70s is my favourite era for Fender guitars. Haters can hate. I wouldn't want a treble bleed mod and 500k pot though. 50s Les Paul wiring + stock 250k pots is perfection.
Maybe I got lucky but I've got a late 70s strat that's just wonderful, it's colossally heavy but the finish is thin and has worn down to the bare wood in some parts. Sounds incredibly sweet and warm, not thick and fat like some modern ones, but has a bell-like chime and clarity that's unique in it's own right.
I just bought an American Prof II tele in black and its unplayable - not because. there's anything wrong with the guitar but because the Mrs wrapped it and put it under the Christmas tree. 8 more days....
The 1970s was a time of insane inflation. Materials went sky high and others had to be used. There was also little choice. Guitars couldn't be sold in catalogs and there was no Internet. Your choice was the 3 to 5 guitars the local piano store stocked.
Great review. I’m a lucky owner of a ‘73 Tele almost identical to the one in your vid. Fantastic , lightweight guitar, almost completely free of the notorious 70s quirks. But frets are horribly small.. almost a fretless guitar at this pt.
Both of those are great-sounding Teles. Different from each other, but great. I think I prefer the Professional II-I’ve had vintage ones; I had a ‘59 back in the ‘70s, and it sounded incredible, but was hard to play because of divots in the maple fingerboard and worn-out frets. Fender’s figured out how to make them better. I bought a sunburst maple-neck Tele new in ‘74-I kept it for a week and traded it for a Strat that wasn’t much better, then I got the ‘59 and it was night-and-day difference. It blows my mind when I see what ‘70s Fenders sell for these days, as most of them weren’t very good. I guess they’re old enough to be considered “vintage”. I have a ‘98 American Deluxe Tele that blows away most of the ones Fender made after about 1972. And then there’s G&L-I’ve got a killer ASAT Z-3 semi-hollow. Fender had to get their quality back up-there’s just too much competition today. What’s the expression-we’re spoiled for choice!
15.24 Fender Strat American Pro 2 blue & black, what a stunning looking guitar this sound to my ears sounds fantastic especially when Jack plays and John plays it
I have a 68 and a 73 Telecaster. I prefer them both to the modern Teles I have owned and played. Sound and neck playability to me is better in the vintage guitars I own. They have both been re-fretted. Have not played many custom shop Teles though.
My personal, highly shat upon take: modern electric guitars usually sound better than old ones (this is not true of acoustics, a pre-war Martin >>>), but old amps do really sound better than new ones. If I had to choose between spending money on vintage guitars vs. vintage amps, it's amps all the way. Which in fact, I have.
@@dahliafiend Don't know if their days are numbered but it's possible you'll see a split where lower end amps sort of disappear because DI sounds better at that price point and real amps become more of a boutique, high end thing. Or maybe just lower end tube amps disappear because solid state with modeling becomes so good.
You can't draw conclusions on the standard of 1970s Fenders on the basis of playing a specific guitar. I was there and believe me they were incredibly inconsistent. There were some real stinkers. Some were OK-ish. I never played one I felt was really great. Although Fenders improved into the 80s and 90s, they were still short of the standards being set by the likes of Tokai and Blade.
Another really enjoyable video, just love the way Jack 'digs' into the '71 Tele at the end and looks like he's loving it, but take John's point that lovely new guitar will do practically anything and do it well.
Only perspective I have, is being born in the early 1960s and starting guitar by late 60s. ITS ALL RELATIVE TO THE POPULAR MUSIC OF THE TIME YOUR IN. That computer has zero nostalgia for the human past. Watch clips of shows from the 70s LOOK at the crowd we were cavemen compared to kids today. Giant stadium concerts were held up into the wee hours so some roadies could drive to get replacement gear. Way more mature at a younger age which shows in the music, but technology was ancient. If you could afford Fender back in the 1970s you were richer than 90% of the world. You played Department store catalog and it was awesome.
I'd say that the 70s Teles are far superior to the current ones. I've had a couple that I regret letting go. Haven't found anything modern nearly as good, unfortunately. A CS model would probably take it to another level, though.
FWIW, I had a '71 Strat purchased around '82. It was by far the worst guitar I've ever owned. Sold it for $150 and I felt guilty even getting that for it. It was absolutely terrible on every level.
People still hand crank tuners during string changes??? 😲 Why? Even the Ernie Ball electric string winder is better than that. Even better is Daddario's drill attachment because drills spin much faster than the EB string winder. I haven't manually tuned up since 6 months after I got my first guitar.
it's an old tele - teles are teles - I have a yank and a squier, the squier is 'better' plays and sounds better but boat anchor heavy - the yank looks nicer and cost a grand more
It is a pain to see you are using the wrong string winder. This one surely will scratch the headstock of this worthy Tele. There are winders with a smaller slot that perfectly fit Fender-style tuners.
In From 1968-72? MOST of the factory workers in Fullerton were still working after CBS mucked shit up. By 75 or later many of the best craftsmen were gone. This is no piece of garbage Scorpio solid state amp...
Yes Fenders from the 70s are horrible !! The necks pockets are misaligned, the pickups are barely wound to resistance , fretwork is terrible, and inconsistent body weight ! I’ve owned 50 Fenders, thank God I have Suhrs now
