I think it’s getting pretty close to needing some new frets.” Although I think I may have had to replace one. “Clarence had another neck made for it at Fender, in the late 60s or early 70s. “I think the body is a ’54,” says Stuart. The Tele has been used heavily by Marty since he bought it in the 80s In other news, the neck pickup has been replaced by a Strat unit with a white cover – likely from that ’54 – and at some point the bridge single coil was rewound by steel guitarist Red Rhodes, whose ‘Velvet Hammer’ pickups were popular with other country players including James Burton. For a start, the body is twice as thick as Leo Fender designed it the additional body depth covers the prototype B-Bender mechanism. It’s been pampered since day one.”Ĭlarence isn’t like any other Telecaster. It flew in its own seat on planes and had Advantage miles. Then I went to American Airlines and bought an Advantage number for it.

I went down the street to a store in New York City called Manny’s, and bought a gigbag for it. Stuart continues: “When I first got the guitar, the first time that I used it publicly was on a show called Saturday Night Live, playing behind Johnny Cash. “So, that’s how much she charged me and she hand wrote out a receipt… and from the beginning I felt a responsibility towards that guitar.”Īs it turned out, “Doing the right thing” has seen the Telecaster in constant service since – in the studio and on the road. I know you’ll take care of it, and do the right thing with it’.

“She said, ‘I want $1,450.’” White recalls “I said, ‘Susie, the E string on Clarence’s guitar is worth more than that.’ ‘I know what it’s worth,’ she replied.

The body is twice as thick as a regular Tele thanks to the prototype B-BenderĪfter some deliberation, White came back with a price for him. “Susie said, ‘That’s the guitar you really want, isn’t it?’ And I said, ‘Are you kidding!?’ I laid my chequebook on the table and said ‘Within reason, fill in any number you want to… and if I don’t have the money, my mom works at a bank!’” The guitar’s standout feature is the prototype ‘pull string’, or B-Bender, which was the first of its kind on any guitar

Clarence white eight miles high