Before 1948, the only electric guitars were acoustic guitars with a microphone attached to the bridge or in the sound hole. Acoustic guitars were not designed to be amplified, and feedback between the P.A. and the mic in the guitar was quite a common problem, much to the chagrin of guitarists and audiences.

Around this time a radio repairman and inventor by the name of Leo Fender was experimenting with an electric pickup design to amplify a guitar without a microphone. To test the pickup, he needed a guitar. Having been inspired by solid-body Hawaiian guitars that were gaining popularity, Fender decided to mount his pickup onto a solid body wood guitar rather than a hollow bodied acoustic guitar. In 1948, the Fender Broadcaster was born as a one pickup solid bodied guitar[3].

Leo Fender's Original Prototype [4]

Leo Fender quickly started to ready the Telecaster for mass production, because other guitar manufacturers, such as Gibson and Rickenbacker, were starting to design their own models of electric guitars. The body of the Broadcaster was to be ash and the neck was to be made out of maple. Both of these woods were chosen for their availability . The neck of the guitar was to be bolted on after the guitar was completed. This allowed for faster construction because the two pieces could be specially produced as distinct parts. This was an improvement over the traditional time consuming method of crafting it all from the same piece of wood. This also allowed the neck to be replaced if it were flawed, or if the neck were to warp (a common problem with guitar necks resulting in poor tuning). For ease of replacing, component parts were installed into the Telecaster after it had been painted and finished. If one part didn't work, another identical part could be put into the same slot with relative ease. [5]

The Telecaster was designed for efficiency in construction as well as in use and maintenance. Although different model lines of the Fender Telecaster have emerged over its near half century in production, the original style has remained unchanged. This is one of the main reasons why it has become a staple instrument in so many different musical styles all over the world, and has maintained its popularity for almost fifty years.