Alexander Hunter writes...
If you find the prospect of spending upwards of £1000 to find your ideal instrument a somewhat daunting (though obviously enjoyable) task due to the myriad of available options ......do I want rosewood, maple, ebony? What pickups do I want etc and, in most instances, what simply has that ‘cool’ factor?
You may well have considered the option of a bitser guitar. It’s possible for you to choose the wood, body shape, neck dimensions, pickups, volume and tone control options.....in fact, absolutely everything down to what kind of bridge saddles and nut you want. Thus in putting together a guitar from scratch you don’t have to sacrifice one desirable aspect for another and often it will work out significantly cheaper than a guitar of equivalent quality from a top ‘label’.
However, if due to some unforeseen (and horrible) predicament you find yourself trying to sell said beloved bitser guitar – and if you’re not a certain Eddie Van Halen – then regardless of hardware and build quality et al you will simply find it much more difficult to convince either a shop or private buyer to take it off your hands. Big name guitars regardless of price depreciation are simply easier to sell. So is it a risk worth taking?
An official brand logo can be a crucial factor for many guitarists in either a positive or negative way according to personal taste: perceived general reliability, build quality, hardware, sound quality, value for money etc. Ultimately it all boils down to a subjective view of just what constitutes cool. The Telecaster has always come across more as a real working guitarist’s guitar. If a Strat with all its curves and show could be likened to Marilyn Monroe, then the Tele is the Mae West of guitars...not the best looking, but a little older and wiser and knows exactly how to use everything it has to great effect. However, the fact that a AAA figured curly maple top would simply look preposterous on a Tele is testament to its own style. It’s a guitar to be played, not an investment and pension plan to be kept locked away in a case. Therefore a bitser Telecaster with a Fender decal – albeit a made in Mexico decal – seems to be the ideal middle-ground solution to the issue of branded generic or personally constructed guitar.
A Fender Classic Player Baja Telecaster comes with a ‘V’ shaped neck, s1 switching and a ‘custom shop design’ with pickups to match and will set you back around £450, whilst a limited edition ’52 Heavy Relic Custom Shop Telecaster will be nearer the £2000 ballpark. Yet, for a mere £300 we have here a ‘50s style ‘relic’ Telecaster. It has a slab-sawn maple neck from a Nashville Power Telecaster (made in Mexico from 1999-2000), featuring 21 medium-jumbo frets on a rosewood board with a ‘D’ neck profile- somewhere between the usual ‘C’ or ‘V’ shapes. It’s still a comfortable and easy guitar to play but you have to wrestle somewhat to get the notes out, not to the taste of Yngwie mould shredders (but then again neither is a Telecaster usually) but suited to country twangers and bluesy jazzers the world over. The dark timbre of the rosewood fingerboard compliments the light bright sound of the American swamp ash body which is finished in a sort of brandy cream blonde (an inbetween mix of the two quintessential vintage Telecaster finishes – blonde and butterscotch). The colour and thin-skin nitro-cellulose finish allowing you to see the wood grain might not be the taste of everyone, but for this reviewer it only serves to add to the individuality of this instrument.
The guitar is fitted with a reissue ‘micro-adjustable bridge’ as found on the original early ‘50s models featuring three bridge saddles rather than six and in traditional ‘relic’ (or in laymen’s terms: battered) style the bridge looks in dire need of some WD40, but arguably this merely compliments the overall scuffs, chips and wear on the body. It also features a white, rather than the usual black, scratchplate (it was only in 1955 that Fender made this transition) making it a 1950s rather than specifically ’52 style. The only immediately visible negative aspect is the strikingly rudimentary yet somehow fiddly looking tuning pegs (but it is after all a bitser and it wouldn’t take much to remedy this) yet this minor evil is easily counterbalanced by the inclusion of a pair of much better than average pickups.
Sounds
Strung with 010s and kitted out with Bareknuckle pickups, this Telecaster doesn’t have the S1 switching of the newer models, but what it does have is a purity and clarity unlike anything found on any other instrument. For many guitarists the string and note definition found on a decent Telecaster is an intimidating factor...if you hit a wrong note, you simply can’t bluff your way through it, hence why you see so many players (especially in these new-fangled trendy indie bands!) just bashing out chords rather than utilising the full tonal and solo capabilities of the instrument. As such, some people are inclined to suggest that a Telecaster is just simply not as versatile as a Strat. However, based upon this model, to these heathens I say that the Telecaster simply does not feature any superfluous or weaker sounds. It might not have the three pickups of its sleeker ‘sexier’ cousin, but every sound and pickup option offers a usable tone which, whilst being able to cover multiple genres, just seems preordained to fit a certain style of playing.
