TELEOLOGY

“I was always a Strat guy, but as I got more into vintage Fenders, I thought, ‘Blackguards are really where the history’s at,’” begins Richard diZerega. As a player, collector and avid researcher of vintage guitars, Richard’s deep fascination with Fender’s fledgling solidbody designs led to the creation of BlackguardLogs.com – a website dedicated to preserving Fender history by filling the gaps in factory records while identifying and detailing individual instruments. “What really drew me to Blackguards was the history,” he continues, “and once I got it, I was like, ‘What have I been missing out on?!’

“There are so many myths surrounding Blackguards, including the hype that’s around the name Tadeo Gomez. A Tadeo-signed neck is considered by many to be the Holy Grail of Fender necks. Truth is, there’s no evidence to back up that narrative. He was an unskilled labourer responsible for finish sanding. For us to hold him in higher regard does a disservice to Leo [Fender]. Leo almost bankrupted himself by investing in new tooling so that they could hire someone who needed minimal training to help build a guitar. They wanted people to be productive within hours, not weeks. It’s like the Henry Ford approach: they didn’t want an