Thursday, August 14, 2008

Fender Joe Strummer Telecaster


Check out this axe. I want one really bad. I need one. Like a rabid NRA member needs another shotgun.

Joe Strummer (of The Clash- but you knew that of course, or you are on the wrong blog) used the Tele, the most utilitarian of guitars. Like Joe, the Tele is a worker. Unpretentious. Battle-scarred. Joe bought his Tele in a London pawn shop back in the seventies. Not much of an artist, he used automotive spray paint and stickers to decorate his axe.
The automotive spraypaint wore off badly, revealing bare wood in some places and the original tobbaco sunburst finish in others. Joe just kept on playing it. Even in the last days with his band The Mescaleros, he still played this shopworn Tele.
Fender has issued a nice tribute to Joe Strummer in the way of a Mexican Tele that has aged parts, decals and the trademark worn black spraypaint, same as Joe's guitar.
I had a 69 Tele reissue a few years back, and got rid of it in a guitar trade for a 76 Les Paul. I need a soulful Tele to replace it in my arsenal. Could You Be The One? (the Husker Du fan asks himself). The Muddy Waters signature Tele is also a guitar worth looking at, but that is a blog for another day. Time will tell.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Testing,

Hello Randy!

Anonymous said...

Love the blog Randy! I had trouble leaving messages before but I think you changed the settings enough to let an old bastard like me in.

It even better than before. The only suggestion I have is that some of the black text is hard to read against the dark blue background.

Johnny Rambozo

D I Y

Start where you are...
Use what you have...
Become the change that you want to see in the world.

Enough for Everyone's Need, Not for Everyone's Greed...

Live simply so that others may simply live.

Become the Media

Don't listen to the one-sided corporate-owned media. They are not in the business of finding the truth. They are only concerned about making money for themselves and their stock holders. If they do report the truth, it is only because it suits their business plan. A happy accident...
Become the media! Blog it, film it, record it...
You still have credibility... They don't.