The American swamp ash body combined with the British manufactured Bareknuckle pickups afford the player an unrivalled ability to truly hear the sound of the wood of the guitar and the tonal variations of the amp.
Plugging into an Orange Tiny Terror and 1x12 cab to hear that just breaking up overdriven tube amp sound, then swapping across to a Framus Dragon and 4x12 to test the clean, crunch and all-out high gain capabilities this Telecaster proved remarkably surprising. The single coils, as you’d expect, have a little bit of hum at higher gain and don’t have the output of a decent set of humbuckers but, all in all, with a clean sound the neck pickup delivers that nice rounded and distinct Tele twang whilst the bridge pickup has more attack and bite to it than a rabid Rottweiler. The brightness of the swamp ash body combined with the nasal voicings of the bridge pickup might be too much for some, but on a clean sound this is easily remedied by rolling the tone down to 6 or 7. With a more overdriven sound the bite of the bridge pickup is useful in allowing the guitar to cut through a band mix without sounding too treble’y and rolling the volume control down cleans up the tone nicely to offer great crunchy blues and rock rhythm tones or some Albert Lee’esque country lead sounds. With gain added, the neck pickup offers a thick, syrupy smooth tone with great sustain and string definition even at the highest gain levels. Punchier than a Strat and not as muddy as a Les Paul, with both pickups selected the infamous woman tone is not far out of reach and despite some aggressive Clapton and Moore style playing with big bends and heavy vibrato galore the guitar simply refused to fall out of tune.
Verdict
A best friend to session guitarists the world over, this Telecaster proves that good tone, and lots of it, in an affordable package is possible. The distressed look of the guitar is a moot point for many, some people prefer to beat up their own guitars rather than buy an already battered instrument, others prefer to preserve their guitars as a precious piece of art. However, there is something inimitably right about the look, feel and sound of a beaten up Tele and this instrument just has an air of blunt class about it.
The bottom line
We like: good looks, good feel, great sound at a great price.
We dislike: fiddly machineheads and a rusting bridge may not be for everyone.
We say: the ‘made in Mexico’ decal betrays the true quality of the instrument, the hardware on offer and sounds available easily compete with guitars three times the price: bargain.
You may well have considered the option of a bitser guitar. It’s possible for you to choose the wood, body shape, neck dimensions, pickups, volume and tone control options.....in fact, absolutely everything down to what kind of bridge saddles and nut you want. Thus in putting together a guitar from scratch you don’t have to sacrifice one desirable aspect for another and often it will work out significantly cheaper than a guitar of equivalent quality from a top ‘label’.
However, if due to some unforeseen (and horrible) predicament you find yourself trying to sell said beloved bitser guitar – and if you’re not a certain Eddie Van Halen – then regardless of hardware and build quality et al you will simply find it much more difficult to convince either a shop or private buyer to take it off your hands. Big name guitars regardless of price depreciation are simply easier to sell. So is it a risk worth taking?
An official brand logo can be a crucial factor for many guitarists in either a positive or negative way according to personal taste: perceived general reliability, build quality, hardware, sound quality, value for money etc. Ultimately it all boils down to a subjective view of just what constitutes cool. The Telecaster has always come across more as a real working guitarist’s guitar. If a Strat with all its curves and show could be likened to Marilyn Monroe, then the Tele is the Mae West of guitars...not the best looking, but a little older and wiser and knows exactly how to use everything it has to great effect. However, the fact that a AAA figured curly maple top would simply look preposterous on a Tele is testament to its own style. It’s a guitar to be played, not an investment and pension plan to be kept locked away in a case. Therefore a bitser Telecaster with a Fender decal – albeit a made in Mexico decal – seems to be the ideal middle-ground solution to the issue of branded generic or personally constructed guitar.
