My J Beland Bendercaster arrived today-WOW

[John Beland]

After years of weeding through various vintage, reissues and relics..I finnally decided to take matters into my own hand and create the Tele I have longed for. Today it arrived.
A few folks are responsible for helping me enormously on it. First came JOhnny Issacs who pionted me to Bill Bores, and then to All Parts.
Bill Bores installed a great BBender with top precision skill. It has a very easy bend...like cutting warm butter, which is how Ive always prefered them. Bill also re-routed the pick ups for various combinations, allowing for a nice fat tele sound.
Then Johnny Issacs showed me this neck he had on one his Tele's. As soon as my hands wrapped around it I knew I had found the neck I had always been looking for. I learned it was from All Parts and it was called a FAT NECK.
I put on a stained and aged Eldorado hand tooled leather pickgaurd and stuck on a Nudie Sticker, like my old Tele. Thanks JOhnny for the sticker!
From there, the guitar went up to Arlington Heights. Illinois where Rich Rice at Rice Custom Guitars installed an All Parts Fat Neck, but first doing a heavy relic job on the maple neck, using Bill Hullets old Tele, and my old Ricky Tele, as a reference. No gloss or laquer crap. The real deal.
They also put a logo on the headstock which reads "J Beland-Bendercaster" (at my direction).
The guitar arrived today. Its the best Telecaster I have ever played. The Tele of my dreams.
Listen, you guys are the tech wizards. Im just a picker but I know when it feels "perfect" for me and for the first time in years I found THE tele of all time...at least for me.
Id love to post pics but I cant figure out how to do it. If someone knows I'll forward them.
Couldnt have this guitar without the amazing knowledge and talent of my fellow TDPRIers. This site is a gold mine.
John Beland
www.johnbeland.com

[Pete Galati]

Cool. I think Rich said he'd put up some pictures of this one. I sure hope he remembered to shoot them.

Pete

[Mark Davis]

I can post the pics for ya if you wanna email them to me.

I always like when a parts one turns out good.

[Kingpin]

Congratulations John, it sounds like you have a real winner on your hands. I'd agree that there's a certain magic bonding that goes on when you get a partscaster made with all your personal preferences in the mix. I have an Allpart TMO FAT neck on mine and it's the most comfortable neck I've played.

We need pics!

[John Beland]

Hey Mark
I sent you an email.
Thanks Alot
JB

[zombywoof]

A hearty congrats JB. Glad you can sit back and revel in that rare feeling that it ain't gonna get any better.

[csapo]

Congrats! Look forward to the pics.

[maestrovert]

+1 on the CONGRATS, John !!
it's a great feeling when it comes together in a way that feels like "home" the instant it's in your hands.....

i've got one of the AP fat Tele necks on a partssquier, but mine is a fairly sharp V, it's a great neck....
i'm also lookin' forward to the pix

[Mark Davis]

This is John Beland's "Bendercaster" with a Rice-installed Allparts TMO-FAT neck.
We shaped and aged the neck and finish to feel 50 years old.
The guitar is a Fender 50's Classic with Bill Bores P/W B-Bender installed.

[simplygoodmusic]

WOW. looks great.

[Rich Rice]

Hard to believe that neck is 2 weeks old...
It was a pleasure working with you, John. Thanks for mentioning us.

Rich

[Wild Rice Chris]

I put a gallery of the instrument up here:
http://www.ricecustomguitars.com/ins...dercaster.html

I have a few more before and after pics, if anyone would be interested, as well as a few more shots of the neck in various stages of it's transformation.

The neck had it's Allparts poly sealer coat stripped, finish applied and aged by Rich, I spent a few days with the guitar getting the setup just right, and added a third wire off the neck pickup to tame a nasty buzz. I'm glad you like it, I know I do!

I know how TDPRI-ers are, the guitar isn't real without pics. 8)






Chris
http://www.ricecustomguitars.com

[Jack Wells]

Good job .....................

[0le FUZZY]

<li>Great job !!
<li>I like it sept I jes ordered won of the udder options on that rascal HEE! HEE!









(I dent really but I wood iffin I could.)



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Please visit my page

[John Beland]

Fuzzy
We could be the dueilin Tele Twins...!!!!!
I'm getting my ElDorado pickguard all oliled and aged. Like a baseball glove, it needs to be broken in.
Havent put the guitar down since I got it this morning. How long has it been since that happened?
Taking it with me for some heavy recording in Australia in July.
JB
www.johnbeland.com

PS
Mark
Thanks for postin the picks

[John Beland]

You guys were the easiest dudes to work with and total pro's from day one. I really appreciate your enthusiasm and constant contact with me during the whole proccess. You don't often see that.
I highly reccomend anyone interested in doing what I did to contact these guys. Like Music One and Bill Bores, The Rice's are the total pro's who go that "extra mile" when working with you. I'll be back.
John Beland
www.johnbeland.com

[Caper]

Great lookin guitar John and kudos to team Rice.

[apd]

Hey, thats my Tele-Paul sitting next to John's Bendercaster! Cool :D I love the way that neck came out, I might have to consider a maple board on my next guitar.

[Rich Rice]

Originally Posted by apd

Hey, thats my Tele-Paul sitting next to John's Bendercaster! Cool :D I love the way that neck came out, I might have to consider a maple board on my next guitar.

You're right, apd.. I can start tomorrow...
Edited in an attempt to not hijack JB's thread

[TheBigKevDogg]

Originally Posted by Rich@wildriceband.com

You're right, apd.. I can start tomorrow...
Good eyes you have there.. now ya got me nervous- Here's a pic of yours now that it's done:

that's beautiful! the knobs look a little weird to me though, maybe they should be lester knobs?

