Where the guitar players? ...at?
Thread revival alert!
I've worked with my current boss for over 10 years and even transcended employers a while ago. He's really a great guy and most weeks buys the beer on Friday (well, up until you know...).
He's also a musician and a few months ago he mentioned he didn't currently have a guitar but was thinking about getting a Tele.
Since I've been pretty good about finding good $100 or less players I thought I'd look around and see what was out there.
I'm not really a Tele guy, so that particular model has not been on my radar.
Let me tell you, they are conspicuously absent from the used guitar market.
Several trips around my local pawn shop circuit turned up nothing.
Craigslist for the majority of the state was dry too. Only listings were $1000 and up MIA, or $450 off brand copies.
I couldn't find any Squiers. None. The only thing remotely close was a used, bottom of the line Squier Bullet at Guitar Center in Oklahoma for $140 and $40 to ship to my local store. I'm not crazy about guitars through the mail.
So, to shorten a somewhat long story- An ad popped op on CL that caught my eye.
It's a 2016 G&L ASAT.
Advertised for $250 with the caveat that it had been strung left handed with a hole drilled for the strap peg.
$250 was pretty well over my budget but for those that don't know G&L is Leo Fender, when he decided to get back into making Guitars in the 80's (after selling Fender to CBS a decade earlier). It's "from the hand of the master" and arguably a real, modern Tele.
Anyhow, it sat on CL for several weeks and I finally inquired about it.
I ended up buying it for significantly less than the advertised price, and the PO even restrung it right and set the intonation!
He must have known what he was doing as it plays sweet and has pretty darn low action without any buzz.
The neck is a little more radiused than a vintage Tele and there's not as much twang (although there is some still there).
I'm kind of becoming attached to it. I haven't played a single coil for some time, and it has a nice, creamy, wail to it.
The neck pickup is a double coil that is just fine for crunchier stuff. Dang it, now I might have to look for one for myself.
This is the "tribute", made in Malaysia version, but so far all I've read says that, like Fender/Squire prior to 1985, they are made on the same tooling as the US models just in a different factory (Cort) and with cheaper labor. My research also indicates that a good majority of Tele aficionados think these MIM ASATs are equal to or better than any Fender short of a Custom Shop.
I'd rate it on par or slightly better than my 1984 Squier Strat, which was a great guitar, and way better than any modern Squier I've played recently.
I may need to rethink my opinion of Cort, and play one next time I'm in a pawn shop.
Thread revival alert!
I've worked with my current boss for over 10 years and even transcended employers a while ago. He's really a great guy and most weeks buys the beer on Friday (well, up until you know...).
He's also a musician and a few months ago he mentioned he didn't currently have a guitar but was thinking about getting a Tele.
Since I've been pretty good about finding good $100 or less players I thought I'd look around and see what was out there.
I'm not really a Tele guy, so that particular model has not been on my radar.
Let me tell you, they are conspicuously absent from the used guitar market.
Several trips around my local pawn shop circuit turned up nothing.
Craigslist for the majority of the state was dry too. Only listings were $1000 and up MIA, or $450 off brand copies.
I couldn't find any Squiers. None. The only thing remotely close was a used, bottom of the line Squier Bullet at Guitar Center in Oklahoma for $140 and $40 to ship to my local store. I'm not crazy about guitars through the mail.
So, to shorten a somewhat long story- An ad popped op on CL that caught my eye.
It's a 2016 G&L ASAT.
Advertised for $250 with the caveat that it had been strung left handed with a hole drilled for the strap peg.
$250 was pretty well over my budget but for those that don't know G&L is Leo Fender, when he decided to get back into making Guitars in the 80's (after selling Fender to CBS a decade earlier). It's "from the hand of the master" and arguably a real, modern Tele.
Anyhow, it sat on CL for several weeks and I finally inquired about it.
I ended up buying it for significantly less than the advertised price, and the PO even restrung it right and set the intonation!
He must have known what he was doing as it plays sweet and has pretty darn low action without any buzz.
The neck is a little more radiused than a vintage Tele and there's not as much twang (although there is some still there).
I'm kind of becoming attached to it. I haven't played a single coil for some time, and it has a nice, creamy, wail to it.
The neck pickup is a double coil that is just fine for crunchier stuff. Dang it, now I might have to look for one for myself.
This is the "tribute", made in Malaysia version, but so far all I've read says that, like Fender/Squire prior to 1985, they are made on the same tooling as the US models just in a different factory (Cort) and with cheaper labor. My research also indicates that a good majority of Tele aficionados think these MIM ASATs are equal to or better than any Fender short of a Custom Shop.
I'd rate it on par or slightly better than my 1984 Squier Strat, which was a great guitar, and way better than any modern Squier I've played recently.
I may need to rethink my opinion of Cort, and play one next time I'm in a pawn shop.