fender baja tele

[gordiji]

Fellow forumers, i was thinking of a pressie for myself in the form of a tele. I was ebaying for 90's u.s model in top cond. for 5-6 hundred with a view to b.k.ing it.
Then i see there's a baja mexican model with excellent reviews, with apparently v.g pups for about 5 hundred! (brand spanking new, don't like it send it back)
Tis excellent value and i've heard some of the mex stuff can be v.g. 
Money's not the problem but i won't go past 1K for a guitar including all modifications. It's easy to spend the price of this baja on pups,neck overhaul &p&p
Any one tried it?

[Ian Price]

I know Dave (Twinfan) and Philly Q have been owners of Bajas.

You're right about the pickups - both of them are custom shop. Twisted Tele in the neck and Broadcaster (I think) in the bridge. I've demo'd a few and they are great value although the necks I tried were a tad too full for my liking - perhaps I should try one again as I'm starting to like thicker necks now.

[gordiji]

In fact one of the reasons i 'm attracted is the 9.5'' neck. But i don't like the bridge hardware, prefering the individual saddles and then the quality ones.Problem is finding this neck profile, with ones prefered hardware etc.
If the basic plank is good however, then for the price other details can be modified.And the price is the only thing i'm suspicious of.

[Plexi Ken]

I've got one and I play it more than any other guitar I currently own. The stock pickups are OK but not in the same class as good hand-wound types, IMO the bridge pu is a little weak. The 4 position switch is useful and the s1 can produce some funky thin sounds. The deciding factor for many is the big neck, for me it's like the traditional Tele 'U' that has gone a bit 'V'-shaped... I love it. Also note that the guitar is covered in pretty thick poly.

If you don't want the traditional bridge, why not get a Mexican Standard?

[Pete24v]

I bought PhillyQ's Baja and i love it. The neck is huge, not a big as the Kotzen neck, but still big. I wasn't happy with the poorly made bridge so i replaced it with a Wilkinson version. The guitar sounded the same but with the added bonus in that the intonation is better.

The pickups are the real gem here. Much better than USA standards that i tried, and my old Lite Ash tele. Quite a few friends have Teles and this is way better than all of them.

[Philly Q]

They're nice guitars!  I only sold mine to Pete because I found the neck a little too big.  I agree about the bridge, I would've ended up replacing it if I'd kept the guitar.

One thing to watch out for - like all Teles, especially ash ones, some are much heavier than others.  But it may not be something that bothers you.

The price of £500 sounds a little steep, I think if you shop around you can find new ones for under £450.

[gordiji]

plexi ken,i'd not thought of the mex standard or any mex made.I came across the baja by 'accident' and found good features(inc pups) backed up by excellent reviews. Apart from a few shielding issues the added bonus of the wiring fomat with all it's possibilities on top of good pups is very appealing.    

[gordiji]

Philly, i've heard the weight thing. I'd prefer heavy but it's what arrives.Ideally i'd try a few but it's impractical (i live in france).No ones said anything negative about the build quality.I'm hearing there's not much difference between mex and us built these days if one compars like with like.
This is what i find interesting because from the reviews i'm reading your not gonna get any better than the baja south of a grand.   

[nfe]

The price of £500 sounds a little steep, I think if you shop around you can find new ones for under £450.

http://www.google.co.uk/products?hl=en&source=hp&q=fender%20baja%20telecaster&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wf

£429 some places.

[Philly Q]

No ones said anything negative about the build quality.I'm hearing there's not much difference between mex and us built these days if one compars like with like. 

I think there's very little difference in basic build quality between the cheaper US models (Highway One and American Standard) and the upmarket Mex models (Classic and Classic Player). 

Both can be a bit wobbly in their quality control (I think Fender Japan have them both beat in that respect) but if you get a good one it's great.

I'm not saying it's the best Strat in the world, but my Mexican Robert Cray Strat is as good as any US Strat I've owned (that doesn't include any Custom Shop stuff, though!).

[Ian Price]

Both can be a bit wobbly in their quality control (I think Fender Japan have them both beat in that respect) but if you get a good one it's great.

I was going to say something similar to that. The CIJ '62 custom teles are very, very good for the money.

[Plexi Ken]

Philly, i've heard the weight thing. I'd prefer heavy but it's what arrives.Ideally i'd try a few but it's impractical (i live in france).No ones said anything negative about the build quality.I'm hearing there's not much difference between mex and us built these days if one compars like with like.
This is what i find interesting because from the reviews i'm reading your not gonna get any better than the baja south of a grand.   

I also have a made-in-Japan Telecaster and they are (IMO) better than the Mexican Teles. A Fender Road Worn 50s Telecaster (Mexican) would suit those looking for something relic/worn-in/not-covered-in-poly finish better. Another option is the Squier Classic Vibe Telecaster ‘50s possibly the best value-for-money tele on the market at about half the price of a Baja.

BTW are the Baja pu's really from the Custom Shop? Aren't they made-in-mexico to CS spec?

[Ian Price]

BTW are the Baja pu's really from the Custom Shop? Aren't they made-in-mexico to CS spec?

I'm pretty sure they are from the Custom Shop. I think some of the Mexican models have CS designed/Mexican made pickups though.

[Twinfan]

I bought PhillyQ's Baja.....

Which was mine originally  :lol:  It's got about a bit, the slut!

I don't know about the pickups being Custom Shop ones, but they were pretty good.  It's worth shopping around for Bajas as they do vary in quality/weight/tone.  The good ones are very good though.

Whether they're better than a Highway One I don't know.  Some of those are really nice weights and finished superbly...

[Philly Q]

The neck pickup's a Twisted Tele, which is a "proper" CS model (I think?), so presumably the bridge Broadcaster pickup is also genuine CS.  It's hard to find specific info though.