The Blackguard mk II [PIC HEAVY]

[MattK]

I have a lot of guitars - vintage, recent, MIA, MIM, MIC, MII, MIJ - and I love most of them. But my favourite turns 40 today.

Being Australian I got excited at first because 11th April is my birthday, but of course it's a US format, and today is November 4th. I've had this guy since 2009, bought off eBay. When it arrived the setup was terrible and it sounded pretty rough. Not really knowing what I was doing, I gradually dialled it in, and now it's the easiest playing and best sounding guitar I have.

Another Tele thing I like is my copy of The Blackguard by Nacho Banos, which documents about a dozen blackguard Broadcasters, Nocasters, Esquires and Teles from 1950-54. I thought for a suitable birthday tribute I'd give this Squier CTC-55 Tele Custom the full glamour shoot. More to come.

[MattK]

Neck pickup (my favourite by a mile) is a no-logo widerange shape, with bar magnets I think. I've tweaked the polepiece heights to suit these strings, and backed off the hidden ones. It sounds woody and warm with some kind of magic I can't find even in similar models from the same time and production. No idea why; maybe the 1M pots I swapped in the neck circuit helped.

Bridge pickup was a weak link - sounded a little dry and plinky. I found a ToneRider Hot Classic for cheap and it's perfect, punches its weight against the bucker without sounding strained.

[MattK]

But the true joy is the neck - really full carve, beautiful Gomez type transition from the headstock, frets are immaculately finished. Fujigen had some of the best ever on that production line I reckon, haven't met a neck from that era that I don't love.

[MattK]

And finally the defect - maybe why this neck wasn't used for the top-level models, because it's fully there otherwise. The strings kick off to the left as they cross the nut. It makes no difference to tuning or sound, etc., so I don't care at all. I even picked up the same model with a Fender logo from 1989 and it does almost the same thing, so it can't have been a big deal.

Anyway thanks for being part of my tribute to this wonderful guitar. I just wish you could play it.

[OffYourFace]

very cool. What a great looking guitar. The 70s Tele Custom is one of my favorites of all time.

I've never seen this model in the USA. I had the more common black on black Stratocaster model and it was an amazing guitar. The only reason I sold it was because another Strat came out of nowhere that just suited me better. Otherwise I'd still have it.

[MattK]

That era of Squiers are magic. I think the CTC55 was domestic only, I got mine from Japan, and the body is sen rather than the usual export basswood.

[JVG]

Anyway thanks for being part of my tribute to this wonderful guitar. I just wish you could play it.

There’s a way to arrange this

I don’t know much about these early Squiers except that they seem to be fine guitars. I don’t recall ever seeing tuners like that, with the split post and round back. Are they unique to this series?

[MattK]

Good point, I think they may be! Even later in the SQ series (early 1985) they had the closed end posts, but the early ones were all slot-end (Strats and Teles).

[sal paradise]

Love it

Never played an early 80s mij, always been curious.

Are we going to see some pictures of your other black guard guitars?

[BoringPostcards]

I’ve always been a fan of the Tele Custom, although I’ve never owned one. They just look so RIGHT.
I’ve owned a MIM Deluxe, which as you know, is similar in a lot of ways.
My first electric guitar back in 1995 was an early Japan Squier Telecaster. Black with a white guard. I played the shit out of it for over a decade, and it was my main guitar through all my early bands. It’s with a close friend of mine since 2008, and I miss it a lot sometimes. It’s a solid guitar that still gets played regularly.

[Fiddy]

The collection just keeps getting better.

I missed seeing this before, so new to me

[Pacafeliz]

[Maggieo]

[MattK]

Inspired by your work Maggie!

[Scout]

Thanks for the pics, classic guitar!