NGD: 70th Anniversary Broadcaster. Impressions. And pics, pics, pics

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rze99rze99 Frets: 2261
It’s here. I’ve just spent the whole morning with it. A few pics below but here’s a link to all the pics from this morning 50 or so, and includes close-ups of some of the nerdier detailed stuff you might want to check out like fretboard edges, neck thickness, headstock scoop, etc. Daylight wasn't that great.

https://imgur.com/gallery/ifYN5jI

First impressions: Fit and finish: Exemplary. Nut is beautifully cut. Frets are gorgeous, everything feels bomb proof and it bloody well should for this money. The special embroidered case is classy and the candy is nice.

Factory Set-up out of the box: Not great. It came out of the case action pretty high, neck too much relief. Easy and quick to do, but if you order one do get the shop to set it up. Plays easily. This is not a Tele to fight with.

Smell: Quite a noticeable sweet marzipan nitro perfume. If that’s what you want, it’s here in spades!

Colour: The colour of finish is to my eyes most like the NOS Nocasters I’ve seen. Also similar to the most recent AVRI. It’s a fairly transparent finish with plenty of grain showing through including on the edges. 3 piece body I think. Very hard to capture with my little Canon camera, but in the flesh it’s all there.

It looks different in different lights. The pics have tended to wash out the body colour a little, but there some here where there is more hue that are more like the in the flesh.

It is not White Blonde. It looks like in some pics. It is a very gentle creamy tan light butterscotch. Next to my ‘50s Hot Rod BSB (which is very BSB!) it’s very pale and light. But next to my White Blonde it looks light butterscotch, which is what it truly is.

It’s gorgeous, but I will say that the tint on the neck is a touch too strong tint for my preference. I do like vintage tint maple, but I would have knocked that back a bit. The pics seem to have washed out the body and added hue to the neck.

Is there a “shelf”? There is a bit of a lip/narrow shelf where the heel of the neck meets the body – is this a tribute to the early shelf? It’s not especially pronounced but it’s there and it’s not on my other Teles. More reading on this. https://www.tdpri.com/threads/on-the-shelf.704633/

Neck: The neck is not for the “baseball bat” full on Nocaster people – this is definitely slimmer. Don’t buy this if you want an inch at the nut. This isn’t it. Think Baja/AVRI scale. Right in my own sweet spot between the thickness of my Baja and AVRI neck. It’s substantial, but not ’51 Nocaster. I don’t have callipers and can’t find my solder to make a shape.

In the Imgur pics I’ve lined it up with other ‘50s types. In the pics Left to right:

AVRI ’52

‘50s Hot Rod

70th Broadcaster

‘50s Baja

I think it is most like my AVRI ’52 and a bit slimmer than the Baja neck. It has a deeper scoop from nut to headstock face than the others.  Fretboard edges are very nicely rolled, but not excessively.  It’s a really lovely neck carve in the hard. Very, very natural feeling playing position. Someone has taken a lot of care on the final shape. Well done the Fender employee that sanded the neck. Lacquer is not sticky or draggy. Thank you. The decal looks great and is over the lacquer, as it should be.

I know it’s spec’d as 7.25 radius but this feels just a touch flatter than that to me. It wouldn’t surprise me if this were more like an in between carve in the sanding and finishing process like an 8 or something. The action is now very low and there is no fretting out at all. If you don’t do 7.25 radius, you still might find this still works for you. Frets seem a touch bigger than vintage but I’m not a fret nerd and not too fussy. Happy with everything about the neck though would ideally have a more pronounced maple grain on the back of the neck.

Weight. Feels under 7 pounds on/in the hand, though on the scales it’s actually 7 ¼.

Pickguard: Seems like a very thin nitro finish over a Bakelite or other fibre type, not glossy, rather buffed to sheen. This will definitely attract play wear and develop those classic naked patches.

Pickups: It’s very resonant through the body and it sustains acoustically. I’ve only played this for a couple of hours at low volume through my Yamaha THR100HD, so take the below as just a first take.

I plugged this straight in after having been playing my ’64. Instantly the pickup difference was evident.

This bridge pickup is very full and throaty. Very rich and thick mids, sweet top, plenty of heft in the low end. The frequency range seems wider than a ‘51 Nocaster pickup which is what I thought it would be like. It’s like a thicker, richer Original Vintage with a warmer top end. This is going be totally cool for anything from rock and blues to finger picking. It’s really not going to do that scooped ‘60s toppy jangle thing.

