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NGD: American Professional Tele


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While trying to clear out unwanted "stuff" ahead of yet another move, I came across the opportunity to trade for an American Professional Telecaster. 

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The moment I saw it, I wanted it for my closest friend, and HFC Lurker, @Stella's daughter.  Now 16, she's developed into a promising singer-songwriter and she performs regularly with Stella's Tele and Legacy.  While I'm extremely eager to get this guitar into her hands, after bringing it home and playing it, she's going to have to wait a couple of weeks.

It features an alder body and it's by far the lightest-weight Tele that I can remember holding... which I expect will be appreciated by Stella's daughter.  The body is a lush cream color.  The rosewood neck is very-surprisingly dark and beautifully grained.  I was extremely happy when Stella told my instincts were right and the guitar has the exact look that her daughter would have chosen for herself.

The fit and finish look very good to me.  The neck fits tightly in the pocket.  The fretboard seems to be progressively rolled, with the roll becoming more aggressive towards the higher frets.  The frets ends are well dressed, though not superb.  The finish on the body and neck look flawless.

For those unfamiliar, as I was, the Fender Pro is a model-line replacement for the old American Standard.  It features several differences: Fender's new "Deep-C" contour, Tim Shaw design V-Mod pickups, treble-bleed circuitry, brass compensated saddles, new bridge design, and the addition of the micro-tilt screw.

On getting it home, I looked to lower the action, and didn't quickly get the hang of the micro-tilt screw, so I ended up backing it out and leaving the neck flush in the pocket. I got the action to good/not great, before I became impatient and wanted to play it.

The new Deep-C contour seemed slightly fuller in the hand than the Modern-C, but it could have been my imagination.  It measures .083" at the 1st fret and .092" at the 12th.  The Tim Shaw designed V-Mod pickups, through purportedly innovative AlNiCo blends (?), aim to provide a tone that lies between Vintage (V) and Modern (Mod).  I don't have the ears, the memory or the vocabulary to say whether that goal was nailed.  Playing through a Helix (Twin Reverb, Normal Channel) and SONY MDR-7506, the bridge position was bright and articulate without being ice-pick-y.  The tone seemed to be just safely on the right side of thin and brittle.  The middle position provided good twang and articulation, maybe a bit too bright.  That may have been due to the neck pick-up.  In the neck position, it was a bit too bright for my taste.  Rolling the tone knob ameliorated it satisfactorily.  My impression is that this particular Tele model, stock, may be particularly ill-suited to achieving anything close to a warm tone.  In each position, the Treble Bleed worked fine and is a very nice feature for those that want that.  The guitar's sustain far exceeded my expecations. 

Pretty much the same sound observations held true, played through the Champ model.  The bridge pick-up drifted a bit too bright, for my tastes.  The middle position gave a surprisingly full tone.  I was surprised by how aggressively this Tele put the virtual Champ into virtual overdrive.  Played through the Helix's VOX amp models (and the MDR-7506), the guitar's bridge pick-up became eardrum-piercing but a small dial-back on the tone number took care of that.  

I don't remember the old American Standard bridge plate to comment on differences that may be substantive to tone.  Aesthetically, I appreciate the American Professional bridge plate's hat-tip to the classic ash-tray design.  The edges of the bridge plate seem to be cleanly radiused, which is pleasant.  I disliked the bent saddles of the old American Standard, so the brass compensated saddles is an upgrade, in my opinion.  As currently set-up, the set-screws fall below the saddle.  No sharp edges around the bridge pick-up.  Very nice.

Overall, the guitar felt and sounded very good.  It is pounds lighter than my last Tele, which is nice.  My last Tele featured Nordstrand vintage-style Tele pickups, which were more to my tastes than the V-Mods.

I worry, a bit, that this Tele may be a bit too bright and twangy for Stella's daughter, my gut tells me she would have been happier to receive a Strat with a HB.  But, we can't always pick our trading opportunitites.

I traded a little-used Glock 21 for the Tele.  I felt that I had gotten the better end of the deal, until the counter-party reminded me that, with the Glock, he can just go and get as many Teles as he wants.  What an entrepreneur!

 

 

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Those look pretty nice. I think that the American Standards had the Micro-Tilt adjustment as well. I did not like that towards the end of the Am Standards, they decide to add a forearm cut and a gut cut to the Tele. That's just not something that should be on a telecaster. Bent Steel saddles, those are something a lot of people were keen on, but the purists definitely do like the three saddle version.

The "lip" on the bridge plate is unfortunately not something I like, which is why I found a used 2011 AM std tele.

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A beautiful Tele and a beautifulact of kindness on your part.

That thing would rock in a tweed Champ or tweed Deluxe...or a brown Deluxe. Those amps need a little sparkle, IMO.

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13 hours ago, Jakeboy said:

A beautiful Tele and a beautifulact of kindness on your part.

That thing would rock in a tweed Champ or tweed Deluxe...or a brown Deluxe. Those amps need a little sparkle, IMO.

Thanks.  I've known her, since she was little.  For the better part of a decade, she come over to be the big sister to my daughter.  She feels like family to me.

I'm clearing out stuff so that when my divorce is finalized I can, if I choose, Walk the Earth.  I'd miss her HS graduation, so I see this as an early graduation gift.

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