Road Worn Tele mystery

[Chris Pile]

Okay, a client brought in this supposedly brand spanking new reliced purple Tele - said it's for his kid to learn on, but it needed some fret work and a setup. The back of the peghead says Mexico, and when I removed the single ply white pickguard to adjust the truss rod I found ROAD WORN stamped on the body in big letters. WTH is this thing?

Maple neck was very messed up - overbowed truss rod, sharp knives for fret ends, and the fretboard is a roller coaster. It had stainless bridge saddles (plain small diameter rods), and the guy wanted one of those brass beveled compensated saddle sets installed (half-assed things, if you ask me).

I worked the fret ends over, and did a fret level - it's looking good now, but plays stiffly even with 10's. Haven't taken photos yet... Will do it tomorrow after it sits all night at tension, and I do final tweaking of setup and intonation.

I haven't worked on a lot of these odd Fenders, it has me scratching my head.

 

[Blille]

Re: Road Worn Tele mystery

Like this?

https://www.guitarcenter.com/Fender...MIz8_qiZap4QIVQhx9Ch0b1wQfEAQYASABEgKqovD_BwE

 

[Chris Pile]

Re: Road Worn Tele mystery

Why, yes - very much like that. Basically $900 for something that needs another $200 in service and aftermarket parts for your kid to learn on? Good for Fender, I guess - but a bad investment for my client when there are so many perfectly good used axes are out there.

 

[chadd]

Re: Road Worn Tele mystery

The one I played wasn't bad but the finish was really sticky.

 

[PFDarkside]

Re: Road Worn Tele mystery

Have you worked on any other Road Worns from Mexico? (Wondering if this is typical or out of the ordinary)

 

[Blille]

Re: Road Worn Tele mystery

That's definitely disappointing. I've only had good experiences with fender and Squier for the last few years. I haven't played roadworns though. I wonder if the father or GC tried to set it up first on his own.

 

[Chris Pile]

Re: Road Worn Tele mystery

Have you worked on any other Road Worns from Mexico? (Wondering if this is typical or out of the ordinary)

None that I know of - hence my post.

As for daddy - he plays custom-built Suhr and Tom Anderson stuff in his road band, and sonny boy wasn't getting a chance to learn on those.

 

[Blille]

Re: Road Worn Tele mystery

I would have gone for a used Am Std. Surprising for a seasoned guitar player to have walked out with that but hey, what do I know. Not my money. Definitely purty.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: Road Worn Tele mystery

I would have gone for a used Am Std. Surprising for a seasoned guitar player to have walked out with that but hey, what do I know. Not my money. Definitely purty.

Agreed on all counts. Or a Squier Classic Vibe. Or a used MIM. Or anything besides a MIM that costs way more than you can get the used USA, or two MIM Standards, or two Classic Vibes with a few bucks left over...

 

[NegativeEase]

Re: Road Worn Tele mystery

Relicking perplexes me. How is this thing?

No reply needed -I've seen the excusing about the vintage market being to expensive for kids.

 

[Chris Pile]

Re: Road Worn Tele mystery

Sorry - forgot to take pix. Dropped it off after making it play nicely and in tune. I should have cut those bridge saddle springs off - they were much too long, and interfered during installation and adjustment. Client seemed pleased....