28 Telecaster legends: part 1

Fender's singlecut celebrated

The MusicRadar Team, Thu 22 Oct 2009, 8:58 pm UTC

We've covered Les Pauls, Stratocasters, Rickenbackers, Flying Vs and Explorers. Now it's the turn of Clarence Leonidas Fender's pioneering debut solidbody; the Fender Telecaster. First entering production as the single-pickup Esquire and twin-pickup Broadcaster in 1950, for many guitarists, Leo got it right first time.

What follows is part one of a gallery of Telecaster and Esquire-toting gunslingers who have all shaped the face of rock 'n' roll and popular music through a blend of technique, passion and instinct. Oh, and a hell of a lot of great tunes. Without further ado, let's start the ball rolling with Jimmy Page.

Though widely associated with Gibsons (Les Pauls, EDS-1275 double necks), Jimmy Page has made extensive use of Fender Telecasters. The model that saw the most action was a ‘59 or ‘60 Tele gifted to Page by fellow Yardbird Jeff Beck in 1966. Originally painted white, Page added eight reflective circles to it in 1967. He then stripped it down and repainted it himself with a dragon motif - thus, it became his ‘Dragon Tele.’

Page recorded most of Led Zeppelin’s first album with the Dragon (check out this blazing live TV performance of Communication Breakdown from ‘69). But the guitar’s true moment in the sun came when it was used for the solo on Stairway To Heaven (through a Supro amp) - we imagine that you’ve heard it.

In the mid-‘70s, Page acquired a brown ‘53 Tele outfitted with a B-string bender. Known as the ’Brown Bomber,’ it was utilized on tracks like Hot Dog and Ten Years Gone. During much of the ’80s, Page continued to play the Brown Bomber.

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User comments (14)

musophilr

10 weeks ago.

Roy Buchanan #1 definitely. Missed out: Neil Geraldo. He was lucky enough to play for Pat Benatar and even luckier to marry her ;-). His sound and style was very "new wave" but I found him an interesting player who never did the obvious thing. He delivered a very full guitar sound on his own when playing live, even though on the EllPees there were several guitar parts.

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thedude5

14 weeks ago.

Haffa,
Prince does play a Hohner -- and it says so in the piece. There's some great information about how he had two duplicates made for his Purple Rain tour. They shot out a liquid and everything. Did you read the article?

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Haffa

15 weeks ago.

Prince is actually playing a Höfner tele, as far as I know.

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Gallagher

15 weeks ago.

guys come on, this is only the first half of the list, ther's still 14 more to go. i think rory gallagher should be on it, and maybe gilby clarke

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Fretwired

15 weeks ago.

What? No Wilko Johnson, Muddy Waters, John 5, Steve Cropper, Hugh Cornwall, Jerry Donahuge and Robbie Robertson ...

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Ivor

15 weeks ago.

Looks like all the great players have had a tele at some stage? Prefer the maple neck myself.

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bbcoz

15 weeks ago.

Forgot Greg Koch

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bbcoz

15 weeks ago.

Albert Collins, Bill Frissel,Jerry Donahue,James Burton, Norman Greenbaum, Brad Paisley, Steve Cropper, Wilko Johnson, Gary Moore, Dave Gilmour, Albert Lee, Frances Rossi, Rick Parfitt, John Jorgenson, Mike Stern (albeit yamaha now) Jerry Reed played almost anything including a Tele. Steve Wariner, now he's really good.

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DrBob

15 weeks ago.

Surely the next 14 has to include Roy Buchanan and Danny Gatton and Albert Lee ?

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vivekayer

15 weeks ago.

part 1 seems to be mostly guitarists that also play Tele's. Hopefully part 2 will have the "real" Tele players like Danny Gatton, Roy Buchanan and Albert Collins

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