Butch Snyder
ObsoleteChickenPickingologist
I am Really, I Mean REALLY Loving My New Baja...
Through kind of an impetuous decision, I found a new American Standard in one of our local stores. It had just been bumped from one store to another in the chain. It was an American Standard in Blizzard Pearl with a rosewood fretboard. It was a great guitar, but not what I was looking for. I am more of a fan of huge necks, vintage appointments, preferably '50s style. I have always thought the Classic Player Baja model was the best of all worlds. Great workmanship, cool finishes (I loved the Desert Sand finish), great pickups, and cool electronics. I also like that it reminds me of a Cunetto-era Nocaster (arguably the greatest ever made).
I got one of the GC Special Edition models in Vegas Gold. I took the black guard off and replaced it with a mint green guard. I was going to utilize the pickguard neck pickup screw holes for adjusting the neck pickup. When I removed the black guard, I noticed this Tele has a very '50s-centric body. The routing is such that I can't really use the pickguard holes. There's not enough slack in the neck pickup's wiring. No worries, I might look for a mint green guard for a 62 RI. That would get me the 8 screw holes and not have the screw holes on the pickguard. You'll notice in the pics that only 5 holes were drilled for the pickguard. I drilled the other three.
As for the playability, it plays great; however, I haven't owned a Tele with this large of a neck in quite a while. Playing songs where I have to chord a lot, is still a little fatiguing. I have smaller/fatter hands; but I'll get used to it. The tones of this guitar are very nice. The twisted Tele neck pickup is really great. Is it like a Strat? Not to my ears, but it's pretty open and round. The bridge pickup is also nice; but, honestly, I like the CS Nocaster pickup better (must be the Alnico 3 magnets I like). One thing that's really cool, is when you are in switch position #2 (both pickups in parallel), and you have the S1 switch engaged (down position), it quacks like a Strat! Now, it doesn't sound exactly like a Strat; but close enough to work when the situation calls for it.
Here are a couple of pics to prove it actually happened but I'll post better soon.
Through kind of an impetuous decision, I found a new American Standard in one of our local stores. It had just been bumped from one store to another in the chain. It was an American Standard in Blizzard Pearl with a rosewood fretboard. It was a great guitar, but not what I was looking for. I am more of a fan of huge necks, vintage appointments, preferably '50s style. I have always thought the Classic Player Baja model was the best of all worlds. Great workmanship, cool finishes (I loved the Desert Sand finish), great pickups, and cool electronics. I also like that it reminds me of a Cunetto-era Nocaster (arguably the greatest ever made).
I got one of the GC Special Edition models in Vegas Gold. I took the black guard off and replaced it with a mint green guard. I was going to utilize the pickguard neck pickup screw holes for adjusting the neck pickup. When I removed the black guard, I noticed this Tele has a very '50s-centric body. The routing is such that I can't really use the pickguard holes. There's not enough slack in the neck pickup's wiring. No worries, I might look for a mint green guard for a 62 RI. That would get me the 8 screw holes and not have the screw holes on the pickguard. You'll notice in the pics that only 5 holes were drilled for the pickguard. I drilled the other three.
As for the playability, it plays great; however, I haven't owned a Tele with this large of a neck in quite a while. Playing songs where I have to chord a lot, is still a little fatiguing. I have smaller/fatter hands; but I'll get used to it. The tones of this guitar are very nice. The twisted Tele neck pickup is really great. Is it like a Strat? Not to my ears, but it's pretty open and round. The bridge pickup is also nice; but, honestly, I like the CS Nocaster pickup better (must be the Alnico 3 magnets I like). One thing that's really cool, is when you are in switch position #2 (both pickups in parallel), and you have the S1 switch engaged (down position), it quacks like a Strat! Now, it doesn't sound exactly like a Strat; but close enough to work when the situation calls for it.
Here are a couple of pics to prove it actually happened but I'll post better soon.
