2003 MIM Standard - also a Highway One Question

[ben2e]

I just purchased a 2003 MIM Std, Red w/maple. Anything unique or different on the 03's vs the current ones ?

It was fairly cheap used so I figured I could drop a few $$ into it if there's good bang for the buck (maybe even Plek the thing) past the setup. Sounds like there's a loose consensus on upgrading the bridge, bridge pickup which are both reasonable. I'll leave the pickup wars off this thread but the Fender Custom Shop PU's seem like a good value.

I also saw mention of a 4x switch. I'm a newbie to this forum and now sure what the 4th option gets you but as long as I'm switching pickups, it must be a pretty easy switch.

I had a completely unrelated question on the Highway One. I see them for $699 everywhere now. The salesman at GC mentioned they bought a ton of stock off Fender after Fender's not so successful price increase. The used ones I've seen on eBay aren't much cheaper than the new ones. Anyone think $699 (or likely $640 if you can find a 10% coupon) is a bargain for that guitar ? The Baja's sell for substantially lower discount (not that it helps if you don't like the big frets and nitro finish).

[ben2e]

I tried out a '52 reissue (American). The neck pickup sounded extremely unusual to me. Super warm, nothing like my '62 Strat RI or any other Tele I played. It was almost like I had the tone backed down too far. Makes me want to avoid at least getting a set of vintage Tele pickups. I know folks seem to love Fender Nocasters but if the bridge sounds anything like the 52 RI, I'll look elsewhere or keep the one that's already there.

[Telemarkman]

Originally Posted by ben2e

I tried out a '52 reissue (American). The neck pickup sounded extremely unusual to me. Super warm, nothing like my '62 Strat RI or any other Tele I played. It was almost like I had the tone backed down too far. Makes me want to avoid at least getting a set of vintage Tele pickups. I know folks seem to love Fender Nocasters but if the bridge sounds anything like the 52 RI, I'll look elsewhere or keep the one that's already there.

It's just a matter of wiring.

What you heard was the neck pickup with all treble rolled off and no tone control (meant to simulate a bass before the el-bass was introduced).

If you want to know what the neck pickup really sounds like, put the switch in the middle position.

That is the way they were wired back in the day, but there is a wiring diagram in the case, that allows you to get both pickups together in the middle position and moves the neck pickup with tone control from mid to neck position. Voilà - problem solved!

The CS Nocasters are wired a totally different way. They also have different pickups.

[pbenn]

Originally Posted by ben2e

I also saw mention of a 4x switch. I'm a newbie to this forum and now sure what the 4th option gets you but as long as I'm switching pickups, it must be a pretty easy switch.

The four-way switch allows you to choose a series combination of pickups instead of the usual parallel. Wiring for this is more complicated than standard wiring.

The series combination is louder and gainier sounding but you can get tired of it, IMO.

[ben2e]

Thanks guys. That explains a lot. I had no idea there was anything other than pickup switching going on. I assume this doesn't happen in a Strat. I assume it's something commonly turned off ?

I did a quick pickup search on forums last night. Found this:

http://tomshortshandmadepickups.com/

Some really cool sounds in there but it's just dizzying looking at all the options. I don't suppose there's any consensus on a good-enough pickup setup ? The most common I saw mentioned were Lollar and the Nocasters. I suppose I'll do some searching on Youtube to see if there are any comparisons. May not be perfect but better than just reading text.

[Tdot]

Originally Posted by ben2e

I just purchased a 2003 MIM Std, Red w/maple. Anything unique or different on the 03's vs the current ones ?

Mine is an '02 or '03 and I still love it stock. I like the early model pups and frets better, I don't know if the later GreaseBucket is special or not.

(Oops, I'm talking Hwy1)

[boris bubbanov]

Originally Posted by ben2e

I had a completely unrelated question on the Highway One. I see them for $699 everywhere now. The salesman at GC mentioned they bought a ton of stock off Fender after Fender's not so successful price increase. The used ones I've seen on eBay aren't much cheaper than the new ones. Anyone think $699 (or likely $640 if you can find a 10% coupon) is a bargain for that guitar ? The Baja's sell for substantially lower discount (not that it helps if you don't like the big frets and nitro finish).

The '02-03 MIM Standards have smaller frets, different pickups than the ones of 2006 and later. They've just this year fattened and toned up (darkened) the MIM Standard necks, but you have a solid guitar that some prefer to the '06 and newer.

About $ 699 for a Highway One. I got mine for $ 389 each, so $ 700 sounds like a ton of money. If you like the smaller frets of the MIM you got you almost certainly won't like the new Highway One frets. Or vice versa.

Bajas are great but stupendously expensive in new retail form. Go used or just play what you have until prices change. I like Bajas the best of all the MIMs but I would never suggest the someone spend $ 1,109 or even $ 1,000 for one. Too much money.

[ben2e]

Thanks Boris,

That helps. I wouldn't have minded the bigger frets but I think I'll survive. How are the older pickups different ?

The $699 price was the new price. I assume $389 was used (even if not much) although $389 would be a great deal. I do see used Baja's come for sale on ebay but not very many of them and then of course they get bid up.

[boris bubbanov]

http://www.tdpri.com/forum/just-pick...-question.html


The older pickups are not as hot, and they are not reverse wound reverse polarity.


These $ 389 with bag deals were a special deal at Guitar Center, over Labor Day:

[Rumblebones]

$699 for a new Highway 1 is a fair price. The $400 prices are rare and you pretty much gotta be a guitar junkie to find those kind of deals- TDPRI is a good place to check every Friday.

The MIMs are execellnt if you wanna mod a guitar. Lots of vintage parts fit right in with little hassle and are fairly affordable. The MIA standard can be a hassle to vintage mod.

[tele12]

Originally Posted by Rumblebones

$699 for a new Highway 1 is a fair price. The $400 prices are rare and you pretty much gotta be a guitar junkie to find those kind of deals- TDPRI is a good place to check every Friday.

Right now at current street pricing ( not super deals such as MF's Fender friday pricing) the HWY 1's at $699 are pretty much Fender's best value guitar. Baja's might be slightly better but they go for $1100. And for $200 over a MIM standard the HWY's offer a big jump in quality.

[ben2e]

I would definitely have picked up a Highway One had the used ones been a bit cheaper. I saw a new MIM standard for $300 shipped so decided on that. The $389 was definitely a great deal but I'm not sure I could have found one. Sounds like it was a drive all over town type of find. The Highway One's I've seen on eBay are over $500 at which point I'd probably just pay the extra and get a new one. At $300 I can hopefully get some upgrades on it and hopefully make up some of the difference.

Anyone on the thread think GFS pickups are good enough to lend some sound quality to a MIM (or any Tele for that matter). Got a favorite you can recommend ?

I'll still keep my eye out for a Baja or Highway One at the right price.