88 MIJ appreciation post/ Hail Mary for history!

[marc88]

Hey guys! Longtime member and reader, but I don’t tend to post very often. In fact, I apologize ahead of time if this is in the wrong discussion or what not. Anyways, I recently have been fine tuning a lot of my guitars, rolling fret board edges, cleaning frets, set-ups, etc. It brought this guitar back to life for me and I’d love to share some info and maybe find some info of my own!
This is my 1988 Mij Tele custom in candy apple red. I bought this guitar off of eBay many years ago now, too far back to find it in my eBay history but if I had to guess it was probably 2012-ish. 1988 is my birth year and I thought it would be as close to “real” vintage as I would ever be able to afford. (It wasn’t, ended up snagging a ‘64 Mustang before the prices started going up. That’s another story…) I liked the guitar stock but wasn’t totally sold on it at first. I wanted a black double bound tele but at the time could only find CAR. The neck was kinda thin and I like a good chunky neck. The pickups were good enough but didn’t blow me away. And I hated the threaded saddles with a passion. So, I did some stuff. To try to keep it short I’ll just list the whole lot of mods and will be willing to explain any of them more. I did: compensated brass saddles (not a fancy brand or anything), new controls and control plate I drilled out myself (3-way toggle and volume pot only), aluminum pickguard that I painted white, fender pure vintage 64 pickups, warmoth fatback neck with SS frets, 7.25”radius, and hipshot locking tuners. Set up with 10’s these days. The back of the neck is perfect, feels totally raw and fast. The pickups are amazing, if a little noisy. The tone makes up for the hum. It’s a simple workhorse that just feels and sounds perfect.
I’m also dying to know this guitar’s story. It had a woody wood pecker sticker on the case and one on the back of the body too. The one on the body appears to be covering an older sticker too. Total long shot, I don’t remember any of the details from the purchase besides it was through eBay. Not sure where the sender was from but I don’t remember a long wait or customs or anything; pretty sure it was from a person or dealer in the states. If you know something about this guitar, let me know! I’d love to know where it got it’s bruises! (Also, pretty sure I’ve never dented this guitar myself. It came to be beat to hell and I love it!)

 

[ponycar]

Lovely. The closeups are nice. If possible please post a pic of the front of the whole instrument.

 

[marc88]

Lovely. The closeups are nice. If possible please post a pic of the front of the whole instrument.

Thanks for the kind words! I think I originally tried to post some pics of the whole thing but ran out of room or something. Anyhow, not as good lighting, but here she is!

 

[Killing Floor]

Wow, pretty neck.

 

[marc88]

Wow, pretty neck.

Thanks! I’m pretty sure I got that warmoth neck back around the time I got the full 1988 tele. The stock neck was pretty thin and I had recently discovered through a strat I had that I prefer chunky profiles. Point being, I don’t remember all the order details but I’m fairly certain I did not pay any extra for that flame; I’m pretty sure I just got lucky. I had finished it with very minimal amounts of danish oil when I got it if I remember correctly. Over the years I’ve sanded the back of the neck down and smoothed it through playing so it’s basically hand polished raw wood. Probably not the smartest or safest way to treat a neck, but my luck continued and it never warped on me at all. With the stainless frets on there I have seen very little wear, even though I’m usually tough on frets (heavy hand, decent amount of capo usage). Mated to this guitar the neck just completes the whole picture. Lovely guitar to play

 

[marc88]

Little update:
I forgot to mention that the pickups I have in this are the Fender Pure Vintage 64 set. I absolutely love the tone of them but do find them to be a bit noisy with the 60 cycle hum. Not to the level of a p90 hum, but pretty apparent. Anyhow, as a helpless tinkerer, I was looking up some info regarding dummy coils. Had a few cheap ceramic pickups that I donated to the cause and converted them to a dummy coil. So far I’ve only put one in this one, tucked into the control cavity, so due to polarity issues it only helps with the bridge pickup at the moment. I’m still working with the notion and plan to set up a system that can help positions one and three.

Tl;dr
Pickups are amazing, little bit noisy lol

 

[marc2211]

Fantastic guitar!!

