Bought a new Tele Custom...

[Lewguitar]

A guy came in yesterday and had me install some Duncan Antiquitys in a double bound mid 80's MIJ Tele Custom. I liked it so much I decided to get one for myself. I kind of needed another Tele to test pickups in. I probably overpaid a little but I've never seen a mid 80's MIJ Tele Custom in candy apple red...my favorite custom color. And those mid 80's Japanese Teles and Strats and worth about double what they sell for used in terms of playability, quality of workmanship and tone. I think I'll remove the Custom Shop pickups MJ wound for me from my James Burton Tele and put them in this "new" one.

Then I'll use the James Burton for testing new pickups.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=3774782137&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT

 

[FretFire]

Re: Bought a new Tele Custom...

Looks killer man! Let us know how she turns out. Man I need a Tele .

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Bought a new Tele Custom...

Looks killer man! Let us know how she turns out. Man I need a Tele .

Thanks! Yep...every good player should have at least one nice Strat and one nice Tele. Lew

 

[FretFire]

Re: Bought a new Tele Custom...

Thanks! Yep...every good player should have at least one nice Strat and one nice Tele. Lew

So THAT'S my problem :smack:

 

[PUCKBOY99]

Re: Bought a new Tele Custom...

That's nice Lew...I like the look of binding on Teles! Now all it needs is a Tortoise shell-pick guard. :13:

Are there particular MIJs to look for or are they all pretty consistent/good?

 

[Artie]

Re: Bought a new Tele Custom...

Nice score Lew. That one looks to be in great shape too. Now comes the fun part . . .

 

[mrfjones]

Re: Bought a new Tele Custom...

you have a sickness man, but that does look like a nice tele. I would like to see a mint green guard on there

 

[xerxes]

Re: Bought a new Tele Custom...

that hot. very nice. looove the color and ive allways likes rosewood boards over maple.

 

[Marinblues]

Re: Bought a new Tele Custom...

Nice colour. Like a cherry 335.

 

[the guy who invented fire]

Re: Bought a new Tele Custom...

she's a honey...I like it already!

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Bought a new Tele Custom...

I really like the black pickguard on that......so much better than white on red.
I like the looks of those vintage teles, but can't get used to the 3 barrel bridge and small radius. I'm actually crouching like a tiger for a Custom Shop Fender right now, but I can't reveal what it is or I'll drive up the price. he he
It's one that's gonna force me to part with a guitar or two!

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Bought a new Tele Custom...

Thanks Guys! I haven't decided on the pickguard yet. If it was sunburst I'd go mint green but white or pearl looks nicer against candy apple red. As for years for the made in Japan Fenders, I'd say mid 80's to '94 are all going to be excellant. But the only reason I said '94 is that I don't have any MIJ Fenders after '94. After '94 they're probably excellant too! Mine are all from about '85 to '94 though. As good or better than made in USA Fenders going for double or even triple what you can get a MIJ Fender for. All they usually need is Duncan pickups. The Japanese pickups are always pretty underwealming! Lew

 

[Falstaff]

Re: Bought a new Tele Custom...

Nice!

I have had a variety of Japanese Fenders. Right now I have a CIJ (just a different designation) 62 Strat and a CIJ 62 Tele. They were recently made and they are great guitars at any price. The ones I have were made for the Japanese market (probably a moot point because so few are now imported to the US) and have Fender USA pickups. In the early 1990's there were a lot of Fenders being imported from Japan, and they were excellent guitars and generally better than the USA models being produced at the same time (just IMHO). These newer CIJ ones are way, way better than those, again just IMHO. When I first played them, I was amazed at how much more substantial they were than the older Japanese guitars (which, again, are excellent). I really haven't played any of the newer USA Fenders lately but they would have to be pretty darn good to stack up against what's being made in Japan. I don't know if there was really much of a difference between the guitars built for the Japanese market and the ones built for export back in the 80's and 90's, but at any rate the current CIJ guitars are as great a deal as the older MIJ.

 

[Falstaff]

Re: Bought a new Tele Custom...

Here's a decent looking Strat:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=38082&item=3774118737&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW

Not mine...but if I had the money it might be!

 

[Forbes]

Re: Bought a new Tele Custom...

Looks very nice lew, great colour too.