Fender Custom Shop Bob Bain Tele, 2017

From Fender's website:
Perhaps the most-heard, yet unmentioned guitarist in history is Bob Bain. With his trusty Telecaster, he created the soundtrack to American pop culture in the latter half of the 20th century, playing on sessions with legendary artists ranging from Frank Sinatra to Quincy Jones, and on TV show themes such as "Peter Gunn" and "Mission Impossible." Still gigging and swingin' at 91 years young, even after a 22-year stint in Doc Severinsen's renowned Tonight Show Band, Bain's work has influenced almost every guitarist who came along after him, whether they realize it or not.

Heavily modified to meet the demands of playing every musical style imaginable, Bain's Telecaster was often imitated, but never recreated — until now. Master builder Paul Waller studied every aspect of this amazing instrument, and reproduced it in exacting detail, as only the artisans of the Fender Custom Shop can.

Like many session musicians, Bain modified his instrument in the name of flexibility and to meet his personal needs. Not content with the wealth of stock sounds available, he added a Bigsby® B-16 tremolo system and placed a humbucking pickup in the neck position. The added sonic flexibility afforded by these mods allowed Bain to stretch across genres ranging from rock to jazz to country to pop, in the process rewriting the vocabulary of modern music.

Other features are stock for a guitar from that era, including the ultra-stable riftsawn maple neck with a '53 soft V profile, 7.25" radius fingerboard, black phenolic pickguard, vintage-style tuning machines with Fender logo, round string tree and bone nut. Includes a hardshell case, strap and Certificate of Authenticity.

Straight out of a collection, with Certificate Of Authenticity and case candy - near mint condition.

Every once and a while I find a guitar in a colleague's guitar shop that seems to call out my name. When that happens, I make a call,  do a bit of gentle arm twisting or humorous begging, whatever it takes to get the guitar into my shop so I can offer it to my discriminating friends/customers.

When I saw this brand new Fender "Son of a Gunn" Tele, I just had to have it.

When it comes to exacting reproductions of artist guitars, sometimes only the original manufacturer has the creative license to do it justice. I mean, Fender just had to be the one to reproduce Clapton's Blackie. If Pat Metheny wanted to recreate his beloved ES 175, it would just have to be Gibson that builds it. Without the right name on the headstock it just isn't right...right?

Having a strong background as a session guitarist, I am really partial to the guitars that session players relied on as their tools of choice to get the job done. Bob Bain, though before my time, was a mainstay-go-to-first-call guy back when LA was the center of the universe for TV, film and record work. Bob's credits are impressive and many of his guitar sounds and music have become iconic. And the guitar he used as his main instrument, was, unsurprisingly, a Tele. Any not just any off the shelf Tele. It was a '50s Tele that was modded with a humbucker neck pickup and Bigsby tailpiece. Basically, it was a guitar that could handle any call and be pretty much be the one guitar that could do anything.

After spending time with this masterfully built instrument, I can honestly tell you that this is the real deal. It's not just a nod to a fine player or an exercise of craftsmanship by the Fender Custom Shop master builder. The playability, sounds and versatility are top notch and truly impressive. Its wonderful resonance is enhanced by the Bigsby. I've actually become a fan of Bigsbys, because when built with intention, that added metal and mass brings something to the guitar's tone along with "greasing up" the string tension a bit.

Bottom line, this is a wonderful guitar, an ode to a fine player from an earlier studio era, a guitar that plays and sounds every bit as good as it looks.

If you'd like to find out more about this item, just call or e-mail me. It would be my pleasure to talk to you about it.