic reason as well.


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## shoretyus (Jan 6, 2007)

I have heard of a few guys having trouble with putting decals on using poly.


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## Lester B. Flat (Feb 21, 2006)

Yes, it was because of the decals. My '75 thinline has a yellowed nitro headstock face with checking only on the face of the headstock.


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## Big_Daddy (Apr 2, 2009)

nonreverb said:


> ....not entirely true. They used nitro on the headstock faces of Fenders well into the '70's. Look at a '70's Strat with yellow headstock face and compare it to the rest of the neck...usually a very different shade and the face is usually checked.


My '73 Tele Deluxe is at the luthier's for some finish work and he says it has a lacquer finish, not poly like I thought. 

Anyway, cool green Tele!


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## elbandito (Oct 14, 2009)

That's a pretty sexy thinline, but I'm not so sure about the colour, myself.


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## Beardyman (Nov 7, 2009)

Whoa! That thing is gorgeous. :bow:


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## Rideski (Feb 25, 2009)

That is pretty cool. Same vintage as me too... In two years time (if not sooner) I'll be shopping for a Vintage '71 for my 40th. 
Holy crap....I'm almost forty! kqoct


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## Setneck (Nov 23, 2009)

*Tanqueray Green*

I've seen this colour before on a Strat for sale last year in Simcoe Ontario.
The Strat dates from 1988 so maybe when Fender did this contest with the gin company, they happened to have paint left over from 1971? Naw.......
The colour is spot on.... looks the same.This green is Tanqueray's distinctive
trade mark.
It wasn't a particularly great sounding Strat but I was still interested because of its rariety. I passed on it.
I'm a newbie and don't know if this is the correct protocol but here is a link to see the details.

http://www.eriemusic.ca/FenderTanqStrat1998.html
Ben


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## faracaster (Mar 9, 2006)

Setneck said:


> I've seen this colour before on a Strat for sale last year in Simcoe Ontario.
> The Strat dates from 1988 so maybe when Fender did this contest with the gin company, they happened to have paint left over from 1971? Naw.......
> The colour is spot on.... looks the same.This green is Tanqueray's distinctive
> trade mark.
> ...


Now there is a cool Strat !!!! It does look like the same colour. Although I don't think Fender could have anticipated the Tanqueray tie -in in 1971 !!!!
thanks for that. Never seen a Strat in that colour either.
Cheers
pete


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