Highway 1 questions from a rookie

[teletone]

Hello mates!

I'm looking to get a highway one tele, and with it come a few questions:

At the risk or redundancy, what were the changes made in '06? I'm guessing the pups have changed over time?

Have the pickguards always been 8 screws?

Does the hwy 1 come with the bridge cover? I've never noticed anybody playing with it on, but they look cool.

Thanks.

[JayFreddy]

I don't know all of the changes, but I compared an 05's, 06's, and 07's when I got mine. They all sounded different, the pickups being the prime suspect. To my ears, the 07's sounded better than the 06, and the 06 sounded better than the 05. But you shouldn't let that hold you back from an 05 or an 06. For around $60, you can drop a set of Keystones in there that will sound better than ANY of the stock Fender pickups...

I do not believe any of the HWY1's come with bridge covers.

[Tdot]

Originally Posted by teletone

Have the pickguards always been 8 screws?

Yes

Does the hwy 1 come with the bridge cover?

No

I've never noticed anybody playing with it on, but they look cool.

You can pick one up for $10-20

[rufus21]

I think it's mainly the hotter pickups, but also went to jumbo frets, and maybe a few small styling changes.

was the nitro finish one of these changes or has the HW1 always had that?

I know the Strats went to the big 70's headstock.

[dougc]

I don't know if this is true for all of the 2005 Highway 1s (or the older ones and the 2006), but I tried a 2005 and the neck felt sticky/tacky when I treid to move around. The neck on my 2007 feels smooooooooth. These are the only two years I've played, which earned my first sentence the parenthetical. But, the music store owner told me the finish on the neck did change.

[Colt W. Knight]

My Highway 1 has the smoothest playing neck I've ever played on, including the banjos, electrics, and acoustic guitars Ive owned. I was made in November 2003. Its got big frets too.

[tele12]

Originally Posted by rufus21

was the nitro finish one of these changes or has the HW1 always had that?

Yes the nitro finish was one of the upgrades in 2006. And the strats got
a steel block as one of their upgrades.

[Guitar_Ninja]

This is the official promotional video on the changes, straight from Fender via YouTube.

[boris bubbanov]

Thanks for a new post of that video, as it is gone from the Fender site.

The colors were changed at the same time the Strat got the steel block and oversized headstock, but they were lacquer even in the old colors and the spokesperson admits the basses were nitro (even before the 2005 NAMM show changeover date.)

As far as changes in fret size, the small headstock Strat I looked at Saturday had large frets, bigger than MJ. Are they a tad smaller than the current H1 frets, I'm not sure.

Jayfreddy, I found the 2006s I played to have the lesser pickups, the 2005 H1 Tele in sunburst with a June 2005 neck date is less grating than were either of the 2006 H1 Teles I got, I didn't bother with the 2007s because everywhere I went they still rang up large.

I don't know why one neck may've felt tacky, maybe a kid that played it earlier was eating candy, the polyurethane necks on all H1s of any vintage are a catalyzed finish and except for chipping or delamination should be maintenance free.

Notice the video was shot with a pale red Tele, like the first generation color so maybe a few changes got worked in after the video was shot, I dunno.

Bubbanov

[younkint]

Originally Posted by boris bubbanov

Thanks for a new post of that video, as it is gone from the Fender site.

The video is still at the Fender site. Go to a Highway One product page and look just below the big picture of the featured guitar.

[Guitar_Ninja]

The tele in the video also has an American Standard pickguard with the two pickup-mounting holes in the guard.
My Highway 1 is a 2007 and the neck pup is body mounted, so would that be a change?

[teletone]

Thanks everyone for your comments.

Tdot - great pic. Sooo, the tape on your left handlebar...is that butterscotch blond?

[SMPTE]

Originally Posted by teletone

Have the pickguards always been 8 screws?

Does the hwy 1 come with the bridge cover? I've never noticed anybody playing with it on, but they look cool.

No, the Texas Teles have five holes.

It doesn't come with one, but they're usually pretty cheap from the parts counter. I play with mine all the time....

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by teletone

Hello mates!

I'm looking to get a highway one tele, and with it come a few questions:

At the risk or redundancy, what were the changes made in '06? I'm guessing the pups have changed over time?

Have the pickguards always been 8 screws?

Does the hwy 1 come with the bridge cover? I've never noticed anybody playing with it on, but they look cool.

Thanks.

Other than paint all I've seen and tried seem to be divided by about 2005 - 2006 where they got called "upgraded" or "upgrade" but they still seemed physically similar.

I played many 2006 and 2007 before I bought mine in early 07 and some older used ones sounded different but none bad. I am convinced many differences in newer ones are due to setup. Mine was set up better than some in store stock and I think that had a lot to my choosing it plus it had a cosmetically nicer neck than others.

Color aside, a blue Tele that came to a local shop in late summer looked no different than my blonde that came in the store's stock in late 2006. You probably have to look at serial #s to see how new or old one really is.

I've recently set it up according to Fender's instructions and specs in a book I got in the library and others told me it is one if the nicest they've played. I attribute it to having the capo, feeler gages, caliper and screw drivers and the time spent so about anything you get might be able to be made better.

I could not get intonation and string height as perfect with the 3 saddles as I could with my Strat, but 6 saddle Teles are more expensive if from Fender.

If you can live with the modest paint job you'll get a very good guitar for your money (at least in the US).

It is very much worth having your guitars setup right.