Fender_Punk
BerriesAndCreamologist
I recently completed my apprenticeship (Over 7000 working hours) and passed the written exam. As a reward I decided to get myself a guitar, and found a used Classic Player Baja Tele in blonde for $800 with the original gig bag. (Pictured on the right)
I joined this forum as a teenager and since 2006 I've owned a '04 MIM Standard which I bought stock off a friend. (Pictured Left) I've modded it several times over the years. First reverse the control plate. The Wilkinson ashtray bridge with compensated brass saddles was added when I was 19 or 20. Tried different neck pickups (Dream 90, Phat Cat, Jazz) and went from a pearloid white to 3-ply black pickguard around 21. Pickups are SD SH1n and GFS Neovin Hard vintage wired to a 4-way switch. I've owned and sold over 10 guitars since joining this forum and the Tele has always been the favorite. That said, I've wanted a blonde Tele for a long time.
I kept an eye on the local used market for a Highway One, MIJ '52 AVRI or higher end MIM Tele sold in blonde. The Classic Player Baja is a guitar I've known about for some time and when I saw this one come up, I knew I had to check it out. The neck profile is indeed a chunky soft V and the overall weight is lighter than my '04 Tele, likely due to Ash vs Alder. Bridge pickup is the perfect Tele bridge sound IMO and the Twisted Tele neck pickup is in between Tele neck and a Strat neck pickup. Sounds great through my Traynor. If I do replace the pickups it will be with SD Hot stacks or Fender Gen 4 noiseless. It has the classic Tele intonation issue but I'll be picking up Fender Compensated Saddles tomorrow to remedy that.
I joined this forum as a teenager and since 2006 I've owned a '04 MIM Standard which I bought stock off a friend. (Pictured Left) I've modded it several times over the years. First reverse the control plate. The Wilkinson ashtray bridge with compensated brass saddles was added when I was 19 or 20. Tried different neck pickups (Dream 90, Phat Cat, Jazz) and went from a pearloid white to 3-ply black pickguard around 21. Pickups are SD SH1n and GFS Neovin Hard vintage wired to a 4-way switch. I've owned and sold over 10 guitars since joining this forum and the Tele has always been the favorite. That said, I've wanted a blonde Tele for a long time.
I kept an eye on the local used market for a Highway One, MIJ '52 AVRI or higher end MIM Tele sold in blonde. The Classic Player Baja is a guitar I've known about for some time and when I saw this one come up, I knew I had to check it out. The neck profile is indeed a chunky soft V and the overall weight is lighter than my '04 Tele, likely due to Ash vs Alder. Bridge pickup is the perfect Tele bridge sound IMO and the Twisted Tele neck pickup is in between Tele neck and a Strat neck pickup. Sounds great through my Traynor. If I do replace the pickups it will be with SD Hot stacks or Fender Gen 4 noiseless. It has the classic Tele intonation issue but I'll be picking up Fender Compensated Saddles tomorrow to remedy that.
