NGD - Telecaster and a lesson in try before you buy

Lev

You may recall I started a thread a few weeks back on the best mid priced telecaster available today. I had a milestone birthday coming up and my wife and family wanted to treat me. Well after much research and sifting through many new and second hand options I decided that the Baja Tele might be right for me. I made a trip to one of the local guitar shops and tried one out. They only had a black one at the time so a spend about 40mins playing that and really felt it was the right guitar for me but I didn't want it in black. 

I discussed the colour options with the guy in the shop and he said he would order in one of the new FSR Baja's in White Blonde - perfect I thought, I love that color, bit of a Vince Gill vibe to it and you can see the grain through the finish, which is nice. I had to wait a couple of weeks (things work slowly in Ireland) but eventually I got a call to say my guitar was in. Again I spent some time playing it before I handed over the cash, I noticed that it wasn't intonated as well as the black one I tried, the input jack wasn't flush to the body but worst of all the paintwork around the neck pocket was pretty terrible. The poly top coat seemed to stop about 1mm before the neck pockets giving the impression of a white line at the neck join. It looked bad and was right in my line of sight as I played so I couldn't ignore it.

The shop said they would get another in from one of their other branches and give me a call back. They did call back but said the other one also had a messy finish around the neck pocket, I decided it wasn't worth even calling up to try if that was the case. I decided to write off the Baja as an option as the quality control is obviously not up to scratch.

I week later I decided to visit another smaller retailer, he usually has some second hand gear and thought it might be worth a look in case he had any nice telecasters. There on his wall was a new FSR Baja Telecaster in White Blonde, I could not believe my luck. I tried it out and it was perfect, paint work around the neck pocket was spot on, intonation excellent and all the hardware was fitted perfectly. I played for a little while and it just flat out rocked. So this one came home with me and I'm chuffed to have got what I wanted in the end. The action is actually the lowest I've come across on a Fender, no buzzing at all but just a really low setup, I may have to raise it a touch as I tend to dig in a bit when I play but apart from that it's perfect!

Panama_Jack666

Lovely guitar and in the best colour! Good work and HNGD! Have a 'WOW'!

axisus

Looks very nice. I love tele's and I love the colour.

Adam_MD

Nice good result. Which store is it from if you don't mind me asking?

Lev

Adam_MD said:

Nice good result. Which store is it from if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks, I bought it in Jimi's Music Store in Dublin, excellent shop.

Dave_Mc

Nice

jaygtr

Looks good. Should be worth the hassle now.

not_the_dj

Nice. Happy New Tele Day.

RocknRollDave

What more is there to say? It's a Telecaster. WIN.

TheOtherDennis

Good work that man

Neil

It's a looker, well worth waiting for I should say. 

Adam_MD

Lev;165856" said:

Adam_MD said:

Nice good result. Which store is it from if you don't mind me asking?





Thanks, I bought it in Jimi's Music Store in Dublin, excellent shop.

I've been in there a few times and the staff were always really nice.

uncledick

I'd had a Telecaster itch that needed scratching for ages and tried everything from Squier to Custom Shop.  Finally found a s/h American Std that just hit the spot.  Deposit paid there and then and totally made up with it.  Just can't believe how versatile it is.

jaygtr

uncledick;166403" said:

I'd had a Telecaster itch that needed scratching for ages and tried everything from Squier to Custom Shop.  Finally found a s/h American Std that just hit the spot.  Deposit paid there and then and totally made up with it.  Just can't believe how versatile it is.

Indeed, I used to hate them when I was younger, now have two ( well 1 1/2 as ones not finished yet) , and it's the guitar I always pick up first these days

mcsdan

The Baja are very good guitars. Had one and regret selling it. Would buy another if I was after a telecaster.

Happy NGD.

usedtobe

Very cool! Congrats!

breakstuff

Lovely guitar. One on my must get at some point list.
Sounds like this guitar was meant for you,touch of fate maybe.

Lev

Thanks guys, it's a great guitar and I'm very happy - the pics from my crappy camera phone don't do it justice. It's just a shame that the QC on the top end MIM models is so hit and miss. The price of the Classic Player series has been creeping up steadily over the past few years & I had hoped this might be in line with an increase in QC. Unfortunately in my recent experience this wasn't the case, I certainly wouldn't buy one of these blind but there are gems out there to be found.