Jason Isbell Signature Tele Anyone Seen One?

chrisj1602

Offset said:

Looks nice enough, but I'm afraid I'd never pay £1200+ for a Mexican Tele when for the same price I could get an as-new  second-hand US one.  I have a battered but fab US Tele from 2000.  I paid £550 for it.

The thing with a Mexican Road Worn is that it’s an “affordable” version of a £4,000 nitro relic. On that basis, £1,000-£1,200 for one is a good price.

A new top of the line Mexican guitar up against a used USA made one and with prices of yesteryear is not really the right comparison.

NelsonP

oh_pollo said:

I don't think you'll ever see Jason Isbell playing one. It'll be like Jeff Tweedy's Martin signature model. The only time I've seen him playing that is in the video where he's flogging it.

That describes 99% of sig models doesn't it? I should know,  4 of my 6 guitars are sigs and I have seen the artists in question use them only a handful of times.

Don't make that the reason to buy a sig guitar basically!

stimpsonslostson

If you're into Isbell, he talks to Greg Koch on the Chewing the Gristle podcast & I'm fairly sure he discusses his love of teles, including the one his signature is based on. 
https://www.fishman.com/greg-podcast/

Jason has a lovely Dusenberg that really caught my eye when I last saw him play. 

floeighty2

oh_pollo said:

I don't think you'll ever see Jason Isbell playing one. It'll be like Jeff Tweedy's Martin signature model. The only time I've seen him playing that is in the video where he's flogging it.

It’s based on his custom shop tele, looks really close actually if you check out his rig rundown.  Being a bit of an Isbell fanboy I think he nearly always has a tele in his arsenal, I’ve seen him with Thinlines and an LSL.  The whole
new record is all Stratocaster. Think he says as much in a podcast somewhere which is strange seeing as he loves that ‘59 Les Paul something terrible! 

stickyfiddle

floeighty2 said:

  

The whole new record is all Stratocaster. Think he says as much in a podcast somewhere which is strange seeing as he loves that ‘59 Les Paul something terrible! 

Yeah - I assume it’s because they’d already recorded most of it before he got the LP. He did have a run of vintage stuff in the last couple of years - at least the old Strat, a tele iirc and an early goldtop from the missus

floeighty2

stickyfiddle said:

floeighty2 said:

  

The whole new record is all Stratocaster. Think he says as much in a podcast somewhere which is strange seeing as he loves that ‘59 Les Paul something terrible! 

Yeah - I assume it’s because they’d already recorded most of it before he got the LP. He did have a run of vintage stuff in the last couple of years - at least the old Strat, a tele iirc and an early goldtop from the missus

Yeah, that gold top is a great looking thing too. He’s super in to his vintage stuff I think, but I know he had to get rid of a 50s tele to get red eye (which Gibson have also cloned for him). Regardless of gear, the guy can keep up with the best of them, such a good player. 

JerkMoans

£1200+ and they give you a gig bag to get it home? 

guitars4you

JerkMoans said:

£1200+ and they give you a gig bag to get it home? 

push hard and you might get some free strings as well

Lewy

JerkMoans said:

£1200+ and they give you a gig bag to get it home? 

Depends on which gig bag it is. The one that came with the Acoustasonic Tele I had was arguably better on protection and usability than an average hard shell case, but if it’s just one of those crappy ones Fender have been using for years on cheaper instruments that’s going to feel a bit disappointing. 

chrisj1602

JerkMoans said:

£1200+ and they give you a gig bag to get it home? 

I think a gig bag is fine for this. It’s not like it has an angled headstock or anything. I’m not sure why there is an expectation for a hard case with every guitar these days. I love the case with my Johnny Marr Jaguar but was actually considering getting a gig bag to take it to rehearsals.

Sassafras

I don't get why Mex-made guitars are seen as inferior to the US made ones.
The only difference is increased US labour costs.

axisus

Best guitar design ever ..... er ... no

markj

Gear4music have one in stock at the moment.
https://www.gear4music.com/Guitar-and-Bass/Fender-J-Isbell-Telecaster-3-Color-Chocolate-Burst/3OXC?origin=product-ads&gclid=CjwKCAjwnPOEBhA0EiwA609ReTnEAuBsQkccauklVgQecJXHDJq1Mpj8WCTejuJncmfrcT5iFUBXSRoCZs8QAvD_BwE

brooom

"Wondrous clarity emanates from an alder body"    love the sales pitch!

Lewy

Sassafras said:

I don't get why Mex-made guitars are seen as inferior to the US made ones.
The only difference is increased US labour costs.

As is often said, it's just the difference between what country the Mexicans who are making the guitar are located in!


Also, the £1200 price point....I wonder if people haven't updated their thinking for general price increases. That's more of a mid rather than a high end price point these days. Depending on spec, you'll pay that for guitars made in China and Korea these days. Getting non-generic pickups and hardware and a nitro finish (whether you like roadworn or not) for £1200 is comparatively good going.

Offset

Lewy said:

Offset said:

Looks nice enough, but I'm afraid I'd never pay £1200+ for a Mexican Tele when for the same price I could get an as-new  second-hand US one.  I have a battered but fab US Tele from 2000.  I paid £550 for it.

It seems a bit of an outdated notion for the country it’s made in to trump specification and quality in the way you’re describing. A lot of standard production US made models in Fender’s history aren’t up to the spec or standard of some the guitars coming out of Mexico now. Heavy, thick finishes, crappy pickups, bodies made from 7 piece spreads....all found in US lines through the years. Frankly a lot of them SHOULD be cheaper than some of the stuff that's coming out of Mexico.

I get your point - to an extent.  I've owned a Mexican Tele and currently have 3 US Fenders.  They're all superior to the Mex model but that isn't to say a Mex can't be superior to a US.  Put it another way - if Epiphone prices started to nudge Gibson prices, would the latter remain as popular (regardless of quality)?  I'd suggest for many (rightly or wrong) they would not.

chris78

axisus said:

Best guitar design ever ..... er ... no

The headstock doesn’t break, you can replace parts easily, mod, swap, upgrade, it’s ridiculously versatile, good ones are light and don’t hurt your back.
Id say he’s right

idiotwindow

Yes, telecaster are great (I'm most definitely a fan) but I can't shake the feeling that there's something a bit crap about an otherwise finely made instrument having two key components joined using 4 wood screws and another part made from a crude piece of bent metal.

chrisj1602

idiotwindow said:

Yes, telecaster are great (I'm most definitely a fan) but I can't shake the felling that there's something a bit crap about an otherwise finely made instrument having two key components joined using 4 wood screws and another part made from a crude piece of bent metal.

Come on, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a bolt on neck.

idiotwindow

chrisj1602 said:

idiotwindow said:

Yes, telecaster are great (I'm most definitely a fan) but I can't shake the felling that there's something a bit crap about an otherwise finely made instrument having two key components joined using 4 wood screws and another part made from a crude piece of bent metal.

Come on, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with a bolt on neck.

That's partly my point. A "Fender" neck isn't even bolted on (using proper bolts) – it's screwed to the body with the kind of screws bodgers routinely use. I understand the history of the Tele and the advantages of a modular approach, etc. I get all that, and I really like the guitars, but the method of joining the neck to the body just seems to me to be the cheapest and least craftsmanlike way it could possibly be done short of nailing them together. 

Imagine if Chippendale, when asked what kind of dovetails he proposed to use for his latest commissioned piece, answered "fuck all that craftsman shit, let's just join the pieces together using a few 2 inch screws."