sonny wolf
Friend of Leo's
I never got around to posting this but when turned 50 last March I decided to gift myself the ultimate Custom Shop Tele if I found one.I went to LA earlier this year and at the Hollywood Guitar Center they had a Fender Custom Shop Journeyman 1952 Telecaster that was just amazing...I couldn't stop playing it for over an hour and came back the next two days to play it again.Being at a Custom Shop price I couldn't pay it off in one shot so I applied for GC's 24 month no interest credit plan but it got denied because of my lack of credit history(no bad history...just no history).I was really bummed driving back to Texas.But about a week later at Austin Vintage guitars they received a limited edition 1951 relic Telecaster that just felt amazing too.I don't like heavy relic jobs but this one is worn in just the right places to make it look like a heavily played guitar but not too abused...just right for my tastes.Also this one had a darker more orangy/amber butterscotch more like an AVRI 52 which suits the worn look it has.The other Tele in LA had a lighter Nocaster banana yellow color...very nice too but I already own a few in that color.
The store here in Austin gave me 3 months to pay it off which gave me a bit of time to sell off some stuff to pay it off so I pulled the trigger.This one is just perfect....very chunky soft V shape neck with a compound 7.25 to 9.5 radius.Good weight...probably around 7.5-8LBS...not the lightest but still very nice.But the pickups are the star feature here.They are handwound 50/51 Blackguards which the Fender Custom Shop reverse engineered from the early Broadcaster pickups.They are wound hot...somewhere in the mid 8K range and I love their throaty tone.I play Blues and old school Rock n Roll so these pickups really suit my style and along with the weight this Tele loves to scream and Rock with all that midrange punch she has.The bridge pickup still twangs like a Tele but with lots of growl and the neck pickup is very musical with no muddiness.I have played many real Blackguard Teles and this particular one is as good or better than any of those.In fact she reminds me of a real 1951 Nocaster I once played with that tone that sounded so old from another era...that primitive and throaty tone the early ones had.I have been gigging her and she does everything I ever would want from a Tele.Thank you universe for sending me the ultimate dream Tele!!
The store here in Austin gave me 3 months to pay it off which gave me a bit of time to sell off some stuff to pay it off so I pulled the trigger.This one is just perfect....very chunky soft V shape neck with a compound 7.25 to 9.5 radius.Good weight...probably around 7.5-8LBS...not the lightest but still very nice.But the pickups are the star feature here.They are handwound 50/51 Blackguards which the Fender Custom Shop reverse engineered from the early Broadcaster pickups.They are wound hot...somewhere in the mid 8K range and I love their throaty tone.I play Blues and old school Rock n Roll so these pickups really suit my style and along with the weight this Tele loves to scream and Rock with all that midrange punch she has.The bridge pickup still twangs like a Tele but with lots of growl and the neck pickup is very musical with no muddiness.I have played many real Blackguard Teles and this particular one is as good or better than any of those.In fact she reminds me of a real 1951 Nocaster I once played with that tone that sounded so old from another era...that primitive and throaty tone the early ones had.I have been gigging her and she does everything I ever would want from a Tele.Thank you universe for sending me the ultimate dream Tele!!
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