Fender’s First Semi-Hollow Body
Created with the aim of producing light instruments from heavy ash, the Telecaster Thinline debuted in July of 1968 as Fender’s first semi-hollow body guitar. For its second generation of factory production, Fender souped up this guitar in late 1971 with a pair of Wide-Range Humbucking pickups mounted to a reshaped curvy pearloid pickguard.
The American Vintage II 1972 Telecaster Thinline recreates the first Fender six-string models to come equipped with Wide-Range Humbucking pickups’ an essential element in recreating the sonics of the originals’ as well six individual adjustable bridge saddles, which was yet another first for the Telecaster. It also features the three bolt neck plate with a Micro-Tilt mechanism introduced on guitars produced during Fender’s CBS era, which replaced the traditional four from the ’50s and ’60s.
The Wide-Range Humbucking pickups used in the American Vintage II series feature CuNiFe (like AlNiCo, this abbreviation stands for the alloys that comprise the magnets’ copper/nickel/iron), which is a unique material that can be machined into screws to be used as adjustable pole pieces. These humbucking pickups, originally designed in the early ’70s by famed pickup designer Seth Lover, are exact reproductions of the originals.