Two New Squier Signature Telecasters
As you’ve no doubt noticed, Squier is on fire lately with cool new guitars. And, now just prior to Winter NAMM 2012, they’ve introduced a few more guitars for Tele Fans. Not exactly “all new,” the new models are familiar, yet still new for Squier and they join an ever expanding line up of punk and pop signature models the brand offers. The new Avril Lavigne Tele joins the previous Squier model and the Jim Root Tele, which has been available in the Fender line-up now comes to Squier, as well.
The new black-on-black Avril Lavigne Telecaster joins Lavigne’s previous signature Squier Tele, and features several new touches, including a three-ply pickguard, knurled black flat-top volume control knob, a black headstock with die-cast turners, and a distinctive 12th-fret skull and crossbones logo. The MSRP on the new Avril Lavigne Signature guitar is $479.99.
Designed in cooperation with Slipknot/Stone Sour guitar speed demon Jim Root, the Squier Jim Root Telecaster boasts several new features, a satin-matte finish in black or white, starkly simple single-knob/single switch control layout, black die-cast tuners and other black hardware, and two passive humbucking pickups with black covers. The MSRP on the new Jim Root Signature Tele is $599.99.
See full details and specs at www.squierguitars.com
Cool New Squier VM Telecaster Special
You have to wonder what’s going on within Fender these days. Expensive new “Select” Series guitars are introduced one day, only to be followed by some heavy talkin’ Blacktop Series guitars the next and then some really FRESH new Squier models the day after that. One can only assume that last Summer’s record heat-wave in Phoenix got to the marketing department’s heads and got their creative juices flowing.
Further proof of this concept is the new Squier products. Squier keeps coming out with interesting new products for Tele-lovers and this year’s models look to be no exception to this rule. We haven’t received full details yet, but our sources show a cool new Squier Vintage Modified Tele Special being introduced at this year’s Winter NAMM show.
Here’s what we know so far. The Squier Vintage Modified Telecaster Special looks to be very special indeed with a classic Tele body and the neck from a Vintage Modified Jazzmaster Neck and Jazzmaster pickups. Pricing looks great too at about a $300 street price.
More details will be provided as we learn more about this guitar.
Another cool new Squier product is a VM “Surf” Strat with Duncan Lipstick Pickups and a pearlized guard. Colors include Sonic Blue, Surf Green and Candy Apple Red. Pricing is that same sweet spot of around $300 street price.
Happy NAMM New Year
It’s another new year and January brings with it another Winter NAMM Show. This year’s NAMM starts Jan 19th and runs for 4 days of guitars, gear and madness. We’ll be there and will do our best to bring you the highlights from the show. Plus, we’ve been invited on a VIP Tour of the Fender factory the day before NAMM starts. So, watch for our photos and impressions of the new Fender Factory Tour Center.
If you’re new to NAMM, it’s the North American Music Merchandisers show. This is a trade organization for all manor of musical instrument retailers — Mom & Pop Shops, Major Chains, Internet Sellers. Even the TDPRI is a member of NAMM as the first guitar forum to be allowed to join. Twice a year NAMM stages a big show of music gear manufacturers and distributors for the retailers to see and make wholesale purchases for their stores.
The Winter NAMM Show is THE big show of the year. It’s open only to “the trade” which means only those in the music business. It’s held every January at the Anaheim Convention Center in Orange County, California — right next to Disneyland. And a theme park of fabulous is what you get at the NAMM Show, too. With 1,500 exhibitors from the big guys like Fender, Gibson and such to the smallest guy that’s invented some neat new guitar holder. They’ll all be there. Along with 90,000 industry members from all over the world.
We’ll be there to photograph the coolest new items from Fender and others and we’ll be posting them here throughout the next week after the show is over. So stay tuned!
Here’s a reminder from last year’s NAMM show for you to get an idea of what takes place there.
TDPRI Gives Away 7 Guitars!
The 10th Annual TDPRI Fundraiser / Giveaway is going on now through November 17th. And, this year’s Giveaway has the biggest and best prize list of any of the previous events. We’re giving away 7 complete guitars, and an assortment of other prizes all valued at nearly $20,000. On November 18th, we’ll hold a live drawing online and some lucky TDPers will take home some VERY big prizes.
Here’s the list of prizes and demoes of the guitars being offered in the Fundraiser. Each demo is performed by Tele Master Redd Volkaert. Be sure to check each of them out!
