THE 1952 FENDER FORECASTER...is it time to make this guitar?

A BIT OF FUN

The 1952 Fender Forecaster was never made...in fact it was never even thought of !

In the 1950's the second biggest selling guitar in America was the Kay Vanguard. It recently struck me that part of it's appeal is it's shape. It looks like a Fender that was meant to be made in 1952. Which would be two years after the Tele and two years before the Strat. The Vanguard is a 'Missing Link' between the 2 body styles.

So I started thinking .What if I designed one just different enough that where the neck is mounted it would fit a Stat or Tele neck. You can then build the new Kay using all standard Tele/Strat hardware and PU's.
This keeps the price down...allows for endless 'hot roding' and really makes the guitar
appear to actually be the mythical Forecaster

What if you could actually buy this guitar ???

you would have the rarest of all the Fender's...the
 '1952 Fender Forecaster'

I think the easiest way is to start with a body blank...the Fender Custom shop
                                         did just that on this one below. Then they traced out the Strat shape...and dispensed with the fancy routing and carving.

Fender Custom Shop Strat

                                                                                         

It would not be too hard alter the cutaways coming in towards the heel of the neck on the Strat.
The top cutaway would tie in 5 frets up the neck and the bottom tie in at the second fret.
This would both keep the heel and neck fitting 
the same as a stock Strat. It will also not threaten access to the highest frets nor would it alter how the heel fits to the body.
In short the new guitar would look much different 
...but the feel and playability would be the same as a  a stock Strat.
Great feel for any average player... nothing to even get used to for a Tele or Strat player.
Bullet proof !



So I am designing a prototype that can be made in China with American Standard Strat/Tele quality that could be sold for less then $500.00 USD. I have contacted a Chinese manufacturer 

. 

  

HARDWARE..

Perhaps the neck pickup should be a Strat...but with a chrome cover
The  Tele neck PU is chrome..

The Tele control plate could be mounted on an angle with the switch at the top

to mimic the layout of the Strat's controls

.

Keep the the tele neck pickup & bridge ...but update to the 6 saddles
the 1954 Strat had 6 saddles.

The upper side of the Strat pickguard is good but we will have to lop off the bottom
It needs to be shorten because of the bridge/pickup mounting plate.

The Tele Deluxe takes care of shaping the cutaway corner of the guitar

this keeps the vibe of the fun look of the Kay but following the pickguard curve of the Deluxe

puts us back into a Leo design

We will need a headstock that
 falls between the Tele and Strat style.
So since Reverend guitars have been
freely borrowing on Fender ideas
in fact the Eastsider is a Tele.
we will borrow the headstock back. LOL
Perfect ...It is thin like a Tele but clearly it is a Strat shape.

The fake sunburst does not make it....
but the old Fender Torino red would be good.


I think a classic 'Blonde'  maple/neck fingerboard goes without saying!
Fender did not use rosewood for fret boards in '52.


So a quick review
the Vanguard body shape will be used ...with a modification to fit the heel of  a Strat/Tele neck
and a minor change in shape of cut-away to make it the same shape as the Tele deluxe pick guard.
The bridge will be the current American Tele bridge.
The pickguard will be a merge of a strat style on the top half and a Tele Deluxe on the bottom half.
The pick guard at the bridge will go strait across ...Tele style ...and the cutout for the steel control plate will be angled to align it to the outward curve of bottom rear bout of the body. To mimic the slanted controls of the Strat.

The neck pickup will be a Strat but with a chrome cover...and the neck will be the standard Tele one.

Oh yes and the Pickups.
The best of the Tele pickups to me is coincidentally the 1954.
it has the Tele twang but with a nice fat snarling bite that sounds great with overdrives.
Duncan do a superb '54.
The also do a very convincing staggered Strat
BUT.

That said some cheap and cheerful Chinese jobbies will do to keep the price down.

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AUG.13, 2021

THE BIG SURPRISE

In 1951 Leo was making sketches of his new

guitar for 1953

LEO thought his guitars should be like cars

every few years you got a New VERSION

In other words the 1950 Tele would cease production and 

so the 1953 Tele would look like my Lenard.

Like a car a few things would be used over

but NOT the look.

Hence the spec of the basic shape. The back half is identical

The treble Horn was added (borrowed from 52 P. Bass)

The lower horn was cut off.

the bolt on maple neck, the wood used etc. stayed the

same

The 6 saddle hardtail bridge was already a prototype

in 51 for such a guitar.

The edges were more rounded off but the top was till flat.

the rear did have a tummy cut.

The Tele PU at the neck was kept ...but a new PU was already 

designed (the Strat PU? Highly possible)

for the neck position. 

The middle PU was added by me so you can get

the out of phase thing

I got all this info from guy who worked with leo every

morning in the last 4 years he was alive.

and got to see all the pics and notes from the 50's

Leo never thru his ideas out even when

they were rough sketches.

This 'Guy' is still alive so I will not invade his privacy.

by saying who he is.

I will give you a hint.

He is famous for designing a sh@t load of

after market hardware for hot rodding your fenders.

nearly all of it is still available and NOT hard to find.

Goggle  ...

The Second Best Guitar on the Planet

It has the whole story on the lenard guitar.