Telecaster Control Assembly - Spec 2

A high quality pre-assembled control plate, sporting full sized alpha pots, a full sized Axesrus lever switch and vintage waxed wire. Giving greater control across the range.

Again, a straight forward job to install, simply connect the pickups to the terminals on the switch and connect the ground to the bridge plate.

Telecaster Control Assembly - Spec 1

A high quality pre-assembled control plate, sporting full sized alpha pots, a full sized Axesrus lever switch and vintage waxed wire. Giving greater control across the range.

Again, a straight forward job to install, simply connect the pickups to the terminals on the switch and connect the ground to the bridge plate.

Budget Telecaster Control Assembly - Spec 2

A simple drop in solution to Telecaster wiring, requires only minimal soldering. Supplied with mounting screws, Knobs, Tips and Mono Socket.

Available on Spec 1 Control Plates

Budget Telecaster Control Assembly - Spec 1

A simple drop in solution to Telecaster wiring, requires only minimal soldering. Supplied with mounting screws, Knobs, Tips and Mono Socket.

Available on Spec 1 Control Plates

Standard Telecaster Wiring Kit

Plain and simple, a bog standard Tele Wiring kit, this'll be the setup that most of us are familiar with.

1950-1952 Telecaster Wiring Kit

From 1950-1952, on the 2 pickup Esquires, Broadcasters, Nocasters and finally the earliest Telecasters, the control system bears little resemblance to what we’ve all come to love today. The main thing to note is that the early incarnations of the Tele had no real tone control.

1952-1967 Telecaster Wiring Kit

As Fender began to grow, Leo Fender prided himself on keeping in close contact with musicians, and apparently the major point taken from the early feedback was that the control system left a little to be desired. Certain things were taken into consideration, including the popular styles of music at the time, the pickups used in the telecaster and a few plus points from the original design.

Basically, early fender pickups didn’t have the reverse wound pickups (middle on the Strat, neck on the Tele) so what we see as the middle position, with neck and bridge running together, wound actually have been out of phase in the 50s and 60s, and although humbucking technology had been around since the mid 30s, it was seen as “too distorted”. Leo being a Country fan at heart, stuck to his guns and opted for 3 switch settings that no longer gave the option for 2 pickups at once.

1967-1988 Telecaster Wiring Kit

During 1965, CBS became the main owner of Fender and some argue the guitars lost some of their charm as the broadcasting company applied a rigorous “big business” approach.

As the Telecaster came back in for a re-fit in 1967, CBS took it by the scruff of the neck and created arguably the best setup for the guitar. With the advent of reverse wound pickups, the middle position now offered the opportunity for noise cancelling, and with the drastic change in musical tastes, the company saw an opening that just couldn’t be ignored.

The telecaster had reached the pinnacle of its evolution electrically, and although it would change again over the coming decades, this setup was always the starting point.

However, during this period, the telecaster fell from favour. There are a few arguments as to the reasons why, but it’s widely accepted that the electrical change made between 1969 and 1981 (see Tech Spec) the guitar sound too shrill (I’ve heard comparisons to ice picks more then once), the overall quality had slipped, prices had almost tripled since 1967 (in part due to the strength of the Dollar), and the competition from the Strat (as well as plenty of non-fender guitars) cast the Telecaster (and, in fairness the Stratocastertoo) in somewhat of a dim light.

It sounds a like 70s and 80s telecasters weren't worth having, but bare in mind that most teles we play today still follow this standard (be it with no load tone pots, TBX pots etc) so with a bit of tweaking, you can get some of the best results.

1988-199x Telecaster Wiring Kit

Even with Fender operating under its own jurisdiction, the declining exchange rate, the streamlined work force, and the considerable improvements in electrical technology at the time, there was only really one change to the telecaster.

The debut of the much loved wide range tone pot – basically, a dual stacked pot that offers a 250k pots on top and a 1 meg on the bottom. Without getting into the guts of the thing, it offered the best of both worlds. Roll up to 5 and you’re in 250k territory, go part 5 and you’re into 1 meg.

Other then that, the tele works in the same way as the 1967 setup.

