Our Telecaster Love Affairs.

Gassage

@impmann ;
Tim- I love the Marriott. 

impmann

Gassage said:

@impmann ;
Tim- I love the Marriott. 

Thanks mate... so do I. :-)

lovestrat74

As well as the Baja I've got this little beast that needs some colour!! Not sure what yet though.. Who can resist a firebird in the neck and a palm tree pickguard

rossi

Here is mine .Cheap shoddy paulowonia body that doesnt actually fit anywhere ,Fender replacement roast maple  strat neck ,Van Zandt pickups and a wonky bridge .Plays and sound great  at blues jams

https://i.imgur.com/yo0foaI.jpg

ewal

I have very little Telecaster experience, only a cheapo copy I played about with modding for a few months. However recently I have had thoughts about one of these MIJ Telecaster Deluxes with trem - the reason being I've got a Toronado with WRHs which I love apart from the fact it doesn't have a trem.

I can't justify the expense though and would need to move a guitar or two on first, which is not really possible as just about all my guitars are partscaster builds... Oh well...

TINMAN82

I prefer the “idea” and look of a tele more than the sound and ownership…Strat or Les Paul for me.

Offset

chris78 said:

Ive shown it before, but here is the tele to rule them all. Mahogany body, Koa top, insane Birdseye neck, loaded nocasters. I'll be forever grateful to John at Peach for putting this aside for me when it came in.

That is utterly sublime.

Greatape

Presently just one, an American Pro. Had to change a lot of the bits and get it fettled, but the neck is great. 

I do have a set of Bill Lawrence pickups in need of a home, so it looks like I need another Tele...

Greatape

lovestrat74 said:

As well as the Baja I've got this little beast that needs some colour!! Not sure what yet though.. Who can resist a firebird in the neck and a palm tree pickguard

Love this. Please don't mess it up....

British Racing Green? 

punchesjudy

The absolute best things, they just work. 
I sold my favourite on here when I was deep in the Jazzmaster love though and it's upsetting and I'll never get it back, so I'm off to cry for a bit. Bye. 

chris78

Offset said:

chris78 said:

Ive shown it before, but here is the tele to rule them all. Mahogany body, Koa top, insane Birdseye neck, loaded nocasters. I'll be forever grateful to John at Peach for putting this aside for me when it came in.

That is utterly sublime.

Thanks @Offset. There are some great builders in the world, but when the custom shop get it right, they get it very right

lovestrat74

Greatape said:

lovestrat74 said:

As well as the Baja I've got this little beast that needs some colour!! Not sure what yet though.. Who can resist a firebird in the neck and a palm tree pickguard

Love this. Please don't mess it up....

British Racing Green? 

Yes I was thinking a very dark green or black. Black bounds always look great  

meltedbuzzbox

impmann said:

Yeah... I've had one or two Teles over the years. I've owned some belters but two that are MIA that I wish had never gone were the '68 that was stolen from a stage in North London in the early 90s and the battered MiJ 62 Custom (Seymour Duncan Pickups) that had the front and back stripped from sunburst to natural that I gave to a mate when he was hard up... since he died, I lost contact with the family and I have no idea what happened to the guitar. 

Currently I own "too many" according to @meltedbuzzbox but they are:



"The Black Tele" - I've had this for nearly 20 years, after importing it from New York. It was an eBay purchase (when it was .com only) and arrived with a 1972 Fender Neck (rosweood), 1972 bridge pickup, aftermarket black pickguard and a DiMarzio Super Distortion shoehorned into the neck position. The original neck bit the dust (met a sticky end courtesy of an ill-advised rock n roll flourish under too low a lighting gantry...) and the pickups were diabolical. The bridge pickup went in the bin (wish I'd kept it to flog to someone with more money than sense now) and the black pickguard and pickup now adorn a mate's guitar. Its now got an Allparts neck, SD pickups (Broadcaster set), a 1983 Fender single ply guard and an AVRI control plate assembly. Its a bitsa but its one of the best Tele's I've played. 

(Shit pic... I know)



"Marriott" - my homage to the late-great Steve Marriott and the sunburst Tele he used for the end of the Small Faces (and used to record Odgens etc). His guitar was a 64/65 example that he swapped for his pink Gretsch, that he had hot-rodded with a Bill Lawrence neck pickup. Its a truly unique sounding thing - listen to Song of a Baker, as he used it to record that and you can hear that woofy, thick neck pickup sound during the solo. This one is another bitsa I built - @rexter supplied the *utterly incredible* body for this and the bridge pickup is a wonderful Mojo unit that utterly screams. 



"Greenie" - aka the old Blackstar Workshop Hack. I built this for testing the amps before they were dispatched for loan stock etc out of a properly ruinous Mexican Fender body I acquired very cheaply... there was a reason, it had been hacked out for a bridge humbucker and was painted *badly* in thick black household/car paint. I stripped it back, finished it in a green stain (because I had some left over from another project) and then topped it with Tru Oil. Its worn a few necks... one bit the dust in an accident and now has a Mexican Classic Player (I think) one. Its got Mojo pickups - Strat neck pickup and a 52 Bridge - connected to a four way switch. Its been retired from active duties in the workshop and now lives at home... 



