“It’s got its own voice... I don’t think I’ve ever found something that speaks to me more than this one”: Is Vince Gill's '53 the greatest Telecaster on earth?

Esteemed country musician and songwriter Vince Gill has been talking about his favourite guitar – a battered old white ‘53 Telecaster he’s been playing for over 40 years.

In an episode of Robert Baker’s Guitar Stories Youtube podcast, Gill revealed that he first bought it for $450 way back in 1978. “I had never had a Tele before and I was crazy about what James Burton did, and Albert Lee did and the chicken picking thing and bending strings like steel guitar and I said ‘I got to get one of those’”.

“There’s something about this guitar - it’s got its own voice... I don’t think I’ve ever found something that speaks to me more than this one.”

Vince Gill's 53 Telecaster and How It Changed His Life. (Guitar Stories ep3) - YouTube

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Gill has many other Teles but told Baker that “I don’t find myself as drawn to them and I don’t know why that is other than the way it plays and the way it sounds. And it fits my hands. Most early 50s Teles, the necks are pretty big.”

He also shared a wee tip he picked up from the country legend Roy Nichols. “He would always take the tone knob and pull it back until its really bright. The familiar Telecaster brightness would go away and would darken just a little bit – then you could brighten the amp a hair more and the frequencies that the amplifiers were boosting were not nearly as high as whatever the high-end of the tone pot is.”

In a forty-minute chat he also talked about his economic approach to soloing. “Telling a story, it's just as important as the song you’re singing,” he says. “I was young and playing on somebody’s record once and playing a solo and the guy comes on and says ‘that was impressive. Let’s try it again. This time just try and play half of what you know.’”

“So over the years, I’ve always tried to edit myself. If I play something with eight notes, I think ‘can I do it and say more in five notes?’ And then just continue to whittle away until what you play speaks. There’s nothing more uninteresting than somebody widdling over something that they shouldn’t be widdling over.”

A Tour of Vince Gill's Vintage Guitar Collection - YouTube

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Gill is currently playing in the Eagles but doesn’t actually play the ‘53 Tele out with them – “There’s no real Telecaster playing for me with that gig - I play a lot of rhythm guitar though. So I thought I’d let it come home for a little bit and rest up.”