Thinking about picking up a CS '51 Ltd Tele - seeking input

[wrxplayer]

I'm thinking about buying a used but super clean CS '51 Ltd Tele. I LOVE T style guitars and own a bunch. My number 1 is a K-2014 K-line Truxton, which I'm very happy with, and my favorite guitar I ever owned was a Fender NAMM (2005) CS Keef style '51, which I sold years ago while feeling poor.

I won't be able to play the CS first. My "guess" is that it'll sound very similar to the K-line but the neck profile will be different. Of, course, owning an historic replica that's super cool would be a blast to own, gig, and just hold.

My question is how different the guitars will likely be if you ignore the headstock decal. I know it's a hard question but I do want to hear the view of the experts here.

Tx.

 

[Bucster752]

Well.......here goes nothing......

It's been my experience, given the same pickup configuration, a Telecaster is a Telecaster with very little sonic difference from one to the other. Unlike an acoustic guitar, the tone an electric guitar produces is mostly from it's pickups.......body wood, fretboard and hardware have very little tonal input. I'd go so far as to say a Telecaster bridge and pickup mounted on a Les Paul would sound very much like a Telecaster, much as a Telecaster with a set of Stratocaster pickups pretty much sounds like a Stratocaster. So, if you have T-style you are satisfied with, another of the same construction is not going to sound much different. It may well feel different and there's the rub. Once a player has zeroed in on their preferred tone it becomes a matter of how the instrument feels and responds and everyone has their own ideal in this regard. For myself this is the most important factor in choosing a guitar: does it feel like my guitar? Does it respond to my particular style of play as I want/need it to? This has nothing to do with tone......it's the physical interplay between the instrument and the player. That to me is what finding the right guitar is all about.

 

[middy]

Also, keep in mind that often the difference in feel between a $1000 guitar and a $3000 guitar can be corrected with a $200-300 pro setup. You’re paying mostly for the name on the headstock.
Places like Guitar Center intentionally leave the cheap instruments with poor setups and factory strings. The expensive ones get careful setups and extra light D’Addarios
People spend all this money buying guitars in search of the right one and never bother learning how to do a good setup or investing in having it done.

 

[Bedroom Thrasher]

I don't have much of use to add, apart from that I couldn't be happier with my LTD '51 Telecaster NOS.

 

[Chuckmick]

Is this FCS Ltd '51 Tele the one that Fender launched during 2021? If so, I'd say that you would be absolutely happy with it! (I don't have one of those but have a FCS Broadcaster, which is very similar in specs. If I remember correctly, the FCS Ltd '51 Tele has the same hand-wound 50-51 Blackguard pickups, and the same '51 modified nocaster wiring as the Broadcaster, which are fantastic!)

 

[fenderchamp]

They all sound, and feel a bit different than each other to me. They all lead me down different roads.

What do I know though, I only have about 7 right now, though I've had more.

If you really think anybody here can accurately predict how close a special order guitar that we've seen or played is going to be to another guitar that you own that we've never seen or played.... well, come on man! Just buy the thing and get it over with.