NGD keira gets her tele twang

Keira-WitherKay

hi ya all, ...... yep as you been reading if you follow my threads , i been trying to source a tele ,2nd hand for ages.....since i been inspired by the fabulously talented jim campilongo ...... his signiture custom shop fender 59 tele was out of my price bracket at $4500 ...so for me it was time to watch the 2nd hand market . but no luck either people are selling 2nd hand american standards for 14 k (ridicuous since discounted price is 12 or less) or even MIM teles for 7.5 K when they retail (not discounted )at 8 - 9 K . and i missed out on getting mikeM 's mim tele which went at a fabulous price but i was too slow to see the ad....i woulda bought it ... so after months of watching the gumtree and most stores...on sat i decided enough was enough and just bought a Fender American standard tele brand new from a store..of course i got a nice price ?

so yes an American standard fender telecaster is what fitted the bill... i almost went for a more expensive 52 reissus but the store sold it a few days before and the price of a new stock woulda been more(since i guess the 52 has been standing around a while)

so what were my requirements... most importantly i wanted a maple neck and the neck must be fat and C shaped with a good feel , to me everything is in the neck .., and the body weight had to not be too heavy (i have in the last months tried some really weighty tele's) and of course 1st prize was the "made in usa" logo for resale purposes....... to me all the rest(pups/hardware/even colour) can be changed at will /modded, as i want and in time..........

so likes and dislikes......

likes.... the neck is fabulous ..... it feels like a played in guitar not a new one....... and is a wonderful maple , a sticker on the body said the neck was "hand rolled " what does that mean ???? i thought the only "rolling" went on once the muso had the guitar at gigs... ?, but yes whatever they do when they hand roll it makes a ddifference and the neck feel sticks out head and shoulders over many others i have tried of the cheaper teles
the weight is good, as my criteria stated....... and the pups are great .... they needed some height adjustment but after that i get the tele sound i want ..... and it comes with a cool skb type case which is roadready , which is important to me ...

dislikes...... SETUP.grrrrrrr but i'll deal with that below separately ........ this guitar has a few things i would change to make it perfect for me , namely it has the new 6 saddle bridge and the bridge with no sides ......again i love the 3 saddle ashtray bridge but can fit one anytime so i'm not stressed, the colour is a 3 tone burst which i woulda chosen vintage white if it was there...but again i can either in time either refinnish this body or get another that is in vintage white on ebay or some source and just keep this body as a spare...... so basically nothing to bitch about except the setup (see below)

tones...... well i played it last night at my gig.......... and smiling from ear to ear ....... it does what a tele does very well...and thats what i want so no surprises......... and wow does it have snap.......it's the most vibrant guitar i gave played for ages, and it has awesome sustain ........ i ended a song last night and just for kicks sustained just the bass note of the final chord and it simply rang on till i stopped it ......nice... i like what i hear ........and in no rush to change the pups .even tho for me i would be tempted to try some genuine 50's vintage pups... but later for that

feel ............ as i said i bought the guitar for the feel and weight ........ as the major criteria ..... so 100% for that

right so lets get down to the GRIPE

the setup was shocking.the pickup heights were way off...... then the intonation was out and when set ..the notes fretted even when the intonation was so called in ..... were all sharp , and radically enough so to make a simple 1st position C chord sound outa tune ....... i was furious ..... as in store i only played the guitar for a few min and it had old strings and i heard the slightly outa tune but put it down to old strings and not being perfectly in tune ....... but i own 3 tuners and used all 3 to make sure one was not giving me false readings........

grrrrrrrr luckily i was back in sun city cos if this was in biz hours i woulda been back at the store and irate ......... how can a relatively top end instrument be sold like this............ cos when i say it was sharp it was sharp by a good bit ...... but i changed the new set of strings yet again , just in case of faulty strings and then set intonation that the fretted notes were in tune.this threw the harmonics on 12th fret a bit off....... but it made the guitar playable........

i did post about this and gearhead suggested it was the nut that was too high ........

anyway on one hand i'm overjoyed with the tone/feel and look /build quality of this tele...but the setup or lack thereof has left a bad taste in my mouth ,

so who's responsibilty is it to set up a guitar .the store/dealer or the Fender importer or is it just a case of buy it and sort it out yourself..........

i'm back in pta on tues and i'm heading to the store 1st thing ....... they must either fix it or send it back to the suppliers or refund me if they refuse...... cos really a guitar of this quality should not be playing so out of tune...brand new .... i was cool with having to set pup heigths or minor intonation adjustment but this is pretty extreme in my mind......

anyway so some bitter feelings mixed with the joy ........... but i hope it can be sorted easily cos i do like the feel and tone...... but when it comes to spending money in double figures on an instrument brand new i also won't settle for any excuses...... to me the reason of buying a better instrument is just that one expects no issues like one gets with 2nd hand instruments

ps watch the clasifieds cos now i have the tele , i have a few guitars i'm letting go soon at fab prices.....

Norman86

Very nice!

But one thing, that's a 3 tone burst, not a 2 tone tobacco burst! ?
Pity about the probs though! hopefully it can get sorted ASAP!

Keira-WitherKay

Norman86 wrote: Very nice!

But one thing, that's a 3 tone burst, not a 2 tone tobacco burst! ?
Pity about the probs though! hopefully it can get sorted ASAP!

oops typo ....fixed

and yes i assume it will get sorted under gaurentee.....or by the store itself

Warren

Grats on the guitar! I'd love a good Tele'.

