Bill Frisell Stardust

[alltunes]

ironically I just decided to take another crack at putting together a little arrangement of Stardust which I always find very difficult and lo and behold this pops up….another fine Fretboard Journal Frisell video

[Marty Grass]

I love his playing. He always looks very focused, like he's giving birth to each note.

[Mick-7]

What model of Telecaster is he playing?

[starjasmine]

I'm no Fender expert, but I think they call that a "nocaster" because there is no model name on the headstock.
According to this Wikipedia article,

"A trademark conflict with a rival manufacturer Gretsch Broadkaster led to the guitar being renamed in 1951. Initially, the Broadcaster name was simply cut off of the labels placed on the guitars (leading to a limited run of nameless guitars known unofficially as Nocasters) and later in 1951, the final name of Telecaster was applied to the guitar to take advantage of the advent of television."

There have been custom shop nocasters and production reissues since the original run of ~475 "Nocasters" in 1951, so I hope BF chopped up one of those instead of an original!

[AndyV]

Per FJ .......

"On this track, Bill is playing his heavily modified Fender Telecaster through a Carr Sportsman amplifier.This guitar is truly a community build: It features a T.K. Smith-wound neck pickup (which changed since his last session here with this same guitar), a Seymour Duncan Little ’59 bridge pickup; a Mastery bridge; and a T.K. Smith pickguard.The custom art is by Terry Turrell. The finish and assembly were done by JW Black. The neck plate and additional setup was done by Eric Daw, but NYC’s Tom Crandall – recently featured in the Fretboard Journal’s 54th issue – has also done setup work on it."

[Mick-7]

"On this track, Bill is playing his heavily modified Fender Telecaster"

I could tell it was a modified Tele (e.g., the neck pickup) but was wondering what model was modified.

I think they call that a "nocaster" because there is no model name on the headstock.

There is a model name on the headstock: Esquire - I just deciphered it. That model had only a bridge pickup, which implies the body was routed for his bridge pickup.

[telephonic]

That model had only a bridge pickup, which implies the body was routed for his bridge pickup.

Second generation models apparently came with a routed neck pickup cavity and a 3-way switch. So it was easy to upgrade.

Fender Esquire - Wikipedia