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| Guitar Owners Clubs Here you'll find owners club threads for many different custom guitars and special models from larger manufacturers, too. |
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#1 (permalink) |
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Tele-Meister
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Fender Bullet Owners Club
Don't imagine there are a lot of folks with these, but have seen a few around TDPRI and hope we could get those, as well as fans, the curious, and ... so on and so on, together to chat about the guitar. I actually tried to start similar thing in a Yahoo group but that died miserably. Hope this goes better.
The guitar in question is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Bullet I am wondering is if the group should be limited to a certain date range, like 1981 - 1984 when they seem to have switched to Squire and start to become not what they were. Thoughts? Some links that might be interesting for Bullet owners: U.S. Made Serial Number info from fender.com: http://www.fender.com/support/usa_instruments.php A Bullet fan site (a bullet owner's site) http://fenderbullet.info/index.html An awkward attempt at dialog about the guitar at the Harmony Central: http://reviews.harmony-central.com/r...llet+Guitar/1\ 0/1 Also, John Page is lurking around at TDPRI these days and did some great posts of his experience with the Bullet. Starting about here in this thread: http://www.tdpri.com/forum/telecaste...ml#post1868250 Thanks for listening and I hope to hear from some of the others. Gonna post some photos of mine in another post. j |
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#2 (permalink) |
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Tele-Meister
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My 81 Bullet
My 81' Bullet. I got one just like this (not this one) in late 81' or early 82' as a present and it pretty much got me into playing. I had been playing an acoustic for a but was a whole new experience with the electric of course. I guess I am therefore exactly the person Fender was targeting with this inexpensive model, a teenager with no cash, and in a family with no cash, that would learn to love Fender Guitars if they could only afford one.
I lost the original guitar by being a stupid teenager, and moved on to Telecasters (wonder if there is a owners club for those :) but later I got a chance to get one in mint condition again, and the very same year, model and color as I start out with and though pricey I got it. It came with the manual, inspection tags and the original case. Really great find for me. Anyway here is my 81' ![]() ![]() ![]() |
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#3 (permalink) |
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Tele-Afflicted
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My Bullet's decal says it's an 81 but I think it's actually an 83. The model number of mine is called the H-3. The pickup is actually two single coils but they're not wound together like a traditional humbucker.
The neck is really amazing on these things. ![]() I added the 70's reflective Johnny Cash sticker to mine in tribute to Bob Wootton, the guitar player who replaced Luther Perkins after he died. In early 80's Kramer guitars made his a red guitar with a single humbucker in it he played all the time. So I named my Bullet after him! Johnny Isaacs
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Myspace music page I've never trusted a guitar player who hasn't licked a few 9volts... Famous last words...... after this one, no new Tele's! |
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#4 (permalink) |
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Tele-Holic
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Skipton, N. Yorkshire, England
Age: 45
Posts: 726
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I had one of these till recently, but mine was in a pretty poor state. The neck was just not reliable at all, it would twist with any change in temperature.
![]() I have to say while it was a fun guitar, I sold it on and for less than a quarter what I got for it, I got a much more playable, nicer sounding Squier Standard. |
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#6 (permalink) |
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Tele-Meister
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Funny, when I first had one, my friends all had Gibsons with humbuckers and I always thought my bullet did not work well in the punk rock bands I was trying to play in. Now I am all nostalgic about the sound of these and then now see alt rock or punk groups using them from time to time. I checked for photos of that Phoenix group and yeah, hey, there they are with a Bullet, cool.