The neck pickup is very open, brighter than I expected and full range. Quieter than the bridge. More like the Nocaster neck pickup. Not Stratty. Has a lovely clear acoustic quality. The middle position is pure quintessential Tele.

The top end remains when rolling back the volume but it doesn’t get thin. Nice job.

I’ll post some sound clips when I get to it.

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Comments

  • King85King85 Frets: 631
    Beautiful
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  • gordijigordiji Frets: 782
    Unspoilt, undamaged lovliness. :) Happy NGD
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  • chris78chris78 Frets: 9166
    Congratulations. You’ve got the same pickups I have in my custom shop and the neck pickup is very useable indeed. Not something I generally say on a tele
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  • andy1839andy1839 Frets: 2197
    Wow that really cool!

    HNGD!

    I've just got a tele this afternoon, i was going to do a NGD but it's a bit rubbish next to yours so I won't bother!


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  • tony99tony99 Frets: 7076
    andy1839 said:
    Wow that really cool!

    HNGD!

    I've just got a tele this afternoon, i was going to do a NGD but it's a bit rubbish next to yours so I won't bother!


    oh go on, I love seeing people's new geets
    Bollocks you don't know Bono !!
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  • Strat54Strat54 Frets: 2331
    Congrats. My friend was at NAMM and he said the one on display there was really heavy, so you lucked out. Non Custom Shop guitars are rarely lightweight because the C.Shop sorts out the light wood first.
    If you keep it long enough that body should darken a bit too. Think I'll wait and check out a NOS custom shop version cos I fancy the compound radius. Thanks for the report.
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  • The same weight as my 50's Telecaster Classic Vibe: )
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  • Nice!!! 
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  • That looks very nice indeed. My 60th anniversary Broadcaster has a much “thicker” coat of pin. Yours in “Mary Kaye” like in comparison. I hope she sounds as good as she looks.
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  • Paint not pin !
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  • Strat54Strat54 Frets: 2331
    One at GAK is heavy.....Fender70thAnBroadcasterMapleB_15
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  • rze99rze99 Frets: 2261
    Strat54 said:
    One at GAK is heavy.....Fender70thAnBroadcasterMapleB_15
    True to many of the originals then!

    https://guitar.com/review/1950-broadcaster/

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  • Strat54Strat54 Frets: 2331
    rze99 said:
    Strat54 said:
    One at GAK is heavy.....Fender70thAnBroadcasterMapleB_15
    True to many of the originals then!

    https://guitar.com/review/1950-broadcaster/

    A real mix of weights with the original Broadcasters, my friend has one that is nine pounds, yet I've seen them below 7lbs too. Same with the fingerboard radii....some 9.5....others 7.25. They were pretty inconsistent back then.....but it didn't matter cos there wasn't such thing as a guitar forum......
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  • I remember Keith Richards saying in an interview years ago that his were getting to heavy to be on stage with all night. He said they where about 9lbs, hence him using a 335 more.
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  • I love seeing the photos and reading this review, and I absolutely love this guitar! I got mine a few days ago and it's ace!
    Read my guitar/gear blog at medium.com/redchairriffs

    View my feedback at www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/comment/1201922
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  • LPManicLPManic Frets: 1068
    Nice bump. I wish the normal runs were a bit yellower like the CS models. Would love a CS one but prices are crazy.
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  • RaymondLinRaymondLin Frets: 11811
    I'd love to put my Palir against one of these because i am dead interested (or the next year when thy do a Nocaster run), but I don't want to have 2 Telecasters.
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  • OffsetOffset Frets: 11304
    You lucky, lucky, lucky pharquer.  That is one seriously nice Tele.  Definitely on my radar.  I have a battered 20 year-old US Tele which I love - I paid peanuts for it but it made me such a T convert, I'd like to extend and this just might be it.  Thanks for sharing.
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  • VoxmanVoxman Frets: 4718
    Luverly!  <3 aok That's nearly as nice as my Harley Benton TE52-NA!     rotflmaobumpbumpbanana
    I started out with nothing..... but I've still got most of it left (Seasick Steve)
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  • *Aaron**Aaron* Frets: 72
    Beautiful guitar, enjoy 
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