Dedicated To Roy Buchanan and his, 1953 Fender® Telecaster® "Nancy" Presented by DON MARE PICKUPS: Home

This site is dedicated to Roy Buchanan and his Fender® Guitar, The 1953 Telecaster® that he nick named "NANCY"...

Nancy was not a stock 1953 Telecaster -

This site hopes to detail all the inside information we know about what made "Nancy" so special...

the music link here features a clip of Don Mare playing Nancy in 2005.

A few things we know for sure, about Nancy;

Neck Pickup, 6.1k coil, AlNiCo III magnets, brass pickup cover with chrome plating.

Bridge pickup, Interrupted / internment coil..correct bridge pickups ohms are my trade secret.. but one thing is for sure - its not 6k!

:A capacitor is wired "in Series" between the Volume Pots "hot" and to both sides of the switch, Its a Aerovox .1 @100 Volts ( Black cylinder type -small & skinny) ...

HOWEVER: its not so much what that caps value was doing to the circuit as it is the caps age and a boosted AM Transistor-Radio effect distorting that its doing & they way it increases the harmonics - so locating a similar cap is a _chore_ but I hope to launch a Youtube Video soon on how to locate these aged caps and pick them out of a pile!

for now the caps that are testing similar have all been older waxie-paper types with values from .002 to .3 and voltage from 25 volts to 600volts - we use "jumper cables" on-board the guitar and tested about 60 old caps - from that we got a few "Cherries" and that's it.. even at that - no identical ones to "Nancy's" was found_yet_ just "sisters" ones that are close and different in their own way - creating sisters but not twins, and this may prove to be the case, because the caps depletion due to age is not a concise science at all.. so there may not be two identical ones to be found... but what we look for is this:

you want the ones that add that AM Boosted Transistor Radio (slight-fuzz-like boost tone) as if someone suddenly ran you thru a AM Transistor Radio.

Next: it also has to ENHANCE Harmonics, be careful here because about 25 caps had the AM Transistor sound we needed, but the dampened the harmonics, the caps your after for Nancy-esk over tones will also boost the harmonics along with the AM Transistor boost tone - the harmonics should literary be jumping out from under your fingers with the greatest of ease, be careful because most of the caps tested squashed harmonics.. a quick test is to un-clip the cap being tested to see how it compares to the guitars natural harmonics... lastly keep in mind your looking for "sisters" to Nancys "in-series" Capacitor.. so select the ones that are the closest to Nancy - use the Music sound clips of Nancy being played thru a Fender® Blackface Vibrolux here for comparison. good luck - and Enjoy the Quest!!!

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Bio: Roy Buchanan

Background information

Birth name Leroy Buchanan

Born September 23, 1939(1939-09-23), Ozark, Arkansas, US

Died August 14, 1988 (aged 48), Fairfax, Virginia, US

Genres Blues, Rock and roll, Rockabilly, Country, Country rock

Occupations Guitarist

Instruments Guitar, Vocals

Years active 1958-1988

Labels Polydor, Atlantic, Alligator

Associated acts Robbie Robertson, Danny Gatton, Dale Hawkins, Danny Deever, The Snakestretchers

Notable instruments

1953 Fender Telecaster ("Nancy"), Black Beauty 1956 Telecaster Guild T-200/250 Rodger Fritz "Fritz Bros." Bluesmaster

Roy Buchanan (September 23, 1939 - August 14, 1988) was an American guitarist and blues musician. A pioneer of the Telecaster sound, Buchanan was a sideman and solo artist, with two gold albums early in his career, and two later solo albums charting on the Billboard chart. Despite never having achieved stardom, he is still considered a highly influential guitar player.Ranked #57 on the Rolling Stone list "100 Greatest Guitarists of all Time," Guitar Player praised him as having one of the "50 Greatest Tones of all Time."

Roy Buchanan was born in Ozark, Arkansas, and was raised both there and in Pixley, California, a farming area near Bakersfield. His father was a sharecropper in Arkansas and a farm laborer in California.[5] Buchanan told interviewers that his father was also a Pentecostal preacher, a note repeated in Guitar Player magazine but refuted by his older brother J.D. Buchanan told how his first musical memories were of racially-mixed revival meetings he attended with his mother Minnie. "Gospel," he recalled, "that's how I first got into black music." He in fact drew upon many disparate influences while learning to play his instrument (although he later claimed his aptitude was derived from being "half-wolf"). He initially showed talent on the steel guitar before switching to the standard instrument in the early 50s, and started his professional career at age 15, in Johnny Otis's rhythm and blues revue.

In 1958, Buchanan made his recording debut with Dale Hawkins, including playing the solo on "My Babe" for Chicago's Chess Records. Two years later, during a tour through Toronto, Buchanan left Dale Hawkins to play for his cousin Ronnie Hawkins and tutor Ronnie's guitar player, Robbie Robertson. Buchanan plays bass on the Ronnie Hawkins's single "Who Do You Love?"[citation needed]. Buchanan soon returned to the U.S. and Ronnie Hawkins' group later gained fame as The Band. The early 60s found Buchanan performing numerous gigs as a sideman with multiple rock bands, and cutting a number of sessions as guitarist with musicians such as Freddy Cannon and Merle Kilgore. In the early 70's, Roy Buchanan gigged extensively in the Washington D.C.-Maryland area with the Danny Denver Band, who had a large following in the area.

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Disclaimer:

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We sell guitar pickups that use the Fender® Stratocaster® guitar and Fender® Telecaster® guitar and Gibson® guitar. They are high quality pickups for Fender® guitars and Gibson® guitars (and many other brands).

We are not representing them as products of the following companies: are all the property of Fender® musical instruments as if you did not know.

We are not associated with Fender® or Gibson® and have never been. No relation.

We are not associated with: Fender®, Gibson®, or any of these companies and their trade names and trade marks are the property of the respective companies.

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