MIM Lake Placid Telecaster

[jjkrause84]

Hey guys,

I love the look of the new Lake Placid Teles....do you thin kthat Fender will try harder to make sure that they're better quality relative to other MIM Stds or will they be just as variable?

[soul-o]

I haven't seen those yet, have a link?

[cmm71]

I think it's just another color and will be treated the same as black or white. I think MIM quality is outstanding no matter the color. MIM teles are quite good.

[superbadj]

No, I can't see Fender taking care to make one color more consistently playable than another color.

Most standard teles I've played lately have been really nice.

[jjkrause84]

The reason I ask is it is sort of a "special run" so I dunno....I thought maybe they'd try harder

In any case, thanks for your replies

[mellecaster]

Originally Posted by jjkrause84

Hey guys,

I love the look of the new Lake Placid Teles....do you thin kthat Fender will try harder to make sure that they're better quality relative to other MIM Stds or will they be just as variable?

MIM Products seem fairly consistent to me..I think their QC is pretty Damn good...YMMV

[superbadj]

agreed.

[Ortho]

I had developed this theory (briefly) around Electron "Dwight Yoakam" Blue (pre-2009) since the ones I tried seemed better and the one I got is great.

One thing that is not a theory is that quite more than a few of the MIM Teles are great guitars.

[superbadj]

Yeah, I do get the idea with a truly short run of guitars. I could see how people might inadvertently spend a little extra time on tweaking fret ends or whatever since they're different. But probably not.

I know my FSR Gretsch Corvette (natural mahogany, vs the cherry stain the standard version comes in) feels perfect to me. An incredibly well finished guitar given the price. I wondered about this very thing, too, but if I were being honest, I doubt it's reality.

[jjkrause84]

Originally Posted by mellecaster

MIM Products seem fairly consistent to me..I think their QC is pretty Damn good...YMMV

Right on....I was under the impression that MIMs varied from good to "great" and that, for a variety of reasons, some are simply flat-out better than others.

[Ortho]

Originally Posted by jjkrause84

Right on....I was under the impression that MIMs varied from good to "great" and that, for a variety of reasons, some are simply flat-out better than others.

And this is of course the reality for ALL guitars whatever the model, company, where they are made and this can said to be TRUE now esp..esp. true for Fender.

In my experience that aside from some weight variances (not big ones with the MIM Tele Standard) what has hurt the sound of some of these guitars is someone at a store erroneously doing stuff liking raising up pickups...BUT even out of the box from the factory I lowered mine for better articulation and tonal range.

[boris bubbanov]

Originally Posted by jjkrause84

The reason I ask is it is sort of a "special run" so I dunno....I thought maybe they'd try harder

In any case, thanks for your replies

Lake Placid Blue is a semi-permanent replacement color, following the demise of Electron Blue.

I can see a worker working harder on a guitar that is new or is his favorite; some colors just "look" more expensive and so the worker is maybe more motivated.

My experience was the opposite of Ortho. All but 1-2 of the Electrons I played were back of the pack guitars. In defense of them they might've been around longer, cruddy strings, and apparently disdained by a few shop employees who may have got tired of them. Dings, etc. IMO, of all colors, The Electron Blue needed a dark, toned color neck and that was not to be.

[Ortho]

Originally Posted by boris bubbanov

Lake Placid Blue is a semi-permanent replacement color, following the demise of Electron Blue.

I can see a worker working harder on a guitar that is new or is his favorite; some colors just "look" more expensive and so the worker is maybe more motivated.

My experience was the opposite of Ortho. All but 1-2 of the Electrons I played were back of the pack guitars. In defense of them they might've been around longer, cruddy strings, and apparently disdained by a few shop employees who may have got tired of them. Dings, etc. IMO, of all colors, The Electron Blue needed a dark, toned color neck and that was not to be.

Yes, would look great with rosewood, but frankly, got it for the sound. The one Electron Blue on the floor was OK but fortunately the one out of the box played and sounded the best of them all esp. better than a heavier sunburst (very dinged up). This unpopular color guitar also turned out to have a great weight, around 6.7 pounds. Not a stunner in the looks department, but great in the sound. Actually, the neck isn't as pale as some non-tinted I've seen.

I'm glad nobody else wanted it.

