James Burton MIM Tele

I have one. I found a 2010 red one used at a Guitar Center in Lewisville, TX. There was not a mark on it and the gig bag candy was unwrapped. It does have that early 50’s beefy neck and the early 50’s six saddle bridge. It plays and sounds fine.

 

Hi, Ray. A white blonde would be a 1996 serial number with a 1996 or 1997 date stamp in the neck pocket. It's a multi-piece poplar body with a veneer front and back and the white blonde probably has an ash veneer so it shows some interesting grain. It's routed to accommodate a humbucker at the neck and Tele single coil at the bridge.

The neck is currently described as a "60s U profile." It had the same neck in 1996, but it was described differently, then. My 1998 has a 1.685" nut width and the thickness is 0.86" at the 1st fret and 0.92 at the 12th fret. It's a U profile, but has only a slight amount of shoulder. Satin finish, 9 1/2" radius, vintage frets, spaghetti logo, truss rod adjust at the heel. I really dig the neck. Lots of people buy a JBS Tele just for the neck.

A 1996 was billed as having Texas Tele pickups. The pickups are identical to the Texas Special set, just called something different initially. IMO the neck pickup is one of the best that Fender has made and works well with nearly any bridge pickup. IMO, again, the bridge pickup fits a loud, rock or hard blues tone and has an in-your-face midrange. Controls are the usual with a 3-way switch, volume, and tone on a plate. The neck pickup has an electrically separate ground for the cover, so a 4-way switch is easy to use.

The bridge is a vintage-style plate, but with 6 saddles. Some folks are ok with this, many replace the assembly. I couldn't get rid of it fast enough, as the saddles tend to shift sideways and often are the source of mechanical rattle. It's a trivial job to replace it with a vintage style plate with 3 saddles.

Typically, they're really good guitars and one of the better ones to come out of Ensenada. I bought mine new in '98. In a time of economic distress I sold off all of my guitars except for my JBS Tele. I've got mine apart and waiting to be Esquired.

EDIT: Go buy it. I'd pay a 'new' price for a JBS before I'd buy a new Tele at the same price.

Fender_jbstd_t_2tsb_1024 by archetype posted Jan 23, 2018 at 9:14 PM

 

Likely a '95 serial with a '95 or '96-stamped body. They didn't make these in white blonde by '05, just CAR. These use a totally different serial format than the Standards, etc. Your's is a multi-piece poplar with ash veneer. Glad you got it!

 

It's a Texas Special set. Read my long post, above. It's a rundown of the entire guitar.

 

Congrats!

Folks who want to know, what ash looks like when veneer is peeled off a log, this is a perfect example.

I agree with Archetype - if you intend to play it, take the "6 hammer saddle" vintage sized bridge off (carefully) and replace it with an AV52 style bridge with those compensated brass saddles that Darren Riley gets from FMIC. This guitar was definitely meant to be player - that neck carve is just great.

 

I must chime in...

I have a 1997 Burton Tele (bought new) with 3 Lace Sensor pickups, 5 way switch, strat bridge (without trem), gold paisley on black finish, poplar body, D profile neck, vintage frets, and pearloid tuners.

I own MANY guitars of various makes and models including 5 teles, and the Burton still remains my #1! I realize this thread was about the Mexican version, but I just had to comment as I absolutely love my American model.

 

That's a more current spec on the body. Yours is multi-piece poplar with ash veneer. They weren't alder until about 2000. Once the neck is off and you can see the unpainted wood, you'll see poplar.

 

You know after Archtype’s description if Strato50 didn’t buy it I was.

 

Cool! I recognized JB's sig, but couldn't figure out the other one.

 

I've got one from 2001, CAR. I've had it almost 6 years. Definitely a keeper. Replaced the rattle hammer bridge with a Wilkinson 3-saddle, otherwise left it alone. I'm told these make a good candidate for a 4-way switch, but I've somehow managed to live without it so far. My specs pretty much match those already posted, maybe a little thinner at the 12th fret, but not much.







and here it is at the joint where I had a weekly gig for ten years until you know what:

 

It looks a lot like mine

 

Truss rod adjustment at the nut or heel?