This Time A Real Tele

[TapperMike]

Numerous problems have arisen from my knock off tele. The frets have come up.  I've tried to tame them and even raised the action and adjust the neck to no avail.  The fretboard is warped and my neck pickup just plain died (Yes I know how to install pickups but it's just not worth it past this point.  I am frustrated beyond belief and I should have never even bothered with a Chinese made knock off brand tele.

 

 

I've bought a Fender brand Blacktop Telecaster with two humbuckers.  The neck is almost identical to my strat. Modern C, 9.5 radius, 22fret, 25.5

[Rudi]

ouch!

 

You just cant tell Mike. I have a Chinese made Squier Jazz Bass. It came perfectly set up & tuned straight out of its gaudy cardboard box. It plays well & has a much better signal than the Dillion Dagger I got to replace it. The Dagger now just takes up room like some pretty ornament.

 

Anyway, its great that you got a pukka tele!

Is that a maple neck?

Any chance of a pic?

[TapperMike]

It arrives the 11th, this is a MIM

Yes, one piece maple neck.  Red with black pickguard and amp style skirt pots.

Edited February 6, 2014 by TapperMike

[TapperMike]

You wouldn't believe how tempted I was at getting a bass instead. It's been better then ten years since I've had a real bass around. 

The ztar is fun for laying down bass lines quickly but it's no where close to playing a real bass. 

[Rudi]

Yes, there is a bass simulator on my BR1600. It lowers the frequency of a guitar to that of a bass. It’s not bad but I needed a bass.

Another thing about the bass is I have to keep the lines very simple. It’s the only way I can get into a bass player groove. If I attempt anything fancy I’ll drift across the rhythm instead of on it.

 

That tele livery is tasty!

[TapperMike]

My fear was that If I bought a U-Bass....That's all I'd play for the next year. 

 

I love playing bass on the ztar and get around pretty good with it.  When I first got the ztar, I was so absorbed by it I stopped playing guitar for 6 months straight. Then I looked around at my guitars and said I've got to make a decision to play these things or get rid of them.  It was funny for me returing to the guitar.  My fingers hurt. I could feel the strings vibrating against my fingers and my playing was no where near what it used to be.

 

I'm putting together "jam tracks" like this - http://tappermike.com/kvr/blu2u.html

And trying to replace the midi based parts with my own parts playing.  I've hit a roadblock because I want to lay down some of the tracks specificlly with my tele when it arrives.

[TapperMike]

So the update is.

 

The tele arrived today, two days earlier then expected. I'm going to have to spend some time on setup as expected. The intonation wasn't set and the action is a little high for my liking.  The relief seems about right.

 

I cannot believe how big this thing sounds for a telecaster even with humbuckers.  It's fuller and slightly warmer then what I've heard on youtube videos but that may be thier amp and settings as opposed to mine.  The neck pickup is more "edgey" then I expected. It still has great body. Which is odd to me as it's sporting 9's I plan to go up only slightly to 10's.

 

The wieght is heavier by about two pounds (not sure about the specs) Apparently manufacturers don't agree about what a "C" neck should be from model to model or year to year even in the same company. This is by far the one of the thickest "C" neck I've ever played. It's also wider then most guitars I've played.  I'm not complaining.  I'm loving bending notes on this neck with it's 9.5 radius and medium jumbo frets.  The frets "seem" to be set lower then other medium jumbos I've had in the past. It's my 77 american standard strat neck reborn

[Rudi]

The neck report surprises me. I had thought they were all standard. I always found my old strat neck too narrow for my liking.

[TapperMike]

I think fender has model interpertations of each neck.  For strats they have the "shallow C" the "standard C" the "modern C' and then what I like to call the U shape (like the 50's tele's)  and the "V shape"  Each shape seems to have some variance with model.  My 80's Strat Plus has a shallow C neck with an ebony fretboard. It's the smaller thinner fender neck design found on "squier" Strats. If you are used to playing a bigger neck you would hate it. 

 

A buddy of mine has a "modern" Strat that's less then a year old with the HSS combination. He's got a "Radial C' Which is not that different from my bolt on Parker Fly. At the nut the width of the fretboard is smaller and the back of the neck is about the thickness of a standard "C" neck As you move up the fretboard the neck gets wider across the fretboard and thinner in depth. 

 

I'd never gotten accustomed to "fat necks" or any sort. Even this tele seems a little fat in comparisson to almost every guitar I've had.

 

Fender is in an odd position with regards to guitars. They own too many brands. They used to own much more

http://www.fender.com/brands/

 

And they have way to many variations in their own lineup

http://www.fender.com/guitars/

 

(at least in my opinion) which oddly makes the purchasing decision harder.

 

While I was obsessed with thin necks in my early years I've quickly found extremely thin with 24 fret necks isn't the best way to go either.

 

Here's a pick of the new tele -

 

This will be one of the few guitars I intend to modify myself.  The Alnico 5 humbuckers are fine within themselves. I get all those classic Jeff Beck Blow by Blow / Wired sounds out of the box.  As well as all the Pete Townsend Tones.  But I'm looking for something that is characteristically warmer.  I can do much tech stuff myself. Replace pickups wiring etc. The only thing that really scares me is replacing frets and swapping necks.  It will prolly be at least a year before I even think of doing all that.