Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum

Forum Ringside => Guitars, Amps and Effects => Topic started by: BigB on November 25, 2009, 11:05:59 PM

Title: NTD
Post by: BigB on November 25, 2009, 11:05:59 PM
New telecaster day here, woohoo !!!

I've always loved telecasters and never really had one - well, had this little mid-80's japanese squier once, but sold it a week later to a friend that really needed a decent axe and didn't have much money, and well, these squiers were cheapos by that time so I thought I could find me another one any other day, and finally never ever found anything close for the same price  :?

But anyway - I had a GAS for a tele these last weeks and was hunting the net and making plans - plan #1 was to get me a MiM classic 60 and give it some Joe-Strummer-Revisited treatment - when I spotted this add for a second hand lovely japanese '62 custom RI - the one with the white binding. The seller was Mr Loic Lepape - if you don't know him, he's the craziest french luthier, building steel-body electric guitars (think early James Trussard but with something more - and way more affordable) - and the price was right, so I phoned the guy - really really nice block BTW, a true rocker and guitars lover - and we called it a deal. This was on friday evening, he couldn't send the beast before monday, so I had to wait for five full days before I could have my hands on it. You bet I was feeling like a kid on xmas eve  :lol:

So finally the guy from UPS showed up at the office this morning, and here she (yes, a guitar is a she) was:

(http://alostnet.eu/tele/imgp1121.jpg)

Came in a quality top case, setup was close to perfect, the neck (thin C with a nitro finish) is a dream (just as confortable as my beloved Vox Custom 24 - and perhaps even more) and man, she sings like an angel and roar like a ... well, like a telecaster  :mrgreen:

Me very happy   :D .... Err, almost, in fact  :oops: - the pups are a bit better than I expected, but still on the weak side - and it's now clear that I love HOT pups. But this is another story - and for now YetAnotherWhichPupsForThisTele thread(tm)

 
Title: Re: NTD
Post by: Ian Price on November 25, 2009, 11:20:58 PM
Nice stuff - I had a MIJ Custom 62 once. I sold it to my partners brother and wish I never had. I agree with you on the stock pups - I changed them for Seymour Duncan quarter pounders and it provided a much better tone. This was before I got fussy with pickups though so I would probably go for something a bit more boutique nowadays.

Clips would be good, it should sound great through the blues junior (it looks like a blues junior anyway).
Title: Re: NTD
Post by: dave_mc on November 25, 2009, 11:25:42 PM
sweet, MIJs are great. I didn't know those ones were nitro, though, i thought you had to go up to the really high-end MIJs to get nitro. Could be wrong, of course.
Title: Re: NTD
Post by: Ian Price on November 25, 2009, 11:32:45 PM
hmmm, I'm pretty sure mine wasn't nitro. I didn't know that MIJ 62s came with nitro - I could be wrong of course.
Title: Re: NTD
Post by: FernandoDuarte on November 25, 2009, 11:33:28 PM
Lovely!!!!!! :D

PS: you know you want a Piledriver! :twisted:
Title: Re: NTD
Post by: BigB on November 25, 2009, 11:42:17 PM
sweet, MIJs are great. I didn't know those ones were nitro, though, i thought you had to go up to the really high-end MIJs to get nitro. Could be wrong, of course.

The nitro finish is only on the neck (err... AFAICT at least, the body looks like not-too-thick poly).

FWIW, Loïc (the luthier who sold that guitar) had it from a well-known french professional guitarist, and he thinks the neck is not stock - probably refinished (since the neck still has the MiJ mention on the heel).
Title: Re: NTD
Post by: CaptainDesslock on November 25, 2009, 11:43:42 PM
wooot!!!

one helluva good looking tele, makes me green with envy!
Title: Re: NTD
Post by: BigB on November 25, 2009, 11:48:43 PM
Hi Fernando

Lovely!!!!!! :D

Thanks  8)

Well, when I saw the pics on the add, it was instant love - like,  this one had my name written on it  :mrgreen:

PS: you know you want a Piledriver! :twisted:

How did you guess  ? :lol:

But well, we should probably continue this part of the discussion on the relevant thread:
http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=19443.0 (http://bareknucklepickups.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=19443.0)

 :drink:
Title: Re: NTD
Post by: BigB on November 26, 2009, 12:03:04 AM
Nice stuff - I had a MIJ Custom 62 once. I sold it to my partners brother and wish I never had. I agree with you on the stock pups - I changed them for Seymour Duncan quarter pounders and it provided a much better tone. This was before I got fussy with pickups though so I would probably go for something a bit more boutique nowadays.

