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Author
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Colo Springs E
Registered: March 2003
Location: Colorado Springs
Posts: 5160
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Review Date: Thu December 18, 2003
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $559.00
| Rating: 4
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Pros:
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Value, playability
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Cons:
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Wish it came with hard case
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This is a great Tele, and a great value to boot. Street price on this guitar is less than 6 bills. Mine is sunburst matte finish (all of them have a flat finish). Mine has a maple fretboard. Features: 9" radius; med jumbo frets; 3 steel barrels; strings-thru; trussrod adj at the headstock; Fender Ping style tuners; 3 piece alder body; vintage alnico Fender pickups. Just a nice basic Tele. Mine needed nutwork, which the shop did free of charge. Once that was done the playability was really good. The stock alnicos are excellent for clean tones; for high-gain tones, they're not as good as Seymour Duncan humbuckers, but they're not bad either. Nice snug neck/pocket fit. Good fretwork. Overall, a great Tele at a great price!
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Tryin' your best to bring the
Water to your eyes...
Thinkin' it might stop her
From whoopin' your behind.
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Don_Spfld
Registered: April 2005
Location: Springfield, MA
Posts: 2
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Review Date: Thu April 28, 2005
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $559.00
| Rating: 5
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Pros:
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Great sound, easy to play
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Cons:
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I have a transparent red Tele Highway 1 with rosewood fretboard, otherwise it is the same as described in the previous post. The red color is not as dark as on other teles, which allows you to see the grain of the wood.
This guitar is awesome. It has that classic 50s tele sound and feel, although it lacks the brass string pieces in the bridge (I may get these replaced). It is super easy to bend the strings, and it seems to never go out of tune no matter what I do with it. The smooth slim neck makes it extremely easy to move up and down the fretboard, both for playing lead lines and barre chords. The white 3-ply pickguard has held up well in the midst of my severe strumming, but may end up being the only part I have to replace a few years down the line.
The satin finish is what sets this guitar apart from other telecasters I've seen. Some people who are used to the classic tele look will hate it, but I think it looks cool. This not only gives it a distinctive look, but also makes this guitar feel a lot lighter. I can play this guitar all night and never get any soreness in my shoulder. I have heard some criticism that this finish will not wear as well, but mine has shone no sign of coming off after 6 months of pretty heavy playing. I suppose time will tell.
The workmanship on my U.S.-made Highway 1 are flawless, and the guitar seems to have been fitted with quality parts throughout. I have detected no flaws whatsoever. The guitar was playable right out of the box, with a fairly low action that was just right for me.
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dpote
Registered: June 2006
Location: Alamogordo, NM
Posts: 113
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Review Date: Wed August 16, 2006
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: Not Indicated
| Rating: 5
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Pros:
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Value, playability
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Cons:
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Not overly "spanky"
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This is a very good guitar for the money. I understand they have been changed. I bought a new 2003 model that my dealer had not been able to sell for some reason.
It has a great neck with a very playable 9.5" radius. The tone is not as spanky as I like it, I may be changing pickups soon.
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Myspace
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telecaster69
Registered: August 2006
Location: Chico, CA
Posts: 261
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Review Date: Thu September 21, 2006
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: Not Indicated
| Rating: 3
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Pros:
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American made, inexpensive
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Cons:
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Noisey pickups..no case..crappy finish
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I bought this guitar about 2 months ago and sold it....like how it looked..but it had cheap hardware....cheap finish..and cheap pickups...your definetely paying for the name and the fact it's american made...I would have bought a 72 custom reissue made in japan and saved $200....which is a way better guitar....Plus the Hot pickups...are....HOT..and noisey...I even tried grounding and sheilding....no luck....
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Taylor 310 Acoustic with LR Baggs ibeam. Gold Tuners with Ebony buttons
2004 Telecaster w/hotrails, lckng tuners
Fender Powerchorus Amp 2x12"
Aphex Aural Exciter pedal
HBE Big D distortion pedal.
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rocksteady Max
Registered: November 2006
Location: Montréal
Posts: 421
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Review Date: Sat January 13, 2007
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $800.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Satin finish- price- American made-vintage style bridge
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Cons:
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jumbo frets- not compensed saddles (...) :)
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I just love my HW1 tele - it's a Z6 midnight wine with a maple neck.
