The best sounding Tele I've EVER played.

B2D

SDUGF Riffologist Supremö
It may not look like much, but this guitar is, bar none, the best sounding Tele I've ever gotten my hands on and certainly one of the best sounding electric guitars I've ever played.

My friend Pauly built it. He runs a great local guitar repair shop and he does really excellent work, and I was in his shop recently having him do some wiring work on my #1, and I spotted this in the corner. It looked cool and I've been on a Tele kick lately and I decided to plug it in.

I played it for an hour and a half straight and only stopped because I had to go pick up my wife from work. But holy cow...

Every now and then you come across an instrument that is definitely more than the sum of it's parts, and this was one of them. The tone, body, clarity, articulation, the sustain that came out of it... unreal.

On paper you'd see a quality list of parts and it's a well built guitar, and most people would probably pass over it in a shop. But this thing had TONS of Mojo and a fat, ballsy sound unlike any tele I've ever come across before.

Homemade 2-pc ash body with thin nitro
Warmoth maple tele "boat neck" with jumbo frets, thin nitro finish, bone nut.
vintage style klusons.
Joe Barden bridge and saddles.
Fralin Un-bucker in the neck with a splitter switch.
Fender CS Esquire pickup with a baseplate in the bridge.
250k pots, orange drop cap, 3 way switch.

The whole thing has been reliced pretty good and it looks and smells like the real thing, instead of a guitar that's a few years old.

I asked him how much he wanted for it and he said it wasn't for sale. It was the first guitar he built (he built it as an Esquire and the Un-bucker came later) and there was too much sentimental value in it, and it sounded too good. He actually DID sell it but bought it back for more than what he paid to build it. I don't blame him. But if it had been for sale I would've bought it on the spot.

Whatever IT was, this guitar had IT.


TLDR; I found an awesome Tele that I couldn't buy. :D
 

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Re: The best sounding Tele I've EVER played.

I love a S/H configured Tele . . . ala Keef Richards.

My next Tele will be like that !

PS : bloody good looking Tele there !
 
Re: The best sounding Tele I've EVER played.

Those specs are a formula for success. Fat necks definitely produce great tone, and the key is finding the profile that's fat but fits your hand perfectly.

The McCarty profile is what I'd request on a tele built to my specs.
 
Re: The best sounding Tele I've EVER played.

So far mine has been one built with the SD Concept Set (a Warmoth project).
The Zephs had/have more clarity and presence, but I really enjoy the unique sound of the SD Concept Set.
 
Re: The best sounding Tele I've EVER played.

It may not look like much

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May not look like much?!? That's one of the most astounding-looking Teles, or guitars, for that matter, I have seen....
 
Re: The best sounding Tele I've EVER played.

May not look like much?!? That's one of the most astounding-looking Teles, or guitars, for that matter, I have seen....

Not the one in the back on the left, the one in the foreground, Butch. :D
 
Re: The best sounding Tele I've EVER played.

Yeah, the blonde in front. That's the one I'm talking about...

LOL yeah I know I'm just messing with you. ;)

There's a beautiful simplicity to it, but in person it has this... presence. I don't know how else to describe it. I just looked at it and without any hesitation I was like, "this looks like a good guitar. I think I'll plug it in."
 
Re: The best sounding Tele I've EVER played.

Those specs are a formula for success. Fat necks definitely produce great tone, and the key is finding the profile that's fat but fits your hand perfectly.

The McCarty profile is what I'd request on a tele built to my specs.

I think Pauly actually owns a McCarty, so he might actually be able to do that for you should you want it.
 
Re: The best sounding Tele I've EVER played.

I can't get past the pitch black blotches on the neck. Is it supposed to look like it was played by a coal miner?
 
Re: The best sounding Tele I've EVER played.

I can't get past the pitch black blotches on the neck. Is it supposed to look like it was played by a coal miner?

Yeah, that's kinda a turn off. It seems to be almost impossible to do a nice looking neck relic on maple.
 
Re: The best sounding Tele I've EVER played.

I can't get past the pitch black blotches on the neck. Is it supposed to look like it was played by a coal miner?

Yeah, that's kinda a turn off. It seems to be almost impossible to do a nice looking neck relic on maple.

The beat-up look is intentional. He didn't tell me how he reliced the neck but if you close your eyes the neck and frets feel clean. I think it's in the finish or the wood itself was stained.

He did, however, tell me that he reliced the body by putting it in a gym bag full of rusty hardware and tools and coffee grounds and throwing it down a flight of stairs before the finish had fully cured.

Personally I feel the neck is a bit overdone on the looks but the guitar sounds so good I don't care.
 
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