Tex Mex Fat Tele

patrickcpchen · August 18th, 2006, 10:55 AM

Just got this bad boy off a tele enthusiast. 95 tex mex fat tele. The neck is a little thinner than I like it, but it plays fast which I can't complain. I might have a looksy under the control panel and have a go at upgrading some parts.

I also have a MIJ 52 reissue made in the 80s that serves as my main ax. I had Torres Engineering in San Mateo CA make me some pickups and also had them gut the controls with their own harness. The thing screams vintage.

Mark Davis · August 18th, 2006, 11:25 AM

I personally wouldnt change a thing. Those are destined to be collectors items.

Pete Galati · August 18th, 2006, 12:44 PM

Red Telecasters!

We gotta do a red Tele thread. After I stick mine together.

patrickcpchen · August 18th, 2006, 01:20 PM

I am down. This one is a red burst of sorts. Goes from a crimson on the outside to a blood red as it gets to the center. Really a nice paint job.

Pete Galati · August 18th, 2006, 02:11 PM

I didn't even notice the burst. Now I can see it. Kind of cool.

Bluesbob · August 18th, 2006, 03:06 PM

my Red Tele's long lost brother. This is a Partscaster, though, with a MIM Nashville (Deluxe) neck and a body (stripped, nothing but jack and 2 wires) I bought off eBay. Funny thing, a friend gave me a CS Texas Tele bridge pup. I didn't know the Fat Tele came with a Texas Special in the bridge. The neck pup is an SD Seth Lover. Every thing else is from Guitar Parts Resource, except the pickguard, which is also from eBay. Oh, and the AllParts compensated saddles, hidden by the bridge cover.

jwells393 · August 18th, 2006, 03:17 PM

Here's another one..............

...........................

patrickcpchen · August 18th, 2006, 03:23 PM

There's a Tex Mex Fat Tele on ebay right now same finish, heck pretty much the same guitar. Had my eye on it, then out came another one and the seller just so happened to be in the same part of Cali. I decided to contact him and I lucked out because he was willing to sell me the thing. It took a couple of offers but I am now the proud owner. :)

CharlieO · August 19th, 2006, 07:28 AM

What you have does not look like a Tex-Mex to me. The Tex-Mex Tele Special was introduced at the winter 1997 NAMM show (after the Tex-Mex Strat, which came out at the summer 1996 NAMM). Tex-Mex Tele Specials probably have serial numbers starting with MN6 and maybe MN7. There probably are very few if any, MN7 serial numbers on Tex-Mex Tele Specials, because the California Fat Tele replaced it six months later at the Summer 1997 NAMM show. The California Series guitars have AMXN serial numbers.

The Tex-Mex Tele Special was not available in this color, and didn't have the ash veneered body that yours appears to have. Tex-Mex guitars also have white pickguards.

http://www.harmony-central.com/Event...-Specials.html

What you have is the same guitar as jwells393, a Telecaster Special. I have the same guitar, in vintage white. I agree with Mark, don't mess with it. It's definitely collectible, and the pickups and hardware are fine.

CharlieO · August 19th, 2006, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluesbob

Funny thing, a friend gave me a CS Texas Tele bridge pup. I didn't know the Fat Tele came with a Texas Special in the bridge.

It didn't. I think Fender has too many similar model names, which confuses people. The Tex-Mex Special (guitar) has a Tex-Mex bridge pickup. The Telecaster Special (guitar) has an American Standard bridge pickup, at least according to the part number that I found online when I was researching my Telecaster Special a few years ago.

The American Fat Strat uses a Texas Special bridge pickup. The U.S. Fat Tele from the "Hot-rodded American Series" has the same bridge pickup as the regular American Standard Telecaster. http://www.harmony-central.com/Event...ries-Tele.html

I suppose there could be a Fat Telecaster with a Texas Special in the bridge, but I haven't found it in my research.

I don't think that the Texas Tele pickup is the same as a Texas Special Telecaster pickup.

Confusing, isn't it ?

CharlieO · August 19th, 2006, 12:53 PM

deleted

Bluesbob · August 19th, 2006, 01:59 PM

confusing. I thought Texas Tele was just another name for a Texas Special, usually found on Strats, in a version made for a Tele. Basically hotter with more mids.

CharlieO · August 19th, 2006, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluesbob

confusing. I thought Texas Tele was just another name for a Texas Special, usually found on Strats, in a version made for a Tele. Basically hotter with more mids.

