atquinn Posted July 19, 2008 Posted July 19, 2008 I just got this Thursday and after doing a shootout with my Zion Fifty, this is on the block. It actually sounds a tad bit better/ruder than the Zion (probably due to Alnico II pickups in the Zion and Alnico V pickups in the T51), but the Zion plays better, which I think is due to it having bigger frets (I've started to realize that, when it comes to comparing 2 guitars, I'm pretty much always going go for the one with bigger frets ). This looks like it was just made yesterday instead of being 11 years old (yes, that means it's a '97 for the math challenged among us ). Seriously, I can't find any flaws in it. 3 piece ash body and Fishman piezo. Weighs 8.5 lbs on my bathroom scale (I actually thought it was light, but I guess that's because my '06 Studio apparently weigh 9 lbs ). Here are a couple pics: I'm looking for $825 Paypal'd and shipped (money order/cashiers check is fine too). I'm open to trade offers as long as there's no moola involved on my end, but I'm not looking for anything specific at the moment. Thanks for looking. -Austin
Mindseyes Posted July 19, 2008 Posted July 19, 2008 Nice looken 51 Austn!!Whats the neck profile like on it?Do you know what the bridge pick up route looks like .......is it routed just for a single coil or could you fit a humbucker in there with the right mounting ring?Thanks....Gray R.ps........did you like that 500T?
atquinn Posted July 19, 2008 Author Posted July 19, 2008 To answer some questions:1) I'm actually not sure if the body is Ash or Alder, now that you mention it. It looks like sw686blue's (for sale here, check it out: http://www.hamerfanclub.com/forums/index.p...howtopic=28391) to me, but the grain on mine is muted a bit due to the butterscotch finish. It doesn't have as much figure as the body on my Zion (which I know is swamp ash), but the Zion is a 1-piece so... I'll have to let the pics speak for themselves on this.2) Not sure about the bridge rout. Could someone with experience with these speak to this? I don't want to take mine apart to check.3) The neck is beefy. A bit smaller than the vintage carve on my '04 Studio (which is a bit smaller than the vintage carve on my '06 Studio). Fills the hand nicely and isn't close to the shredder-thin neck on my Diablo. -Austin PS. I actually sold the 500T on eBay for exactly what I was asking for my MMP2, but the guy who got it (in Italy) is enjoying it just fine.
Caddie Posted July 20, 2008 Posted July 20, 2008 Nice looken 51 Austn!!Whats the neck profile like on it?Do you know what the bridge pick up route looks like .......is it routed just for a single coil or could you fit a humbucker in there with the right mounting ring?Thanks....Gray R.ps........did you like that 500T? Here's a humbucker that will go into a tele bridge holehttp://www.seymourduncan.com/products/elec...ittle_59_for_t/
atquinn Posted July 20, 2008 Author Posted July 20, 2008 Nice looken 51 Austn!!Whats the neck profile like on it?Do you know what the bridge pick up route looks like .......is it routed just for a single coil or could you fit a humbucker in there with the right mounting ring?Thanks....Gray R.ps........did you like that 500T? Here's a humbucker that will go into a tele bridge holehttp://www.seymourduncan.com/products/elec...ittle_59_for_t/Well yeah, Dimarzio and Seymour Duncan make a full range of single-coil sized humbuckers for tele singlecoil bridge routes, but I'm not sure if you could put an actual humbucker in there without getting out a router. Not sure about the neck pickup route either (whether you could put a minihumbucker, P90, humbucker, etc... in there without routing).-Austin
atquinn Posted July 20, 2008 Author Posted July 20, 2008 Hey, I'm a quick decision maker . Actually this decision was fairly hard to make because I kept getting blinded by the beauty of the T51 and, like I said, the extra rudeness of the amplified tone appealed to me. However, after going back and forth between the 2 of them unplugged for an hour or so, I had to pick the Zion. As a guy that doesn't actually play Teles, it doesn't make sense for me to own two of 'em . -Austin
atquinn Posted July 20, 2008 Author Posted July 20, 2008 Let's see some pix of the Zion. Ask and you shall receive -Austin
nosajwp Posted July 21, 2008 Posted July 21, 2008 Which do you think has better build quality, the Zion or the Hamer?
atquinn Posted July 21, 2008 Author Posted July 21, 2008 Which do you think has better build quality, the Zion or the Hamer? I think they're neck and neck in terms of build quality (the Zion is flawless as far as I can see and, given the condition it's in now, I'm assuming the T51 was as well when it was new). However, the Zion has numerous features that the Hamer doesn't have (whether or not these feature are important is another matter ) such as a bellycut, slightly contoured neck/body joint, matching swamp ash headstock overlay, and neutrik locking jack. Of course, it costs more too, so you pay for what you get. The T51 is more of a basic Tele clone than the Fifty (even though there are numerous differences between a T51 and a vintage Tele). Still, if the T51 had jumbo frets, I'm fairly certain I would have kept it. -Austin
atquinn Posted July 21, 2008 Author Posted July 21, 2008 Thanks for the interest and offers guys; I've worked out a trade.-Austin
belgian Posted July 21, 2008 Posted July 21, 2008 Even like the Fishman bridge on these....Not that many around I guess.
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.