NGD. 3rd time lucky...

skunkwerx

For those that followed my previous Player Series experience... 
I gave up. 

Paid the extra for this. 
An American Special Tele, in Vintage Blonde all the way from Corona. 





So far so good. I had high hopes, being my first Usa made guitar, and now the most expensive I’ve ever bought. 

Its not disappointing. 

Love the Jumbo frets, as I’m used to them I guess, the pickups for me are fine (Texas specials with greasebucket circuit), quite growly with gain. 
Fretboard is finished in a satin urethane, same as the back, which feels good too, and the edges are slightly rolled which makes it comfy and nice. 

Out the box, plays fine, set up is ok, no sharp edges, frets could do with a little polish/profiling I think but nothing too major. 
Intonations pretty much fine too.
A relief as I’d like to just be able to play this one lol! 

The finish is perfect. Not a single flaw. 
The blonde is a thin coat, you can see the grain beneath, which I like actually. 
Hard to photo because the top coat is glossy, but i’ll try.. 






The brass saddles I like too. 
Holy hell it was so easy to restring. Compared to the player series, its worth the extra £300 alone. 

So far, everything lines up, ok the high e is a smidgin too close to the edge for ‘my’ liking, but I can play it without it slipping off. Pmt did make a little neck adjustment for me when I picked it up, but its a tight pocket.. but its all good.

A plus for the plain brass saddles I guess, can move the strings a little inboard and adjust their spacing a little. 

Gave it a good hours thrashing today and so far nothings worked itself loose, so thats good! 

Was I a fan of hearing aid beige guitars? Nope.

Keep looking at this one though!  

DB1

Beautiful. Love the colour. 

skunkwerx

DB1 said:

Beautiful. Love the colour. 

Cheers man! 

I couldnt decide between this and the sunburst variant. Theres only the 2 colours with maple necks for this model.. 

I could have flipped a coin and probably been happy either way, but something drew me to this.. 

roberty

Nice one I love classic looking Teles. What an ordeal you've had, glad this one is up to scratch!

skunkwerx

roberty said:

Nice one I love classic looking Teles. What an ordeal you've had, glad this one is up to scratch!

Thanks man! 

I think the vintage styling drew me to it. Most other guitars I’ve had have been very modern in all aspects. 

But also, big shout out to PMT Romford who were great today. 

I was well out of my depth, handed the most expensive guitar I’ve ever held, led to a room of Orange valve amps and big ol cabs to have a play (I’ve never played through anything other than a solid state little combo at low volumes before!) lol!

It was awesome.  



Thanks Matt + Pedro @ Fender who also helped speed things along

DrJazzTap

That's lovely been thinking about a lake placid blue telecaster recently 

LuttiS

Looks amazing, love the maple neck. You were right not to go for the sunburst

Voxman

Oh no, gor love a duck mate, you didn't get duped in to buying a piece of junk from the Corona factory? Tone is dreadful, workmanship non existent, electrics are dodgy, and colour even worse, and it'll fall apart within a month.  they must've seen you coming a mile away!

Tell you what, I'll take it off yer 'ands for £400 nicka and I'm doin you a favour.

Seriously, many congrats ...that looks a stonkingly righteous telecaster and I love the colour with the maple board! Play and enjoy! 

....now, bout that 400 quid offer....

DB1

DrJazzTap said:

That's lovely been thinking about a lake placid blue telecaster recently 

I had the offset Tele in LPB, with the light mint pickguard. A lovely colour combo. 

kswilson89

Great choice, I think the upgrades from the American special to the American professional just aren't worth the money. This is a fantastic guitar for the money and yours looks excellent.

robgilmo

That's a proper guitar right there, love the VB's.

Hootsmon

That's a smasher Skunky 

terada

Really glad you got something great in the end!

Looks lovely - enjoy!

Schnozz

MIA Special = Made in America...But by more Mexicans

Neil

Schnozz said:

MIA Special = Made in America...But by more Mexicans

Made by Americans, regardless of their heritage.

If they were made by Mexicans they would be illegal immigrants wouldn't they?  

Neil

BTW, gorgeous loooking guitar there OP. 

DLM

Schnozz said:

MIA Special = Made in America...But by more Mexicans

Do keep up 007: that was the whole business plan behind Fender from the start.

DLM

Oh and OP: fantastic!

Get on with some Gregory Kochery!

stickyfiddle

Lovely! I played a Strat from the same series and was impressed, so based on a sample size of 2, I conclude that they USA Specials are uniformly brilliant

dindude

Very nice, it’s worth paying a bit more for a guitar that just works out of the box.

skunkwerx

Thanks all! 

Yep its deffo a keeper this one. 

The small things here have made me smile actually, a stylish string tree and a certificate of authenticity! 

Is this what the other side is like?! 

I now want to buy stuff that comes with case candy lol!

But its a decent guitar, very happy with it!