Who knows, maybe they are the same. Could the average consumer ever tell the difference? I suppose that by calling it a "Custom Shop Texas Tele" pickup they could charge more for it.

Does anyone out there know for sure if the Texas Tele and Texas Special are different pickups?

JohnS · August 20th, 2006, 09:34 AM

I can tell you that my Cali Fat Tele has a "Tex-Mex" Tele Bridge pickup that measures 8K ohms. It has flat poles. I believe the Texas Specials have uneven poles.

patrickcpchen · August 20th, 2006, 11:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CharlieO

What you have does not look like a Tex-Mex to me. The Tex-Mex Tele Special was introduced at the winter 1997 NAMM show (after the Tex-Mex Strat, which came out at the summer 1996 NAMM). Tex-Mex Tele Specials probably have serial numbers starting with MN6 and maybe MN7. There probably are very few if any, MN7 serial numbers on Tex-Mex Tele Specials, because the California Fat Tele replaced it six months later at the Summer 1997 NAMM show. The California Series guitars have AMXN serial numbers.

The Tex-Mex Tele Special was not available in this color, and didn't have the ash veneered body that yours appears to have. Tex-Mex guitars also have white pickguards.

http://www.harmony-central.com/Event...-Specials.html

What you have is the same guitar as jwells393, a Telecaster Special. I have the same guitar, in vintage white. I agree with Mark, don't mess with it. It's definitely collectible, and the pickups and hardware are fine.

I understand the guitar is not a Tex Mex Tele Special. I do however believe it is a Tex Mex Fat Tele. Am I wrong on this one? I can't find very much documentation online about this guitar. I did however find harmony-central to have a couple of reviews. http://reviews.harmony-central.com/r...+Fat+Tele/10/1

editorjuno · August 20th, 2006, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CharlieO

Who knows, maybe they are the same. Could the average consumer ever tell the difference? I suppose that by calling it a "Custom Shop Texas Tele" pickup they could charge more for it.

Does anyone out there know for sure if the Texas Tele and Texas Special are different pickups?

They are different for sure. The "Texas Tele" pickups are MIM and wound on Fender's modern molded plastic bobbins, the Texas Specials are MIA and are (iirc) wound on traditional fish paper flatwork bobbins. "Texas Tele" pickups are used as the bridge and neck pickups of the MIM Deluxe Nashville Tele, with a "Tex-Mex" Strat pickup in the middle position. Afaik there is no such thing as a "Tex-Mex" Tele pickup -- going by what Fender puts in the Deluxe Nashville, it seems the "Texas Tele" pickups are the closest Tele equivalents of the "Tex-Mex" Strat pickups.

I now have a Texas-sized headache -- thanks for the confusion, Fender!

CharlieO · August 20th, 2006, 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patrickcpchen

I understand the guitar is not a Tex Mex Tele Special. I do however believe it is a Tex Mex Fat Tele. Am I wrong on this one? I can't find very much documentation online about this guitar. I did however find harmony-central to have a couple of reviews. http://reviews.harmony-central.com/r...+Fat+Tele/10/1

There is no "Tex-Mex Fat Tele". It is very clear, the Tex-Mex series did not exist at the time your guitar was built. Your seller was misinformed, and some people may commonly refer to the Tex-Mex Telecaster Special as the "Tex-Mex Fat Tele", but Fender never used that name. The link that I posted previously from Harmony Central was basically a Fender press release, and I think you can trust them. The obvious reason why you can't find much online documentation is because you are looking for a guitar that doesn't exist. You don't own a Tex-Mex Fat Tele or a Tex-Mex Telecaster Special, you own a Telecaster Special.

Somewhere in my office I have a Fender Frontline catalog from 1996 that shows the Telecaster Special. I'll look for it. In the meantime, check this link. It gives a very clear history of the transition of Mexican Telecaster models, complete with Fender's model numbers:

http://www.peter-bertges.com/fender/...0mversions.htm

If you look at this page, you will find that one of the people who posted a review of the "Tex-Mex Fat Tele" on Harmony Central clearly referred to the model number of the Telecaster Special, but continued to refer to his guitar as a "Tex-Mex Fat Tele". I don't generally consider Harmony Central user reviews to be very a very reliable source of accurate information concerning guitars, but here are several reviews from people who seem to be better informed than the "Tex-Mex Fat Tele" reviewers:

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/r...r+Special/10/1

One more thing. Your guitar has a silver Fender "spaghetti" logo, doesn't it? The Tex-Mex Fender logo is gold.

