I feel extremely lucky to be alive right now because of how enthusiastic the whole scene is around guitars right now. Your page has done so much to help push this community in such an awesome direction! THANK YOU!

It seems to be a recurring trend in electric guitar history that guitar designs don't get a lot of appreciation when they're first brought to market, only for players to fall in love with them many years later. The thinlines were and still are cool guitars, they just needed the right player to make them shine. It's always nice when there's a little personal history in these guitar histories. You're not just telling the story of the guitar, but how it impacted you. Gotta love that every guitar player at one point looked at David Gilmour and went: "I wanna sound like that guy."

You can always count on a great 5 watt history lesson. With ridiculous demo playing. Massively appreciated as always.

I have a thinline ASAT and it seems to have cured my GAS. Doesn’t get much better than a semi hollow T-style imo. Also, those were some of the best tones I’ve heard John pull off. Great stuff.

I recorded my first 3 albums with one of these so I'm pumped up for this one!

Tab Benoit is the first who comes in my mind, when I think of a 72 Telecaster Thinline.

"...generally doing my best impression of David Gilmour on his first solo record." Well played, Mr. Williams, well played! Thanks for another superb video!

God, I love these short history videos that you do, Keith. I just recently went back and rewatched the Les Paul, Flying V and Explorer videos again. I never get tired of them. And, as usual, this one didn’t disappoint. Keep ‘em comin’!

The thinline tele with wide range humbuckers is one of the best guitars in history. I'm so happy Fender is building them again. I love mine.

Now I need to check out the Thinline piece of history. I used to think the Tele was sheer bud tugly, but now that I've owned a couple I've grown to love the design and features.

I was given a Squier Thinline Telecaster with a gold finish by my son, to celebrate my 50th year as a performing musician. Nice guitar - still have it - still like it a lot.

I had wondered why they made the semi hollow design. I thought they were trying to get an 'acoustic' or Gibson look. I am glad I got a logical answer of making the body lighter. I am going to go ahead and apologize now for some nerd trivia; the holes are taken from the classic look of the Stradivarius violins. The wholes were actually 'S's (for Stradivarius). They are more accurately called 'S' holes. I know, I am kind of an 'S' hole for inserting this trivia.

That first David Gilmore album is fantastic. “There’s No Way Out of Here” just hits home every time I listen to it. If you don’t know, it’s just a search bar away. Do yourself that favor right now.

Thanks again, for the history lesson! I always watch these with excitement, no matter how many times I heard these old tales.

i have a squier cv 70’s thinline and it’s one of my favorite guitars. i love the way telecasters feel and play, but i don’t really vibe with standard telecaster pickups, since the wide range humbuckers have a bit of a warmer sound, they work much better for me and what i play. i really love my thinline, and i think it’s the perfect telecaster, at least for me

I've got a Britt Daniel signature thinline tele and absolutely love it. Like any tele you can pretty much play any style of music on it and it still sounds great. Loved the video and the series in general. It's always good to learn more about the history of these instruments.

Thank you for assembling this video, Keith. It basically picked up where the short history of the Telecaster left off, and it felt like a history that needed to be put together . My assessment is that you wanted to wait until you got it right before you got it done. I was 11 years old when the film adaptation of the Commitments was shot by Alan Parker in Ireland and 12 when I first saw it with my own eyes. Glen Hansard (later known for having written and starred in the musical Once) portrayed Commitments guitar player Outspan Foster wielding a ‘72 Thinline Tele refinished in metallic blue and decked out in racing stripe decals. (That probably was the first time I took note of an electric guitar bearing a maple fingerboard.) The fact that Glenn played one would later resonate with me whenever I saw any other guitar player like Jonny Buckland wielding that same model either in original or reissue assembly. It also must’ve been an underlying influence on my decision to get my first Thinline in 2011. Between September 2010 and January 2021, I grabbed up four different Telecaster models of my own, two ‘72 reissues, one “partscaster” with Gibson H’s and a Strat-style ttem bridge and finally my current model, a Modern Payer Deluxe Thinline Tele w/ Seymour Duncan soapbar P90s. The areas where it divergence from a ‘72 Thinline include the 22nd fret, individual controls and those pickups supplanting the wide range buckers. I can recall resisting getting one of those before listening to the demos and realizing that I liked the sound of that P90s better.

These are my favorite Teles, and to me one of the coolest designs ever. Such a great video, Keith!

