Here’s a cool guitar with a cool story for you. It’s a 1966 Fender Jaguar in very clean condition from the family of Ernie Terrell and the group “Ernie Terrell and the Heavyweights.”
I acquired this guitar from Ernie Terrell’s nephew. He did not have any photos of “uncle Ernie” with the guitar, but says he inherited from his uncle’s estate. I will include photos that he provided me of him holding the guitar, as well as a photo of him with his uncle in the 1990s. I am happy to share this with you ahead of time (please message me). You will note the many pictures of Ernie Terrell behind him in the photo and other memorabilia. I did not receive any further provenance from the nephew, but they did say they would share whatever they might later find.
Ernie Terrell was the heavyweight boxing champion in the 1960s and lost the title to Muhammad Ali. The fight was famous for Terrell’s referring to Ali by his given name “Cassius Clay,” leading to Ali taunting Terrell during the fight by continually asking: “What’s my name?!”
Terrell was also a guitar player, singer, and musician. Part of the lead up to the fight involved a live TV performance with his musical group “Ernie Terrell and the Heavyweights.” Several family members were part of the group, including his sister and fellow singer Jean Terrell.
The guitar itself is in superb condition for its age. It was played some but very carefully. For some reason the frets were filed down fairly flat (player preference?) so I opted to have it refretted with vintage style wire. There was also a very old piece of masking tape along the base side binding that marked the names of the notes along each fret. I removed that. The finish underneath is just a hair darker than the rest of the neck in that areas.
It is otherwise a fairly typical example of an early CBS-era “transition” Fender. It has binding, but still sports the pearloid dots not he fretboard. In addition to the interesting provenance, the overall condition of the guitar does place it near the “collector-grade” category. It is not a flawless “brand new” guitar, but is definitely in the excellent category given the allowance granted to vintage guitars in terms of this designation.