Look what I've just bought....

[Roger Rettig]

I've just bought a second 'Thin Skin' Telecaster, this time a bound-edge Lake Placid Blue example.

http://www.davesguitar.com/products.html?13256
(Sorry, everyone - they've already removed the guitar from their inventory, as I've now paid for it; there are other Tele Customs on the web-site, though.)



These Telecasters are amazing!!! I already have "'62" thin-skin Telecaster - I got it three weeks ago - and I'm so impressed that I thought I'd get a second before some clown at Fender, CA makes a smart decision and tries to 'improve' them. As you'll see, this second one is a bound-edge 'custom'.

These have a nitro-cellulose finish, a 9.5" radius fingerboard with 6105 frets (the only departure from the original) and sustain to die for all the way up every string. They're lightweight, too, and it's hard to figure why Fender don't make guitars this good as a matter of course. They certainly used to!

Here's the one I already have - and it's renewed my enthusiasm for playing six-string guitar!!!

[Henry Nagle]

Nice! They're American? Are they expensive? I didn't see any prices on that link.

edited: found it!

[Roger Rettig]

Yes; they're made in California. The unbound Tele is $1499, the Custom is $1599, except the Custom I've bought is slightly used and cost me $1250.

Go to Wildwood Guitars' web-site and look at the whole range - Jaguars, Strats, Teles, Jazzmasters; each guitar is individually photographed and listed with the exact weight. Lots of '50s/'60s custom colours are available too. Most guitars are $1599.

I have discovered already that the finish is quite susceptible to marking. I've become too accustomed to the rock-hard finish on my G&L Asat Classic, and I've already made a slight abrasion on the back of the first Telecaster.

These guitars are terrific!

[Bryan Knox]

I bought a 52 Reissue Tele from Dave's earlier this year. Great folks to deal with. Mine is a lefty.

[Roger Rettig]

" They're American? Are they expensive? "

Yes - I suppose they are a bit expensive for what's involved in their manufacture, but they're not as pricey as some of the Custom Shop models that really are excessive, with $3-4000 price-tags (sometimes more!) It's a case of 'what the market will bear', I guess and, for me, it's worth every penny to get something that's what I've been searching for, especially now that the 'real thing' would be in excess of $30,000.

One of these babies will get a B-bender fitted - I'm not sure which one yet.....

[Bill Hatcher]

I am concerned that you have a Better Homes and Gardens cook book in close proximity to your guitars.

[Steinar Gregertsen]

and it's renewed my enthusiasm for playing six-string guitar!!!

Teles have a way of doing that.....

I haven't been able to put my latest down since I put it together (Highway One body, 52 Reissue neck, Duncan Vintage 54 pickups)

[Roger Rettig]

Bill.....

It's the Lady Wife - she has the occasional tendency to encroach upon my shelf-space.

Right now I'm pondering whether or not she'll spot the new Custom Telecaster when it arrives - they'll both be Lake Placid Blue, but will she notice that white binding...?

Steinar: Well - a GREAT Tele will, at any rate.

Much as I've enjoyed that exceptionally nice G&L Asat Classic with its birds-eye maple neck and Glaser B-bender for the last nine years, it only took me a day to relegate it to the closet once the blue Tele arrived.

I've found my guitar!

[Brint Hannay]

I am concerned that you have a Better Homes and Gardens cook book in close proximity to your guitars.

Bill, You didn't notice "Fashion Designers"? "Collectible Fashions"? and "Beauty Book"? On the other hand, whose book is that with Betty Grable on the spine? Also, I see there's a book about Nudie--that's country cred!

Oh yeah, nice guitar, Roger (for sure!).

[Roger Rettig]

Boys, boys.... My wife's a professional theatrical costume-designer, and she bought the Nudie book because of the proliferation of shows based on C&W bios.... (I like it because there's some 'guitar pornography' in it - D45s, old J-200s, etc, etc)

I've just been playing my new Tele on a gig - it sounds better and better, and I can't wait for the next job!!! The bound-edge one won't be here until after New Year's Day - I didn't want to risk it shipping during the Christmas madness, so I asked them to hold it 'til then.

I'll post a pic of the two together...

[Rick Batey]

Classic... that looks really great.

The pickups the same as on the Custom Shop models, aren't they? How do you like the neck and middle, or are you a bridge-only man?

[Roger Rettig]

Hi, Rick (I must acknowledge Rick's part in all this - he emailed me privately after a recent rant of mine on this Forum about Teles being a disappointment, and he gave me a 'heads-up' about the Wildwood Guitars store; without him I might still be in ignorance of these wonderful guitars!)

www.wildwoodguitars.com

I'm not sure what the pick-ups are, but I believe they're standard 'custom shop' equipment, whatever that vague term might mean.

Neck pick-up is punchier than on previous Telecasters I've owned - the 'middle' position is quite nice and warm. The only area in which I prefer my old G&L Asat Classic is the neck p/u, but, good as it was, I only occasionally used it. I'm definitely 90% 'bridge p/u only'!

What I can't get over is the sustain and punch of this guitar all the way up to the highest frets on the highest string. It's truly exceptional, and doing two-string bends on the 4th and 5th strings - even down at the second or third fret - is a breeze. Tuning is great, too - the neck is really true.

Am I getting across how much I like this guitar??? I'm very glad I took a chance on buying 'over the 'phone'. I'm hoping #2 (the Tele Custom) will be as good.

[Bob Ritter]

nice axe you got there. the vintage saddles look cool

[Nathan Golub]

What's the neck size? I remember playing a reissue relic of an early 60's model, and the neck was a good deal smaller than the 50's models.

Great looking guitar!

[Steinar Gregertsen]

Just out of curiousity - I notice there's a one ply 5-screw pickguard on it. Didn't the early 60s models come with three ply 8-screw pickguards?

[Rick Batey]

As far as I know, the changeover from five-screw to eight-screw Tele guards happened in '59 - so yes, this reissue has it wrong.

On the other hand, though 3-ply white/back/white guards began to be fitted in '59, the single-ply whites weren't completely phased out on Teles until sometime in '63.

[Roger Rettig]

Hi, Guys.

Yes - Rick is correct about the dating of the five-screw pick-guards, but I deliberately picked this one because it was the lightest weight of their inventory. I pointed out the error (this was the only '62' that had the wrong 'guard in the store - all the rest had 8-screws) and they provided the proper three-ply 8-screw (with the mint-green aged look, as well as the extra screws!!!) and boosted their PR 'cred' with several 'free' sets of strings!

I thought that ALL the earliest rosewood-fingerboard Teles had 8-screw single-ply white 'guards, and the laminated ones appeared by 1962/63, but I'll bow to Rick's more-specialised knowledge on that. I believe that ALL Tele Customs (bound-edge) had the laminated pickguards.

The neck-size:

The '50s necks were far thicker and more vee-shaped - these have the correct (for 1959 and beyond) 'C' shape with, as I've said, the 9.5" radius slab fingerboard. The 'C' necks are, in my opinion, the most comfortable of Fender's neck-profiles, and one reason why these marvelous reissues 'spoke' to me as they did.

Their first run of 'Thin Skins' - the '1962' Stratocasters - have completely sold-out, despite (as Steve at Wildwood Guitars admitted) their having the wrong fingerboard radius; that was the Custom Shop's error, not his, but they sold fast anyway. He plans on reordering some '62 Strats once the current '55s and '59s are gone. I'll be in line for one of them - maybe in Fiesta Red????

[Henry Nagle]

It is really cool that Wildwood lists the weight of each guitar.