Fender Deluxe Nashville Telecaster

[Popp]

I'm just about to buy one of these babies. Anyone got anything to tell me about these Tex-Mex pickups? I've never heard them. The main reason I settled on this model is that it's the lowest priced Fender Tele available with a Rosewood fingerboard. My main criteria when deciding on which model were price and Rosewood. My main guitar has a 1963 Tele neck (Rosewood) and I love it more than any guitar I've ever owned. Any feedback on these pickups would be appreciated.

[Bluesbob]

Both my Partscasters have Nashville necks, I find them to be the best fit for my short, chubby fingers. I have one of each, but I think I like the rosewood fretboard just slightly more, although it is more broken in than the maple neck.
As far as pups, I converted to 2-pup configurations, one with a neck humbucker. I gave the Tex-Mex pups to my son for his Butterscotch Squier Affinity series Tele (which also sports a Nashville neck!). He likes the neck pup a lot, but thinks (as do I) that the bridge pup sounds sorta thin. He wants to replace it with a Texas Special (CS Texas Tele) that I gave him. That doesn't mean you won't like it though. The Nashville Tex-Mex bridge pup can get a certain type of modern country sound that you may want. I have a Strat with nice pups, so I didn't need the 3-pup configuration, although you may want that feature as well. I didn't think much of the Strat pup that was in there, though. Hope this helps, and again, welcome.

[gtrman911]

pups are subjective

but i love that guitar! and there are sooooooooo many pup choices/configurations u can make, too.
...esp w/ the HB route in the neck pos

so what color r u getting? [yea i'm superficial ]

[Popp]

Originally Posted by gtrman911

pups are subjective

but i love that guitar! and there are sooooooooo many pup choices/configurations u can make, too.
...esp w/ the HB route in the neck pos

so what color r u getting? [yea i'm superficial ]

I'm torn between Honey Blonde and Candy Apple Red...old vibe, or eye candy!

[blkhrs7]

I have two Nashville Teles and love them both. As far as the Tex Mex pups go;

Neck - I like the neck pup quite well. It's smooth, yet bright enough to retain clarity. I changed it in one of my Teles and have since regretted it.

Middle - I do not have a Strat, so I prefer the Nashville 3 pup set up to give those mock Strat sounds. The Tex Mex does a good job with this. I did swap it out of one of the Teles for the SD Strat Hot Stack and have been happy with that too. Although, I don't know if the swap improved the sound enough to justify the cost of the SD. The result was hotter output, which was nice.

Bridge - Although it has a good clean tone, it's a little weak for me. It was useable after some eq'ing, but I very much prefer the SD 5/2 I later put in. Neither the Tex Mex or 5/2 are very good for overdrive, but are good clean.

[boris bubbanov]

I've got four blonde Nashvilles, but you'd not approve as they are all maple necks.

I've changed out the bridges all for various 3 brass barrel designs.

The pickups are very much a personal choice. I don't mind the bridge pup, and in one of the 4 guitars substituted a Seymour Duncan SSL 1 and SSL 1 RWRP in the neck and middle, giving me an out of phase position 2 I really like. Let me say it like this, the Tele Tex Mex bridge is better than most Strat bridges, so.

I do wish the neck section was larger. I've got a few AV52 FSRs and Bajas, with larger necks, and they're getting more time than the Nashvilles cuz of the neck.

Bubbanov

[garrett]

I actually liked the bridge pickup quite a bit. The neck pickup was too muffled/muddy sounding for me, but I'm not a fan of covered Tele neck pickups in general. I thought the middle pickup was decent.

Overall I thought they were good and usable, but your taste may lead you to swapping them.

Originally Posted by Popp

I'm torn between Honey Blonde and Candy Apple Red...old vibe, or eye candy!

Remember it's Ash vs. Alder too. The type of tone you want may make that an easy decision for you.

[mojoming]

Good guitar, great bang for the buck. The large frets, great tuners and smooth neck is more akin to the USA made tele's.
The routed body is one of the best features. I've swapped in just about every pup configuration in there and have loved each to varying degrees.
I had to route out the control cavity all the way to allow dual push-pull pots (endless pickup wiring configurations). Other than that it's been a treat.

