This is my new Fender Thinline 72 RI (reissue):
The image is stock, I’ll post one of my playing it soon. I used to be a Gibson man, and I was kind of “anti-Fender”. I liked classic rock, metal, 80’s hair bands, modern rock. But the last couple years I’ve been heavy into the blues. It’s funny sometimes – as you age you learn to appreciate different types of music more. For the first time in my life I pretty much (now) understand how and why players use different configurations of Fender and Gibson guitars and amps. Now I use my volume knob (on the guitar), and I used to just play on “10”, and the only use the amp volume. Then again – I used to have solid state amps, and now I have really good boutique tube amps.
I like the Telecaster sound, by my main instrument for awhile now has been my Mexican Tele with a Seymour Duncan little ’59 in the bridge, and a single coil in the neck. There’s something about that configuration that just suits me. It’s not too light, dirty when I want it, but not muddy like a Les Paul. It’s great for nearly any type of music.
Last week I saw a guy on the local Craigslist had a ’72 RI Thinline Tele for sale, but he was willing to trade for the right guitar. One of the guitars he wanted was a Reverend, and I just happened to have one that wasn’t getting much use. In 1972 Fender put out a Thinline Telecaster (that I’ve been able to find) in 2 different types – “deluxe” and “custom”. The deluxe ’72 Tele is unique because it has 4 knobs (like a Gibson), 2 volume, and 2 tone – in addition to 2 “wide range” humbuckers. That, and the fact that the thinline has the signature F-hole tonebox on top for a slightly brighter sound.
So, I decided to setup an appt for a guitar swap – and the guy like my Reverend, and I liked his Tele. It had a C shaped neck a little fatter then my Mexican Tele, but was actually easier to play (for me). So I took it home and cranked it up, and if there’s anything I’ve learned the last few years it’s the fact that every guitar is different. The guy I bought it from said that he switched the pots out for 500K because it was (in his opinion) too “dark”. I don’t know about dark, but I like guitars with the 500K mod because the gain rolloff is different than with standard 250K volum pots.
On my Tele with the lil ’59 Seymour pickup it starts to get dirt around 5 or 6, and progresses up all the way to 10 until it’s full bore. On the new Thinline 72 I don’t start to get dirt until about 8 (on the same rig and pedals), and the sound at “10” on the volume is a bit different (slightly more harsh). The “widerange” humbuckers are not what you’d expect. You’re not going to get a Gibson sound, but it’s not a single coil either. It’s not exactly like a P-90 (or as dark). The best way to describe it is a humbucker that has more clarity (and is more defined). The bridge is really bright, the neck pickup is really deep and ambient.
I love my Tele with the little ’59, but the thing about this Thinline is I can set the bridge pickup at one volume, and the neck pickup at another. Then I can go from neck rhythm to bridge leads with ease. With my other Tele it’s one volume for all.
There’s another Thinline back on the market now called the Thinline 69 RI:
You can see in the image above that the Thinline ’69 is a traditional Tele in both pickups and controls. It has the F-hole cutout, but the neckplate is a 3 bolt (where the ’72 RI is a 4 bolt neck).
I’m grateful to have this as a new addition to my guitar collection, you can find it at musicians friend for about $800 bucks:
Check Musician’s Friend Price for ’72 Thinline RI Deluxe
There are some decent auctions on the Thinline as well:
[EASYBAY]fender thinline deluxe[/EASYBAY]
[EASYBAY]fender thinline[/EASYBAY]