First impression on first tele

[Steph]

Well,

Got a 52RI tele (was shopping for a s.....caster, but found a tele - is that how it is supposed to happen? :-))

Nice body, haven't weighed it, but it's a decent weight for an ash body. I sure have seen many that were way heavier.

I'll have to find a postal scale to get the exact weight (inside joke from a prior life. Dunno if anyone here used to hang out in that other place :-))

I like the neck shape very much. Also, The neck looks very healthy. slight relief, and the curve is the same on both sides (unlike far too many necks I see... I'm really picky). The fret work is generally good, although in some places, the rounding of the ends could have been a bit less aggressive.

Brass saddles are new to me, so no immediate impression on this.

Right now, about the only real reservation I have on the guitar is that I wish the low E was a bit farther from the edge. So, I'll have to see how this goes.

The nitro finish on the neck is also a new thing for me. I think this - and the small frets - is going to mean that I'll have to have a lighter touch (unlike when I have rosewood+satin finish. I do wonder how many decades of playing it takes to wear it out and get to the bare wood :-)

I also just noticed there's no visible screws to adjust the height of the neck pickup (does it show yet that I'm new to teles? :-))

The decall seems to be vintage indeed. The "telecaster" isn't there... mine's a lefty, and I think they just chop off (and used to back then?) part of the decall, since it probably wouldn't neatly fit on a lefty headstock.

Other observations which falls in unimportant/minor issues category:

- For the vintage case, I noticed that there's padding where the end of the headstock would be to prevent the guitar from moving along the length in the case. That's not where the lefty head stock goes, so the guitar can move along it's length. So, I'll just need to add padding in the right place.

- Fender used Audio taper pots, but those are useless if you wire them lefty. The tone pot has a range that is about as wide as an on-off switch :-) (similar story for the volume). So, I'll have to either reverse the wiring, or install linear pots. Would be nice if fender didn't ship the guitar in a configuration that is essentially useless, but in any event, it can be remedied.

- I'm tempted in putting the bridge cover, but haven't. I fear it might put some scratch on the top of the guitar... but I could be wrong?

I'll skip the pictures, in part because I don't have a camera, and in part because it would look weird to all you righty players :-)

With that, I still have to find me a s.....caster, along with an amp (sold my HR Deluxe which was just too big)

[Joe M]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Telecasters. There are many here that think the 52 RI is the next best thing to a vintage tele. As far as your low E string , that's a common problem with many teles (and Strats). You may be able to correct it by loosening the neck screws a bit and moving the neck the way you want it and re-tightening the screws.

The height adjustment screws for the neck pickup are under the pickguard, you have to remove the guard to adjust the pickup.....

Hope this helps....

[blue metalflake]

Wecome to a new world.

The cover shouldn't mark the guitar, but I'd be surprised if you find a use for it, apart from looking shiny.