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In this Discussion
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New Nacho Day
Base theme by DesignModo & ported to Powered by Vanilla by Chris Ireland, modified by the "theFB" team.
Comments
I can't help about the shape I'm in, I can't sing I ain't pretty and my legs are thin
But don't ask me what I think of you, I might not give the answer that you want me to
How are you finding the playability now? It's a shame that it didn't instantly feel easy to play but sometimes it takes time to get used to the neck etc
The guitar is inspiring and I’ve not really wanted to pick anything else up since I’ve got it. I might possibly change the wiring which is humbucker in the middle for either 4 way or standard post 67 wiring, but I’ve not made that choice yet and it may be that nacho knows better than me!
We put the nacho up against my CS broadcaster and a cunetto nocaster.
Tonally, the broadcaster was great, but we both agreed it was a firm 3rd place. The bridge pickup on the cunetto competed, but sounded slightly more compressed and less open. The neck pickups were imcomparible with the nacho a very clear winner for its definition and tone.
Looks to be quite a pronounced V at the first fret. Nothing wrong with a bit of fight in a tele - nobody is buying these for their ergononic sophistication.
Congrats. If it inspires you then the rest is all academic anyway.
I agree with most of Chris’s assessment, the Nacho was definitely the winner on tone/sounds and the ageing is superb, incomparable to the CS guitars. I thought the Cunetto bridge pickup was 95% of the way there with the Nacho but the neck pickup was noticeably quieter and more compressed than the Nacho’s. The neck profile on the Nacho was a pretty hard V but not too noticeable after playing for some time. When you get into this pricey end of the market the law of diminishing returns applies but there is no doubt that the Nacho is a very fine Tele indeed. If you could only have one guitar…
As an aside, with the Strats, once we applied a decent bit of gain the Mexican Robert Cray held its own in the tonal department with guitars costing 4-8 times the price. And it’s in the classifieds right now!
The concept of what they started was fine, but they have fine tuned the whole process many times since then, even allowing for the 'modern' updates like radius + fret size
The first opinion will always be about aesthetics for obvious reasons - Over the years I've sold well over a 1000 C Shop Fenders - Probably close to 100 black guard Tele's, be it CS or M Built - Admittedly they have to make make around 150 a week so it will alway see more of a processed end game with regards to the aged finish - Probably my biggest issue with CS models is the dirty worn neck - Not because it feels wrong as it doesn't - But they create this worn area from around the top nut area to the 15/16th fret - That implies it has been equally worn and played along this whole area - No guitar player plays an equal amount along this patch - So it is a touch false - The Nacho is far more realistic with regards to its played in character on the neck and fingerboard
The shade of the blonde looks right - Just enough of that custard cream vibe with more checking and less actual dings and dints - So yes top marks for how it looks
Now down to playing it - I always start of un-plugged - If it doesn't ignite your test buds unplugged, then IMO it is the end of any test drive - I was a tad apprehensive about the feel and a potential stiffness following some earlier comments that Chris had made earlier on this topic - 20 mins later I still had not plugged it in - I know you don't get to know a guitar inside out in 10/20/30 mins or even 2/3 months - But I can generally dismiss a guitar, as not for me, within 10/20/30 seconds - The frets are bigger than vintage but smaller than anything that resembles medium/jumbo - No lacquer on the frets helps with the feel and makes it more slick to play - The neck profile is significantly different to any CS or MB Tele I've ever played - To the point that if CS offered this exact profile as an option I think most of us would be reluctant to order it - Me and Chris had a chat about this as though Fender could make a more 'authentic' CS black guard that maybe split the spec and price between CS and MB - I don't know the exact depth size but suspect something around 850/860/870 to around 960-990 - But it is the V profile that initially takes you by surprise - Far more pronounced than the CS Soft V 56/57 profile and more pronounced than the 10/56V profile - For a fraction of a second it take you by surprise - But within a few mins it instantly feels like you are on home turf as it is so comfortable - You barely notice the V once you are playing it - So depth at its deepest point but slimmer shoulders, thanks to the pronounced V, hence it is so comfortable to handle - I don't play big bends so any stiffness is not an issue to me - 1/4 to 1/2 note bends tend to be my limit, after that I tend to slide or hammer on to the actual pitch/note I need/want - The playing experience had me hooked - And as I said above, 20 mins I had not even plugged it in - I've been known to actually buy a guitar at this stage - Both for me or for stock - To the point I can make its inherent tone work for me - But if it doesn't play right then you might as well be playing a dead duck
So now plug it in - A crunch tone is generally my starting point and where I tend to sit - More JJ Cale and less JoBo for me - The neck pick-up is lush and smooth with just the right hint of clarity and brightness - Never dull and certainly not thin - More of a lush flute character that is more Karen Carpenter or Otis Redding - The bridge pick-up nails it - Brash but not ice pick sharp - Balls, attack, bite balls and grit - Always musical - It snarls in a good way
The above is carried out with the vol + tone pot on 10 - But a) 10 is my boost mode and b) I want to see what expression is available to me both with regards as to how I play the guitar (attack the strings or stroke) and how it responds with the pots rolled back - My first test surprised me a touch - As I was rolling back the vol pot it kind of had me thinking is anything happening - Any change appeared to be subtle, if at all - Yet when I took it back from say 7 to 10 I could here the 'boost' kick back in - So that is good as 10 is full on, but 6/7 is more cool and chilled but without any deterioration in tonal character, just less gain- So many guitars go dull on you when you do this and/or there is a cliff drop off point - So with the amp on crunch mode I could go from a clean/warm jazz tone, to Stones/Oasis crunch without touching the amp
Bottom line is I'm hooked - No one guitar does it all - But this Nacho does a lot - Thanks Chris for giving me a long test drive, but no thanks for me wondering if I should have a chat with my flexible friend - It is a very special guitar