I can hear the pounding on the keyboards, I have a lot of players working on their tribute to the slab of wood. Unfortunately none of these folks could make tonights deadline so I thought I would share my Telecaster story.
The Forty dollar Telecaster.?Or: Kids these days have it sooooo good.
When I was a kid, my first real electric was a Fender Jaguar. I wouldn’t be playing surf music for another 30 years, I got it to play rock and roll. There were not a whole bunch of quality guitars in the small town I grew up in, I had no idea it was any different than a Stratocaster, it was the top of the Fender line when it was made so it had to be good, right? For the year or so I had it, I never figured out the switches. Or the bridge lock. The mute device sent the strings horribly sharp… I even destroyed the originality by cutting out the pick guard and putting a hum bucking pickup in the neck spot. I am very sure I sounded horrible, playing through a really bad Gibson solid state amp. Not a bad guitar at all. Just not what I needed at the time. But then again, buying the Jag was not an informed decision, this guitar happened to be at the right place at the right time. It also happened to be inexpensive.
Smash cut to me 40 years later, stopping into the local mega music store on the way to the market, just to “see what they had in Telecasters”. I had joined a band that covered a lot of Booker T, and while I was doing ok with a Strat, it was a good excuse to have a look. And what does this have to do with my first Jaguar? Hang on. We’ll get there.
There is a spot in this store where the used stuff is. Right smack dab in the middle was a sparkle red Telecaster with a maple neck. I looked at the price tag. It said $40. I walked a few feet and noticed a guy walking toward the guitar, at this point a primal part of my brain kicked in. 40 dollars? I passed up a $40 guitar? He looked at me like I was crazy as I ran back and snatched it up before he could look at it. I may have actually growled.
Closer examination revealed a few issues, it needed to be re-wired, the pickups were ho-hum, (actually more hum than ho). Sharp fret ends. But all the basics were fine, straight neck and frets. Good tuners. The neck actually felt very nice. The finish was very thin, with a “moon over Hawaii scene done in sharpie on the guard. Since it had just been taken in on a trade, I had to wait for the police to decide it was legit. So I had to wait a month. So what? It’s a forty dollar Telecaster for crying out loud. I gave the kid behind the counter 20 dollars – half down. And actually laughed in his face when he offered me the extended warranty for nearly as much.
During my wait, I did some research, found out that this was a Squire affinity model. Priced under $200 and made in a far off land by machines. The bodies are alder, necks of maple, and a quarter inch thinner than a standard Tele. A quick browse on the TDPRI (Telecaster forum) reveled a following of players and experimenters who took advantage of the price to have some inexpensive fun. Relics, routs, refinishes and lots of changed electronics. Lots of talk about gigging with them, and parents and guitar teachers “stealing” them from the kids they gave them to.
With the month wait over, I paid my final 20 dollars plus tax and laughed all the way home. I had a set of Lollar Vintage T pickups waiting to be installed costing 5 times the what the guitar did (remember the Sunbeam Tiger? Big engine, small car? I digress). I met mr Lollar at Deke’s Guitar Geek festival, and I could tell he knew his stuff. The iron could not fire up fast enough. I fixed the wiring, added a ground and installed the pickups. I had NO idea how easy it would be. Two wood screws for the front pickup. Three screws for the back pickup.
Stringing it up revealed some problems with the top loading bridge, they defy physics and pull the saddle up while pushing it down, but replacing the saddles with a set that I had on hand fixed that. Running my hand on the neck and I was reminded that the fret ends were sticking out, a quick session with some sand paper later it felt silky smooth. And thanks to the great pickups, sounded fantastic.
Like the Jaguar, it was at the right place at the right time at a great price. It turned out to be a “gateway” guitar for me. What started as a guitar to fill a need, turned into a genuine affection for the design. I am a little sad I sold it. The only thing that was not perfect on that guitar was the slightly thinner neck profile that does not match my hand size. I had found a set of pickups to replace the Lollars. I had determined that the Vintage T pickups were “keepers”, they now sit in my 85 Telecaster Custom and sound perfect.
The new owner is now a Facebook friend, and he seems happy to own it. I sold it for a little more than I paid for it. But even at twice the price it was still inexpensive. One could spend thousands of dollars and get a guitar that would sound the same and play close enough to my little red wonder to make you wonder why guitars cost so much. Ultimately I am jealous. Any kid that can save their allowance can afford a really good guitar.
Next weeks Tele Tuesday could totally be from somebody famous.
Stay tuned.
– Tom
