The worst sickness in the world...

[Tony_H]

... is GAS.

I just bought a second-hand, like-new HWY1 Telecaster. Sunburst, maple neck. I did so although I do have a Tele already. I've said numerously that I try to regulate my GAS by building a collection containing one fine example of each major guitar type - a nice Strat, a good Tele, a LP, a guitar with Floyd Rose, a semi-hollow ... My former Tele is a Squier Std neck fitted to a custom ash body. Very heavy. Very bright, biting tone. Much too bright. So I started jonesing the alder-bodied version, as I figured it might sound rounder and fuller. More balanced.

Then somebody offered his Sunburst HWY1 Tele on a local ad website, asking a rough equivalent of 600 bucks for it. I liked the price - it's pretty good for a US-made guitar by local standards. The deal was struck on 9:30 a.m. and the guy drove to my home with the guitarat 6 p.m. He left without it...

I'm definitely keeping the HWY1 and getting rid of my former tele, because even being the GAS-head I am, I know I'm acting crazy.

Now I wonder who's going to buy my custom creation. It's a fine chunk of heavy ash in trans yellow, duncan A2 pickups, maple/RW neck (quite thin and narrow), Gotoh tuners, 6-saddle StewMac bridge, original Fender-branded electronics (CTS pots and Fender 3-way.

I'll post pics tomorrow - now that I finally have the time to do it, it's too dark. In the meantime please wish me a quick and painless recovery. And now pardon me, I have to go play the new darling...

Tony

 

[Simon_F]

Re: The worst sickness in the world...

Tony!!

There's no known cure. :smack:

Congrats on the new axe!

Consider swapping the pickups before you part with the old one. Don't want to lose those Duncans.

 

[Jeff_H]

Re: The worst sickness in the world...

Sounds really cool Tony. I'd bet you can move that other Tele copy locally and make back a chunk of your investment. Glad to have someone else spending $$ on gear with us!

 

[XSSIVE]

Re: The worst sickness in the world...

ahhh tele's rule...i have a new tele addiction and now own 3 and plan to buy/build more in the future...although mine are all mutant teles that have more balls than most les pauls!!! enjoy the new tele!!

-Mike

 

[philthis]

Re: The worst sickness in the world...

I realize you spent some cash on the old tele but you did learn alot from your project. I have done this too. Alot of us have. In all honesty you never realy know till you try. I watched some joker put a floyde rose on a ash strat with a maple neck with bright ceramic pickups. Holy hell it was the brightest screechy thing you ever heard. All treble and no base. :smack:

 

[Tony_H]

Re: The worst sickness in the world...

Consider swapping the pickups before you part with the old one. Don't want to lose those Duncans.

Yes, I may do that. Actually, before I part with the ash Tele, I may try a set of Duncan Hots (STL/STR-2) in it. I know that hotter pickups can sometimes tame the excessive treble, and the guitar is actually pretty good - unplugged, it actually rings clearer than the HWY1!!

Actually the HWY1 is not all roses - there is some slight nut buzz on the open unwound strings. Maybe a new nut will help. Also there is some fret buzz - I played with the setup a bit and I must admit that my ash Tele sets up easier. And I'm going to replace the stock saddles with the angled StewMac variety. The intonation is noticeably better when you play above the 12th fret.

At any rate, I may spend the next few days in hospital, as my wife is going to give birth to our fourth baby pretty soon, so I'll have some time to digest everything and, hopefully, do the right thing in the end.

 

[Tony_H]

Re: The worst sickness in the world...

A couple of A/B tests later, I must confess the following:

1. Lowering the A2Pros in my Ash Tele tamed the rasp somewhat. Still, I'm not a huge fan of the sound I get from it. It's kind of bright and honky.

2. In terms of tone, I prefer the HWY1 in stock configuration to the Ash ax. More balanced overall.

3. In terms of playability and setup, the Ash Tele is a little friendlier than the HWY1. But I believe the right setup will eliminate any niggles that I may have now.

4. If I sell the Ash Tele, I will sell it with the A2 Duncans installed. It will help the guitar sell. Besides, I have a Five-Two Tele set installed in my "leftover custom" Tele clone (made up of leftover parts). I may try that set in the HWY1 later on to see if it fares better than the stock pups. But right now the stock pups sound quite good to me.

Hope you don't find these regurgitations annoying. I appreciate any comments!
Thanks
Tony