'52 tele reissue
StuffnJunk
Posts: 896
thinking of getting this and i'd like some feedback....yes i know you have to play it yourself, and i have spent HOURS at guitar center testing out teles...i have a strat and a LP and i am itching for a tele to round out what i consider the "triple crown" or "holy trinity" or whatever of guitars
anyhow, when testing the 52 vs the american standard, i noticed a difference....when switching between pickups on the 52, you get a wide range of sounds, from ear splitting treble to total mushy bass (i'm not one to use technical terms)
on the american standard, i didn't notice much difference between pickups, very slight difference to be sure
anyhow, as much as i've learned about playing guitar, i don't know much about gear..i have a LP that i love and think the world of, and then i see people on here saying gibsons are crap and overpriced and break if you sneeze near them, etc
so i want to hear from the Ians and Pacos, their thoughts on this guitar as opposed to other teles
anyhow, when testing the 52 vs the american standard, i noticed a difference....when switching between pickups on the 52, you get a wide range of sounds, from ear splitting treble to total mushy bass (i'm not one to use technical terms)
on the american standard, i didn't notice much difference between pickups, very slight difference to be sure
anyhow, as much as i've learned about playing guitar, i don't know much about gear..i have a LP that i love and think the world of, and then i see people on here saying gibsons are crap and overpriced and break if you sneeze near them, etc
so i want to hear from the Ians and Pacos, their thoughts on this guitar as opposed to other teles
"I'll tell you what: If all I had was Pearl Jam, and I didn't have another band in the world, I would not be worried. Because in there is the essence of making great music. You don't have to use it all at once, but it's there." - Neil Young
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mine is extremely resonant and a joy to play but i think mine might be a bit of a ringer. hard to tell though as mine's lefty and i can't compare to much.
when i bought mine though, i did fiddle with a few righties upside down to compare as much as i could.
i have a 96 am std tele and they're night and day as far as weight, feel and liveliness. everything just feels jumpier.
the 52 is made of ash, the am std. of alder.
the neck is big, but i like big necks. i don't like the thinner profile of the am std anymore.
i don't find the bridge ice picky or the neck mushy but yes, you do get a wide range. perhaps a symptom of the body wood and added resonance. i can't really comment on am std pickups anymore as my 96 has SCNs in it now. i like the pickups in the 52 more.
anyway, i love mine. i don't play much anymore but when i do, it's usually my 52.
check out the hot rod 52 as well, since you're righty and can. i like the idea of the mini humbucker in the neck.
BTW, if you are looking at that thread with the link to that guitar store in vegas about the necks, dont believe a word from it. the owner of the store tries to show negative aspects of the "bigger brands" to try to sell his POS guitars.
I'd love to get a tele with a tummy rib and shoulder cut for comfort. but that would be a custom build from somewhere.
Pickups and tone ranges are wildly subjective and in many cases you can love the guitar and the pickups don't work with your rig. The Hot Rod 52 with the Seymour Duncan mini humbucker in the neck is very nice to me. I like the bridge pickups a lot but it's pretty common to dislike the tone and find it thin. That's why there are so many aftermarket pickup options.
Pickups and tone capacitors as well as potentiometer values can have effects on the range of tones. The 52 RI is intended to be as original as possible (within the price point Fender wants obviously) so in some cases guitars like the AS series have different tone ranges between the pickups because thats what players and testers have asked for or that's what sounded best with modern amp EQ's and speakers etc to the testers.
It's pretty common that people love or hate the Fender bridge pickup.
It's also generally well accepted to ignore Ed Roman and never darken the door of his store. I don't think I've ever heard one positive story.
If you like your Gibson that's great. I have one myself. They make plenty of excellent guitars. The 50's neck has always been one of my favorites and I love SG's. Especially the Townsend SG. There are plenty of things that have annoyed me with fender over the years too and both companies have made strides in Quality in several aspects of production. Any large manufacturer is going to turn out some crap and some great stuff. It's just the way things go and it's one reason there is a huge aftermarket and plenty of custom or even extremely successful shops like PRS and Schecter to name two.
If you like really fat necks you might try Bill Nash if you can find one, I personally hate the relicing not my thing at all but he makes a baseball bat neck.
It depends mainly on what you like, ash and maple make for a bright guitar in general but the rhythm pickups are nice and articulate to my ear without getting muddy and I like the bridge pickup but I don't use a heap of treble on my amps either and generally only use it with overdrives engaged so the highs are already knocked down.
i keep forgetting about that. that's why you thought it was muddy compared to the am std.
i rewired mine to modern.
I kind of wish they would just make some stock 52RI's with modern wiring. It makes the rhythm pickup way more flexible.
you had some with 4 way switching too didn't you Ex?
i honestly can't remember if it still does or not. i think so. i just haven't played it in so long. i know i redid the wiring at some point again after setting it up with SCNs.
how bad is that? too much gear. not enough brain cells.
not so bad considering you saved the brain cells for the job and family.
I was thinking of building my own at Warmoth but takes about 10 weeks to get it
What I think Im going to do is get aMexi Tele and change the PUs and give it a good tune up. My guitar repair guy (Ron Kayfield for anyone in the Philly area) told me that good Mexi guitars compare to American if you give a tune up and chance the PUs. Thats what he said abotu my Mexi Strat. Told me its one of the best gutiars he has played. Which is a fluke because when I bought at the House of Guitars in Rochester NY I didnt even play it. I just bought it off the rack
i love the look and feel of the '52, but the neck pickup is so muddy it seems useless.....maybe it would be cool for my e-bow though, but i never use my e-bow in the current cover band i'm in
the american standard had a more "useable" neck pickup, but as i said there's really not a great deal of difference between the bridge and neck pickups
so do i want the awesome looking '52 reissue with a wide range of sound? (even though some of that range would seldom get used)
.....or the american standard with more useable sound options, even though they are more similar?
.....or do i get a cheaper model tele, which is probably the most sensible thing of all....but, if i'm gonna spend $600 or so on a cheap one and still be yearning for the '52, why not save twice as long and spend $1200 on the '52 and get it over with, and probably never look to upgrade?????
i'm flat broke right now, so this is a moot point for awhile anyhow
just rewire it to modern wiring. or get the shop too. it will cost very little and then you'll solve that problem. the guitar even comes with the parts to do it.