"Vintage" 94 Am. Standard Tele coming in

[ETMusic777]

I've been looking to pick up another Telecaster which has a more traditional sound than what I have. I was hoping to find a 52' "blackguard" Reissue at a good price, but most online are over the $1.5K mark which is a bit too much right now. So I was eyeing this 1994 American Standard Tele, listed at guitar center online, used section. I like the color, which I think is Crimson Burst from the photos. The price is decent for the condition that it seems to be in. Its listed as "vintage". I should get it in about a week or so, having it shipped to me. I have a 1990 Tele Plus Deluxe and also a 93 Strat Plus Deluxe, both of which has Lace Sensors, but sound surprisingly different from each other. I like the 90s Fenders and the D. Chavez necks, but I usually will sand down the glossy back of the neck a bit to make them more matte. The 90s Fenders were quite glossy. If I keep this one, I'll do that matte smoothing. Anyway, if anyone has a 94 Am Standard, feel free to chip in on what I may expect with this guitar's tone. I know its not "traditional" in the sense of a 50s or 60s Tele, but its not Lace Sensors either. I am going to turn my G&L Tribute in to the "vintage" Tele by changing the pickups...for now. Guitars are so addictive.

Store photos below. Also is a recent video of a 94 from Greg's Guitars that is on YT which sounds pretty good to my ears.

 

[PCollen]

I've been looking to pick up another Telecaster which has a more traditional sound than what I have. I was hoping to find a 52' "blackguard" Reissue at a good price, but most online are over the $1.5K mark which is a bit too much right now. So I was eyeing this 1994 American Standard Tele, listed at guitar center online, used section. I like the color, which I think is Crimson Burst from the photos. The price is decent for the condition that it seems to be in. Its listed as "vintage". I should get it in about a week or so, having it shipped to me. I have a 1990 Tele Plus Deluxe and also a 93 Strat Plus Deluxe, both of which has Lace Sensors, but sound surprisingly different from each other. I like the 90s Fenders and the D. Chavez necks, but I usually will sand down the glossy back of the neck a bit to make them more matte. The 90s Fenders were quite glossy. If I keep this one, I'll do that matte smoothing. Anyway, if anyone has a 94 Am Standard, feel free to chip in on what I may expect with this guitar's tone. I know its not "traditional" in the sense of a 50s or 60s Tele, but its not Lace Sensors either. I am going to turn my G&L Tribute in to the "vintage" Tele by changing the pickups...for now. Guitars are so addictive.

Store photos below. Also is a recent video of a 94 from Greg's Guitars that is on YT which sounds pretty good to my ears.

Nice burst on that one.

 

[ETMusic777]

I called the store this morning. They have the original case which will ship with it. It was $999 plus tax and $25 for shipping from Texas to CA. I should get it on Thursday and will post pics.

 

[blue metalflake]

Looking forward to those pics

 

[brookdalebill]

Cool!

 

[JDB2]

Nice! Remember for items listed as vintage GC has a three day return window.

 

[985plowboy]

The scrambled eggs I ate for breakfast were 2023 “vintage”.
Enjoy your new guitar, but don’t get hung up on that word.

 

[ETMusic777]

The scrambled eggs I ate for breakfast were 2023 “vintage”.
Enjoy your new guitar, but don’t get hung up on that word.

I put the word "vintage" in the title as my way of mocking the GC listing. Is 1994 "vintage"? For some things yes, but for a Telecaster I'd say no (unless its a special rare model like my 1991 V1 Deluxe Tele Plus).

Here are some photos. The Crimson sunrise burst is beautiful (it looks much more Crimson in person, than it does in these photos below). It had 3 chips on the backside and front edges, which I filled in with black nail polish (enamel) and a toothpick. You see chips on the edges a lot on the early 90s American Teles. My 91 Deluxe Plus got them too.

Anyway...It looks really great, in my opinion. The action is excellent and the frets are like new. Unfortunately, it came in with "vintage noiseless" Tele pickups on it. I am going to take those out and Ebay them.

I ordered a set of Fender 64' Tele pickups which I will install next week, making this guitar more "Tele" like. I also ordered a "custom 62" bridge pickup for my G&L Tribute ASAT Bluesboy which is a great guitar as well.