![]() Sorry to hear that the neck on Sollophonic's was having issues, I am with Johnny I, and think the neck is the best part of em. Folks tend to buy these now days on the bay, then take the necks off to put on Tele bodies. I seem to see a lot of Bullet body's for sale without necks and sometimes necks alone for waayyyyy to much. I got a body (complete) really cheap recently that is a bit road worn, and had been repainted at some point too. But it has been hard to get an actual Bullet neck for it. I will probably get a Tele neck sometime for it I imagine. |
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#7 (permalink) |
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TDPRI Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Tuscaloosa, AL
Age: 22
Posts: 26
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Just found a blonde '81 deluxe locally for $495+ tax. Put $60 down and should pick it up later this month. I went in to get a Squier CV tele and stumbled upon it. Its a really awesome and unique guitar
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#8 (permalink) |
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Tele-Meister
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WOW, that is a great price for an 81. Did you play it in the shop? The neck should have been really sweet. The CVs are nice from what I hear and I want one too, but I think your gonna be pleased with the Bullet. I just put mine down before checking mail BTW.
Hope you can get some photos of er up here once you get it. j |
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#9 (permalink) | |
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TDPRI Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Tuscaloosa, AL
Age: 22
Posts: 26
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Quote:
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#11 (permalink) |
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TDPRI Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Kent UK
Posts: 19
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Bullets
[quote=jays0n;1893862]Don't imagine there are a lot of folks with these, but have seen a few around TDPRI and hope we could get those, as well as fans, the curious, and ... so on and so on, together to chat about the guitar. I actually tried to start similar thing in a Yahoo group but that died miserably. Hope this goes better.
The guitar in question is: I am wondering is if the group should be limited to a certain date range, like 1981 - 1984 when they seem to have switched to Squire and start to become notvwhat they were. Thoughts? Hi, I have just registered, I am Leeroy the guy in the pics on the link you pasted ( http://fenderbullet.info/index.html ). I have 12 Bullets & use an S3 USA Bullet as my main guitar. I have been collecting them since 2004 along with mustangs & other guitars, I know quite a lot about the USA Bullets & I am currently building a website to give people more info on the guitars, if you have any questions I will be happy to answer them if I can. How do you upload pics to this forum ? Is it like most others, ie , through a photo bucket URL etc ????? |
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#14 (permalink) |
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TDPRI Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Kent UK
Posts: 19
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My first Bullet
Here are some pics of the first Bullet I bought on ebay, the one that started me on the road collecting these little gems.
This is one of my favourites & it plays well, the neck has that lovely worn in mojo, it also sings acoustically which is always a good sign. The only problem with the standard Bullet, is the rattle of the saddles on the metal pick guard, due the the all in one bridge design. Although this guitar has an E1 (81) serial No, the pots are dated June 82 & the neck 83, most of these have E1 serials, I believe that fender had a job lot of these E1 serials & just used them up on the Bullet. ![]() ![]()
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#15 (permalink) |
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TDPRI Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 52
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Hey guys, Im not officially a part of the owners club yet, but I plan on becomming one soon :)
Could any of you measure the body thickness on the bullet tele style? Is it the same as a tele? Thinner?
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____________ Fender Baja Telecaster // Fender 69 RI Thinline Mahogany // Orange Rocker 30 Combo // Parker Nitefly M
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#16 (permalink) |
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Tele-Meister
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Been away from the PC a bit lately. I am having a lot of trouble with my hands, and fingers from too much computer use (I have been a software engineer since 95 and it is now too much) so try to stay off it when I can. Want to address some of the posts I missed seeing.
