Joe Bonamassa is certainly no stranger to rare guitars. His Nerdville collection(s) are the result of a life’s work and encompass some of the most sought-after electric guitars, amps and effects in the world. However, his latest acquisition is a genuine one-off: a 1954 Blackguard Telecaster featuring a one-off pickup modification that he has dubbed “a true unicorn.”
‘Blackguard’ is a term inspired by the black pickguards found on the earliest Telecaster and Tele-like builds from Fender (Nocasters, Broadcasters et al made between 1950 and 1954) and, as such, denotes some of the most in-demand vintage models out there.
Joe Bonamassa has a few to his name already. Indeed, an Instagram update posted a week ago shows seven of them in residence at Nerdville West (Bonamassa’s LA home/living guitar museum) alone.
However, the latest purchase – which looks to have been made alongside Charlie Daughtry (best known as the collector behind go-to online guitar geek hangouts the Les Paul Forum and Fender Forum) – makes even those look common.
The reason for that becomes pretty obvious a first glance: the inclusion of a sizeable Paul Bigsby pickup at the neck position, in the place of the usual Tele single coil.
While it’s not particularly unusual to see a P-90-style pickup in a Tele as a result of mods or quirky modern-day Squier offshoots, this was no after-market tweak, but a build that came direct from Fender.
In a new post on Instagram, Bonamassa describes the instrument: “One of the coolest guitars in Charlie @fenderforum and I's side tranche of our shared slightly modified collection aka The Turds. [A] 1954 Telecaster with a Fender installed Paul Bigsby pickup.”
Bigsby is best known for the vibrato system that bears his name but had a much larger influence on electric guitar design than many players realize.
He developed one of the first solid-body electric guitar builds (for Merle Travis in 1948), several pickup designs (including blade variants) and was an influential contemporary of Les Paul and Leo Fender – providing the, er, ‘inspiration’ for Fender’s curved Strat headstock.
Bigbsy is also, in some ways, the big-name link between both the Fender and Gibson designs originating in the early-’50s and therefore there’s a bit of poetry to the fact that this ultra-rare vintage buy was first flagged to Bonamassa by Gibson’s VP of Product (and fellow vintage obsessive) Mat Koehler.
“Big thanks to Will @thunderroadguitarspdx for selling it to us and @matkoehler for making me aware of it,” writes Bonamassa on IG. “One of the best guitars to turn up from the original owner's family in a long time. A true ‘unicorn’”
Bigsby pickups are nearly impossible to find on the vintage market – and priced as such when they do surface (a current Reverb listing for a 1952 unit has as an asking price of $4,500).
So the pickup is remarkably rare in its own right and, aside from this sole Blackguard example, essentially underheard of as a factory-installed option off the Fender line.
Daughtry has also shared the same images of the guitar – and is, presumably, the player currently in possession of it, given Bonamassa is touring Europe at present.
“Coolest Blackguard ever?” writes Daughtry. “Gotta love the OG Bigsby pickup in the neck position installed at the Fender factory! Pictures of the original owner playing it with the OG Bigsby pickup an added bonus! The definition of Unicorn! @joebonamassa and I are going to enjoy this one. Thanks Will at @thunderroadguitars”
Let’s hope this one gets an airing onstage and online at some point. We want to hear that Bigsby pickup in action…
