After posting that I couldn't find a guitar that I liked - well, one worked it's way into my attention. I have always wanted a Tele Thinline with single coils in either butterscotch or natural finish. I don't know why, but almost all of my guitars are hollow or semi-hollow. In fact I have only one solid body guitar - an incredible Les Paul. There has been a '68 RI Tele Thinline at a local store for about a month now, and I have been to try it a couple of times. Something was putting me off and I couldn't work out what it was. The neck is actually one of Fender's better attempts recently and maybe it was the feeling of polish residue or something which was putting me off - it felt a bit unfriendly. But now that it's been restrung and cleaned it feels perfect - a fantastic slim neck but not too flat. It just feels right. Thankfully there is some height in the frets. Even on some RI Fenders which are supposedly fretted with "narrow high" frets they dress them so low they feel vintage. These feel great.
It's nice and lightweight to hold but not sonically. Other Thinlines I have played in the past have sounded kind lightweight and thin - maybe they were the older Japanese RIs? This one has a big gutsy sound with a very clear high end but it's not that harsh high end I found on a recent '50s Tele. Maybe it's the pickups, maybe the semi-hollow body, but whatever it's easily now the best sounding Tele I have played in ages.
The stock bridge pickup is amazing. I tried another Tele bridge pickup I just happened to have in my cupboard (I think it's a Nocaster) but the stock one is way better. It has "hot" written underneath and it is, but it also has a very clear, bright twang to it which I don't normally associate with hot pickups. It's a great sounding pickup. Big sound, bright and clear with a sweet high end. No harshness at all.
I mentioned finding Tele pickups in my cupboard - well I tried the neck pickup from my cupboard and wow - it's perfect! Not sure what it is - maybe a Twisted Tele? I remember hating it another guitar ages ago, but in this one it is absolutely perfect, and matches the bridge well. I normally take ages to try new pickups but these ones were there already... The stock neck pickup was just a little wimpy.
The only other thing I can think of to make this guitar better might me a matt black Nocaster type pickguard. I remember Fender did some Nocaster Thinlines from the Custom Shop a few years ago, and I really liked the single-ply black fibreboard pickguards. That could be cool. But overall, I am really delighted with this guitar and really, it's probably better than I was expecting.
It's nice and lightweight to hold but not sonically. Other Thinlines I have played in the past have sounded kind lightweight and thin - maybe they were the older Japanese RIs? This one has a big gutsy sound with a very clear high end but it's not that harsh high end I found on a recent '50s Tele. Maybe it's the pickups, maybe the semi-hollow body, but whatever it's easily now the best sounding Tele I have played in ages.
The stock bridge pickup is amazing. I tried another Tele bridge pickup I just happened to have in my cupboard (I think it's a Nocaster) but the stock one is way better. It has "hot" written underneath and it is, but it also has a very clear, bright twang to it which I don't normally associate with hot pickups. It's a great sounding pickup. Big sound, bright and clear with a sweet high end. No harshness at all.
I mentioned finding Tele pickups in my cupboard - well I tried the neck pickup from my cupboard and wow - it's perfect! Not sure what it is - maybe a Twisted Tele? I remember hating it another guitar ages ago, but in this one it is absolutely perfect, and matches the bridge well. I normally take ages to try new pickups but these ones were there already... The stock neck pickup was just a little wimpy.
The only other thing I can think of to make this guitar better might me a matt black Nocaster type pickguard. I remember Fender did some Nocaster Thinlines from the Custom Shop a few years ago, and I really liked the single-ply black fibreboard pickguards. That could be cool. But overall, I am really delighted with this guitar and really, it's probably better than I was expecting.
