My MIM Nashville Tele... One Month Later

MichaelMcKevin

So a month after getting my tele, these are some of the negative things I've noticed.

1. Frett Buzz is fairly persistent despite however the guitar is setup. Not sure if it's the bridge or the neck, but it hasn't changed.

2. Found out after i got my new amp that the wiring in the tele is screwey. Some type of grounding problem where anytime i slide or touch down directly on the fret. i hear grounding sounds. Very annoying.

3. There is a springy/rattly sound that sounds like it's coming from just under the saddles of the A, D, and G strings. Won't go away.

I'm not extremely impressed with Fender on this particular instrument. It does have some good points to it. My big problem is I'm the type of "Want what i don't have and take for granted what i do have" type person. A week after i got the tele, I thought i wanted a humbucking guitar. I'm sure it would be the opposite had i bought a humbucking guitar, cuz I'd try to play some YLB and say "this sounds like shit thru humbuckers". Anyway, based on the problems I've encountered, do you think it would be a good idea to fix them, or get a new guitar. Problem is, the humbucking guitar i want is a Gibson 335 or LP. I don't want to step down from a MIM guitar at all.

lucylespian

Hey, I love to say I told you so, but when you originally posted I was concerned that your new guitar seemed to have issues. The grounding problem may or may not be abnormal. My new BFG makes some weird noises, but they stop when I touch any of the metal components, like the pup switch, or teh killswitch or even teh strings. The guy ion teh store said another one did it too, I'm not sure if any of my other gits do it, I'll have to take more notice. It is probably a single coil thing mostly, there ain't much shielding on teh BFG, everything is pretty open.
It is worse on high gain amp settings, and is pretty bizarre.
The P90 neck is great for YLB though, great single coil tone. Are you planning on checking one out ?? I forgot to mention, they are "Made in the USA", so certainly not a step down.

MichaelMcKevin

I'm thinking about selling, but i want to know if i should just fix it. After all, it is a Mexican tele. I don't know if this type of troubleshooting is common for a $550 fender.

who's_pearljam?

hmm,

Fret buzz could be a lot of things, including your playing style. If you're playing hard, and you want low action, you're going to have some buzz. It's ok as long as it doesn't come through the amp.
Play one note at a time up the fretboard and take note of where the buzz happens. If it seems to happen at one fret, then maybe it's too high. Not unusual. If it's loose, it gets reset. If it's a little high, then it gets recrowned with a file and fine sandpaper and 4/0 steel wool. Best left to a tech.


2. sounds like grounding. I reground every guitar I get, because they are rarely right when I get one.

3. If you take your finger and push on each saddle when you play, see if you can locate it. Sometimes it's one of the two bridge height adjusting screws not touching the bridge plate. If not, maybe a loose screw somewhere on top, but more likely under the bridge somewhere. Sometimes the pickup screws and springs rattle.

It sounds like you ought to open it up and take care of all three things at once. Any of those three things are not the end of the guitar, but common things that could happen on high end guitars.

The fret buzz may just be set up and strings, and adding some relief to the neck.
My friend has a music store, and I was setting up all his guitars when they came in for a while, and I used to have to tweak $3000+ Gibsons too, when they came in.



Is it a new guitar? If it is,,, take it in to the store and see if they'll work with you.
Good luck! Don't give up yet!

lucylespian

GivenToCarve wrote:

I'm thinking about selling, but i want to know if i should just fix it. After all, it is a Mexican tele. I don't know if this type of troubleshooting is common for a $550 fender.

It's a month old, and it's been dodgy since new, I would go back to the store for a refund. You should not be taking a hit on this.
As I said originally, new guitars should be playable, and not need fixing, whether it's a $500 Mexican or a major bucks boutique jobbie.
I haven't owned one of these Fenders, but people seem to need to fiddle with them a lot, and my amp tech was pretty disparaging about teh quality of component sin teh amps, so there is no reason to assume teh guitars are much better. An ESP for the same price would have no issues, nor would a Schecter, or a Godin I am sure.
Not really trying to bag out Fender, but they should be doing better than this.