An otherwise normal 1967 Tele with pickguard removed exposing the rout-.outs. This photo is a composite.
An otherwise normal 1967 Tele with pickguard removed exposing the rout-.outs. This photo is a composite.
Colors:
STANDARD: Blonde
CUSTOM: 3-Tone Sunburst (No up charge) Lake Placid Blue Metallic - Ocean Tuquoise Metallic - Blue Ice Metallic - Teal Green Metallic - Sonic Blue - Firemist Gold Metallic - Charcoal Frost Metallic - Seafoam Green - Firemist Silver - Candy Apple Red Metallic - Olympic White - Dakota Red - Black - Fiesta Red
BODY
Wood: Ash
Lacquer: Nitrocellulose
Shape: Telecaster Standard / Routed under Pickguard
Pickguard: 8 Hole / 3-Ply White/Black/White Vinyl or ABS
Serial: Stamped On Neckplate / 6-Digit
NECK
Neck Wood: Maple
Decal: Black Transistion w /Gold Trim+ "Telecaster" + Pat#
Fretboard Wood: Rosewood / Maple (Maple Cap, no Skunk Stripe)
Lacquer: Nitrocellulose
Profile: Medium/Slim "C"
Headstock: Standard Tele
Nut Width: 1.650" (42mm) +/-
Scale: 25.5"
Radius: 7.25"
#Frets: 21
Fretwire: 6230 Vintage Frets
Trussrod: Vintage adjust at Heel
Bolt-On Type: 4-Bolt
HARDWARE
Bridge Type: 3-Saddle Vintage String-trough Bridge / Ashtray Cover
Bridge Marking: "FENDER Pat.No DES.164227 / 2.573.254"
Saddle: Threaded Steel Saddles
Tuners: "F" Tuners
String Tree: Butterfly
Neckplate: Blank Plate
Knobs: Knurled Flat-Top
ELECTRONICS
Switch: 3-Way CRL / Top Hat Switch-Tip
Wiring: Standard B/BM/N
Capacitor: 50V / .05uf Dime Capacitor
Pickup Config: S
Neck Pickup: Vintage Single Coil
Bridge Pickup: Vintage Single Coil (Staggered and Cloth-Wrapped)
INFO
CASE: Fender Black Hardshell Case w/ Orange Plush Lining (Additional Cost)
"The Smuggler" deserves its own listing on here. otherwise same specs as standard `67 Tele.
The Smugglers Telecaster was Fenders attempt to reduce some weight from their heavy ash wood at the time. The CBS-Era guitars is notoriously known to be on the heavy side.
In late-1967, they experimented with this by routing out some wood under the pickguard.
This was abandoned at the end of '67 or very early '68 as they pursued other ways to deal with it. What came out of further planing of the weight reduction was the Thinline Telecaster.
Most people who bought this in '67/'68 was never told of the rout-outs done on these telecasters on purchase. They only came to know of it when they removed the pickguard.
The nickname "Smugglers" is off course tied to that you could smuggle contraband goods in the routings.