A '73 Thinline is one of those "one that got away" guitars for me. A music store I used to frequent had a little bin in the back of the store with random NOS and used parts in it and they would occasionally hang a "luthier special" guitar or two above it. Project guitars that needed various levels of finishing (sometimes just bodies and or necks). I used to raid that parts bin for parts for various projects and one day they had this '73 thinline hanging up above it for something like $200 (this was the mid 80s). It was mostly stripped, the finish was gone, and all it was was the body, neck, tuning machines and bridge (it was strung and played well). Well I really couldn't afford it and I kept thinking about that guitar for days and finally decided to heck with it, I didn't need a project but I wanted it. Went back and it had been sold. I still think of what could have been with that guitar all these years later.

Thank you Keith for this channel and these history lessons. I slogged thru an awful day at work fixated on this episode tonite being a reward for toughing it out. As always, your presentation was stellar. I became smitten with and purchased new in 1989 a MIJ '69 thinline reissue w/mahogany natural finish body & maple neck. It has served me all these years, loved and worn now in all the right places. The MIJs were built very well- I rewired it eventually & did a 4 way switch mod, but the original pickups remain. I call it Pegasus as the curve of it's white pearloid pickguard suggests a wing of that mythic horse. Airy but slightly darker sounding than solid, heavy ash T bodies l'd played, the versatility of this horse has flown me to any tonal palette I needed or my ears desired. Thrilled that you chose to shine a Short History spotlight on these unique Tele variants!

I've been saying this for awhile but the Classic Vibe guitars that Squire are building are excellent and their thinlines are no exception. I've found myself wanting these guitars more than most Fenders and I think they do a great job at capturing the overall vintage specs, look, and feel!

I personally am not a huge fan of the Thinline, the single F-hole just doesn't do it for me. But I do love that it was a sister model to my personal favorite Fender model, the Tele Deluxe. Another excellent video Keith and crew!

A friend had a Tele Thinline in the 70s. It was a very nice guitar. I had a Les Paul at the time and the sound each made was incredible.

My guitar teacher had a 72 model 2 thin line that buddy guy signed in 1995 (he signed the year) when he was still struggling to make a living, god I absolutely loved that unique guitar.

Thanks, another great history lesson! One of the earlier Thinlines (Dark Sunburst) came thru the music shop I was working at early 70's. It was lovely - first time I had even considered buying a Fender (I was playing my 1968 Les Paul Custom at the time). I didn't have much time to find the money for the Thinline because 2 days later some guy bought it as soon as he tried it! I met him in 1977, our producer brought him in to arrange the strings on a couple of tracks on our album . . . asked him about it and he'd already sold it - turns out he was a very much in demand session player and arranger in NZ. Ho hum - so it goes! 😀

As a traditional tele owner/lover i had often said “why” when i see a thin-line. This video tells me why and now i want one :).Great work.

The video brings back fond memories of the MIJ 69 Tele Thinline I played for many years in the early 2000s. Great guitars and a great video. Thanks Keith!

I will never get tired of watching these episodes on the classic Fender and Gibson guitars. Everytime I think you got them all, then another video comes out on something I didn't think of or forgot about. I hope i am pleasantly surprised to see more of these in the future.

Awesome video! Another great V2 Thinline player is Dylan Mattheisen from the midwest emo band Tiny Moving Parts. Unreal musicianship, Dylan shreds these guitars!

Roger Rossmeisl was craaaaazy talented as a luthier. Definitely was behind a lot of the innovation in the guitar that we take for granted today

Thanks Keith and all involved in this Short History episode!

once again, a very interesting history lesson! Thanks for sharing it!!

Thanks Keith. I’ve always loved the Thinline. In fact it’s my current #1. It’s a fair bit of Rickenbacker DNA in the way it’s made, body-wise of course. Keep the vids coming!

I owned the Jim Atkins model for a while and it is a fantastic guitar!

Keith, I would like to tell you that, one could search KZfaq for any number of documentaries and " history behind" types of videos but some how yours hit the nail right on the head EVERYTIME. You do it better than the others. ITS JUST BETTER.

I have a 72n thinline. Made in Japan 1995. Got it from a Japanese gentleman who kept it untouched in the gig bag for twenty years. Even had the original strings. Still like new today. My go to guitar. Love it.

What a great treatise on this beautiful model. I really am, first and foremost, a Mustang man but when my wife and I walked into a Guitar Center one day back in 2009 and saw an ash body humbucker tele we went right to it. What a beautiful instrument. I’ve enjoyed it ever since.