@Yogi: WOW, even for a Phone pic that looks cool sitting there. I would be blown away to walk into a music store and see one sitting there like that. Have you seen this: http://brochures.yokochou.com/guitar.../en_p1516.html @Yoreel: Good to have you on board Leeroy, and thanks for sharing. Your site was what got me wanting to have some kind of Bullet forum. I tried on Yahoo (and I think I emailed you through your site about it, but did not get or missed your reply) but Yahoo was as lost cause. Here there are real Guitar people and some have Bullets along with their Telecasters (I have a Telecaster along with my Bullet :), so it seems to work better. Those Pics you post here and that S3 on your site are Dreamy. You do nice work. There is a thread kicking around in the Telecaster forum here about Guitar Photography. You should get into that one. Some are asking for samples and advice. I think you have something to offer. You know that John Page is around this forum so you could hunt him down and ask about that serial number situation. Maybe he will get in this thread and tell. Oh and and since you asked, I have one question: Can we see all 12 Bullets all together? That would be so cool. @xrolandtx: Welcome and if none of the others do before I get home from work, I will measure one then. I have an 81 complete and another 81 or 82 body and both are thinner than a Tele for sure. Lighter as well. |
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#17 (permalink) | |
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TDPRI Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Posts: 52
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Quote:
__________________
____________ Fender Baja Telecaster // Fender 69 RI Thinline Mahogany // Orange Rocker 30 Combo // Parker Nitefly M
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#20 (permalink) |
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TDPRI Member
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Tuscaloosa, AL
Age: 22
Posts: 26
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Oh I went back to the store today to pay another $20 bucks on her, I have about $430 left to pay so I should have her next week on pay day if I don't pull the trigger on one of those $599 Road Worns. If you look in the pic on the far right, and I just noticed this today the shop has another bullet, but one of the second generation ones with the strat style body
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#21 (permalink) |
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TDPRI Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Kent UK
Posts: 19
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[QUOTE=j
@Yoreel: Good to have you on board Leeroy, and thanks for sharing. Your site was what got me wanting to have some kind of Bullet forum. I tried on Yahoo (and I think I emailed you through your site about it, but did not get or missed your reply) but Yahoo was as lost cause. Here there are real Guitar people and some have Bullets along with their Telecasters (I have a Telecaster along with my Bullet :), so it seems to work better. Those Pics you post here and that S3 on your site are Dreamy. You do nice work. There is a thread kicking around in the Telecaster forum here about Guitar Photography. You should get into that one. Some are asking for samples and advice. I think you have something to offer. You know that John Page is around this forum so you could hunt him down and ask about that serial number situation. Maybe he will get in this thread and tell. Oh and and since you asked, I have one question: Can we see all 12 Bullets all together? That would be so cool. Thanks for the big welcome, the website you refer to is not mine, I just supplied some pics & info for the guy, Saxon is his name & he is really into his Bullets, I think he is in the USA somewhere, I hail from the UK. I aim to have my own site up & running asap, when time permits. Great to know that John Page is about on here, its always best talking to ex Fender employees to piece together the odd bits, without that man we would not be talking !!!!! All the Bullets have the E1 serials so I think that is the case, that Fender had a job lot, would be nice to know for sure tho, there was a similar thing with the early 60's Fender serials (63/65) with the L prefix, the L was meant to be a 1 but the contractors got it wrong .......... The pic on Saxon's site is around 2 years old, so I will get a pic of all 12 Bullets together for this forum, I have my favourites, but its always good getting them all out for a play. I also have a telecaster built from parts, it has a 70's reissue neck with jumbo gauge fret wire, a Seymour Duncan little 59 humbucker (coil tapped) & a 1/4 pound for tele, its a bit like a Gibson tele cross with the jumbo wire - really nice. Must stop waffling now, speak soon. |
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#22 (permalink) |
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TDPRI Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Kent UK
Posts: 19
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I play an S3 as my main guitar, I have bought a set of Hot Noiseless strat pickups for it, I love the vintage tone of the originals, but sometimes they are a bit thin, so going to put the new pickups & pots etc on a new guard & give it a try, also got a set of graphtech saddles to go with it - had the lot for 6 months, no time to install yet ..... can't wait !!!!!
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#23 (permalink) |
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TDPRI Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Kent UK
Posts: 19
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I will measure the thickness for you, as far as I know, its not quite as thick as a tele, but they do vary, I have 2 tele style Bullet Deluxe models & the bodies are different thicknesses, the necks have different profiles & radius. Most of the standard Bullets had ply bodies but the Deluxe versions were solid. The bodies on the standard (ply) Bullet also vary in thickness & profile slightly, which all leans towards hand finishing by the very same Fender employees that constructed the top range models.
