Fender Telecaster Bass Blonde, 1972 – No Longer Available

The Fender Telecaster Bass launched in the surprisingly late year of 1968, though its appearance is very much like the original, revolutionary 1951 Precision Bass.

From a modern perspective, there isn’t a lot to the Fender Telecaster Bass. It is basically an ash or alder slab body with a one-piece maple neck bolted to it, a bridge, and from 1968 to 1972 a single coil pickup with volume and tone controls. But in 1951 this design was revolutionary; virtually all previous basses used the upright formula and did not have frets, so they were not particularly portable and intonation was frequently inaccurate. Leo Fender’s idea was to blend the solidbody guitar with the bass, making it both portable and providing precise, accurate and reliable intonation. That’s why it was named the Precision bass. In 1954, a new split humbucking pickup was developed and a more elegant body shape was created, in use to this day. The original slab design was put away until 1968, when the Telecaster Bass was launched and marketed as a ‘new’ design.

For 1972, the Fender Telecaster Bass received three key updates. The truss rod adjuster moved to the headstock with the new ‘Bullet’ nut design and the neck joint shifted to the three-bolt MicroTilt parts. Most visually noticeable, however, was the new Seth Lover designed, Wide Range Humbucker with CuNiFe magnets in the neck position, replacing the original single coil.

This 1972 Fender Telecaster bass is in overall good condition with wear showing that it was used as intended, and plays well. The translucent Blonde body finish has an amount of wear-through on the bass edge of the top where the player’s arm rested, and there is fine finish checking. The frets appear to be original, but aren’t particularly worn, suggesting that it was probably strung with flatwounds for most of its life. Currently, round wounds are fitted. The original CuNiFe Wide Range Humbucker has been replaced with a DiMarzio Model One, which was first produced as a replacement for Gibson EB neck pickups; there is a switch added between the controls for coil-split function.

Sold with a rectangular hard shell case.