I'd raised a bit of cash, to go to the North West Guitar Show last Sunday but didn't get anything.
So I decided to go to Sound Affects Premier today, to try out some lovely guitars.
Had a vague plan of getting a Tele or something with P90s.
I ended up trying a vast array of instruments, including some PRSs, a Peerless, a Schecter and even a fantastic Charvel Surfcaster.
However I eventually whittled it down to 4 Fenders.
3 Teles and one of those new, Alternative Reality, Sixty Six's.
I was surprised at how much I liked the Sixty Six, it was a natural wood finish model.
A lot better looking up close than in photos and a nice, playable neck.
The pickups are pretty decent too.
The 3 teles were a Select model from 2012, a Japanese Hybrid and an American Original 50s.
The Select was super glamourous, with flame maple body, wood binding and gold hardware.
Great neck and pretty light too.
The only thing that let it down was the pickups.
They were smooth and sweet sounding but for me, lacked that gnarly edge, you expect from a Tele.
The Japanese hybrid had locking tuners, a gorgeous blue colour body and great pickups.
Just how my ears thinks a good Tele should sound.
I was thinking, I could afford this Japanese Tele and the Sixty Six.
But the American Original 50s Tele, with it's chunky neck, overall, great quality and edgy pickups won the day.
A bit of a classic, to my ears and eyes.
It may not be an authentic 50s Tele but it's whole vibe is just so solid and vintage.
That semi translucent, buttersccotch blonde body, black pickguard and maple fingerboard just look right.
That real classic design, works it's magic again and you get to take it home in a very tasty, tweed hard case.
Specs:
Body: Ash
Finish: Gloss Nitrocellulose Lacquer
Colour: Butterscotch Blonde
Neck: Maple
Neck Shape: "U"
Finish: Gloss Nitrocellulose Lacquer
Scale Length: 25.5"
Fingerboard: Maple
Radius: 9.5"
Frets: 21 Vintage Tall
Pickups: 2x Pure Vintage 52 Single-Coils
Controls: Volume, Tone, 3-Way Toggle,
Bridge: 3-Saddle Vintage Style w/ Brass Saddles
Tuners: Pure Vintage
Pickguard: 1-Ply Black Phenolic
Comes with Vintage-Style Hardcase
Fingerboard Material: Maple
Fingerboard Radius: 9.5" (241 mm)
Number of Frets: 21
Fret Size: Vintage Tall
Nut Material: Bone
Nut Width: 1.650" (42 mm)
Pickups: Pure Vintage '52 Single-Coil Tele
Bridge: 3-Saddle Vintage-Style Strings-Through-Body Tele® with Brass Barrel Saddles
Strings: Fender USA 250R NPS, (.010-.046 Gauges)
Case: Vintage-Style Hardshell
Comments
This is my 3rd Tele. The first was a poor Squier, many years ago, then a couple of years ago I had an American Elite Mahogany Thinline style Tele, that was beautiful to behold but never really had that proper tele vibe and was slightly neck heavy. This 50s model is just how I'd imagined a good tele would be. Really resonant, solid, very playable and played with a little crunch, sounds great in the mix, as well as solo. The bridge pickup is thick yet bites and both pickups together have a little space and sound almost Gretsch like. And finally the neck pickup has that bit more warmth but stays really solid and able to come through other instruments rather gloriously. All that and a superb neck. Lovely.
Shame they ditched the 7.25" radius on a vintage style instrument IMO but I guess that's what the masses want.
I'm hankering after a tele myself..does the nitro finished fretboard feel much different to the lacquer on a typical Fender maple gloss finish, i.e. a Baja or American Pro? I struggle a bit with the 'stickiness' of some maple boards, but I think they look fantastic. I need to try an AO50s, looking at this thread, so that means a road trip