 

[Milspec]

I have that same burst color on a '94 Strat-Plus, it is a real looker. I am also partial to '90's Fender American series guitars, I never found anything newer that was any better. Price is pretty good, so I think you chose wisely.

 

[artisan4]

I have a '92 American Standard Tele, I am the original owner, although I don't think of myself as vintage...it is a great guitar and in that era, Fender was really making great guitars.

 

[ETMusic777]

I have that same burst color on a '94 Strat-Plus, it is a real looker. I am also partial to '90's Fender American series guitars, I never found anything newer that was any better. Price is pretty good, so I think you chose wisely.

A lot of the neck shapers back in those days at Fender, ended up in the Custom Shop as it grew. D. Chavez was one of them. I was hoping this was a D. Chavez neck, but its not. Its J. ...something. It looks like J. Unitas so maybe Johnny did it. Just kidding. Here are more pics of the insides. It appears that the TBX tone pot may have been disabled, possibly when they put the Noiseless pups in. It does not have the "center notch" on it for some reason, and acts more like a normal tone pot than a TBX.

 

[Milspec]

A lot of the neck shapers back in those days at Fender, ended up in the Custom Shop as it grew. D. Chavez was one of them. I was hoping this was a D. Chavez neck, but its not. Its J. ...something. It looks like J. Unitas so maybe Johnny did it. Just kidding. Here are more pics of the insides. It appears that the TBX tone pot may have been disabled, possibly when they put the Noiseless pups in. It does not have the "center notch" on it for some reason, and acts more like a normal tone pot than a TBX.

I never held a bad neck from that era...regardless of who shaped it.

 

[TheZ]

I had one from 1993 way back when. It was a lovely guitar, complete with finish separating from the neck and fingerboard as so many from the period did. If I could ever find it for sale, I'd pay the asking price without hesitation.

 

[frettchen]

I've been looking to pick up another Telecaster which has a more traditional sound than what I have. I was hoping to find a 52' "blackguard" Reissue at a good price, but most online are over the $1.5K mark which is a bit too much right now. So I was eyeing this 1994 American Standard Tele, listed at guitar center online, used section. I like the color, which I think is Crimson Burst from the photos. The price is decent for the condition that it seems to be in. Its listed as "vintage". I should get it in about a week or so, having it shipped to me. I have a 1990 Tele Plus Deluxe and also a 93 Strat Plus Deluxe, both of which has Lace Sensors, but sound surprisingly different from each other. I like the 90s Fenders and the D. Chavez necks, but I usually will sand down the glossy back of the neck a bit to make them more matte. The 90s Fenders were quite glossy. If I keep this one, I'll do that matte smoothing. Anyway, if anyone has a 94 Am Standard, feel free to chip in on what I may expect with this guitar's tone. I know its not "traditional" in the sense of a 50s or 60s Tele, but its not Lace Sensors either. I am going to turn my G&L Tribute in to the "vintage" Tele by changing the pickups...for now. Guitars are so addictive.

Store photos below. Also is a recent video of a 94 from Greg's Guitars that is on YT which sounds pretty good to my ears.

Did you finally buy it? What are your thoughts? I am going to buy a '94-'95 American Standard Telecaster that is for sale not far from my area. Do you like the stock pickups? Thank you!

 

[ETMusic777]

Did you finally buy it? What are your thoughts? I am going to buy a '94-'95 American Standard Telecaster that is for sale not far from my area. Do you like the stock pickups? Thank you!

Hey. I like the guitar very much, though Ive always liked early 90s Teles. My first top line guitar, is a 91 Tele Deluxe Plus which I still have. The build quality is top notch and I really like the finish. Its a 2 piece body but the seam is well hidden. American Fenders (and Mexican/Japanese Fenders) are usually pretty good. Over the years, Ive learned how to set up guitars and I set up this 1994 to have very low action. Its a pretty light weight, about 7.5lbs guitar and its nice and resonant.

