Way back in 1950, Leo Fender introduced to the world his very first solid-body electric guitar with a truss rod and two pickups. Originally called The Broadcaster — but changed shortly thereafter to the Telecaster due to legal reasons — this instrument would change the face of popular music forever. And now, Fender is paying proper tribute to that instrument with the 70th Anniversary Broadcaster you see here.
Boasting the same shape as the brand’s original offering, the Esquire, the Broadcaster offered players a wider range of tonal options than ever before and would go on to become one of the world’s most important instruments of all time. This aptly-named iconic recreation comes with an ash body with Blackguard Blonde lacquer finish, a period-correct pickguard hiding the wiring for its Custom Shop-designed ’50-’51 Blackguard pickups, and a thick U-shaped neck with a special anniversary neck plate. Best of all, while it’s wired like a standard Telecaster, it also comes with an optional original Broadcaster wiring kit to recreate the unique “blend” circuit used in original Broadcasters. Only 2,020 examples of this special edition guitar are to be built at a price of $2,000 each.
