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T-style Advice Sought


BoogieMKIIA

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Looking at a great bonus payout this spring. Most will go to finishing installing hardwood flooring, but might could finagle a few bucks for guitar related stuff.

I don’t have a Tele style guitar. Don’t want a new or custom built (sorry RS), under $500. 

  • Used is fine
  • Condition would be playable or easily made so by me. Meaning new strings, basic setup. No nuts or saddles
  • I can work on pickups, tuners, things like that. See last bullet
  • Appearance not too important. I could change that latter. Dings, stains, ugly finish is OK. Unfinished is OK
  • Ability to swap out parts with standard size aftermarket or OEM later. Neck, body, hardware, pickups. 

Do the Squier CV 50’s Tele’s use standard size components/parts? Any models to avoid or would fit this description?

 

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If you want a quality Tele style guitar on a budget, you should check out the Tribute series ASATs from G&L. I think you get a lot more bang for the buck than you would with any of the low budget Fender offerings. 

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A few years back Fender made a Tele Lite Ash. They where made in Korea but hit way above their import status. I picked one up in a pawn shop and played it for years. Got an offer I couldn't turn down, and it left with a new owner. I think it was 2007 they made them. 

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Two words: parts caster

Buying used, you get your money back if you sell it, or close to it. Being a parts caster, the likelihood of it having already been thru some parts swaps is high. So, you can continue the swapping process until you get what you want. 

 

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1 hour ago, hamerhead said:

I hear there's a new Chrissie Hynde Signature model....

I’d hold out for the Springsteen model if it was me...

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15 minutes ago, killerteddybear said:

00G0G_gfxAnzmneDlz_0MM132_1200x900.jpg

If you can meet that guy and try them all out, there's a good chance one might follow you home.  The partscaster route can definitely be a good road to go down as far as finding a great-playing/great-sounding guitar, but my perception is that it's even more "buyer beware", and especially on CL, with the "Fender" labeling.  Some people seem to think "It needs to say Fender on it to really look like a Tele, I'll just slide this decal on right here" whereas I think "Counterfeit".  Maybe not an issue with a guitar you keep until they pry your cold, dead fingers off it, but if you want to sell it on...

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1 hour ago, mrjamiam said:

If you can meet that guy and try them all out, there's a good chance one might follow you home.  The partscaster route can definitely be a good road to go down as far as finding a great-playing/great-sounding guitar, but my perception is that it's even more "buyer beware", and especially on CL, with the "Fender" labeling.  Some people seem to think "It needs to say Fender on it to really look like a Tele, I'll just slide this decal on right here" whereas I think "Counterfeit".  Maybe not an issue with a guitar you keep until they pry your cold, dead fingers off it, but if you want to sell it on...

^^^That^^^

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I may check out the guy in Paris. My band mate has a couple he had built there, could be the same guy. The partscaster concern is having any idea what the parts are, best to know someone or experienced with the variations.

 

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5 hours ago, killerteddybear said:

Craigslist! There's a guy next town over from you (Paris, KY) who has four Tele builds for sale under $400.
Here's the black one - 

https://lexington.craigslist.org/msg/d/paris-telecaster-black-on-black-custom/7278617334.html

00G0G_gfxAnzmneDlz_0MM132_1200x900.jpg

Yes, this is where my friend got two, they play great.  Can ask exactly what “This is built from fender, fender licensed and aftermarket parts” actually means. Anyone familiar with detail on this neck? 

Then add a case. Maybe not a bad deal

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7E8DB8D6-3CCD-4130-AF58-34C24EDC85D3.jpeg

D138E828-4806-404B-B3F7-28CF13230B37.jpeg

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That is not a Fender neck.   It's a cheaper Chinese neck (possibly Indonesian) with a Fender decal applied.

The sketchy truss rod adjust at the headstock is the dead giveaway - those are all over eBay.

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7 hours ago, cmatthes said:

That is not a Fender neck.   It's a cheaper Chinese neck (possibly Indonesian) with a Fender decal applied.

