Fender Telecaster 1969 Rosewood/Ash Prototype
Mon Sep 09 2024
Towards the end of the 1960s Fender had a significant amount of experimentation going on, including multiple new variations of the Telecaster being released. One of these variations is the original Rosewood Fender Telecasters made between 1968, and 1971.
Initially only a handful of Rosewood telecasters were made, being designed by Roger Rossmeisl, who previously worked for Rickenbacker, and built by Fender luthier Phil Kubicki. The most well documented example of this model being the one George Harrison used for the Beatle’s last public performance on the rooftop of the Apple headquarters in London, 1969.
Below we have a pair from 1969, on the right is a genuine first production run Rosewood Telecaster, and on the left is a very unusual example featuring a factory ash body and neck stained to appear like Rosewood.
This guitar most likely originated from Fender's research and development department, probably as an experiment with different woods due to the issues Fender experienced making those first Rosewood Telecasters in 1968.
As mentioned, a unique aspect to this guitar is that it has a factory ash body and NECK. From my research I cannot find any documented Fender guitars from the 1960s with an ash neck, making this a real anomaly.
As you can see both the body and neck have been stained to appear like Rosewood, afterwards having had a clearcoat of polyurethane lacquer much like the other real Rosewood telecaster, or any other Fender guitar of that time period.
Here you can see the neck is stamped ‘special’, instead of having the usual date stamp. Despite being made of ash, the same jig holes in the neck heel and between the tuners are present. Unfortunately, due to the unstable nature of ash as a neck timber, the rosewood fingerboard was replaced due to extensive damage from previous movement. Luckily the work was done professionally, and therefore the guitar plays very well.
Here you can see the typical finish specifications of the era, involving a flattened piece of pipe being affixed to the neck pocket to apply the final clearcoat.
A close-up showing the remnants of the original headstock decal, though faint. It appears to only say ‘Fender’, much like the actual Rosewood Telecaster.
Other specifications that you typically see on this era of telecaster are present including pots dating to 1966, in this case the 34th week, a patent # stamped bridge plate, Fender ‘F’ tuners, and the filled dowels down the centre of the body just like a standard model.
Photo credit: Well Strung Guitars, Farmingdale. NY
Interesting to note, I was close to posting this article when a very similar example was shared by Well Strung Guitars in NY, USA. It appears this other example has a rosewood neck, having come from Bill Carson who was closely associated with Fender.
This means there are at least 2 examples known to have this stained finish on an ash body, which begs the question of how many were actually made?
After reading their article on this guitar and speaking to the store about Rosewood Telecasters, im told there were issues preparing and finishing the rosewood, which may explain why these guitars were made with lightweight ash.
Despite not knowing the full story of how this instrument came to be, it still represents an interesting slice of CBS Fender history. Considering this is the only ash neck Fender I can find from the vintage era, I am proud to share some information on this rare instrument with you all!
This guitar is now available, for more information checkout the listing attached.
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