"Relic Broadcaster"- SOLD
I've wanted a blonde Tele, preferrably old or (2nd choice) relic'ed, for almost forever. While surfing thru the Tele Discussion Board's "Garage Sale" (NOT the place to be for a GAS-sufferer!!! <g>), I found an ad for just exactly what I was looking for. A Warmoth body, Warmoth neck, '52 RI bridge, Duncan '54 pickups, black guard, vintage type tuners, slot-head screws, gently relic'ed. At a very reasonable price. After a week of agonizing and talking to my pastor about it (that ol' Christian caution, again!), I decided that if I got my annual bonus, I'd buy it. I got my bonus, sat down at the computer to check my e-mail, and there's a message from the seller saying "I need to sell it, you get first rights of refusal". I didn't refuse.
Just your basic blonde, ash, blackguard, maple necked Telecaster....
Here you can see the relatively light "relic'ing" that was done. Hey! Who invited that fly?
What do you think? Real or Not? (hint: see lower right corner of photo...<g>)
Compare this shot with the one above. This is what brown Kiwi shoe polish can do. I deliberately wanted te neck a little paler than the headstock because that's the way a lot of old Teles are.
Close-up of the body. It's hard to show in the photos, but the lacquer is very nicely checked. The bridge pickup here is not the Duncan that it came with, but an old pickup of unknown origin that I bought on Ebay in non-working condition and then fixed (loose winding). I don't know what it is, but it has flat pole-pieces, copper bottom, and sounds very good. It's thicker and less ice-picky than the Duncan and looks right at home in this guitar. Sound-wise, this guitar sounds like a Telecaster should sound. Compared to my Bender Tele, this one is a bit cleaner and more "acoustic" sounding, but is a little "thinner". The Bender Tele is fatter and warmer. My Nashville Tele, by contrast, is setup more as a blues/rock Tele and has a much hotter, sassier sound than either of these guitars, but it's not nearly as clean.
Another close-up of the body, about a month after I bought the guitar. Here you can see the reversed control plate. I've been really happy with the control plate reversal- makes it much easier for me to work the volume and tone controls. I'm using 250k CTS pots with a .022 mf tone cap.
Shot of the back. One thing I'm going to do, when I get around to it, is reset those string ferrules so that they're flush with the body instead sticking up. 2-piece ash body, whole guitar weighs just under 7 lbs.
Here are two shots of the Unknown Tele Pup. Any guesses? Note the cloth covering the pickup leads (pencil)- this oughta be a good clue. I bought this pickup in a box of pups, mostly broken, on Ebay and a friend who's good at this repaired the connection. It's an excellent pup!