I have a 1992 MIJ Strat that has been my number 1 for nearly 30 years. I’ve not touched anything, same pickups, same electronics, only thing it’s has is a refret.

 

[TeleTubby]

Nice job on a beautiful guitar- made to be played!

I've converted all my Fender (real, or of the partscaster variety) to large necks, fatbacks or boatnecks. I think my tone has improved with more wood in the fretting hand. I don't have big hands but the extra size is, for myself, easier to play.

Have you thought about shielding the pickup/control cavities/backside of the pickguard? Might be easier than trying to place additional coils in there.

Don't know anything about the history of this Tele but I'll wish you a long one with it!

 

[marc88]

Fantastic guitar!!

I have a 1992 MIJ Strat that has been my number 1 for nearly 30 years. I’ve not touched anything, same pickups, same electronics, only thing it’s has is a refret.

Thank you! I should point out that I agree these are awesome instruments in their stock form. I changed things on this one because I wanted to, not needed to. I still have the stock pickups, might throw them into a new project someday!

 

[grant53]

I have 1985 MIJ Custom 62 (modded by the previous owner with Lollars including a neck humbucker).Great guitar. Oddly I prefer the sound of the threaded saddles to the brass compensated ones I tried.

 

[marc88]

Nice job on a beautiful guitar- made to be played!

I've converted all my Fender (real, or of the partscaster variety) to large necks, fatbacks or boatnecks. I think my tone has improved with more wood in the fretting hand. I don't have big hands but the extra size is, for myself, easier to play.

Have you thought about shielding the pickup/control cavities/backside of the pickguard? Might be easier than trying to place additional coils in there.

Don't know anything about the history of this Tele but I'll wish you a long one with it!

Same here! Not very large hands but I really prefer the chunky necks. Fatback’s and boatnecks are what I’m putting on anything new I make, and I’m trying to convert older ones as money allows.

I actually did shield the whole body recently. Might have helped a little bit I definitely think I’m dealing more with inherent 60 cycle stuff more than RFI issues. I tried the dummy trick on a lark since I had one around to sacrifice. Tried it in a different guitar with a single p90 and it helped so I figured I’d try it here. More tinkering is needed and I may end up ripping it out and living with the hum. The tone is definitely worth it. My band mate was playing it across from me yesterday through a bugera v22 I have and it sounded amazing in all positions. Actually convinced him to be a tele guy as opposed to his usual strat preference!

 

[marc88]

I have 1985 MIJ Custom 62 (modded by the previous owner with Lollars including a neck humbucker).Great guitar. Oddly I prefer the sound of the threaded saddles to the brass compensated ones I tried.

I honestly don’t remember my issue with the threaded saddles; it was so long ago but I recall writing them off haha. I seem to remember strings jumping threads when I strummed hard. I can be a heavy handed player in general so I’m assuming it was my fault. I do prefer the tone of the brass ones as well, so it was a no brainer for me. But, to each his own! Whatever works, works.
Any chance you have a picture of your 85? Love the look (and sound!) of a humbucker in a tele neck position!

 

[marc88]

Huh. Little update for anyone reading all this… just pulled out the “stock” pickups and noticed the pole pieces were flat on the bridge pickup, not staggered. Certainly didn’t seem right for a 62 inspired tele, so I flipped them over and they are Seymour Duncan’s, 52-1 model! I had no idea, always assumed the guitar was stock when I got it! I want to throw these into something now, I don’t remember how they even sound!

 

[grant53]

I honestly don’t remember my issue with the threaded saddles; it was so long ago but I recall writing them off haha. I seem to remember strings jumping threads when I strummed hard. I can be a heavy handed player in general so I’m assuming it was my fault. I do prefer the tone of the brass ones as well, so it was a no brainer for me. But, to each his own! Whatever works, works.
Any chance you have a picture of your 85? Love the look (and sound!) of a humbucker in a tele neck position!

Here she is!

 

[marc88]

View attachment 1074040

Here she is!

Wow that is one gorgeous guitar! Double bound and a neck humbucker is my favorite in terms of aesthetics anyhow. Love the sunburst, but my dream tele would be a double bound black, with rosewood fretboard.