Description
Here we have a well-played though mostly original vintage Blackguard Tele from 1952. This one was clearly loved, but you can tell its previous owner liked to tinker a bit.
This Tele shows lots of wear on the fingerboard with most of the finish played off the back of the neck. The lacquered black guard shows extensive wear and scratching. The body is well checked, with some notable buckle wear on the back, as well as chips and dings over the body. Most notably, the neck pickup route has been enlarged slightly, and upon clost inspection, it appears this subtle routing was done to turn the pickup around 180 degrees (out of phase tone?). The wiring shows some updated solder connections, but on the whole the electronics present original and correct.
The body, neck, finish, guard, tuners, decal, etc are all original. The back of the body has been stamped with a previous owner's name: E.M. Muprhy. We've affectionately been referring to this guitar as "Murph". The body dates to 6-3-52 signed by Davis, and the neck dates to 6-6-52 initialed TG. There is a nice mix of flathead and phillips head screws on this one.
Overall this is an excellent player, refretted with larger than vintage wire. The pickups are strong and sound great. It's really just exactly what you'd expect from a vintage blackguard. There are certainly cleaner examples out there, and ones that have not been modded or tinkered with, but as far as players go, we have to endorse Murph whole-heartedly. Ships in a modern tweed thermometer case and includes the original bridge cover.