4 way Mod Telecaster Wiring Kit

A popular after market part on Teles for many years, giving the standard setup but with the option to have both neck and bridge running in series, givng a distinctive "honking" quality to the sound.

4 way Mod Telecaster Wiring Kit With Phase Switching

A popular after market part on Teles for many years, giving the standard setup but with the option to have both neck and bridge running in series, givng a distinctive "honking" quality to the sound, as well as a switch to alter the phasing.

Nashville Wiring Kit

A slight twist on the traditional Telecaster, first appearing in 1998 as a guitar to incorperate the newly aquired "B Bender" system, its seen a few changes over its life time, but we've stuck to the basic Stratocaster and Telecaster principle with this kit.

Esquire Wiring Kit

The first incarnation of the Telecaster, a single pickup work-horse with a rather unusual switching system.

Luckily, the Esquire hasn't been through as many incarnations as its 2 pickup counter part and current models still retail that unique switching system to give that bridge pickup some versitility.

Import Telecaster Wiring Kit - Deep Switch

The standard Import wiring kit for most non-Fender Telecasters fitted with the full sized lever switch. For all intents and purposes, identical to the Standard Telecaster template, but aiming to cater for control plates with the smaller pot holes that are common on most imports.

Import Telecaster Wiring Kit - Shallow Switch

The standard Import wiring kit for most non-Fender Telecasters fitted with the shallow box switch. For all intents and purposes, identical to the Standard Telecaster template, but aiming to cater for control plates with the smaller pot holes that are common on most imports, and shallower bodies that cause problems with the larger lever switch.

Telecaster Custom/Deluxe Wiring Kit - 1973-1983

The 70s were considered a dark time for Fender under CBS. Whilst the electrical improvements dragged the telecaster kicking and screaming into a world of modern guitar players, it was still seen as a bright instrument more aimed towards country music.

In light of this, it was deemed that a fat, gutsy sound would appeal to a new market, and with the added benefit of eliminating feedback, humbuckers were the natural choice.

With the help of former Gibson employee Seth Lover, and the idea re-enforced by the emergence of heavy rock and blues inspired metal in the late 60s, the famous “wide range humbucker” was born, appearing on guitars half way through 1971.

The first guitar to see the update was the hollow bodied, thin line version, initially created to compete with lighter guitars such as the Gibson SG in 1968 and originally sporting the classic telecaster electrics. By late 1971, the thin line was revamped to take two wide range pickups, christened the thin line II and climbed into the big leagues of humbucking guitars - however the classic 4 controls was still in the pipe line.

Specific, solid bodied telecasters were made the following year under the guise of the Telecaster Custom II and the 4 control setup popularised by the likes of Gibson made their first appearance on a Fender, this was (obviously) based around the Telecaster Custom I, where a combination of Neck Humbucker and Bridge Single coil were used, but it still boasted the 2 control setup similar to a standard Tele.

Finally in 1973, Fender released the Telecaster Deluxe we all know today. Sporting a Jumbo Strat headstock, with option tremolo, two humbuckers, 4 controls, a Gibson style toggle switch all mounted onto a Tele body… and absolute hodgepodge of a guitar – but lo and behold it worked.

The Thin line II, Custom II and the full fat Telecaster Custom arguably did attract a new audience to the good ol’ Tele brand, but it failed to convert the Gibson clientele as initially intended (more then likely due to the Gibson trend hitting full swing thanks to bands like Led Zeppelin and T Rex)

The Thin lines were discontinued in 1979, but the Custom and Deluxe models held on til 1981 – only to be dropped during the second take over period.

However, during various periods since the take over, the guitars have re-appeared as re-issues in one form or another, so it still fills quite a large section of the Telecaster time line.

Import Telecaster Custom/Deluxe Wiring Kit

As mentioned above, since the Deluxe and Customs initial cancellation in the early 80s, both have made sporadic comebacks from different factories.

Obviously some have been produced over-seas, in fact,  its more common to see an imported version nowadays.

Due to size restrictions, the import version differs slightly from the USA equivalent with thinner pot threads and a smaller switch.