For April I have chosen two classics from the fifties.
The Captain T-Type FiftyEight is my interpretation of a Whitguard Tele, which replaced the Blackguards starting in 1954. Besides the white PVC pickguard, the color is now Blonde instead of Butterscotch, so it’s a lot brighter.
Electrically, nothing has changed, the “neck” position of the three-way switch still produces that muffled sound with which Leo wanted to attract jazz guitarists to play Fender guitars. We installed the classic circuit, introduced in 1969, which everybody knows.
The neck has a fat C-profile and plays well if the fingers are long enough. For this it rewards with a fat attack and plenty of sustain.
And thanks to the super-light Swamp Ash body, the Lady weighs less than 3.1kg.
The ’54 Tweed Princeton was from the wide-panel era that rolled off the production line at Fender from 1952 to 1955, replacing the TV front amps.
The Princeton was basically a Champ, it has the same tube lineup: 5Y3 rectifier tube, a 6SC7 as the preamp and a 6V6 in the power amp. However, it had an additional tone control, the Champ had only one volume control.
This beautiful example is in original condition except for the leather handle and the obligatory three-wire power cord.
The Tele produces a rather slim tone with which the small 8″ Jensen is not overloaded and so the two fit very well together for everything that somehow has to do with rock’n’roll.
And the good thing is: both can be tested and purchased in the lounge!