Got it?

CharlieO · August 20th, 2006, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnS

I can tell you that my Cali Fat Tele has a "Tex-Mex" Tele Bridge pickup that measures 8K ohms. It has flat poles. I believe the Texas Specials have uneven poles.

You're right, contrary to what editorjuno said, Fender puts "Tex-Mex" Telecaster pickups in the Deluxe Nashville Telecaster,along with a Tex-Mex Strat pickup (see the Fender online catalog), and they also used to put Tex-Mex Telecaster pickups in the Tex-Mex and California Series guitars. I don't think that you could ever order a set of Tex-Mex Telecaster pickups from Fender, though, and that may be what is confusing editorjuno.

Really confusing, isn't it?

patrickcpchen · August 20th, 2006, 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CharlieO

There is no "Tex-Mex Fat Tele". It is very clear, the Tex-Mex series did not exist at the time your guitar was built. Your seller was misinformed, and some people may commonly refer to the Tex-Mex Telecaster Special as the "Tex-Mex Fat Tele", but Fender never used that name. The link that I posted previously from Harmony Central was basically a Fender press release, and I think you can trust them. The obvious reason why you can't find much online documentation is because you are looking for a guitar that doesn't exist. You don't own a Tex-Mex Fat Tele or a Tex-Mex Telecaster Special, you own a Telecaster Special.

Somewhere in my office I have a Fender Frontline catalog from 1996 that shows the Telecaster Special. I'll look for it. In the meantime, check this link. It gives a very clear history of the transition of Mexican Telecaster models, complete with Fender's model numbers:

http://www.peter-bertges.com/fender/...0mversions.htm

If you look at this page, you will find that one of the people who posted a review of the "Tex-Mex Fat Tele" on Harmony Central clearly referred to the model number of the Telecaster Special, but continued to refer to his guitar as a "Tex-Mex Fat Tele". I don't generally consider Harmony Central user reviews to be very a very reliable source of accurate information concerning guitars, but here a several reviews from people who seem to be better informed than the "Tex-Mex Fat Tele" reviewers:

http://reviews.harmony-central.com/r...r+Special/10/1

One more thing. Your guitar has a silver Fender "spaghetti" logo, doesn't it? The Tex-Mex Fender logo is gold.

Got it?

It all makes sense now. No wonder I was having a heck of a time finding anything on this guitar. I guess people were just throwing around the name Tex-Mex because of the US model.

CharlieO, do you have any idea what year they stopped making this model?

CharlieO · August 20th, 2006, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patrickcpchen

It all makes sense now. No wonder I was having a heck of a time finding anything on this guitar. I guess people were just throwing around the name Tex-Mex because of the US model.

CharlieO, do you have any idea what year they stopped making this model?

1996. I don't know how many 1996 Telecaster Specials will have a MN6 serial number, though. They seem to regularly carry necks over into the next calendar year, so a guitar that was built or shipped in 1996 could possibly have a MN5 serial number. My 1996 Tex-Mex Stratocaster (introduced at the Summer 1996 NAMM show), for example, has a MN5 serial number on the headstock. It also has the gold 50th anniversary sticker (1996).

JohnS · August 20th, 2006, 05:50 PM

As a final word over the "Tex Mex' Tele pickups, I humbly submit the tag off my Cali Fat Tele pickguard.

August 18th, 2006, 10:55 AM	#1 (permalink)
patrickcpchen TDPRI Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Mountain View, CA Posts: 21	Tex Mex Fat Tele Just got this bad boy off a tele enthusiast. 95 tex mex fat tele. The neck is a little thinner than I like it, but it plays fast which I can't complain. I might have a looksy under the control panel and have a go at upgrading some parts. I also have a MIJ 52 reissue made in the 80s that serves as my main ax. I had Torres Engineering in San Mateo CA make me some pickups and also had them gut the controls with their own harness. The thing screams vintage.

August 18th, 2006, 11:25 AM	#2 (permalink)
Mark Davis Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Bakersfield Ca. Age: 58 Posts: 12,468	I personally wouldnt change a thing. Those are destined to be collectors items. __________________ I'm so blind my seeing eye dog needs glasses.

