THE RUNDOWN
The classic single-coil stylings of a traditional Fender Telecaster certainly boasts legions of fans around the world, but a growing number of guitarists in the mid-1960s were trending towards the thicker sound of humbucker-equipped instruments and over-driven amplifiers.
As Fender noticed more and more players outfitting their guitars with humbucking pickups, they enlisted the renowned pickup innovator Seth Lover to work on a proprietary version of a humbucker.
After several years of development, Lover had perfected a humbucker that was all Fender, and the Telecaster Custom was born.
THE GUITAR
Even though the venerable Telecaster has remained largely true to the form it took when officially introduced in the early 1950s, it underwent what many consider its most dramatic change in 1972 when Fender released a production model with a humbucking pickup in the neck position.
This was the second iteration of what was known as the Telecaster Custom. From 1959-72, the Fender Custom Telecaster lived as a standard Tele with a bound body. The new Telecaster Custom that was available until 1981 boasted a Seth Lover-designed humbucker in the neck position to pair with the traditional and beloved Telecaster single-coil bridge pickup.
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