[swangdb]

I'm thinking seriously about buying my first Telecaster. I'm 51, been playing since my teens and have been a Strat man for a long time. Lately I've been playing with a fairly twangy rockabilly/r&b band and neither of my Strats is quite right for some of the tunes.

I borrowed a friend's 66 Tele a few years ago and still have it. The neck is terrible. It sounds good though it's not real twangy. The original pickups are lost in my friend's past, he put in Dimarzios, it sounds more like a Les Paul Jr to me than a Tele. I put in a Bill Lawrence bridge pickup. Not twangy. Maybe the guitar isn't twangy by nature.

One of the guys in the band has a 15 year-old Japanese tele, crummy neck, tiny frets, the strings don't go through the body and it hums and buzzes but I like the sound. I've used it for a few gigs but I need to get my own. Some random questions:

- How are the necks on the Mexican Nashville Tele's?

- Does the middle pickup of a Nashville Tele change some of the regular tele sounds?

- Does the Harmonic Design 54 pickup sound "better" than a Kinman 60s tele bridge pickup? I hate noise but like tone...

- Vintage bridge or six saddles?

- Locking or vintage tuners?

I guess I'm looking for a good twangy, 60s tone but with as little noise as possible and I want the thing to stay in tune and play in tune.

Thanks for any and all advice!!