I have witnessed "benign neglect" towards guitars at a local Guitar Center. The victim: a Nashville MIM Tele with a virually unplayable E /1st string that way for over 6 months. I brought it to the attention of staff twice, with zero results. With a chunk more than ding out of it. It hung in front with the Teles on the floor, lower price end of course, with no change in the price tag.

[GiddyHitch]

The updated MIMs have been really consistent and great quality from what I have seen. I ended up getting a Midnight Wine one, but LPB was my other choice. I wouldn't expect one color to be higher quality than the others, save for the grain on a sunburst model, where it is sorted for aesthetic purposes.

[boris bubbanov]

Originally Posted by GiddyHitch

The updated MIMs have been really consistent and great quality from what I have seen. I ended up getting a Midnight Wine one, but LPB was my other choice. I wouldn't expect one color to be higher quality than the others, save for the grain on a sunburst model, where it is sorted for aesthetic purposes.

That phenom is true, for instance on Classic 50's Teles. Black ones are not so nice wood often, the sunbursts usually the nicest. Ditto on sunburst Highway Ones, which are usually 3 piece alder and can be pretty. The black ones, I wouldn't count on it.

But the sunburst on the MIM Standards is a veneer; a sheet of wood placed over pieces of whatever size and shape. So this means all the remaining MIM Standards in alder are liable to be just as good or bad as the next one.

[Ortho]

Originally Posted by boris bubbanov

That phenom is true, for instance on Classic 50's Teles. Black ones are not so nice wood often, the sunbursts usually the nicest. Ditto on sunburst Highway Ones, which are usually 3 piece alder and can be pretty. The black ones, I wouldn't count on it.

But the sunburst on the MIM Standards is a veneer; a sheet of wood placed over pieces of whatever size and shape. So this means all the remaining MIM Standards in alder are liable to be just as good or bad as the next one.

Yes indeed: the sunburst Standard I left behind was heavy and lifeless...

Another guitar famous for crap wood when it comes in black is an SG. Crap wood, and I've seen a few crap paint jobs ("Let's get this one OUT of here!")

I think the way to go for the most part with the MIM Standards is a solid color after trying out many. Your detail on the sunbursts explains a lot and why probablistically most (not all) of the sunburst MIM Standards I've tried make a nice little place to put on drink on.

That "sheet of venner" isn't a sheet of sound. Sometimes just "sheet."

[waterboy452]

Ortho, I wish you could try out my 2009 MIM sunburst Tele. She is very lively, plays and sounds great. A bit heavy at 8.4 lbs. Really has a great acoustic tone unplugged. Before this thread, I had no idea that these had a veneer on them. My other choice would have been Lake Placid Blue. Both were great guitars, but I chose the sunburst version. If I had known about the veneer before purchase, I might have went with LPB. I'm not overly fond of veneers, but it is a beautiful guitar. At any rate, I really like my new sunburst Tele.

[RobBnTX]

My 2009 MIM Sunburst is gorgeous and has a very good acoustic tone unplugged, definitely not dead. Hopefully tomorrow I will have time to post pics.

Robert

[RobBnTX]

Originally Posted by RobBnTX

My 2009 MIM Sunburst is gorgeous and has a very good acoustic tone unplugged, definitely not dead. Hopefully tomorrow I will have time to post pics.

Robert

Aw crap! No I wont, just checked the crappy Canon Powershot and it is not working. I've got to get another DSLR!

You will just have take my word for it, beautiful grain, great sound, wonderful guitar.

Robert

[Ortho]

Originally Posted by waterboy452

Ortho, I wish you could try out my 2009 MIM sunburst Tele. She is very lively, plays and sounds great. A bit heavy at 8.4 lbs. Really has a great acoustic tone unplugged. Before this thread, I had no idea that these had a veneer on them. My other choice would have been Lake Placid Blue. Both were great guitars, but I chose the sunburst version. If I had known about the veneer before purchase, I might have went with LPB. I'm not overly fond of veneers, but it is a beautiful guitar. At any rate, I really like my new sunburst Tele.

Great. And feel free to read my post again esp. phrases like "most (not all)" as well as "Sometimes."

If anyone's Tele even weighs 10-15 lbs. and they like it, fine.