Monday 5 July 2010

60 years of the Fender Telecaster

Graham on why he likes Fender Telecaster...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2010/jul/04/fender-telecaster-andy-summers-graham-coxon

Graham Coxon, Blur

I think my first encounter with a Telecaster was when I had a go on [Blur producer] Stephen Street's, years ago. It looked like a piece of pine with a pretty scratchplate, but it made a really nice sound. I suppose it was the guitar I'd been searching for; I used to draw Teles a lot when I was at school.

It's versatile, simple and strong. You can make it sound old-fashioned and warm, like something you'd have in a doo-wop band, or totally the other way: trebly and trashy. And it's quite difficult to describe, but they have a kind of creak underneath the sound – something you only really get with a Telecaster.

The first one I got was very shiny, butterscotch job: a reissue of one from 1959. I used that throughout the whole of Blur's career. It ended up with a Mr Smiley sticker, and an Air India sticker on it, and a really bad drawing that I did on the back. That was my workhorse, and I've still got it.

It just feels really, really nice: like a BMX, as opposed to a big, heavy bike. The one I use now had been butchered by its previous owner, but the neck was so beautiful, I couldn't resist it. It looked like it had been creosoted, so I call it the Shed.

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