[Wild Rice Chris]

Originally Posted by TheBigKevDogg

...the knobs look a little weird to me though, maybe they should be lester knobs?

Those are rosewood (they match the fretboard). They're slightly smaller around than tele knobs. I've used them on a few guitars and a bass, they're pretty cool.

But we digress, let's not clutter John's thread. :)

[eddiewagner]

wonderful guitar! congratulations. oh man, i feel some kind of gas rising....

[Rich Rice]

[quote="0le FUZZY"]<li>Great job !!
<li>I like it sept I jes ordered won of the udder options on that rascal HEE! HEE!









(I dent really but I wood iffin I could.)



This looked like a fun game, if I bring my Bendercaster will you fellers let me tag along?

[eddiewagner]

to be more precise: neck-gas...

[0le FUZZY]

We could be the dueilin Tele Twins...!!!!!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

<li>That wood be like a one-leg feller inna butt kickin corntest me bean the one leg feller.

0le FUZZY

[Wild Rice Chris]

Originally Posted by flyingb54

Havent put the guitar down since I got it this morning. How long has it been since that happened?

Hey, you figured out my setup secret!
Its not done until I can't put it down.

[Grin'n'pick]

That neck just looks too good, would love to know how it feels. Great job by all concerned, definitely another guitar for us all to lust after. Mr Beland play it in the very best of health!

[dented]

I feel like Homer Simpson looking at donuts!

What a guitar! Thanks for letting me take a look. Hope to hear it play someday! Congratulations!

[csapo]

John - great Tele!!!! WOW!!!!

Nice to see Nudie on there. Got my first pair of boots at Nudie's, 30 years ago and they are still kickin. (man, am I old!!! ) Wish I had a matching 30 year old tele to go with 'em. That neck looks 30 years old though.

You have one gorgeous guitar and I have a bad case of "Tele-envy". The Rice's do amazing work. Kudos all around. :D

[John Beland]

The ElDorado pickguard is currently being taken care of by this friend of mine who deals in leather. He's going to put it thru an aging oil stained proccess too, like an old saddle. It'll come out a deeper redish brown...more worn. Should look great.
I plan to refinish it to vinage deep cream body.
Other modifications with be the addition of ElDorado engraved metal to the pickups. plates and knobs..and finnally an abaloni "JB" in script inthe center of the neck.
Then..I'll own my best and last Tele ever.
Right now..as is..it plays like the Tele from Heaven.
JB
www.johnbeland.com

[TexGoneNW]

John gets the Tele of his dreams, and kudos to the guys involved in building it!

[metal tiger]

WOW is all I can say. Very impressed with all of the work and great choices. Thanks for sharing it.

[Rich Rice]

John- What kind of finish are you thinking of? Nitro or poly? It's a rough road to strip the poly off your existing guitar, and no telling what the wood looks like under there. Might be better off with a replacement body, and transfer everything over to it...
Rich

[John Beland]

Hey Rich
Decided to keep the finish, and stick with the Fender body. By the way, I used the Tele on its first recording today...played like a champ!
It's really getting the workout in July when I head to Australia for 3 months of session dates. 3 CD projects back to back ...Thats nearly 36 tracks, 3 times as many Teles (and a few clinics thrown in). She should be plenty "broken in" by the time Im back on October.
Im loving it!
JB
www.johnbeland.com

[Rich Rice]

I agree, that is a good feelin', good soundin, nice lookin' body. You had me nervous there for a while.. (thoughts of reliced poly dancin' in my head). Let 'er age gracefully, you play it enough, it will come into it's own. I really like the ElDorado stuff, and can see why you would be attracted to it. Do you know somebody that's real good with inlays? I've stayed away from them so far, as I don't have a good craftsman to do that kind of work...

Glad it's playing right, and I hope to hear more from you real soon. We love Big Guitars Vol.1, and hope you are thinking about Vol.2!

[Paul in Colorado]

I think that it's interesting how someone who has played a lot of Tele's including vintage ones feels that the best Tele he ever had is a brand new guitar. No, it's not an off the shelf guitar by any means, but it's still a new guitar. That says a lot about the guys who worked on it. Congratulations all around.

[John Beland]

Yea I agree with Paul..But man, once you put your hands on the neck they did for me you'll swear you were playing an old worn 1950 Tele. "New" just doesnt enter into the thought pattern.
Im pretty blown away...It really does feel like my old Ricky Tele...kinda scary feeling. But a nice "scared" way to play. Its the next best thing to having her back.
JB
www.johnbeland.com

[51mike]

Sorry, not to hijack the thread, but I've just gotta ask..
Johnny, who was the drummer/s in Ricky's heyday?

[John Beland]

Ricks main drummer during his early hits was Ritchy Frost. Frost appeared onthe TV show too.
His bass was the great Joe Osborne.
During my stint with Rick, our drummer was Billy Thomas (you can see him (and I) on our Saturday Night Live performance from 1979). Billy went on to be part of McBride & The Ride before becoming Vince Gill's long time drummer harmony singer. I believe he's still with Vince. One of the best singing drummers I ever knew.
Another drummer during my stint with Rick was Steve Duncan, who went on with the Dessert Rose Band.
JB
www.johnbeland.com

[51mike]

Thanks John, I appreciate it so much.
I'm actually a drummer and realized that I never knew much about Ricky's drummers. I knew about you though.
Now I've got some researching to do to find out more about these guys.

Not.... back to your regularly scheduled thread.......

WoW! Johnny, I like the looks of that guitar! It's really good that you love it so much already. I think I'll write a note to Gunnar et.al.
That still fries me!

Thanks for sharing.