Bogus QuoReplicas - Headstock

 

 

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This page is intended to deal with all aspects of the headstock on a replica of the Quo guitars, from the tuners to the decal.
     
  Decal  
Well there's not much even Tony can do about this particular area, since the only guitars you can buy with a Fender logo on are Fenders!

However, fortunately for us Quo nuts, the transfer on Rick's guitar has been all but completely worn away (left), and so a logo-free headstock will do nicely for a Rick copy!

Rick's guitar would have originally carried what is called the 'transition' logo, which had a revised Fender logo in gold with a black trim.

Francis's guitar decal can still be clearly seen, and it is the version of the Fender logo which preceded the transition logo. This logo consists of the famous Fender silver 'spaghetti' logo, the word Telecaster between inverted commas, and three patent numbers underneath. Examples of each type of decal are given below, with the original logo also included to illustrate the changes.
     
1951 - 1961 1961 - 1965 1966 - 1967
  (Francis) (Rick)
     
The Rossi and Parfitt Fender signature guitars both carry the 1950s style simple spaghetti Fender logo (left).  
     
     
  Tuners  
From 1950 through to 1967 Telecasters were fitted with nickel tuning keys made by the 'Kluson' company. The picture on the left shows the tuners currently fitted to Rick's guitar.

Copies of these tuners are readily available today, costing about £25 a set.

However, the tuning keys used by Fender carried different markings depending on the period. Both the Quo guitars would have been fitted with what are known as the 'dual-line' Klusons. These were the last version of the Kluson keys, which appeared in 1964, and came with the words 'Kluson Deluxe' stamped separately on the back-shell of each tuner.

Closer examination of the tuners on Rick's guitar shows that his are not the original set, so clearly he has had the tuners replaced at some point over the years.

 
The picture on the left shows a close up of one of Rick's tuning keys. Note the lack of any 'Kluson' marking on the shell.

A close-up of a 'dual-line' tuner from the mid-1960s is shown on the right.

This type of tuning key should be used for an accurate replica of Francis's green guitar.

 
     
     
  String Guides  
As far as the string guides go, for Francis you have to consider the two configurations of his guitar, and which one you are trying to replicate. For simplicity we'll refer to the 'Live Aid' and 'Lace Sensor' setups.

Rick's and the 'Live Aid' Rossi both have a single 'butterfly' type retainer for the 'B' and 'E' strings, just to the left of the decal (left).

When Francis converted to the Lace Sensor pickups the 'butterfly' guide was replaced by two round string guides, placed as shown in the photograph on the left.

(Note the separate maple finger board on Francis's guitar)

Early in 2007 Francis replaced the two round guides with black 'Graphtec' guides (pictures to be added soon!).
     
As well as swapping the two string guides, he also had the nut replaced with a black 'Graphtec' type. These types of nut and string guide are classed as 'self lubricating' and are favoured by some guitar players because they are supposed to eliminate the string 'grab' that can occur with the more usual metal, plastic and bone parts.
     
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