It feels a touch silly to be so excited about it, but every time one of these 50's brown flat bottom cases enters the room, it's exhilarating. I always worry that the case is simply empty, or maybe it'll be the routed refinished mutt you never hope it is. This time however, opening the lid was a massive payoff, unveiling one of the coolest vintage 1953 Fender Blackguards we've seen.
At first sight, the guitar without question just looked right, and it had this subtle patina about it like it was put away from a gig 40 years ago and the case simply hadn't been opened since. This clearly wasn't the cleanest one on earth, but it just had a presence about it, leaving really nothing to question. Lifting it out of the case we were quick to spot the large buckle wear patch on the back. Not as preserved as the face of the guitar may have indicated, but wholesome honest wear at least. This one had definitely seen some gigging, but certainly it had been cherished and clearly kept in the right climate since being retired.
The fingerboard showed light play wear as you'd expect, along with a subtly worn down back of the neck that felt just right. The lacquer on the black pickguard was well worn on the treble side like most, but also had a concentrated area of wear on the bass side where the original owner's hand must have comfortably rested. Beautifully checked, the body also exhibited a couple of requisite "case bites", so many of these having had the case lid dropped on the face of the instrument while being put away.
Opening this Blackguard up to date the components, we landed right in the middle of 1953. It had a neck date of 7-21-53 and a body dating 7-19-53 with Tadeo written in. The two dates being closer together than we may have expected, we were nonetheless excited to have one from what most regard as the "best year" for Telecaster models. 1953 was a moment where Fender was hitting their stride with production of the Tele, but it was also their sole guitar focus as the Stratocaster had yet to be released.
Plugged in, the black bobbin flat pole pickup was strong and glorious. The guitar resounded quite well acoustically, and nothing was missing or desired while playing it. It had even been converted to modern wiring, with the mud cap removed and both pickups enabled in the middle position. While not original, and not something we'd dare change ourselves today, it was great to hear this Blackguard with what most folks consider a more usable sound combination.
It's a special time getting to know a vintage guitar, spending hours with it seeking out the nuances that separate it from another one made around the same time. Sometimes that anticipation of opening the case and the overwhelming presence of the object inside equal the tonal experience had when you finally get to play it. This one in those moments certainly did. We just had to share some photos.
