50s Tele question

AustrianJohn

Most 50s Teles were either butterscotch with a black pick-guard, or blonde with a white pick-guard. But the Squire Classic Vibe Telecaster ‘50 is blonde with a black pick-guard. Was there such a thing or is this an inaccurate Classic?

Funkfingers

Both the colour that you call butterscotch and the paler, more opaque finish that arrived with the single ply white pickguard in late 1954 were described by Fender as Blonde.

It is entirely possible that some of the original paler finished guitars left the factory with the lacquered black pickguard. It certainly gives a less insipid appearance than the hard white on off-white. Thus, the CV model could be considered plausible if not definitively accurate.

AustrianJohn said:

is this an inaccurate Classic?

It is probably unwise to get overly retentive about the historical accuracy of the Classic Vibe series instruments. Just enjoy them for what they are. 

ESBlonde

Back in the day there was no conception that 40+ years down the line these guitars would be so over valued, they were just simple production guitars. Also there was no single point that all the blackguards ended that coincided with the body colour change. Leo was a renowned frugal person (hence the nocaster story), and would have used what was on hand until it ran out. Thus a guitar with mixed appointments that we now regard as one definitive year or the next, just occured naturally at times. Experts like to keep us all guessing as to what might or might not be original.
As @Funkfingers said, just play it and enjoy it as a good guitar.

mistercharlie

The white guard looks way better. I’m sure this helps a lot

ICBM

mistercharlie said:

The white guard looks way better. I’m sure this helps a lot

+1

White Blonde and a white guard is the best classic Tele combination, and it’s much easier to put the guard right than the body finish .