Grand Prize – Guitar
Fender Custom Shop
Limited Edition Relic 50′s Esquire -2 Pickup – Black
Fender’s Custom Shop has created a very limited masterpiece for this year’s Giveaway. This reliced 50′s LTD Edition 2-pickup Esquire in Black is the perfect guitar to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the Telecaster (and Esquire, too). This one was made special for display in the Custom Shop Booth at last year’s Winter NAMM Show.
- Premium Ash body
- 7.25 radius maple neck with vintage frets
- 6 lb 14 oz
- Nitro finished Relic body
- Vintage hardware
- CS Nocaster Bridge / CS 50′s Neck Pickups
- Tweed Deluxe LTD case
- Certificate of Authenticity (signed by Mike Eldred)
- Fender’s Custom Shop Custom Care®
- MSRP Value of $6,000 — free to the winner of this Grand Prize
First Prize
Fender Musical Instrument Corp.
60th Anniversary Telecaster
Fender celebrates the 60th Anniversary of the Telecaster with this special “Tele-Bration” limited Anniversary edition Tele. A mixture of vintage looks and modern features make this a special guitar to own no matter how you look at it.
- Ash Body Blonde / Nitrocellulose Lacquer
- “C” shapped Maple Lacquer finished Neck 9.5” Radius
- American Standard Tele Pickups
- Bakelite Pickguard
- New Amercian Style Bridge
- Molded Rectangular Fender/SKB® Case
Second Prize
K-Line Guitars
Truxton Vintage Guitar
A fantastic guitar from K-Line Guitars. Wait ’til you see this one. Top notch components mated to the proper tonewoods with the best electronics. Great aged and reliced Oly White with a mint ‘guard.
- Alder body
- Rosewood FB/Maple neck .880″ C shape,
- 6105 frets
- Aged and Reliced Olympic White Finish
- Loller Vintage Pickups
- K-Line Aged Vintage 3-saddle bridge
- Mint Pickguard, 3 way switch, K-Line Aged Controls
- Polyfoam/Fabric Rectangular Kaces case
Third Prize
www.GuitarMill.com
Guitar Mill
Mario Guitars T-Style
2-color Sunburst
Guitar Mill is known for making great guitar bodies and necks with the option to have them custom finished before shipping. But it’s their custom line of specially crafted “Mario Guitars” that are the hallmark of their entire operation. This year’s Custom Shop T-Style from Mario’s workbench is truly a special guitar and one that its winner will truly treasure for decades to come.
- Premium Grade Aged- Pine Body
- 1 Pc. Quarter Sawn Maple Neck ( w/ Light Flame)
- Soft Chunky ‘V’ Shape, 6105 frets, 9.5″ Radius
- Ultra-Thin Nitrocellulose Lacquer Finish (Two Tone Sunburst
- Custom Wound – Lindy Fralin PU’s with 4 Way Switching
- Heavy Knurled Nickel Knobs, Hand Engraved Custom Neck Plate
- Compensated Brass Saddle Bridge
- 5 lb 9 oz
- Deluxe TKL Hardshell Case
Fourth Prize
Rutters Guitars
50′s T-Style Butterscotch
Marc Rutters is known for his attention to detail for vintage parts, bodies and fantastic guitars. And, this guitar is no exception to that heritage.< br/>
NEW! Video of this guitar.
- 1 piece Swamp Ash
- Neck 1 piece Maple lazy V to C profile .89 1st fret .98 12th fret
- Bone nut 1.650” wide, 6105 frets, 9.5″ Radius
- NOS Butterscotch nitrocellulose lacquer finish
- Peter Florance Broadcaster bridge and TE Sweet neck Pickups
- Bridge “Rutters” CRS, control plate, Broadcaster knobs, neck plate, jack cup and switch tip all Rutters handmade hardware
Fifth Prize
www.RhomcoGuitars.com
Rhomco Guitars
TDPRI Partscaster 12-String T-Style
From building new guitars, to transforming a 6-string into a 12-string, to turning your Tele into a VariAxe to making short-scale Tele basses, Robert Oliveira does it all. His specialty is affordable custom guitar work. He can use your components or provide a complete guitar built to order. This TDPRI Partscaster 12-String is a perfect example of the unique set of skills Rob brings to the table.