The sketchy truss rod adjust at the headstock is the dead giveaway - those are all over eBay.

Yeah, didn’t look like a Fender licensed neck. Makes me wonder about the rest. You get what you pay for, if you like it no problem.

I realize that the path of buying cheap and upgrading as you go is a money pit. Probably best $ wise to buy a cheap one and play it or spend up front for something nicer unless you enjoy doing the work.

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If you can find a Partscaster with good 'bones' that you like, and isn't too wacko (non-standard) from a design viewpoint, then the rest should be fairly easy, and will only be as expensive to upgrade the electronics and pickups as you wanna make it out to be.

If you're searching on Reverb, put 'partscaster' in the item search, set your price search accordingly ($100 to $500 is a good ballpark), select 'electric guitar' in the categories...otherwise you'll wind up with a lot of parts and accessories in your search...and start looking!  Most 'Partscasters' seem to be of the 'Tele' type anyway (it's popular for guitar assemblers and kit builders, apparently), but even so you gotta shop carefully and separate the 'wheat' from the 'chaff', and find those that you can live with for a long time, especially since not all Partscasters are winners.  <_<  If you keep your price search parameters low, you'll hopefully never see the stupidly overpriced junk in your search...and there is a LOT of stupidly overpriced junk listed on Reverb.

There are other places to look, too...I picked up this Partscaster at DGS (no affiliation with them, I only shop there, they get Partscasters in from time to time) last month, and it's got good bones, with a 11/32" thick maple cap over straight grained pine (total thickness 1 1/2...about as thick as a Fender Mustang, maybe a little thicker than a SG), weight is 7 lbs 14 oz (it's still got some mass, I wouldn't wanna get hit with it!), it sounds pretty good with it's existing pickups, though the mini-switch seems to be disconnected, but the guitar doesn't seem to be overly bright sounding overall (yes, including it's 'acoustic voice' :rolleyes:), which is important to check on a Pine-bodied guitar with a thick Maple top!  The headstock has been 'modified', but it's actually not bad looking IMO, better than some modified/mangled ones I've seen:

https://davesguitar.com/products/kit/t-style-electric-recent-5/

I plan to redo the wiring (nothing expensive) and drop in some used Tele-style pickups (again, nothing expensive, and the key word here is used).  Like I said before, the whole thing will only be as expensive as I wanna make it out to be.

P.S.: If you wanna avoid all the hassle of a 'Partscaster', just start shopping around your local Pawn shops (check them frequently) for a MIM Fender Tele.

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On 2/26/2021 at 7:37 PM, Dutchman said:

A few years back Fender made a Tele Lite Ash. They where made in Korea but hit way above their import status. I picked one up in a pawn shop and played it for years. Got an offer I couldn't turn down, and it left with a new owner. I think it was 2007 they made them. 

Would one of these be model you were referring to? Maybe not. These are MIMs.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fender-Fsr-Ash-Telecaster-Special-Edition-Electric-Guitar-2011/224371328110?hash=item343d92c46e:g:8pwAAOSwd1Jf-o6s

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2008-Fender-Standard-FSR-Special-Edition-Natural-Ash-Telecaster-electric-guitar/184604751280?hash=item2afb4cf5b0:g:nAMAAOSwO-Jf78J3

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  • 3 weeks later...

Patience was rewarded sooner than expected. Just snagged MF Stupid Deal of the Day G&L ASAT Tribute for $299, $200 off. This has the ALNICO V pickups and ash body.

Had been following a few on Reverb, eBay and Craig's list, the prices seemed high.

GAS relieved for now. Some limits on future mods compared to Squire Classic Vibe or MIM but that's fine.

There may be some left. One if the eBay Tributes had a matched 2 piece ash body. Put a bid but the shipping from Florida made it too much.

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1 hour ago, BoogieMKIIA said:

Patience was rewarded sooner than expected. Just snagged MF Stupid Deal of the Day G&L ASAT Tribute for $299, $200 off. This has the ALNICO V pickups and ash body.

 

tenor.gif

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