A Fender Classic Player Baja Telecaster comes with a ‘V’ shaped neck, s1 switching and a ‘custom shop design’ with pickups to match and will set you back around £450, whilst a limited edition ’52 Heavy Relic Custom Shop Telecaster will be nearer the £2000 ballpark. Yet, for a mere £300 we have here a ‘50s style ‘relic’ Telecaster. It has a slab-sawn maple neck from a Nashville Power Telecaster (made in Mexico from 1999-2000), featuring 21 medium-jumbo frets on a rosewood board with a ‘D’ neck profile- somewhere between the usual ‘C’ or ‘V’ shapes. It’s still a comfortable and easy guitar to play but you have to wrestle somewhat to get the notes out, not to the taste of Yngwie mould shredders (but then again neither is a Telecaster usually) but suited to country twangers and bluesy jazzers the world over. The dark timbre of the rosewood fingerboard compliments the light bright sound of the American swamp ash body which is finished in a sort of brandy cream blonde (an inbetween mix of the two quintessential vintage Telecaster finishes – blonde and butterscotch). The colour and thin-skin nitro-cellulose finish allowing you to see the wood grain might not be the taste of everyone, but for this reviewer it only serves to add to the individuality of this instrument.
The guitar is fitted with a reissue ‘micro-adjustable bridge’ as found on the original early ‘50s models featuring three bridge saddles rather than six and in traditional ‘relic’ (or in laymen’s terms: battered) style the bridge looks in dire need of some WD40, but arguably this merely compliments the overall scuffs, chips and wear on the body. It also features a white, rather than the usual black, scratchplate (it was only in 1955 that Fender made this transition) making it a 1950s rather than specifically ’52 style. The only immediately visible negative aspect is the strikingly rudimentary yet somehow fiddly looking tuning pegs (but it is after all a bitser and it wouldn’t take much to remedy this) yet this minor evil is easily counterbalanced by the inclusion of a pair of much better than average pickups.
Sounds
Strung with 010s and kitted out with Bareknuckle pickups, this Telecaster doesn’t have the S1 switching of the newer models, but what it does have is a purity and clarity unlike anything found on any other instrument. For many guitarists the string and note definition found on a decent Telecaster is an intimidating factor...if you hit a wrong note, you simply can’t bluff your way through it, hence why you see so many players (especially in these new-fangled trendy indie bands!) just bashing out chords rather than utilising the full tonal and solo capabilities of the instrument. As such, some people are inclined to suggest that a Telecaster is just simply not as versatile as a Strat. However, based upon this model, to these heathens I say that the Telecaster simply does not feature any superfluous or weaker sounds. It might not have the three pickups of its sleeker ‘sexier’ cousin, but every sound and pickup option offers a usable tone which, whilst being able to cover multiple genres, just seems preordained to fit a certain style of playing.
The American swamp ash body combined with the British manufactured Bareknuckle pickups afford the player an unrivalled ability to truly hear the sound of the wood of the guitar and the tonal variations of the amp.
Plugging into an Orange Tiny Terror and 1x12 cab to hear that just breaking up overdriven tube amp sound, then swapping across to a Framus Dragon and 4x12 to test the clean, crunch and all-out high gain capabilities this Telecaster proved remarkably surprising. The single coils, as you’d expect, have a little bit of hum at higher gain and don’t have the output of a decent set of humbuckers but, all in all, with a clean sound the neck pickup delivers that nice rounded and distinct Tele twang whilst the bridge pickup has more attack and bite to it than a rabid Rottweiler. The brightness of the swamp ash body combined with the nasal voicings of the bridge pickup might be too much for some, but on a clean sound this is easily remedied by rolling the tone down to 6 or 7. With a more overdriven sound the bite of the bridge pickup is useful in allowing the guitar to cut through a band mix without sounding too treble’y and rolling the volume control down cleans up the tone nicely to offer great crunchy blues and rock rhythm tones or some Albert Lee’esque country lead sounds. With gain added, the neck pickup offers a thick, syrupy smooth tone with great sustain and string definition even at the highest gain levels. Punchier than a Strat and not as muddy as a Les Paul, with both pickups selected the infamous woman tone is not far out of reach and despite some aggressive Clapton and Moore style playing with big bends and heavy vibrato galore the guitar simply refused to fall out of tune.
Verdict
A best friend to session guitarists the world over, this Telecaster proves that good tone, and lots of it, in an affordable package is possible. The distressed look of the guitar is a moot point for many, some people prefer to beat up their own guitars rather than buy an already battered instrument, others prefer to preserve their guitars as a precious piece of art. However, there is something inimitably right about the look, feel and sound of a beaten up Tele and this instrument just has an air of blunt class about it.
The bottom line
We like: good looks, good feel, great sound at a great price.
We dislike: fiddly machineheads and a rusting bridge may not be for everyone.
We say: the ‘made in Mexico’ decal betrays the true quality of the instrument, the hardware on offer and sounds available easily compete with guitars three times the price: bargain.
1 comments:
This is a very good comprehensive article. Thank you for taking the time to explain all dimensions. Keep rockin! It's a Booty happening!
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