Got my hands on a couple Thinlines over the lockdown and absolutely love them. Thanks for this

I love the way you present your content.....thank you for all your hard work!!!! Jeff

Bought my first "real" guitar in 1981. A 1969 sunburst Thinline Tele, I was listening to a lot of Steve Khan and paid a kid $350 (with case) seriously warped Pearl guard. It wasn't cool enough cause I needed a strat for cover band gigs., so stupidly sold it a decade later. It had the most gorgeous neck. God I wish I had kept it

I am one of the people who when I was younger, a teenage guitarist in the 90s… I thought telecasters were ugly and then when I got older and started trying them out more, I immediately bought one ……the bridge pick up sound I just can’t live without now….. and now I think they’re so beautiful

I have a Japanese Fender ’69 thinline reissue that I bought new in 1994. It a cool guitar. I use it as a sort of Kieth Richards style open g tuned guitar. I’ve always enjoyed playing it.👍🥃

Great video thank you. Good to learn some history of the thinline. I just bought a mim classic series 69 reissue made in 1998. Absolutely love it. The neck profile is amazing and sonically it has a unique vibe. It's even threatening to overtake my Esquire as being my go-to guitar

15:29 That David Gilmour cover…I bought the CD and started listening to it and thought “wow! This is David Gilmour in the early years?” However, upon close inspection of the actual CD, I noticed that it said “Gary Moore; the early years”!!! It was brand new! What? Anyway, that was my introduction to Gary Moore! Thanks, David Gilmour!

jonny buckland is my biggest guitar inspiration and made me want to pick up learning the guitar, and a 2 humbucker tele at that. happy to see his signature instrument featured on the best guitar history series around. fascinating to learn that the design originated as a solution to a stock of heavy wood! i'm around a year and a half into the guitar scene so i've got a lot of catching up to do, and these histories help a lot. thanks keith!

0:36 I love how part of the catchphrase has condensed to “whinchested” 😂 love what you do thanks

6:19 GUITARGASM!!! That is just perfection. Thanks for yet another excellent presentation Five Watt World. Number one guitar history channel.

Good presentation Keith, I just got myself the Squier thinline fsr in April there and I love it 🎉its a really good guitar. 🎉

I have a baja tele with an ash body no routing and only 6.8 lbs. guess I'm lucky i got one of the light weight ash bodies. Very resonant too!

It's a pretty guitar with humbuckers so what's not to like? Nice and light so it isn't a drag to play for three sets in a bar. Another video that will outlive us all and be watched by future gear heads looking for the right guitar for themselves.

wow. I sent for a Fender catalog as a 10 year old in '67 then again in '72 when i started playing. This is where i first saw these. Really didn't know anything about them. Nicely done, Keith!

I have a 72 Telecaster Thin Line with light natural finish Ash body with Maple neck and fretboard. It weighs under 5 pounds. Sounds like no other guitar I've ever owned. The neck and fretboard have a snappy bouncy quality to them. It's fun to play and has a great acoustic volume and tone too.

It was lovely to hear Tobias playing Rory Gallagher on that thinline.

Seeing Nathanial and Tobias, et al, was a real treat! I always appreciate your work, Keith! Thank you, sir!! ♥

Can't remember when I first became aware of the Thinline Teles, but it was love at first sight. Took me thirty years-ish to actually own one. I still have no time for the stupid Tele bridge though..I may not be alone there. I'm not blowing smoke here KW, but you have had the best guitar history shows anywhere, bar none, from the start. Many thanks and blessings.

Today (June 8, 2024) I ordered a Donner Thinline dual humbucker guitar for $119.99. It comes with a gig bag, cable, tool, and strap. A couple of KZfaq reviewers say it is great. Several Amazon reviewers say it is really bad. Though their photos show a different style Telecaster copy. Maybe luck will send a good one. So many of those old guitars in this video looked ready for retirement. The idea of making a new guitar look old and worn seems insane. I kept guitars for twenty years and they looked nearly new when they were sold. Paul Reed Smith agrees with me in this regard. At least one prominent person in the guitar manufacturing field shares the same opinion.

Great video, thinlines have an amazing tone.

My friend owns an all original 1969 Thinline Tele and it's a suberb sounding guitar!

Awesome video! I've always thought the Thinline Teles were awesome guitars. And I LOVE your Strandberg! If I were to get a Thinline Tele style, I'd probably get a Strandberg too!

