Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt 1954 Telecaster

Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt 1954 Telecaster "Gloria" Transition Blonde Limited Edition

Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt 1954 Telecaster "Gloria" Transition Blonde Limited Edition

$4,999.99

Vendor: Fender

2018 Fender Masterbuilt 1954 "Gloria" Telecaster w/ Original Case! Beautiful mint LTD Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt Telecaster! Sounds great and plays easy. Quite a nice example, very light and resonant....

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2018 Fender Masterbuilt 1954 "Gloria" Telecaster w/ Original Case!

Beautiful mint LTD Fender Custom Shop Masterbuilt Telecaster! Sounds great and plays easy. Quite a nice example, very light and resonant. Very high quality vintage-feeling Tele. Comes with original hard case (has scuffs but is excellent condition), COA, paperwork, etc...

Weight: 6.9 lbs!

Here are some details from original dealer:

This is a replica by the Fender Custom Shop of a late 1954 Telecaster serial number 6900. The rounded V neck shape fits your hand like you never want to let go. The wear marks on the back of the neck are smoothed out from playing and the old wood resonates even when it is not plugged in. There is a full frequency articulation even on the neck pickup with what is usually referred to as a muddy unusable tone, and the bridge pickup has a rounded high end as well as a remarkable amount of bass.

Late 1954 was a period of change for the Telecaster. They changed the color from a Butterscotch Blonde Blackguard, to a White Blonde with White pickguard (they probably experimented with variations) and they changed the bridge saddles from brass to smooth steel. During this switch they did a few with approximately 45 degree forward slant of the height adjusting screws. Some people call it a skating bridge, and this gives more downward torque pressure on the strings.

Inside the control cavity on the original is a piece of masking tape with the name "Gloria" in pencil. Gloria Fuentes was a final assembly worker and was responsible for the final tweaks that put the magic into this Tele. Abigail Ybarra, who started with Fender in 1956, remembers Gloria as a fun loving dedicated employee and said her spirit showed in her work.

Joe Reynoso, Director of Sales at the Fender Custom Shop recommended Master Builder Dennis Galuszka to recreate 12 replicas of the original Tele called Gloria. The original dealer flew out to the factory with the original to meet with Dennis, Mike Lewis, and Mike Born to start the project. Everyone loved Gloria and was excited about the project. A few months later, the Fender dealer flew out again to ensure the specs were as close as possible.