Tele Custom P-90 GCSE Autopsy. The Exception That Proves The Rule

Y'all know that I think the MIM Teles are great guitars for the money and I wouldn't have bought this one if I didn't think it sounded good and could be turned into a great guitar. It still can be, but there are a lot of negatives this one has to overcome. I can't show all of the shortcomings in pics, but there's nothing the average guy can't fix with a bit of patience.

The worst thing about this guitar is that the fret ends on the treble side, starting at about the 10th fret are sharp and get progressively longer as you go up the board. This is unexcusable in a guitar approaching the $800 price point, in my opinion. Also, the pickups are somewhat bland, but you can adjust that out to make this something with a different, if not unique voice, in the Telecaster world. I bought it with the intention of putting in a different set of pickups I already have, anyhow, no biggie for me. Another negative is that there are alot of extra holes drilled and a neck screw hole misdrilled. One more negative before I get to the pics, the plate mounted to the neck where the bolt threads in was not mounted properly, but that was an easy fix simply requiring removal and retightening.

Now, for the good.

The finish is flawless, the binding is flawless. The fretboard radius is 7.25, which I love, and the back of the neck is what I would call a medium/thin V which rounds nicely into the fretboard. It is comfortable to play. In fact, I've played nothing else since I got this one. The tone is especially good with my "Dirty" Bravo, which has a speaker from my 5150 combo and a set of tubes that give the amp some nice breakup. In fact, with this amp, I can get really close to the tone of the intro to ZZ Top's "La Grange" by finger picking using the neck pickup.

Really, you should go play one if you can find one, but check it over really well before you buy.

The pics were taken with my daughter's Nikon Coolpix, which was a big dissappointment for me, because I used to be a really good photographer, and if I had the releases, I could prove that statement...

Here you go:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm17/e-merlin/2012%20Tele%20Custom%20P-90%20GCSE/DSCN0957.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm17/e-merlin/2012%20Tele%20Custom%20P-90%20GCSE/DSCN0959.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm17/e-merlin/2012%20Tele%20Custom%20P-90%20GCSE/DSCN0966.jpg

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm17/e-merlin/2012%20Tele%20Custom%20P-90%20GCSE/DSCN0969.jpg

More in my next post...

Here's the neck pocket with the extra holes:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm17/e-merlin/2012%20Tele%20Custom%20P-90%20GCSE/DSCN0974.jpg

And the aforementioned neck plate:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm17/e-merlin/2012%20Tele%20Custom%20P-90%20GCSE/DSCN0973.jpg

The Bullet Truss Rod nut, as per the 70's:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm17/e-merlin/2012%20Tele%20Custom%20P-90%20GCSE/DSCN0970.jpg

And the 70's-style F-Tuners:

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm17/e-merlin/2012%20Tele%20Custom%20P-90%20GCSE/DSCN0971.jpg

I'll be having some fun with this one, but make sure you check yours over before you buy.

About how much does yours weigh, E-Merlin?

I've seen some of these at GC and the weight of the ash body stunned me, it was so heavy.

Wow! I can't believe I forgot to weigh it. I'd say it's somewhere between my Paisleys and a MIM Standard I have. It's probably closer to 8 pounds than 9. One thing for sure, it's nowhere near the heavyweight my real 77 Tele Custom was. That thing was dead on 10 pounds.