The setup on a guitar is a very personal thing, so I don't expect a perfectly set-up instrument off the shelf. It would be great, however, if guitar stores did a better job of emphasising the importance of a good setup. I didn't think about it when buying my Takamine, and as it turned out the instrument was very hard to play (something I just didn't pick up on in the store, despite spending an hour with it). I eventually took it back and had to pay for the setup. If I'd asked for a deal on the setup at purchase time, I might have got it for free or at least cheaper. I was annoyed with myself for not thinking about it when shopping, but also annoyed with the store for selling me such an unplayable instrument.

I wonder how many great instruments are passed over because the strings are rusted or the setup is just plain poor.

Riaan-Combrink

Thanks for the review, Keira. My next guitar will be a Tele, so much to learn and ponder there!

Whilst it is probably so that few guitars will ever be perfectly set up coming out of the store, I agree 100% that one shouldn't have this magnitude of issues with an instrument in that price range. Stand your ground!

What a niche it would be if a store either genuinely set up the ex factory guitars before selling them or offers a set-up to buyer spec as a (genuine) part of the purchase price. They'd have my business for life...

Jacquesg4j

Ohhhhh NIICE Keira! One of the folks I jam with has the exact same one... You should hear it through my ac30! Hope you enjoy it as much as I know you will!

vic

Veeery nice Keira. Congrats.
Yes...the store must get at least the intonation right. Period.
However the staff may not be knowledgeable enough to do the whole tootie to your liking. Some advice if I may...get the frets polished and all that...then get a decent set-up with your choice of strings,even if it means taking it to "Andy and Co"....
BTW: US Tele...good choice

Jack-Flash-Jr

Beautiful. Everyone should have a tele!

giggsy

Glad you eventually got one - enjoy!

aubs1

1st off, Congratulations on your brand new Tele!!! I love new stuff.

You ARE gonna keep that guitar because I don't believe the issues are that great. I have no idea where you bought the guitar from, but in my experience not all stores have decent techs, (especially the one in Woodmead, you know which one I mean). So you wanna get it to a reputable tech, and I'm sure that you will be more than happy with that Tele, I know it and so do you .... ? What you would pay for a decent set up (+- R350) is nothing in the overall scheme of what the guitar cost you, so it'll be worth every cent. Good luck and happy Tele playing ......

singemonkey

Lovely.

Sorry to hear it has issues currently. Fender USA has a good reputation for quality but the odd thing must slip through them from time to time - bell curves and all that. I'm sure it will be easily sorted out.

IceCreamMan

very purty .....

congratz Kiera , that is one heck of a beautiful guitar

Tokai-SA

Keira

Did you ask the music store to set it up for you before you walked out the store with it?

Keira-WitherKay

Thanks for the sweet words , and yes just by my fiddling i have it almost up to where it should be , the nut i will get sorted soon too , i was more concerned that there was a construction prob cos even in new and 2nd hand gear i've never come across this before so i'm relieved it's just a setup issue and like i said it's 99 % sorted and come 10pm tonight it's back on stage . Anyway i have good relations with the stores i deal with and doubt i'll have an issue with a free setup only point i'm debating is should i rather take it to someone better than local store tech and just pay for it but who ?

kapepper

beuatifull guitar.
I had sold my us strat to buy a tele AVRI 52 and have never regretted it....

but buying a new guitar and the store gives it like you in that condition is very bad business imo

Sebber

Basically, a rolled, or hand-rolled, fretboard has had the fretboard edges rolled off for a smoother, rounder and generally more "played-in" feel. Essentially, prior to finishing the neck, a hard (usually metal), cylindrical object is rolled down the fretboard edges to compress the fretboard's wood. This can lead to an almost scalloped effect at the fretboard edges, and is most obviously apparently when looking at the neck side-on.

Congrats on the new axe, she's a beaut. Enjoy!

Keira-WitherKay

So today is my day off and the guitar went back to the store , the repair guy was there and checked the intonation i set and gave it his stamp of approval , but when i asked about setting the nut he was honest enough to tell me he'd rather not attempt it and in many ways i respect that , rather have him not touch it than try something and botch it . So as i mentioned seems i have the guitar by my own efforts almost sorted , so i guess andy or someone else will need to do the nut , the store offered i leave the guitar with repair guy to check setup but if he's not gonna do the nut why bother since the trus rod and action is perfect .

BluJu

Congrats Keira, I'm also GAS'ing for a Tele. I prefer the look of the old 3 saddle bridge but I wonder how one can set the intonation on one of those things.
If you want the nut adjusted Grant at TOMS Sandton is apparently a genius at those types of things.
Although spending even more cash so soon might be a tough ask.

Keira-WitherKay

BluJu wrote: Congrats Keira, I'm also GAS'ing for a Tele. I prefer the look of the old 3 saddle bridge but I wonder how one can set the intonation on one of those things.

yeah i also wanted a 3 saddle bridge but got a great price and loved the feel and tone of this one that i reckoned i couldn't go wrong with buying it then just swop out the bridge at some time cos i would also apart from 3 saddle bridge make it a top loader too like the 59 tele . Least tele's are so simple i can make changes and change back if i don't like it . You must pop in and play this one sometime like to hear your take on it . Peace k

Gearhead

Not feeding through body will make your strings lose some of that twang - best leave it. There are several suppliers for slanted 3 saddle thingy sets, both with adjustable slant and with fixed-but-should-be-alright slant. If you're in for classic Tele tone, they should be brass.

Edit: I see you've started three other threads on the topic already and discussed the whole top loading and ashtray and sides and three saddle and brass and pups and and and. Oh well what am I going to add.