The stock pickups were not it it when I bought it. It had Vintage Noiseless Tele pickups. Those were OK when used with pedals, but I did not like them as clean sounds. So I pulled them out and sold them on Ebay. I put a set of Fender Pure Vintage 64 Pickups in there, which are amazing. They are the best Telecaster pickups that I've ever played through, and I highly recommend them. I used 500K pots for extra brightness (if I need it) and I put a vintage 1965 Fender Ajax .047 poly capacitor in there, which I took out of the "death cap" of my 65 Bandmaster. I wired that between the tone and volume pots and its really great. As I roll that off the tone gets nice and milky. Love the feel of the 64 PV pickups and the blue cap gives it some really versatile sounds. I could not be more happy with this guitar and I play it every day. Im thinking of selling off several other guitars because this one can do just about everything.

 

[Southpole]

I have a 93 Standard with the same finish, and is unmodified.

I have never removed the bridge to check this, but I’m told that for a year or two in the early 90s Fender used a bridge pickup design that did not include a base plate. People seem to prefer bridge pickups that include the base plate. Anyone here able to comment on this?

 

[John C]

I have a 93 Standard with the same finish, and is unmodified.

I have never removed the bridge to check this, but I’m told that for a year or two in the early 90s Fender used a bridge pickup design that did not include a base plate. People seem to prefer bridge pickups that include the base plate. Anyone here able to comment on this?

It's my understanding that none of the American Standard/American Series/American Standard (v2) stock alnico pickups had a base plate, but when they changed to the "Delta Tone" circa late 1996/early 1997 they add a couple of metal screws to the bottom of the pickup to add a bit of mass. That American Series Ash Tele (the 8502 model) pickup is based on the AVRI 52 pickup so it most likely did have a base plate, but that pickup was only on that model. Then in 2012 they started using the Custom Shop Broadcaster pickup which of course has a base plate, and the V-Mods on the American Pro/Pro IIs have a base plate.

 

[frettchen]

Hey. I like the guitar very much, though Ive always liked early 90s Teles. My first top line guitar, is a 91 Tele Deluxe Plus which I still have. The build quality is top notch and I really like the finish. Its a 2 piece body but the seam is well hidden. American Fenders (and Mexican/Japanese Fenders) are usually pretty good. Over the years, Ive learned how to set up guitars and I set up this 1994 to have very low action. Its a pretty light weight, about 7.5lbs guitar and its nice and resonant.

The stock pickups were not it it when I bought it. It had Vintage Noiseless Tele pickups. Those were OK when used with pedals, but I did not like them as clean sounds. So I pulled them out and sold them on Ebay. I put a set of Fender Pure Vintage 64 Pickups in there, which are amazing. They are the best Telecaster pickups that I've ever played through, and I highly recommend them. I used 500K pots for extra brightness (if I need it) and I put a vintage 1965 Fender Ajax .047 poly capacitor in there, which I took out of the "death cap" of my 65 Bandmaster. I wired that between the tone and volume pots and its really great. As I roll that off the tone gets nice and milky. Love the feel of the 64 PV pickups and the blue cap gives it some really versatile sounds. I could not be more happy with this guitar and I play it every day. Im thinking of selling off several other guitars because this one can do just about everything.

Thank you! that's exactly what I wanted to hear

 

[frettchen]

It's my understanding that none of the American Standard/American Series/American Standard (v2) stock alnico pickups had a base plate, but when they changed to the "Delta Tone" circa late 1996/early 1997 they add a couple of metal screws to the bottom of the pickup to add a bit of mass. That American Series Ash Tele (the 8502 model) pickup is based on the AVRI 52 pickup so it most likely did have a base plate, but that pickup was only on that model. Then in 2012 they started using the Custom Shop Broadcaster pickup which of course has a base plate, and the V-Mods on the American Pro/Pro IIs have a base plate.

thanks for the clarification!

 

[Telecastoff1]

I own a '92 Tele American Standard I bought brand new. I almost didn't buy it because of the color. The color is supposed to be Vintage White, but to me it looked more like "bird-s**t-yellow"....and with the white pickguard, I thought it was very anemic-looking. But, After three visits to this music store, I kept coming back to this particular Tele, because it played better than any other Tele I had ever had my hands on. So, I bought it. Six years later, I changed out the stock pickups in favor of a new set of Texas Specials. I put the stock ones away for safe-keeping, and still have them. At the same time, I changed the pickguard to a 3-ply black-white-black Fender pickguard. These changes made me happy about this Tele, and I continue to gig with this particular Tele on most every gig.