My 1954 Telecaster
I bought this about a year ago. It had a non original pickguard, non-original case, had been refinished to sunburst and had some holes drilled to put a three ply 8-screw pickguard on it.
Everything else was original... even the frets. So I had my friend re-fret the neck, put it back to a more traditional finish and swap out the original tuners for some aged ones so I do not snap off a $200 tuner.
I also had the holes filled for the extra pickguard screws and am going to put a single ply guard on it.
It is like 2/3 weeks away from being finished and I am so excited. I cannot wait to get it back.
I will share some photos when it is all in one piece.
Everything else was original... even the frets. So I had my friend re-fret the neck, put it back to a more traditional finish and swap out the original tuners for some aged ones so I do not snap off a $200 tuner.
I also had the holes filled for the extra pickguard screws and am going to put a single ply guard on it.
It is like 2/3 weeks away from being finished and I am so excited. I cannot wait to get it back.
I will share some photos when it is all in one piece.
Comments
Then there's folks who look foolish no matter what guitar they play!
I've spent years (like alot of us) "chasing"... tone, guitars, amps, looking for "the one"... truth be told, I already have "the one" tele (it's been with me for 23 years now), but the search is fun in & of itself.... you never know when you might find something that goes beyond being "a really nice guitar", and instead "speaks to you"... I have been considering thinning my heard lately (it's a small herd- 5 electrics, 3 acoustics) to eliminate those guitars that are just "nice guitars", and keeping/searching for "lifers"....
Interesting subject anyway. Good luck with the 54! What pickups are you going for? The originals, or...?
An old tele is appealing because... all my hero's use them! I was selling the 54' for someone and made the mistake of playing it a few times and one night was like..... wow this guitar sounds really cool.
It had a cool story, one guy owned it before and played the crap out of it. When he passed his nephew inherited it who does not play so we came to an arrangement where I could buy it if he gave me some time to get the money together. I also figured there probably was not another opportunity for me to buy one having already authenticated it and had it in person as opposed to buying online etc.
It also was up my alley because the finish and pick guard were already swapped. I did not have to worry about damaging a piece of americana.
I am sticking with the original pickups for now!
I am pretty content with my gear now. Two tele's, two princetons and a modest group of pedals. Its perfect for me!
When I started to play a LOT of guitar I used this websites "gear" section as a reference!
Congrats on the new Tele - sounds like a really cool acquisition!