Thanks for the deep dive - I ❤ my MIJ Thinline ‘72 RI, it’s light, bright and punchy with the WR humbuckers. Sounds like a Tele, just with some air and slightly more refined

This video came to me at the perfect time. I just played a demo of a reissue one of these for my channel, and man. I really love it. Those CuNiFe pickups have all the top end you could ask for and plenty of throatyness to boot. 5 Watt World with another tremendously informative video. Nice one, Keith!

My all time favorite is the Tele Deluxe. A sexy but underrated guitar, with an obscure, mysterious history! Just saying, no innuendo intended... 😈

My buddy has an early 70's thinline, and I really love playing it. I think he likes hearing me play it too, as we all like to hear our guitars being played by another. It gives you a different perspective on it's tonal qualities. Great review.

What a lovely instrument. Big fan of things like that.

loved this video - I just bought a thin line after falling in love with teles over the last few years. very nicely done!

I acquired a '69 RI Thinline in 2001 and it's seen a lot of use since then. I had it fitted with a Fishman piezo loaded bridge and pre-amp to it about ten years ago. I also swapped out the original pickups for US Fender models which sound a bit sweeter to my ears. I have dedicated electro-acoustics that sound a little better but when I'm gigging and space for guitars is limited the Thinline is perfect to act as a backup electric as well as giving me those acoustic sounds when I need them. Interestingly I acquired a US 'Acoustasonic' Telecaster last year and whilst it's a lot more versatile the Thinline more than holds its own played through the same rig. I had both out for a local session last night and when the battery ran flat on the Acoustasonic I had no issues switching to the Thinline.

The playing (and tone) at 4:30 is incredible, thanks!

A couple of years ago I had a Fender American Pro ii routed out like a smugglers Tele and 2 cunife p/u’s installed with a 1mg pot. It has a roasted pine body, and it sounds amazing and unique, I have tried a couple of the new stock versions Fe 18:39 nder has put out, but to my ears mine sounds better and it weighs 6 lbs. 14 oz. Great video, Thank you Keith!

Around 1981 when I wanted to upgrade from my initial firewood guitar, I found a 1972 Tele Delux in a small back alley store. Nobody wanted 1970s guitars and definitely no weird pickups so I got it for a price I could afford. Little did I know I was purchasing a classic! Of course I sold that guitar long ago, but recently bought a MIM re-issue that feels pretty much identical.

My 1969 copy is exact and has perfect tones. What an awesome piece of gear! A little reverb, a little delay. Perfect.

The 2018 NAMM custom shop 50’s telecaster thinline creation is cool. Something that’s a slight twist on an original was a great idea. Chunky 57 soft V Maple neck/ no cap. 50’s body colours like honey blonde

Love this guitar, thanks Keith.🎸🎵🔥

I have the Fender Thinline Select with Gold Hardware that came out in 2012/13. It is my #1 love that guitar. I have Gibson customs and a lot of nice guitars and I always come back to this one. Great video on this guitar.

12:10 typo "... the completion of pickup mounted pickups...." we all know what is meant, nbd, few will notice, but head's up for editing / review next time. meant as constructive help, thanks for making cool helpful and educational videos all these years

Really enjoyed this!

THAT'S MY BOYY I've been playing guitar since January 2021 and I bought my first electric last summer: a squier thinline telecaster, her name is claire and she has the same color as my hair, a bright ginger maple color. I love her, and I'm planning to give her some upgrades when I go back to the US for the summer. Copper plating on the pickguard to remove some unwanted crackling when phones or other devices are close by, locking tuners, a string changing kit, and maybe even adding a third pick up but we'll see.

I bought a 2nd hand Squier Vintage Modified '72 Telecaster Thinline from a local equipment rental concern here in Austin and installed a set of the Fender Wide Range Pickup reissues I bought as soon as they were released. I first converted the WRH to 4-lead wiring and installed a 4-way blade selector with both series and parallel wiring options. Aside from a couple of details (3-bolt neck e.g.), I've built myself a guitar that rivals the Fender Vintage II Thinline for about one third of the cost. Finally, I'm going to swap the stock neck for a Fender Tele Deluxe 22 fret w/ 12" radius. And, yes, those pickups have a one-of-a-kind sound to go along with the one-of-a-kind design. My next CuNiFe upgrade is going to be my Squier Classic Vibe Starcaster. That guitar is gonna scream and wail on top of the Duesenberg Les Trem II that I already installed. Probably going to omit the Master Volume from the original wiring design. It already plays beautifully. I have high hopes. Clearly, I've also had my share of coffee. Cheers.