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#24 (permalink) | |
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TDPRI Member
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Manitoba Canada
Posts: 16
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Quote:
I'm on the track of another old bullet around here. It's had the paint all striped and it would need some TLC but if I can pick it up would make a fun project. |
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#25 (permalink) |
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Tele-Meister
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@yoreel Cooool, wanna see all those bullets and also want ot +1 your "without John Page we would not be here comment. I am sure he does not want to relive too much about that time or this guitar but we love it so I also of course want him to :) John are you gonna see this and comment ?
@Ripper: you should so get it, and or put that guy in this thread who is looking for a body to copy onto it. |
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#26 (permalink) | |
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TDPRI Member
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Manitoba Canada
Posts: 16
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Quote:
If someone was looking for a body though, I did come across this the other day. http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/msg/1253831693.html |
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#27 (permalink) | |
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Tele-Meister
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Cool, thanks, yeah xrolandtx wants one to make a pattern from for bodies. Gonna PM him
Quote:
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#28 (permalink) |
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TDPRI Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Kent UK
Posts: 19
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My Fender Bullet Collection
As promised, pic of all 12 Bullets together, finally had the time to get it done.
My collection started in 2004 with the 5th from left 1st generation Bullet & went on from there as funds were available. From left in pic - 82 Bullet Deluxe in Ivory - 83 Bullet S2 in Walnut - 83 Bullet S3 in Ivory - 83 Bullet H1 in Red - 83 Bullet in Red (my 1st one) - 82 Bullet in Red (standard 2nd generation) - 83 Fender Bullet S3 my main guitar - 82 Fender Bullet Red with Black Guard - 82 Fender Bullet S3 in Brown Sunburst - 82 Fender Bullet Deluxe in Ivory - 83 Fender Bullet H2 in Walnut - 82 Fender Bullet in Ivory loads of relic mojo. Hope you like the pics, I have set up all of the guitars & all have great necks, as with all guitars some are better than others with a couple of outstanding players in there, all have that lovely vintage tone, the pick ups & hard ware were the same as the hard tail strats of the same era & the necks are exactly the same as telecaster necks.
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#29 (permalink) |
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Tele-Meister
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WOW!!! yoreel that is fantastic. GREAT family photo there. Thanks for sharing and for all the info. That is fun to look at. So is my what I thought was an 81 actually an 82? Mine is the red with black. I got one of those in late 81 or early 82 the first time. But I am not really sure of the year of em.
Thanks again. j |
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#30 (permalink) | |
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TDPRI Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Kent UK
Posts: 19
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Quote:
The first generation tele style Bullets were introduced in 81, but only few that I have seen have 81 parts. I always thought my first one was an 81, until I had a look at the pot dates, which were June 82 & the neck date was 83, so I can only conclude that Fender were still producing the tele style guitars after introducing the strat style bodies in 82, they were famous for using up anything that was laying around the factory. There will always be the fact that necks & bodies can be swapped, but it is easy to tell if you are the first to take the guitar apart - the neck screws will be stiff & quite hard to remove as with all other parts, also laquer is not always completely dry before assembly at the factory, so the neck plate & pick guard are sometimes stuck to the body or have matching oxidisation marks, this is another give away to show that the guitar has not been tampered with - this was the case with my 1st Bullet, see pics of dates etc below, pot dates clearly show 82/06 (June). I hope this info helps. ![]() ![]() ![]()
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#31 (permalink) |
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TDPRI Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Kent UK
Posts: 19
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More Bullet info
Some more pics showing the matching mirror image of oxidisation marks on the neck plates - some have plastic gaskets, usually the 1st generation Deluxe models - the top pic of the plastic gasket, is that 1st Bullet of mine & just the standard model, the gaskets are sometimes there on standard models.