[mojoming]

Originally Posted by garrett

Remember it's Ash vs. Alder too. The type of tone you want may make that an easy decision for you.

That's not always the case. Mine is a brown burst on an ash body. The specs show that the brown burst finish is shot on alder. The body on this one has a few slight imperfections, actually looking like small dents like a bag of nails fell on it before they shot the color coats. It seems like they could not do a natural coat without sanding it out so they must have just gone with the brown burst to make up for the loss.

[toadman]

pictures, gentlemen.....pictures!

[mojoming]

Originally Posted by toadman

pictures, gentlemen.....pictures!

I don't have any, nor the time. No need to anyway, that sort of stuff is done all the time at Fender and is well documented. You could say it has become a Fender trademark of sorts over the years.
The word, best to play before you play. In my case I was actually happier with an ash body over an alder. Something about the feel in weight that I enjoy, and of course its tone.

[boris bubbanov]

This is a blonde MIM Deluxe Nashville, ash body, maple neck.



The strat pup cover is converted to black (essential), installed is a Callaham vintage style bridge with Gatton style gap, faceted or 'virtual' compensated brass saddles (zero slip), Stew Mac ribbed ferrules (which don't fall out) and Gotoh 'kluson' tuners in place of the almost good enough Pings. Notice how the Callaham intonation screws are just the right length, no extra screw to get in your way.

The amount of grain showing varies based on the inclination of the painter and the perceived beauty or lack thereof in the 3 pieces of ash.

Beware, while sometimes super toneful these things can be heavy.

Bubbanov

One bit of bonus only the Callaham offers. The plate is 1/8th inch wider than the others and this will cover exposed router void or 'butt crack' in most cases. The Glendale is the most narrow.

[mojoming]

Nice Gatton bridge plate. I got one on mine too with staggered brass saddles for better intonation. Put some dome knobs on. And on both the knobs and the bridge plate I iron wooled to a vintage brushed finish.
I recently moved over to putting two strat pups in. I kind of felt the stock tele neck pup was a little weak for me. I tried all sorts of stuff until making it into a Telestratocaster.

[Ira7]

Well, I'm kind of in trouble--because I think I'm falling in love with this configuration and my wife is going to kill me when I buy it. (Notice I said "when" and not "if.")

I can't afford it yet, but $100 here on layaway...$100 there...plus tax refund time is coming up!

I played my new 69 Strat for a bunch of years and loved it. Sold it in poverty in the 80s, and boy, do I regret THAT stupid business decision.

Here are my motivations for the Nashville, so please tell me I am right and that my wife is wrong for picking up that heavy frying pan and aiming it in my head's direction. I also have a few questions:

I have an Affinity Tele Squire that I upgraded--SD Vintage Stack pup in the neck, SD Hot Rails buck in the bridge, shielded, and custom wired with 5-way switch. So we're talking a lot of buck here, and the singles on the Nashville (THREE!!! WHOOPEE!!!) really appeals to me as a real different guitar to pick up for a different sound.

Mind you, my only electric right now is the Squier, but we won't go into the acoustics/acoustic-electrics I own. (That's where that frying pan comes in.)

1) I'm obviously gonna pick her up at the store and play, but she has the thin neck I want, right? My Affinity is REAL thin, and I want that.

2) Single pups are generally hummier than Bucks, right? But the consensus on a lot of sites is that Tele's in general don't benefit from shielding as much as Strats do. This isn't shielded out of the box, is it? And if not, with THREE single coils on this baby, should I plan on doing that eventually?

3) Anyone have a clue why a lot of the online stores don't carry it in Amber? Not saying I definitely want Amber--I'm thinking Sunburst anyway because that's what my Strat was (ahhhh, my youth)--but I'm curious.

Thanks for your input. I look forward to any posts telling me that I am 100% right in planning this purchase and that my wife is 100% wrong.

Also--how come Fender can't make their cases smell like they did in 1969?

