I recently bought a $100 beater Tele, semi hollow, made in 2019. So 5 years old and they're just dumping them now to clear them off the books. (You can only depreciate off the taxes for five years). Don't let the "Last one" fool you. It magically changed back to "1 available" a couple days after I bought the green one.
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The bridge saddles are CR@P making it sound like a sitar no matter how they were adjusted, the neck was seriously bowed and the truss rod allen head doesn't align with the hole making reaming necessary to access it. Fixed that and got the bow out. Nice and straight.
BUT the tone is that of an ice pick. Treble up the arse.
So ordered some new saddles, and what the heck saw quite a few pretty good reviews of guitarmadness 52 tele pickups. At 50 buck$ for the set free shipping they're cheap but still half the price of the guitar, lmao.
View attachment 75644
Magnet: Alnico 5. They are not Gibson's. with a modest output with perfect warmth to give you a well rounded classic tone. MORE VALUE FOR YOUR MONEY HERE. NO BS, NO HYPE. (sorry I live in NYC). Coil: Urethane.
www.ebay.com
I also ordered some roller string trees. But the frets are well finished so at least there's that. The flame maple top is paint. What a piece of shat.
When I'm done I'm sending it to a good friend who wants to introduce his young daughter to musical instruments, but I figured I'd have some fun fixing up this POS and who knows, the pickups might sound fairly good. He's a very good friend so I'm also sending a 5e3 combo amp with Mercury Magnetic iron that I built with a 12" JBL instrument speaker in a 3/4" pine cabinet with dovetail joints. He's agreed to drive down from Shingletown CA to pick up.
Description from the listing (and the reason why I appended to the pickups thread)
This Pickup is a True Reproduction of an early
50's Fender Telecaster Neck and Bridge Pickup Set
with a modest output with perfect warmth to give you a well rounded classic tone.
Neck Pickup
Chrome
DCR: 5.73
Magnet: Alnico 5
Type: Single Coil
String: 6
Wiring: Cloth Lead Wire
Position: Neck
Coil: Urethane
Bobbin: Fiber
Bridge Pickup
Period Correct Cloth Output Wire and Fiber Bobbin.
Copper Base Plate
Alnico 5 Magnets
Enamel Coated Magnet Wire
6.6k
Trust me folks, these are great sounding pickups. They are notGibson's, or Seymour Duncan's, but they are also not $120. YOU GET MUCH MORE VALUE FOR YOUR MONEY HERE. NO BS, NO HYPE.
Now the old saying is "How do you say EFF YOU in the music industry?
TRUST ME!"
I figure it'll be fun. Got a NOS .047 PIO cap for the tone. These come self shielded encapsulated in metal to minimize noise in sensitive signal locations. I have phillips mustard caps I could try as well.
Why? The secret to not loosing your mind after retiring is STAY BUSY. That's why. I figure I'll finish it off after getting it perfect by painting it a nice sea foam green.....
There's two versions of these stainless saddles out there, unfinished and crappy looking, and these smooth and good looking. 10.5mm and 10.8mm. Replacing the 10.5mm ones. T.G. for Calipers....
View attachment 75646
Upgraded version precision machined superior quality Stainless Steel Saddles; Will increase the sustain and tuning stability. These saddles require very little work and skill to install, it’s an easy way to improve your tone and sustain.
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