All this really means is that the neck plate matches the body, but as stated before, you should be able to tell if the neck has never been removed, it will be very stiff & the plate may be stuck to the body & also hard to remove, it may have paint or laquer stuck to the gasket or plate. ![]() ![]() ![]()
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#32 (permalink) | |
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NEW MEMBER!
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: NoCal,S.F area
Age: 43
Posts: 4
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Quote:
[/IMG]
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#33 (permalink) |
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TDPRI Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Kent UK
Posts: 19
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[quote=SquierOCaster;1974173]Bloody Hell !! that's a Nice looking Bunch of Bullets ! Dang and I thought I was collecting too much these last few years...hehe Btw New Guy here. Just wanted to Chime in. I just bought a '87 E-Series Bullet two weeks ago and LOVE IT. It's a Great lil Strat w/ a awesome Neck/ Strat style HS w/ Gotoh tuners (I got it for $45 w/ Original Tremolo Bar!) I'm a Huge Fan of MIK Squiers from the Eighties, I've got three of those MIK & a '85 Comtemporary MIJ Squier H-S-S Custom w / Boogie Body Neck/ Floyd Rose / Bartolini HB and Schallers. Here's a Pic. Thx for the Great Info on these Awesome Bullets. S.A
Thanks - I know what you mean about the collecting thing, I have stopped now apart from looking for the odd vintage Mustang part & I still look for a bargain Fender or Squier Bullet. I know its a bit off topic, but heres a pic of my 87 Korean Squier, the neck on this baby is superb, probably one of the best necks I have played, its very slim & suits my small hands. The guitar needs some tlc & a set up, which I will do when I get time, the pups are a bit thin but still supply that vintage tone through a decent amp, problem is - I have it at hand for learning stuff, so it never gets done !
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#34 (permalink) | |
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NEW MEMBER!
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: NoCal,S.F area
Age: 43
Posts: 4
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[quote=yoreel;1974578]
Quote:
[/IMG][IMG] [/IMG]/justStratsAriaTA-50012.jpg[/IMG][/IMG]
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#35 (permalink) |
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TDPRI Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Kent UK
Posts: 19
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[quote=SquierOCaster;1975934][quote=yoreel;1974578]
very Nice.. looks just like mine 'cept color.. btw i'm not trying to step on any Toes either here just a Shout out too other Bullet owners.. These Guitars seem very underrated ImOopinion. here's both my '87s, a ST362 and her Little Brother, Bullet. Cheers. S.A I don't think you are stepping on any toes, these threads can go in all directions. Must admit I prefer the black, the red always reminds me of Hank Marvin & I'm not a great fan of him or his sound. Same as you, I think the both the Squier & Fender Bullets are underrated, my S3 Fender Bullet is better than most strats I have played, I think people get funny about them because they have the student model tag & the smaller bodies. |
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#36 (permalink) | |
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NEW MEMBER!
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: NoCal,S.F area
Age: 43
Posts: 4
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[quote=yoreel;1976218][quote=SquierOCaster;1975934]
Quote:
[/IMG]
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#38 (permalink) |
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Tele-Meister
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@yoreel, been following all your posts, but on my phone and am not logged in then so have not replied but it does help. Thanks. I have not taken the neck off but I did the guard and it really seemed like the first time it was off. I have the inspection tag and it was all just like new when I got this one, with not even any wear. I am pretty sure it is not modified, well except I replaced the jack, as it was not holding well and making noise. Anyway, thanks for the shots of the neck area, I see what you mean. Should be there if I look. Will do soon.
@all Some of you might have seen this guy but just in case. |
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#40 (permalink) |
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TDPRI Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Kent UK
Posts: 19
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[quote=Yogi;1985651]I just picked up my 81 Bullet Deluxe today!
Nice geetar, Have you any close up pics of the bridge ? I have not seen one like that on a Bullet before, do you know if it is original ? |
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