"The Tablecaster" - yup, the body was originally a pine table that I cut into a Tele shape. The flame-maple neck is one of those cheap Chinese ones you see advertised and think "that won't be any good"... and in fact is bloody brilliant. Its got a Mojo "Esquire" pickup and is ridiculous fun. I've gigged this *a lot*.



"Seven Worlds Collide" - I won't elaborate any further on the name, but suffice to say seven sources of the bits. Body from our very own @DrBob, a PAF clone in the neck and a Luker bridge pickup (ebay - bloody good, actually) along with a Warman neck (probably too chunky for me, but bloody great quality). Its still a work in progress but has the potential to be a great guitar...

So yup... I'm a Teleholic. And I can't help building them...

I thought I said stop building telecasters?

The black one is a great guitar.
The sunburst one has the most ridiculous neck pickup I've ever heard (in a good way)
Last time I saw the tablecaster I think it had a line 6 neck.
Not sure I've played the green one but I recall you making it.

That last one needs a Floyd rose and a set of duncan invaders. Ideally played through a metal zone into a peavey 5150. Tuned to drop C

I'm sure you'd love that @impmann ;

rze99

It's not hard to find a good one at all in my experience.
Most well put together and well et-up partscasters will be pretty great Teles.
Simple high quality ingredients carefully assembled will usually be fab.
Just like a good pasta sauce.

What you WANT and EXPECT from a guitar may mean that a regular Tele is not a good fit for you without adapting. That's different from it not being good.  A  relatively weak 60s vintage spec bridge pickup, for example, is not going to compare sonically with a chunky Les Paul tone when compared directly with the same settings, at least not without some additional boost help and turning down the tone pot.

HAL9000

The first music I can remember enjoying came from the likes of Chuck Berry, The Beatles, etc. However the music I enjoyed once I’d gotten an interest in guitars came from the likes of The Stones, Dr Feelgood, Quo, etc so essentially my early guitar heroes were pretty much all Telecaster players. Although I appreciate that a Strat is the more versatile instrument (IMHO of course), Teles are still my weapon of choice.

TTBZ

HAL9000 said:

I’ve had three. Squier Affinity (great bang for my buck - should never have sold it), MIM Std (now Esquire’d), and a US Std (50th pressie from Mrs9000). All great guitars. Surprisingly the Affinity is the one that most had that Tele ‘spank’. If I was only allowed one guitar it would be a Tele.

Do you feel the thinner body of the Affinity detracted from the "tele-ness" or feel at all? I want a cheap one to try a Tele out properly but want to get a good feel for it, so was thinking the Harley Benton with the correct body thickness might be a better tester guitar?

HAL9000

TTBZ said:

HAL9000 said:

I’ve had three. Squier Affinity (great bang for my buck - should never have sold it), MIM Std (now Esquire’d), and a US Std (50th pressie from Mrs9000). All great guitars. Surprisingly the Affinity is the one that most had that Tele ‘spank’. If I was only allowed one guitar it would be a Tele.

Do you feel the thinner body of the Affinity detracted from the "tele-ness" or feel at all? I want a cheap one to try a Tele out properly but want to get a good feel for it, so was thinking the Harley Benton with the correct body thickness might be a better tester guitar?

Because it was my first Tele I didn’t have anything to really compare it to. So, possibly if I played one now it would feel a bit like a toy - but I don’t actually believe  it would.

JJ72

TTBZ said:

HAL9000 said:

I’ve had three. Squier Affinity (great bang for my buck - should never have sold it), MIM Std (now Esquire’d), and a US Std (50th pressie from Mrs9000). All great guitars. Surprisingly the Affinity is the one that most had that Tele ‘spank’. If I was only allowed one guitar it would be a Tele.

Do you feel the thinner body of the Affinity detracted from the "tele-ness" or feel at all? I want a cheap one to try a Tele out properly but want to get a good feel for it, so was thinking the Harley Benton with the correct body thickness might be a better tester guitar?

I currently have a parstcaster thats the best tele I've owned ( I've had Jap 62 custom. Mim72 Road worn, cv classic vibe, mij JD tele + quality partscasters) and the body is an affinity  married to a Mexican 50s neck.
IMO, the thinner affinity body is great and sounds as ' teleish' as any I've heard

Kittyfrisk

chris78 said:

I've had a love affair with Teles over the years as my go to. I've owned more than I care to remember.
The beauty of them is, you can stick with the same basic formula, but change pickup combinations, body woods and get different sounding guitars.
My artisans are standard ss, twin p90 and tv jones neck, with tele bridge. I've also got a 3 gold foil tele style from Asher and an Eggle Oz being made, which will be double wide range hum bucker.
Ive shown it before, but here is the tele to rule them all. Mahogany body, Koa top, insane Birdseye neck, loaded nocasters. I'll be forever grateful to John at Peach for putting this aside for me wh
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2mmqzw87xd2yvkt/1B357A80-A753-44F3-8D9A-2787251135A7.jpeg?raw=1

Very pretty.
And yet... that string tree & 'B' string alignment would always annoy me 

HAL9000

JJ72 said:

I currently have a parstcaster thats the best tele I've owned ( I've had Jap 62 custom. Mim72 Road worn, cv classic vibe, mij JD tele + quality partscasters) and the body is an affinity  married to a Mexican 50s neck.
IMO, the thinner affinity body is great and sounds as ' teleish' as any I've heard

Does that then mean that your Tele is a top-loader? Or have you changed things in the bridge department?