Upgraded/modded Hiway 1 Tele in da houz....

[Colo Springs E]

Picked it up today, local eBay auction--that's the way I like it!

2004, looks nearly new. One little minor ding along the edge (adds character!), tortoise shell guard, Fender Custom Shop pickups (not sure what model?), brass saddles and American vintage tuners added. Sounds and plays sweet! Also, nice and light, I'd bet this is in the 7 to 7-1/4 pound range.

[sidneystreet]

That looks really nice. I think I may steal your ideas.

Could you tell me exactly which tuners those are, and whether they were direct replacements?

Thanks.

[Raymond]

Very nice Colo... very nice... I've always like that combination. Maybe this one will be a keeper and we won't see it on ebait in a couple of months

[Colo Springs E]

Originally Posted by sidneystreet

Could you tell me exactly which tuners those are, and whether they were direct replacements?

....I can read "SON DELU" so I assume they're Kluson Deluxe tuners?

No holes, so appear to be direct replacements. I put some cheaper (Allparts) vintage tuners on a Mexican Stnd Strat once, and I had to add a sort of bushing to make it work, but it worked just fine.

Take care, -Eric

[Colo Springs E]

Originally Posted by Raymond

Very nice Colo... very nice... I've always like that combination. Maybe this one will be a keeper and we won't see it on ebait in a couple of months

.....I seriously think I'll hold onto it awhile. Should be an excellent complement to my Les Paul: from fat and thick to bite & raunch. I like the middle position too, it sounds really good for slightly overdriven rhythm work.

take care, -Eric

[moparmutt]

NICE

[Colo Springs E]

...camera can't capture it, but the grain is showing very subtlely (sp?) thru. Very nice!

Thanks for all the compliments, I think it's pretty classy looking.

-E

[ntasca]

....I can read "SON DELU" so I assume they're Kluson Deluxe tuners?

No holes, so appear to be direct replacements. I put some cheaper (Allparts) vintage tuners on a Mexican Stnd Strat once, and I had to add a sort of bushing to make it work, but it worked just fine.

Take care, -Eric

Hwy's usually hae the Schaller/Ping variety don't they?

The kluson's probably fit very nicely over the top, covering the holes without the need to fill them?

Looks lime i'm gonna need to go find some kluson's to add to my hwy now!

By the way, that is a super sweet looking tele! Leaves my turtle on sunburst way behind!

[Colo Springs E]

Originally Posted by ntasca

By the way, that is a super sweet looking tele! Leaves my turtle on sunburst way behind!

...I had a Highway 1 Sunburst w/maple Tele once, and I put an aged creme pearloid pickguard on it, it was very striking! I like the way the Highway 1 burst looks, that sorta dull patina gives it an old comfortable worn-in look.

Is yours mostly stock? Gotta say, I like these custom shop pickups, whatever they are. Anyone know if I take them out, will it indicate on the bottom what exactly they are? Sound sweet, raunchy with some gain. I may not do my usual humbucker in the bridge thing (I usually throw a Lil 59 in there), I may keep this one truly "tele-fied!"

-E

[garcia]

Very cool looking Tele. I didn't realize that the Highway 1 had a pickguard mounted neck pup on it. :?

[jwsamuel]

Originally Posted by garcia

Very cool looking Tele. I didn't realize that the Highway 1 had a pickguard mounted neck pup on it. :?

My Highway 1 Tele doe not. It has a body mounted neck pickup.

Jim

[bagpipe]

Hey Eric. Man, but you go through the guitars! Thats a nice one - looks great with the tortoise guard. So how many guitars do you keep around? Did you keep the G&L sparkler - that one was super cool!

[Colo Springs E]

Originally Posted by bagpipe

Hey Eric. Man, but you go through the guitars! Did you keep the G&L sparkler - that one was super cool!

.......It was really cool looking and the playability was good, but the overall tone wasn't that great to be honest. Clean was pretty good--but not as good as this Tele I own now--and the tones with high gain were really thin and fizzy. Probably would've been good for "overdriven blues" but didn't really work well for my style.

Yeah I go through lots of guitars, I think I've owned somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 or so in the last 6 or 7 years. It's fun trying out a bunch of different ones!

-Eric

[ntasca]

Yup, my Hwy is essentially stock, but it is a partscaster, so there are a few bits around that aren't quite stock.

Mine also has the neck pickup on the scratch plate. I just had a quick look at the pics of the body in its naked state and there is no hols for the pickup to be mounted to the body.

Interesting!

[fungusyoung]

Originally Posted by Colo Springs E

Picked it up today, local eBay auction--that's the way I like it!

What a beauty! Agreed on the local auction deal- that's the only way I've ever purchased a guitar off Ebay.

I don't think I'll ever sell my Highway 1. It definitely lends some diversity to the arsenal, and there's a nice range of things it can do very well.

[Colo Springs E]

Originally Posted by ntasca

Mine also has the neck pickup on the scratch plate.

....the pickup that was swapped into mine had the adjustment screwholes, so the previous owner just found a pickguard/scratchplate that had those holes too.

[6stringLady]

Very Nice! Congrats!

I'm thinking of maybe putting a pearloid pickguard on my sunburst Hwy 1.

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally Posted by Colo Springs E

...Yeah I go through lots of guitars, I think I've owned somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 or so in the last 6 or 7 years. It's fun trying out a bunch of different ones!

-Eric

Great GAS'ed up minds think alike - you go Eric!

[wenis]

I love that pickguard color. My tortise guard is a Fender replacement and it does not have that vintage look. Where can I get one that shade?

[lchyi]

I have a H1 strat with the same finish. The slightly transparent look has that "vintage" appeal. I slapped on mine a mint green pguard and some amp knobs, it's a killer looking and playing axe to say the least. Then after sorting through my stuff, I found that I bought an H1 tele body off of ebay a while back and it was that exact finish. It stripped off really easy and now it's waiting to be done refinishing. I'm in love with the sound my h1 strat gets, I hope this tele is just as good!