A Thinline reissue with CuNiFe's would be pretty choice.

Keith, thanks for highlighting the versatility of these great instruments. Both versions of the Thinline Telecaster deserve a place in the pantheon of great "do all" electrics right alongside the solidbody Telly and the 335. I love my thinlines not only for the light weight, but because they are much more easily led into musical feedback than a solidbody Telecaster. They just seem alive at a decent stage volume in a way a traditional Telecaster never does for me.

I love my thinline tele. One of tbe best things CBS did was create a thinline tele. It's great for practicing unplugged, but it also has more hum due to the hollow nature. I have done so much reading about thinlines, but I never knew there were rosewood fretboard versions! I always discover something new from your channel, thank you!

Thank you-I’ve been thinking about one. They look and sound great; grateful for your work.

This is something I have always wanted a nice natural finish slimline with a pair of wide range pickups. Thanks for some really great content this video very much reminds me of the videos you made when you first started making content. Keep up the great work Keith.

I have a ‘72 thinline and it’s amazing. Thanks so much for the video

Cheers for having me OF! Enjoyed trying a Thinline...I never finished building mine...

I bought a 72 mij reissue in 93. Added cunife pups when they came out. It has now become my "#1"....and all my favorite player play strats.

The history of the WRHB is essential to the Thinline Tele. At some point in the 1970s, Fender could no longer source the raw materials for the CuNiFe magnets in the WRHB and had to switch materials. The tone from the replacement materials is generally considered inferior. It wasn’t until very recently that Fender found a supplier for CuNiFe magnets and they’re now available for the first time in decades in their wide-range humbuckers.

“Smuggler” Tele. Awesome! I learned something new today!

Keith, thank you for your insight into the tele thinline. It is a guitar I have been quite intrigued and interested in learning about. The more I watch you on a Short History the more I realize how little I truly know about guitars. So, I again thank you and wish you good health and safe travels.

Perfect. Those melodies and sounds... it picked me.

Keith. Thank you so much for this. It was nice to hear all the variations in tone between the different versions! There are elements there of the best of both worlds, right? You have a classic Tele sound and then the warmth of the thinline. I love innovation.

Great video like always! I was thinking recently it would be cool if you guys did "a short history" on the Rolling Stones mobile tour bus. I feel like a lot of people don't know about it and the amount of very successful musicians that have used it back in the day is crazy. Anyway, thank you for all that you do! You guys do great research and great presenting.

A few years ago I picked up a 1976 Aria Pro II "Backaroo" (maybe something was lost in translation). It is the first year of Matsumoku production of copying the Thinline Telecaster II. I have never before gravitated towards Telecasters but this guitar is wonderful. The humbucking pickups sound great and like you said in the video it is a really cool look. In my modest family of guitars, this is the least expensive I own but tends to be my "go-to guitar" for a lot of playing I do. I so appreciate all your videos and the philosophy of 5 Watt. Thank you.

I can never get enough of the short history series, the depth you go into is pretty amazing. I know a lot about guitars but you always come up with some things that I never knew before about either the instrument or the history of it. I'd love to see one on Taylor Guitars, maybe the Grand Auditorium model as it was essentially invented by Bob Taylor just a few decades ago and is thought of as THE Taylor guitar. Keep up the great work and deep dives into the history of the people and instruments that have changed music as we know it.

A wealth of great information... Five Watt World is Awesome.

A few years ago, I was churning through a few guitars. I put a for sale for another tele I had, and was offered a red 2011 AVRI Thinline II, which I accepted on a lark. I had never played one before, and I honestly had never thought too hard about their existence. I plugged it in and it was just pure magic, just such a responsive instrument. To this day, it is one of my absolute favorites.

Thanks for a very informative and enjoyable video about the history of the Thinline. 🌞

I love thinline teles. Probably building a dual humbucker one this summer, which would complete my tele collection (for now)

I have a Squier vintage modified thinline tele,and on any given day it might be my fav guitar. Thats among Gibsons, US fenders, mex fenders etc etc

As an elder millennial, the thinline was the pinnacle of guitars to me, from the emo bands of the late 90s to the indie bands that grew out of it in the early oughts, especially blake sennett

Excellent video, I was looking for videos of the Thinline history while researching recently to buy one, found some but nothing as this one! Thank you! I did end up buying one, a Custom Shop Knotty Pine CuNiFe, excelent tones with the wide range pickups 🤘🤘