[Tele Fan]

Originally Posted by Ira7

Well, I'm kind of in trouble--because I think I'm falling in love with this configuration and my wife is going to kill me when I buy it. (Notice I said "when" and not "if.")

I can't afford it yet, but $100 here on layaway...$100 there...plus tax refund time is coming up!

I played my new 69 Strat for a bunch of years and loved it. Sold it in poverty in the 80s, and boy, do I regret THAT stupid business decision.

Here are my motivations for the Nashville, so please tell me I am right and that my wife is wrong for picking up that heavy frying pan and aiming it in my head's direction. I also have a few questions:

I have an Affinity Tele Squire that I upgraded--SD Vintage Stack pup in the neck, SD Hot Rails buck in the bridge, shielded, and custom wired with 5-way switch. So we're talking a lot of buck here, and the singles on the Nashville (THREE!!! WHOOPEE!!!) really appeals to me as a real different guitar to pick up for a different sound.

Mind you, my only electric right now is the Squier, but we won't go into the acoustics/acoustic-electrics I own. (That's where that frying pan comes in.)

1) I'm obviously gonna pick her up at the store and play, but she has the thin neck I want, right? My Affinity is REAL thin, and I want that.

2) Single pups are generally hummier than Bucks, right? But the consensus on a lot of sites is that Tele's in general don't benefit from shielding as much as Strats do. This isn't shielded out of the box, is it? And if not, with THREE single coils on this baby, should I plan on doing that eventually?

3) Anyone have a clue why a lot of the online stores don't carry it in Amber? Not saying I definitely want Amber--I'm thinking Sunburst anyway because that's what my Strat was (ahhhh, my youth)--but I'm curious.

Thanks for your input. I look forward to any posts telling me that I am 100% right in planning this purchase and that my wife is 100% wrong.

Also--how come Fender can't make their cases smell like they did in 1969?

The neck is thin and you should plan on doing some shielding in the future. With that said I've had a Nashville for the last 3 years and it is my most played guitar by far. It's also IMHO the best guitar to pick up and mod to suit your tastes. So far I've replaced the bridge and saddles w/ Glendale parts and I just put on a baja neck on mine and now she's just about perfect. I'm still on the fence about replacing the pups.

[boris bubbanov]

Ira7, you've got noise canceling in positions #2 and #4 (bridge/middle and middle/neck), so noise is a bit more manageable than most 2 pickup MIM Telecasters.

I disagree about the Nashville neck being Affinity thin. Granted, Affinity necks from different contractors vary a lot, but they tend to be very thin. While a Nashville neck is kinda thin for my current tastes, it is way thicker than a typical Affinity neck.

As far as colors go, I am not seeing a whole lot of variety. In fact 75 percent of all the new or NOS Nashvilles I see are blonde with maple necks. The only thing that varies is the weight and the individual quality from guitar to guitar.


Bubbanov

[maestrovert]

Originally Posted by toadman

pictures, gentlemen.....pictures!

lovin' mine ! it's been my #2 for over a decade now....

[Ira7]

Originally Posted by maestrovert

lovin' mine ! it's been my #2 for over a decade now....

You just HAD to post that picture, didn't you? Plus, a fellow Floridian.

Damn you!

It's okay, but if you do that again, I'm going to goof on your white center pup cover.

WAHHHHHHHH!!!!! I WANT IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ira7]

Originally Posted by boris bubbanov

Ira7, you've got noise canceling in positions #2 and #4 (bridge/middle and middle/neck), so noise is a bit more manageable than most 2 pickup MIM Telecasters.

I disagree about the Nashville neck being Affinity thin. Granted, Affinity necks from different contractors vary a lot, but they tend to be very thin. While a Nashville neck is kinda thin for my current tastes, it is way thicker than a typical Affinity neck.

As far as colors go, I am not seeing a whole lot of variety. In fact 75 percent of all the new or NOS Nashvilles I see are blonde with maple necks. The only thing that varies is the weight and the individual quality from guitar to guitar.


