Fender Rosewood Tele - thoughts?

markblack

First off sorry, been asking a few questions like this on here... 

but here goes with another... anyone tried the MIJ Fender TL-Rosewood?

I know they are supposed to be on the heavy side, and I know I'm guilty of falling for Mr. Harrisons one!

http://www.thomann.de/gb/fender_tl_rosewood_fsr_nds.htm?sid=d6eabfe27a22fd97190f0ce91744addd

Cheers

mark

richardhomer

Not tried one, though I had the chance (in the late Mesozoic era) to buy an original American one for £500.... That was a tad on the heavy side - but I really wish I'd bought it.

It made no lasting impression as a guitar but it looked fantastic.

Does that make me shallow?

xSkarloey

I've never had the pleasure of playing one, but if the look appeals to you why not get it? 

I love rosewood. FWIW the rooms in the Musee des Beaux Artes in Brussels where they show off the old Flemish masterpieces (Breughel etc) are clad entirely in rosewood. The whole suite looks fantastic and the tone as your footsteps echo round the gallery is something else...

meltedbuzzbox

I had an 80s MIJ one. Not as super heavy as their reputation but still quite weighty.

The neck is real thin, vintage radius and frets. It was covered in a horrible gloss.

The previous owner had sanded the back of the neck on mine. It was a bit of a ham fisted job (amongst other undisclosed jems)

The worst thing by a country were the pickups. Not nice at all. 

However, it was lovely to look at. In a 70s brown kind of way. 

that one on thomann is a basswood guitar with a Rosewood laminate. Its not a proper one. 

markblack

@meltedbuzzbox the originals were an oreo design rosewood / maple / rosewood?

I'm sure this version cuts the weight down, but part of me think it just wouldn't be the same...

That said it keeps the cost of it down.

Philly_Q

I wonder what the balance of rosewood to basswood in the body is?  Presumably it's mostly basswood.

The original was two slabs of solid rosewood with a thin slice of maple in the middle, it must have weighed a ton.

I see this one has a maple neck as well, another departure from the originals.

Wazmeister

Honestly ? Ive briefly owned two... Sounded average, nothing like a good Tele, very heavy. Look good, sound pretty poor, imho.

capo4th

I was eyeing one of these they look nice but I would want to play one before pulling the trigger

Kylef

This is one of my dream guitars, well the originals anyway, and I noticed this new run today.

Was ready for pulling the trigger, but I've been put off by some of the specs - the neck isn't rosewood, it's maple painted black. The sandwich is basswood, not maple. And for that price is be expecting cts pots and switch, but as there's no mention to that then I'm guessing it'll come with the usual Japanese electronics, which are the mini pots and circuit switch.

GuitarMonkey

Kylef said:

The sandwich is basswood, not maple.

Worse than that, it's a basswood body with a thin rosewood veneer front and back and painted sides.

ThePrettyDamned

GuitarMonkey;360014" said:

Kylef said:

The sandwich is basswood, not maple.










Worse than that, it's a basswood body with a thin rosewood veneer front and back and painted sides.

At least it has a chance of weighing less than a planet.

p90fool

GuitarMonkey;360014" said:

Kylef said:

The sandwich is basswood, not maple.










Worse than that, it's a basswood body with a thin rosewood veneer front and back and painted sides.

Exactly, it's not even a sandwich, it's more like a brown Smartie.

That's going to leave you hungry.

ICBM

They look great - or at least the proper ones do, I don't think a veneered body with painted sides and a painted neck would - but I've never played one that sounded any good. It's not the weight, I just don't think rosewood is a very resonant body wood. I would second the comment about skinny necks and excessive gloss lacquer too. I've only played one original and that also had an overly glossy, narrow neck - though deeper, if I remember rightly - and weighed as much as a small star.

I suppose the advantage of a veneered basswood one is that it might sound better, but it's still just wrong and misses the point.

Unfortunately you can't base the decision on the tone George got out of his one, since he was going through a ton of great equipment, at Abbey Road, and he was George.

richardhomer

This thread got me wondering what actually happened to Harrison's original. I knew he'd given it to Delaney Bramlett - and I had a vague recollection he'd auctioned it.

What I didn't know is that Olivia Harrison bought it back after George died. What a touching story:

http://www.fenderrocks.com/historic-fenders-george-harrisons-rosewood-telecaster/

SNAKEBITE

I've seen the photos and despite my reservations on oiled finishes and other "natural" looking finishes, I quite like the look of it.

Shame to hear it is such a thin veneer though, although the rain forests might disagree!

Philly_Q

p90fool said:

GuitarMonkey;360014" said:

Kylef said:

The sandwich is basswood, not maple.


Worse than that, it's a basswood body with a thin rosewood veneer front and back and painted sides.

Exactly, it's not even a sandwich, it's more like a brown Smartie.

That's going to leave you hungry.

Since the bit in the middle is basswood, I'd say it's more like the "stale Malteser" from a packet of Revels.

Blueingreen

richardhomer said:

This thread got me wondering what actually happened to Harrison's original. I knew he'd given it to Delaney Bramlett - and I had a vague recollection he'd auctioned it.

What I didn't know is that Olivia Harrison bought it back after George died. What a touching story:

http://www.fenderrocks.com/historic-fenders-george-harrisons-rosewood-telecaster/

A touching story regarding Olivia but it it didn't leave me with a lot of positive thoughts about Delaney Bramlett.  A pal gives him a guitar as a present and he sells it back to his widow for $470,000?  What a grasping dick.

richardhomer

Blueingreen;360432" said:

A touching story regarding Olivia but it it didn't leave me with a lot of positive thoughts about Delaney Bramlett.  A pal gives him a guitar as a present and he sells it back to his widow for $470,000?

Agreed.

I suspect money was no object to Olivia Harrison but the morality of the seller is highly questionable. A quiet 'behind closed doors' deal would have a lot more class, than putting it out to competing bidders to gain every last cent.

It is one of the very few Beatles associated instruments to come up for sale (in fact apart from the odd 'first guitar' type curios) I can't think of any others.

I makes you wonder what Lennon's stripped Casino, black Rick or J160E would go for.... Word has it that all of those are in Yoko's possession.

not_the_dj

An iPad app came out the other year featuring George's guitars.

Here's Dhani with that Tele:

http://www.guitaraficionado.com/wp-content/gallery/guitar-collection-george-harrison/dhaniharrison_5802.jpg

http://www.guitaraficionado.com/dhani-harrison-talks-beatles-guitars-and-the-guitar-collection-george-harrison-ipad-app.html

hubobulous

Skarloey said:

I've never had the pleasure of playing one, but if the look appeals to you why not get it? 

I love rosewood. FWIW the rooms in the Musee des Beaux Artes in Brussels where they show off the old Flemish masterpieces (Breughel etc) are clad entirely in rosewood. The whole suite looks fantastic and the tone as your footsteps echo round the gallery is something else...

Would sound better with a Klon

Philly_Q

Blueingreen said:

richardhomer said:

This thread got me wondering what actually happened to Harrison's original. I knew he'd given it to Delaney Bramlett - and I had a vague recollection he'd auctioned it.

What I didn't know is that Olivia Harrison bought it back after George died. What a touching story:

http://www.fenderrocks.com/historic-fenders-george-harrisons-rosewood-telecaster/

A touching story regarding Olivia but it it didn't leave me with a lot of positive thoughts about Delaney Bramlett.  A pal gives him a guitar as a present and he sells it back to his widow for $470,000?  What a grasping dick.

To be fair to Bramlett, we don't - correction, I don't - know what his financial situation may have been, or what he actually did with the money.