When I bought it I thought I'd like the jumbo frets but I think I'd rather have thinner vintage frets 'cause the big ones make you bend strings (especially in chords) you didn't mean to bend and it makes them out of tune. Also, wouldn't it be great if it came fitted with compensated saddles. Think I'll get a set of the ones you guy are always talking about (Glendale ?) but these little pieces of metal are expensive but i'M sure it's worth the price. Also I love this FAT neck 
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Try rationality ... if not satisfied get a foul refund
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moparmutt
Registered: June 2005
Location: honolulu
Posts: 568
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Review Date: Thu April 5, 2007
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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finish, USA made
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Cons:
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I have been giging my HWY1 since I got it in 2003. It was 550.00 new. It changed some over the years, Barden pickups, callaham bridge. It's a great guitar. About a year ago the truss rod striped or something. Fender replaced the neck under warranty but it ain't the same. Over all it's been a excellent Tele.
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Guido
Registered: November 2005
Location: Eugene Or
Posts: 72
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Review Date: Sun October 7, 2007
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Nice Telecaster
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Cons:
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Frets are way too BIG
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I have a 2004 Hwy 1....I bought it used in 2006 for $350.00. It was the Blond color, It looked like my first new Tele (a 1989 MIJ) for the price I bought it being a USA guitar.
I don't really care for the satin finish but it's ok, my main complaint is the frets. I'm used to the smaller frets, I was playing my 89 MIJ Tele and my 94 MIM Tele's.
I played the HWY 1 Tele for about 2 weeks then put it away. The fretwork wasn't that great on the sides either..sharp edges, guess that's why it sold. Right now it's getting the frets shaved down and dressed on the sides, if I don't like the outcome I will give it to my roomates brother. I bought a 2007 BAJA Tele that absolutely ROCKS, very much like my 89 MIJ
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boris bubbanov
Registered: February 2007
Location: New Orleans, LA + in the past
Posts: 8377
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Review Date: Sun December 16, 2007
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Would you recommend the product? No |
Price you paid?: Not Indicated
| Rating: 4
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Pros:
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Attractive high quality body and general workmanship
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Cons:
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On post 2005 guitars, frets are enormous and Alnico 3s are crazy overwound
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Colo Springs E's review is very accurate, except that for the 2005 NAMM show FMIC 'upgraded' (ruined) this guitar. As Guido says, the frets were already large, but they went much larger still. Also, the vintage alnico 3 pickups were piled with wire to make the guitar attractive to those who play heavy distortion only. The clean sound is lousy on the upgrades, not bad at all on the pre-upgrade Highway Ones.
I got 3 in a big closeout, luckily one had the older pups. There are certain songs that can be played, with 9-42s, and with new pickups, on this giant fretted guitar. These could be the 6000 Dunlop frets 'bigger than jumbo' I've heard of. I'll either have them ground down or buy some Warmoth or USACG necks to put on here. If you are building a partscaster this is actually not a bad platform, all the internals are fine, US made guitar. If it gets new tuners, a new jack cup, all this stuff anyway why not start with a pedigreed loaded body?
So, not recommended to be used as is, especially if you can't find it blown out. Yes to a 'pre-upgrade' Highway One, if you can find one.
Bubbanov
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Bubban0v
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hwy1teleplayer
Registered: April 2008
Location: british columbia
Posts: 16
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Review Date: Fri May 2, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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finish, tone
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Cons:
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steel barrel saddles
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i got the highway one based solely on tone, and it was the right call. the vibe coming from the big frets, nitro finish, and overwound pickups is great. i get huge srv tones, while still being able to produce tele twang. the finish is great, because the more you play it, the better it looks. I have arm wear, and random dings and scratches, and it looks great. the only thing i changed was the pickguard from w/b/w to a single ply black one. I plan on also getting some brass saddles also, to increase vintage vibe. oh, and also, big frets make bending and vibrato really solid. i play 11's, or 12's on mine, and i get big tone. buy one! its the cheapest nitro body guitar you will find out there.
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crazycurtis
Registered: May 2008
Location: sacramento
Posts: 2
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Review Date: Thu May 8, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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american made
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Cons:
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pickups
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2007 honey blonde with rosewood fret board. i changed the pickups with EMG's active T's, now this is my main guitar. got a good case for it. tele's are like a fine wine, but this one's like wine in a box from safeway (if u get my drift). u can fight your way out of a bar with it. (i know i have)--get 1 you'll luv it, it'll last forever. you can keep your expensive stuff @ home..
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Colt W. Knight
Registered: January 2007
Location: West Virginia
Posts: 1988
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Review Date: Sun November 9, 2008
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Neck, playabillity, and great modding platform.
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Cons:
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cheapo finish, upgraded models have huge frets. Probably want to replace pups.
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I slapped some OC Duff special stocks pups in mine, and added some glendale saddles and this guitar is a tone monster.
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Telecaster Guitar Forum
