What happens to iconic guitars after a famous (or cult hero) guitarist dies? These days it’s common to see instruments sold at high-profile auctions and vanish into the clutches of anonymous collectors with deep pockets.
However, some guitars live on in museum collections, remain under close guard as family heirlooms, or pass along to famous player friends, where they continue to make history.
We decided to take a closer look at five of the most celebrated Telecasters (actually, one is an Esquire) played by guitarists we’ve loved and lost, and figure out where those instruments are now. Today, we examine the legendary Danny Gatton’s 1953 Fender Telecaster.
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If there were any justice in this world, Danny Gatton would have been a superstar. He more than lived up to his nicknames, “The Telemaster” and “The Humbler,” thanks to his spectacular technique and mastery of multiple styles, including jazz, country, rockabilly, blues, and more – an amalgamation he called “redneck jazz” and fellow guitarists described as mind-boggling.
Despite earning a heap of acclaim, releasing a handful of albums on major labels, and appearing on the cover of guitar magazines, Gatton never surpassed cult-hero status.
Gatton worked his way from playing clubs in the Washington, D.C. area during the ’70s to the public spotlight backing rockabilly revivalist Robert Gordon and classic country icon Roger Miller during the ’80s. During this period, his main guitar was a 1953 Telecaster (serial number 4883) that featured several highly personalized modifications.
Gatton refretted the neck and installed cubic zirconia side markers on it, replaced the original knobs with a pair of custom heavily knurled stainless steel knobs made by Jay Monterose, and bent down the pickup selector switch to keep it out of the way when manipulating the volume and tone knobs.
The ’53 Tele’s electronics provided the essence of Gatton’s unique, multi-voiced tones. His pickups were custom made by Joe Barden, featuring a humbucking design in a standard Tele-size single-coil pickup featuring two side-by-side bobbins with blade polepieces.
The pickups were wound to deliver single-coil tones without hum. Gatton used a standard audio-taper 500k ohm pot for his volume control, but his tone control had a linear-taper 1-megohm pot and a .05µF capacitor that enabled him to create wah effects.
Other distinct features included a stainless steel plate behind the bridge that was the mount for Gatton’s “Magic Dingus Box” remote effects controller, a trophy plate from the October 1988 Greasers Halloween Car Show placed below the high E string, and autographs that Willie Nelson and Roger Miller carved into the finish.
Gatton used this Tele to record his acclaimed independent solo album Unfinished Business. It can also be heard in its full glory in a recording of his live performance in the early Eighties at Berkeley Square with Robert Gordon that was released in 1996 as The Humbler.
During the early ’90s, after Gatton signed a record deal with Elektra and the Fender Custom Shop began collaborating with him on a Danny Gatton signature model Telecaster, Gatton traded his ’53 Tele to his good friend Jack Jensen for a 1934 Ford four-door sedan. Although the ’53 Tele had served him quite well, he couldn’t resist the offer to trade it for the car of his dreams.
After Gatton’s tragic suicide, Jensen returned the Tele to Gatton’s widow, Jan. On October 24, 2015, Heritage Auctions sold Gatton’s ’53 Tele for $62,500. The winning bidder was private collector and Gatton fan Nathan Lefcowitz, who planned to continue playing, performing, and recording with the instrument.