August 18th, 2006, 03:06 PM	#6 (permalink)
Bluesbob Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: East Suffolk L.I. Posts: 1,009 20 Photos	Looks like... my Red Tele's long lost brother. This is a Partscaster, though, with a MIM Nashville (Deluxe) neck and a body (stripped, nothing but jack and 2 wires) I bought off eBay. Funny thing, a friend gave me a CS Texas Tele bridge pup. I didn't know the Fat Tele came with a Texas Special in the bridge. The neck pup is an SD Seth Lover. Every thing else is from Guitar Parts Resource, except the pickguard, which is also from eBay. Oh, and the AllParts compensated saddles, hidden by the bridge cover. __________________ What, me worry?

August 18th, 2006, 03:17 PM	#7 (permalink)
jwells393 Doctor of Teleocity Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Albuquerque, USA Age: 64 Posts: 11,905 101 Photos	Here's another one.............. ........................... __________________ Jack's Disclaimer: When I say something.... always ask yourself ..... "What the hell does he know?" _ Guys - learn to disable the flash on your digital cameras.

August 19th, 2006, 07:28 AM	#9 (permalink)
CharlieO Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Sarasota, FL Age: 56 Posts: 1,293 7 Photos	It's not a Tex-Mex What you have does not look like a Tex-Mex to me. The Tex-Mex Tele Special was introduced at the winter 1997 NAMM show (after the Tex-Mex Strat, which came out at the summer 1996 NAMM). Tex-Mex Tele Specials probably have serial numbers starting with MN6 and maybe MN7. There probably are very few if any, MN7 serial numbers on Tex-Mex Tele Specials, because the California Fat Tele replaced it six months later at the Summer 1997 NAMM show. The California Series guitars have AMXN serial numbers. The Tex-Mex Tele Special was not available in this color, and didn't have the ash veneered body that yours appears to have. Tex-Mex guitars also have white pickguards. http://www.harmony-central.com/Event...-Specials.html What you have is the same guitar as jwells393, a Telecaster Special. I have the same guitar, in vintage white. I agree with Mark, don't mess with it. It's definitely collectible, and the pickups and hardware are fine. Last edited by CharlieO; August 19th, 2006 at 08:04 AM.

August 18th, 2006, 12:44 PM	#3 (permalink)
Pete Galati R.I.P. Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 8,104 2 Photos	Red Telecasters! We gotta do a red Tele thread. After I stick mine together.

August 18th, 2006, 01:20 PM	#4 (permalink)
patrickcpchen TDPRI Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Mountain View, CA Posts: 21	I am down. This one is a red burst of sorts. Goes from a crimson on the outside to a blood red as it gets to the center. Really a nice paint job.

August 18th, 2006, 02:11 PM	#5 (permalink)
Pete Galati R.I.P. Poster Extraordinaire Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 8,104 2 Photos	I didn't even notice the burst. Now I can see it. Kind of cool.

August 18th, 2006, 03:23 PM	#8 (permalink)
patrickcpchen TDPRI Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Mountain View, CA Posts: 21	There's a Tex Mex Fat Tele on ebay right now same finish, heck pretty much the same guitar. Had my eye on it, then out came another one and the seller just so happened to be in the same part of Cali. I decided to contact him and I lucked out because he was willing to sell me the thing. It took a couple of offers but I am now the proud owner. :)

August 19th, 2006, 12:53 PM	#11 (permalink)
CharlieO Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Sarasota, FL Age: 56 Posts: 1,293 7 Photos	deleted

August 19th, 2006, 01:59 PM	#12 (permalink)
Bluesbob Tele-Afflicted Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: East Suffolk L.I. Posts: 1,009 20 Photos	Very... confusing. I thought Texas Tele was just another name for a Texas Special, usually found on Strats, in a version made for a Tele. Basically hotter with more mids. __________________ What, me worry?

August 20th, 2006, 09:34 AM	#14 (permalink)
JohnS Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: San Jose, CA Age: 59 Posts: 296 10 Photos	I can tell you that my Cali Fat Tele has a "Tex-Mex" Tele Bridge pickup that measures 8K ohms. It has flat poles. I believe the Texas Specials have uneven poles.

August 20th, 2006, 05:50 PM	#21 (permalink)
JohnS Tele-Meister Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: San Jose, CA Age: 59 Posts: 296 10 Photos	As a final word over the "Tex Mex' Tele pickups, I humbly submit the tag off my Cali Fat Tele pickguard.