- Two piece Pine Body with Double White Aged Binding
- Maple/Rosewood Custom 12 String Neck
- Bone nut 1.650” wide, 6105 frets, 9.5″ Radius
- Surf Green Pearl, Silver Flake Nitrocellulose finish
- Fender 69 Tele Re-Issue Pickups
- Custom Bridge plate, Gotoh 12 String Saddles, Tinted Nitrocellulose finish, Gotoh Kluson Style Tuners
- Custom Decal by Jonathan Bennett
Sixth Prize
Squier
Classic Vibe 50′s Tele Butterscotch
In the early years of Fender, the Telecaster quickly became an everyman’s guitar because of its versatile sound, ease of playing and reasonable cost. The new Classic Vibe Telecaster ’50s in Butterscotch Blonde delivers on that original promise.
- Pine Body
- Tinted Maple Neck modern 9.5” fretboard radius
- Butterscotch Blonde Finish
- Alnico 5 single-coil pickups
- Vintage Style 3-saddle bridge
Other Cool Prizes!
This year we have other cool prizes from USA Custom, D. Allen Pickups and others. So, if you don’t win a guitar maybe you’ll win a great effects pedal from Wampler or some hand wound pickups from FretTech. Here’s the details on these other prizes:
Total "Old School" T-Style body
1-piece Swamp Ash made “totally old school” with all standard T-Style routes.
1-Piece Maple Neck
1.650" nut width, ’54 contour, 9.5" compound radius, 6105 frets, Kluson tuner holes, std black dots, rolled edges
Figured Maple cap over Honduras Mahogany body
Std T-Style bridge route / Humbucker Neck route, 7/8" side jack,
1-Piece “Cooked” Quarter Sawn Maple Neck
1.650" nut width, ’63 “C” contour, 9.5" compound radius, 6105 frets, Kluson tuner holes, std black dots, rolled edges
Wild Cat Hot Vintage Bridge and Neck Set
The Wild Cat Hot Vintage Bridge is made with alnico II’s for a warm rounded tone that will still have snap and spank. It is wound with 42GA poly to 7.38. The Wild Cat Hot Vintage neck is made with alnico III magnets and wound to 6.88 with 43 GA PE wire for a crisp clean hot tone that will still play dirty well and a very thin polished Nickle Silver cover. The set is reverse wound,
Fat Cat Bridge and Neck Pickup Set
These Fat Cat Tele Pickups give you big, fat, warm single-coil Telecaster sounds. They are clear and still cut, but have a slightly rounder and darker tone. Punchy, thick sounds, but with clarity and chime. A very versatile set, but also very well suited for those with jazz, pop, or rhythm and blues tendencies.
Wild Cat Cheetah Pickup Set
Cheetah’s provide true Tele brightness, but also a certain sweetness and provide a very even range and response from top to bottom. The neck pickup has a clarity and punch that typical Tele neck pups lack. Cheetah’s will do country music and rock-n-roll all day long. Overall, this is a fantastic set for the Tele enthusiast looking for a more transparent and useful neck pickup, with a bridge pickup that gives you that cut and bite you want out of your Telecaster.
Cavalier Lion + Cavalier Tiger (strat) Pickup Set
FretTech’s Cavalier Lion Tele Bridge Pickup paired with an uncovered but potted Tiger (strat) pickup for the neck. The Tiger will fit the standard Tele neck position and Tele pickguard no problem. The Cavalier Lion/Tiger matched set for a Tele®. The very best of all worlds – that classic twangy Tele® bridge tone found on countless recordings by mega artists spanning countless music genres, coupled with that classic bluesy Strat® neck pickup. A match made in single coil tone heaven that turns any Tele® into a very versatile guitar for stage or studio.
Ego Compressor
The Ego Compressor gives you a clear articulate sound thanks to the “clean blend” knob which blends in your original clean signal yet still thickens your tone up better than anything else available in pedal form. It also will add a ton of sustain to your notes – all without excess noise. The “tone” control adds in clarity and punchiness – while cutting through the mix!
The Paisley Drive
Brad Paisley’s requirements were quite “simple”… it needs to be clean but get crunchy with some “beef” to it. It needs to have a fluid tone when soloing. It needs to add a little hair to the tone but then but then has to be able to give flat out ball busting gain, oh… but please do not wreck the tonality. Wampler nailed it in the Paisley Drive.