Clips would be good, it should sound great through the blues junior (it looks like a blues junior anyway).

No clips for now, sorry - I don't have a proper 'music room' yet, so my gear sits in a dead corner of my wife's workshop, and the computer's still upstairs  :(

Oh, and yes, it's a blues junior. But wrt/ sound, it's a bit lacking IMHO - doesn't even push the Bjr into proper overdrive (which even my strat-like Vox Standard 25 can do). Nice cleans, though  :)
Title: Re: NTD
Post by: Philly Q on November 26, 2009, 12:37:44 AM
Nice one!  :D  

AndyR on the forum has an almost identical Tele, same colour too.  No doubt he'll see this thread tomorrow.

I had a partial NTD today, a neck arrived from Warmoth.  :)
Title: Re: NTD
Post by: 38thBeatle on November 26, 2009, 06:30:59 AM
Beautiful guitar. Congratulations-looks fantastic.
Title: Re: NTD
Post by: AndyR on November 26, 2009, 07:58:22 AM
Yep - just been commenting on the pickup thread... and Philly's right, mine looks almost identical.

I got mine new in February this year, and mine's definitely not nitro on the neck. But like all the Japanese Fenders I've tried, somehow they make them feel old, warm & comfortable, so I'm not too worried about nitro or not :D

Mine's also got steel saddles on, which is more "period" correct I understand, but I'd happily mess with that and put brass saddles on. In fact, I was planning on doing so, until I found the guitar just sang perfectly for me... so I decided not to mess with it.

Really good guitar - and looks classy as well. Congratulations :D
Title: Re: NTD
Post by: hunter on November 26, 2009, 08:17:52 AM

This just screams PILEDRIVER!!!!

Happy NGD!!!
Title: Re: NTD
Post by: TheIronBeast on November 26, 2009, 08:22:52 AM
That looks like a great Tele!

Congrats on the purchase!
Title: Re: NTD
Post by: Plexi Ken on November 26, 2009, 11:44:09 AM
Love it  :D Looks in great condition for second hand
Title: Re: NTD
Post by: BigB on November 26, 2009, 01:00:58 PM
Love it  :D Looks in great condition for second hand

Yeps, the previous owner was obviously very careful - or didn't use it much  :mrgreen:-, and Loïc gave the axe a quick cleanup before shipping. There are a couple very light scratches here and there, but else it looks almost mint.

I got mine new in February this year, and mine's definitely not nitro on the neck. But like all the Japanese Fenders I've tried, somehow they make them feel old, warm & comfortable, so I'm not too worried about nitro or not :D

Well, I can't say I have a strong preference for poly over nitro (from an aesthetical POV at least - I love how nitro ages), but indeed, as long as it sounds good and feels comfortable, who cares ?

Mine's also got steel saddles on, which is more "period" correct I understand, but I'd happily mess with that and put brass saddles on. In fact, I was planning on doing so, until I found the guitar just sang perfectly for me... so I decided not to mess with it.

This one came in with brass saddles (mod from the previous owner me think), and well, I'm not going to change them back to steel just to be "period correct". I was a bit worried wrt/ getting intonation right - I'm a bit picky on this - with vintage saddles, but it turned out to be a non-problem, and it sounds just fine this way so that's not something I'm  going to mess with neither.

Really good guitar - and looks classy as well. Congratulations :D

Thanks - and thanks to IronBeast, Hunter, 38hBeatle and everyone. Feels good to have someone to share this kind of things with - I'm afraid my significant other cannot really understand how special a NGD is - specially when it's a NTD   :mrgreen:
Title: Re: NTD
Post by: Ratrod on November 26, 2009, 02:45:03 PM
Very classy lookin' Tele in black with binding.

To hell with period correct, keep the brass saddles if you care for tone.
Title: Re: NTD
Post by: dave_mc on November 26, 2009, 07:01:59 PM
The nitro finish is only on the neck (err... AFAICT at least, the body looks like not-too-thick poly).

FWIW, Loïc (the luthier who sold that guitar) had it from a well-known french professional guitarist, and he thinks the neck is not stock - probably refinished (since the neck still has the MiJ mention on the heel).


aye, that could be it. Or even a neck from a higher model which was nitro. :)