My Road Worn Tele

[Slammintone]

Here it is, just had a pro fret level, crown and polish and setup:











I cleaned up the pickguard which had this pink aging all over it and I just today replaced the bridge with a new AV52RI unit with the brass barrel saddles. This made the guitar play with much less tension than the smaller steel saddles did, it now plays nearly as smooth and light as my Historic Les Pauls with 10-46 guage Slinkies. She weighs a tad over 8lbs, and is extremely resonant unpluged. Plugged in, especially with the brass saddles she's very twangy fat and full sounding. Very vintage Telecaster sound all the way. Up next is going to be a fat Blackguard spec neck from MUSIKRAFT and this will be the coolest, cheapest Tele I've gotten yet. Recently picked it up for under $700 new at GC.

[DanD]

Nice lookin' Tele!

[SteveB334]

gorgeous!!

[Brian H]

Did that pink stuff on the p/g rub off easily?

[Huckleberry]

I fell in love with one just like it a week or so ago! Wonderful instruments!

[Slammintone]

Did that pink stuff on the p/g rub off easily?

Thanks for the kind words, the cigar ashes and simulated fried chicken grease on the neck came off easily but the stuff on the pickguard was on there but good. I used some 800 grit sandpaper followed by some 3000 grit and then some plastic polish swirl remover type stuff to get that pinkish stuff removed. Nothing else would touch it, not even naptha. After looking through some good reviews on Harmony C. I've decided to get an Allparts replacement neck. Probably the one with the fat profile but maybe even the one Lindy Fralin has special made to his specs, sort of a fat profile that has a gentle v for comfort going on. Either way once I get it I'll take more pics and get them posted. I did replace the TexMex pickup set with a Fender CS Shop Nocaster set and much prefer it although the TexMex set had a great sounding bridge pickup which was a tad thicker and meatier sounding. But the Nocaster bridge pickup is not without it's own charms, bringing more refined yet still raw vintage Tele tones with maybe a bit more clarity on the high end and perhaps a bit more of a piano like sustain on ringy open chords. The new neck pickup really shines over the original TexMex version however and brings real life and character to the middle position and neck position tones. Being the tinkerer I'll probably nix the original pots and cap and may even try the regular 52/67 wiring for fun.

[elicross]

That looks way nicer than any commercial photo I've seen of the Road Worn Teles -- I've not seen any in person -- and it's not because the pickguard's been cleaned up. Just good phtots that show what it really looks like. I may have to take back some of the cynical things I said about "mass-produced fake relics" when these guitars first came out.

[bluespckr]

That do look like a true, well-aged beater, doesn't it? Not for me, I guess -- I mean, I have a beat up old Les Paul that naturally wore and aged. I still don't know about paying a premium for a factory aged guitar, but that's just me. It also seems funny to see you're changing some aged hardware out for new stuff.

But I will say, that bugger has a lot of character. If I saw it in a store, I still might be inclined to give it it a spin. Congrats.

Paul

[elicross]

This thread made me go to Zzounds.com and check out prices on the Road Worn Tele. First time I've thought of this guitar as one I might want to buy. I blame the photos, especially the ones that show how thin the finish is and how it sinks into the grain of the body. That, as much as any of the factory-applied dings and scratches, makes it look like a vintage guitar to me.

Funny thing: Zzounds has a "blemished" one for $250 less than an "unblemished" new one. This raises two questions: 1) How could you tell a Road Worn Tele had a blemish -- and wouldn't it just mean the wear and tear on that particular guitar wasn't exactly like every other Road Worn Tele? 2) Just how bad (i.e. noticeable) does a blemish have to be on a a Road Worn Tele to make them knock almost 25% off the price?

[Mesotech]

One of the nice things about buying a reliced guitar (and I don't own any, but I can foresee the benefits) is that you can play it without worrying about resale value if you get a ding in it. No one would be able to tell, and you could 'claim' that it's pristine.

However, I don't buy or play guitars with resale value in mind, so that point is moo (as Joey on Friends says).

Eli, I'm thinking the blem model is simply a marketing ploy to move a piece of gear. Either that or someone bought one, played it for a week and returned it, so it can't be sold as "new" anymore, and is still too "new" to be considered as "used".

BTW, nice looking Tele you got there! The one's I've tried out in the stores didn't look that good in person. But I still really wouldn't mind having one if I could find one that "speaks to me".

[Slammintone]

As far as the bridge, well it will age naturally soon enough and it was only like $30 new with the brass saddles and came with all slotted screws so I just liked it better. That relic'ed hardware is kind of rough to mess with and tweek, almost like it has blue and red locktite on the threads so after burring some of the screw heads trying to set intonation or raise the bridge pickup I decided to scrap the old look hardware for new. I'll get a new control plate and also new Kluson style vintage tuners for the new neck. These small bits of hardware are chump change really. Speaking of the neck I'm going to order a four bolt "F" logo neck plate to go with and get slotted screws for that as well. If the guitar didn't sound just amazing I wouldn't waste my time with any of this. But since I got it for just under $700 and the nicer neck is only going to run a couple hundred more I'm going to build it up to how I'd like it best. Cheers

[Slammintone]

I ordered a new AllParts Lindy Fralin Model Tele neck from Angela's Tuesday and I should have it by today (already missed the first attempt by FedEx to deliver arrghh!) I got to speak to Lindy Fralin himself just before I put the order in and he explained it's a large fat profile neck with 9.5" radius and a special shape near the fretboard that helps people still be able to wrap their thumbs around the neck for comfy chording. He orders them bare and applies only 100% amber tinted satin nitro finish with no poly and they come with medium fretwire. As soon as it gets here I'll take some comparison pictures between it and the Roadworn neck and then after it's installed I'll snap a couple more and get them all posted.