hi and a question from melb australia

[maxmoo]

hi, how's everyone? can i please have some advice on getting a guitar?

my favourite tele belongs to a friend and its an american standard from the late 70s or early 80s -- it's truly "road worn"! ;-)

a couple things i'm into are the guitar solo from "night by night", and this guy...

i've tried a new american standard tele at the shop and it felt really different to my friend's-- the neck felt wider/fatter (?) and of course had the jumbo frets. must admit didn't fall in love with it, but willing to get one and give it a chance if you guys recommend?

otherwise maybe the 72 re-issue? are there quality differences between the american and japanese guitars?

price isn't really an issue for me, i'd happily drop $3000 if i found an early 80s tele for sale. is it worth waiting? my uncle's coming to visit from the US in a month and i'm thinking of asking him to bring me a guitar (doing it that way saves like $500 on GST and duty so i can always sell it if i'm not into it).

thanks heaps
max

[BritishBluesBoy]

If your mate's Tele is late 70's early 80' it'll be closer to a vintage spec Tele than a recent American Standard. Have a look at a '52 re-issue or a '62 Custom re-issue...

I have an '82 Strat that I have had since nearly new and I do love it. Honestly, though it really is a good guitar (and I wouldn't dream of selling it) I think it's probably mostly sentimental reasons that makes me keep it. I reckon Fender is making better guitars now than at that time and you'll be far better off buying something more recent than from the early 80's. If money is not an issue - have a look at the models I mentioned above or check out some offerings from the Custom Shop, then you'll be looking at some really fine guitars...

Oh, and welcome aboard!

[tonyw]

Hi Mate

i would buy myself a vintage spec body then a vintage spec neck then i would put some vintage hardware and vintage tele pups in it then with my $2k change i would put together 2 more custom guitars for myself and exactly how i would like them.

Put your own together from parts, it aint rocket science

[Hiker]

Welcome to TDPRI!

[fenderix]

Welcome to the TDPRI, Max! You'll like it here.

Best of luck with your Tele shopping - it's great fun!

Enjoy!

[FrankJames]

Welcome to TDPRI !!

[Groovey Records]

Only advise I'm going to offer is you play them before you buy to find one that does IT for you.

You'll find that even two identical guitars one may do it for you and the other may not.

Since money is not an issue call these guys for an on the phone in hand appraisal

You descibe what you want , the store guy gets a couple of the many in stock and compares them. Describes them and you choose.

them he sends it with a 48 hour approval for you to check it out!

If for some reason it's not the one you send it back and your only out the shipping both ways http://davesguitar.com/used-electric-guitars

[LuvN Guitars]

Hi and welcome Max. Try as many Teles as you can and see how they feel and sound. BBB might be right, something with like a 60's reissue could be closer to the specs you liked in your friends 80's model. Obviously money isn't a real big issue for you, but you might be suprised which one does the job for you, it might not be the most expensive one. Maybe consider some of the non Fender options too, there are some great tele types out there from other makers if you can live without the "name" on the headstock.

[outbreak]

If you do think of getting or trying some vintage guitars check out these places in melbourne

http://www.guitaremporium.com.au/

http://www.guitarsplus.com.au/

www.musicswopshop.com.au

These guys seem to have some vintage stuff i wish i had usually\.

[imsilly]

Originally Posted by maxmoo

price isn't really an issue for me, i'd happily drop $3000 if i found an early 80s tele for sale. is it worth waiting? my uncle's coming to visit from the US in a month and i'm thinking of asking him to bring me a guitar (doing it that way saves like $500 on GST and duty so i can always sell it if i'm not into it).

For $3000 you could get your uncle to bring back a badass Custom Shop Telecaster.

Also I'd try every telecaster you could get your hands on. I mean if you thought the early 80s Tele you played was great I bet you'd love a vintage specced modern Tele. The late 70s and early 80s weren't exactly the greatest years for telecasters. They tend to be poorly finished and fitted in my experience.

I know Australia has a very poor and usually overpriced selection of guitars, but doing the leg work and finding something special would be worth it.