Bubbanov

Thanks for the noise cancelling lesson. As always, this isn't clearly told in the Fender materials.

But what does "NOS" mean?

[maestrovert]

Originally Posted by Ira7

But what does "NOS" mean?

New Old Stock....previously unsold merchandise in new/mint condition.....

[Ira7]

Originally Posted by maestrovert

New Old Stock....previously unsold merchandise in new/mint condition.....

51 and I'm just learning this.

So...

Any reason to hit some website regarding serial numbers and years before I hit my wonderful, local Sam Ash store? And I'm sorry if my dripping sarcasm landed on your sleeve as far as Sam Ash goes, but I've been robbed from them--I mean, I've been buying from them--since 1968, in Brooklyn, when I was 12!

My guess is that all I'm gonna find is stuff made over the past 2 years or so, maybe 3. Did anything change dramatically in what I should look for as far as the manufacturing year goes?

Also, hope you're enjoying some cooler weather over on the west side, because we've been getting it here the last few days.

And for you non-Floridians, cooler weather for us usually means lows in the 60s, but it has been known to get into the 40s, and even the 30s... near freezing!

About every other year or so, for a day and a half.

HAH!

[svasqu01]

I recently purchased the Deluxe Nashville and absolutely love it..........now. there are just a few minor, very minor gripes. What is it about those hombres south of the border that they can't get the neck/cavity fit right? The Asian Squiers don't seem to have this problem. The second one that replaced it was good. The honey blonde finish is gorgeous. I love the ash body. Alder is good, but for the Tele ash is the wood of choice(it was for Leo). Even on the second one there were a few minor adjustments to be made before I could get to pickin'. Had to tighten down the neck. The tuners got replaced with a nice set of smooth Gotohs. The string tree got replaced with the American Standard Strat type. Replaced the stamped steel bridge with the nice Cally bridge with compensated brass saddles. The original pickup config is good, but copper cavity shielding, new Orange Drop caps, new Switchcraft five way selector and pots woke those Tex-Mex pickups up and quieted any residual noise and ground problems, so they stay. The b and high e string pinged something awful when tuned to pitch, the nut was too tall on the g,b and e side. A good nut levelling and minor adjustment to the slots had her tuning nicely. A quarter turn on the truss rod to get the neck nice and straight and a quality setup across the radius has her playing like a queen. It is now a truly roadworthy instrument. i am hoping Fender will improve their quality control on their non-american products, after all, Leo is watching

[boris bubbanov]

Nice post, svasqu.

I agree, every time I replace the strings I try and get the board and nut a little better tuned, and I just ordered more caps to make some tweaks to the tone function, and shielding. I just wanted to wait until I was a little better set on each guitar pickup wise before I put on some of those finer details.

These Nashville nuts can stay, but I have a MIM Esquire that gets a new one. And my 69 MIM Thinline (used 99) got an entire neck. Too many projects at the same time.

[sudancat]

Originally Posted by gtrman911

pups are subjective

but i love that guitar! and there are sooooooooo many pup choices/configurations u can make, too.
...esp w/ the HB route in the neck pos

Very true, and if you dont like the 3 pup conf,eliminate the middle,change pg and you have a 2 pup tele. I have the Honey Blonde maple neck. I changed pups, bridge and saddles and a different wiring conf but all of this was personal preference, nothing wrong with what was there.



Short story about the quality. Very good friend of mine has a Fender Custom Shop tele just like the Nashville,(3 pups,tortise pg,5 way switch,etc), except the neck is a high gloss flamed maple neck and custom shop texas pups. When I got my MIM Nashville, we compared the two,the finish,playability,sound,and so on.
When he was through, he was not very happy. He paid around $2500 for his a couple of years before I got mine. I paid around $450. Like I said, not much difference in the two other than the neck, the pups, CS logo, COA,and a nice CS case. For the money, I personally dont think anybody could go wrong with a MIM Nashville and if you like rosewood necks they give you that option. Aint that just so cool. I could go and on,but I'll stop. I wish they would do one in a butterscotch blonde color.