These Big Tex guitars are well-regarded among the Tele faithful … the nitro finishes are very thin to approximate a well-worn guitar, which allows the wood to open up and breathe, and hand-rubbed and polished using old-school techniques. Then the guitar is distressed, including the metal and plastic parts. Billy Gibbons plays one. What else do you need to know?

This is a ’53 Blackguard, built in 2012, with a swamp ash body, butterscotch finish, Lollar SP pickups, with a nice fat neck, 6105 frets and 9.5 radius. It weighs in at a comfortable 7 pounds, 4 ounces. The Lollars are fine and spanky. A tip of the hat to Big Tex … make it a 10-gallon hat. Includes a Big Tex gigbag. A previous owner drilled two small screw holes in the pickguard — finger rest, perhaps? — but I’m including a new black pickguard that you can have fun relicing if you prefer.

Condition: Relic; Body: Swamp ash; Neck: maple, large U, 9.5 radius; Nut: 1.650; Color: butterscotch; Pickups: Lollar SP; Scale: 25.5; Orientation: Lefthanded (of course).