I have a Mexican Telecaster Baja and that's absolutely a fabulous guitar! Costed 700 euro's and it's worth every dime. I also have a '76 American tele that I don't use very much because it's so heavy but it sounds very good.
Profiles I like for the tele are the TAF 1987x profiles (turn down the volume knob and you can even use them clean) and I also bought the Trainwreck and the '59 Bassman profiles from TAF, all very very good sounding with the tele!
Chapman Guitars have just launched their ML-3 'T" style guitar. I absolutely love my Chapman, it plays and sound better than guitars i've had that cost 3 times what it did. I'm looking forward to trying one, so might be worth a look.
They are doing 2 models, traditional and modern.
http://www.chapmanguitars.co.uk/guitars/ml-3-traditional/
http://www.chapmanguitars.co.uk/guitars/ml-3-modern/
Chapman Guitars have just launched their ML-3 'T" style guitar. I absolutely love my Chapman, it plays and sound better than guitars i've had that cost 3 times what it did. I'm looking forward to trying one, so might be worth a look.
They are doing 2 models, traditional and modern.
http://www.chapmanguitars.co.uk/guitars/ml-3-traditional/
http://www.chapmanguitars.co.uk/guitars/ml-3-modern/
Ah, I cannot get over that upside-down headstock. Why did they have to do that?
Ah, I cannot get over that upside-down headstock. Why did they have to do that?
Agreed! 
Also, it apparently has coil tap.... on a two SC pickup guitar...???
Agreed!
Also, it apparently has coil tap.... on a two SC pickup guitar...???
Yeah, definitely strange.
In the 80’s there was an Ibanez Strat model, the Blazer model. The top model of that Line had a coil tap, too, with otherwise normal SC's. I found it sounded too thin.
Getting my first Tele today from Luthier Ron Kirn.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2jXgneGnfU
Best viewed at 1080P and full screen.
I didn't say anything different. I said custom shop wasn't available, but NOT because quality was always high but because there simply wasn't a market for it yet, partly because there was no historic consciousness established concerning guitars, and no vintage terminology or market.
Quality, believe me in the 60’s or 70’s was sometimes only so-so, and sometimes bad.
My point was that there wasn't a need for custom shop.. 50's and 60's guitars were readily available and affordable. As in my examples, it was commonplace to own Les Pauls' from the 50's and Strats' from the 60's and Teles' from the 70's... even for a poor broke teenage musician such as myself in the day. As to quality.. yes there were variances in quality but lets not fool ourselves thinking quality didn't exist during that time period; Edward Deming would take a issue with such speculation considering standards of quality had been established during the turn of the century with the onset of the industrial age. I'll still take any original, unaltered LP Strat or Tele built during that period compared to custom shop today; but unfortunately,you'll only find axes from the 70's at the CS price point, (ref. Guenterhaas). Even in the 60's they knew the best Martins were built in the late 30's through late 40's and prewar era guitars continues to rule today. At 15, I just wanted a 46' D28... had a 40' 000-18, and still have it but had to settle for the 49' D28 
oh yeah... though I had/have a 63' strat, I knew in 71' (age of 15) that the 57' V neck strat smoked everything, but I couldn't afford it... and the 60-61' slab neck strat was better than my 63'... so, I disagree with your preponderance that we had no historical conscious established... you're just wrong. If ya don't believe me, go talk to some old guys... they'll tell ya..
Ok, I can clearly see the historic consciousness in case of Martin and other manufacturers of Acoustic instruments.
But Fender and Gibson as makers of electric guitars? In the 60’s and early 70’s?
Don't you think you're just 'special' in your retro attitude (meant in a positive way... 
)
Is your summary 'older is always better' then?
My point was that there wasn't a need for custom shop.. 50's and 60's guitars were readily available and affordable. As in my examples, it was commonplace to own Les Pauls' from the 50's and Strats' from the 60's and Teles' from the 70's... even for a poor broke teenage musician such as myself in the day.
Strange to hear this. I've always known that guitars were quite expensive. IIRC, a Strato in the early '60s cost around 200 $. LPs cost more, of course.
In '62 my father's income as a local public administration manager was 180,000 £ (the equivalent of 90 € today).
Ok, I can clearly see the historic consciousness in case of Martin and other manufacturers of Acoustic instruments.
But Fender and Gibson as makers of electric guitars? In the 60’s and early 70’s?
Don't you think you're just 'special' in your retro attitude (meant in a positive way... )Is your summary 'older is always better' then?
nothing special here.. merely playing those guitars back then... what I owned and what I'd played... what others played and I heard. To think that players couldn't tell the difference in sound of a 50's strat or tele or a 50's LP from a 70's... it's the same difference today just pick 'em up and play, nothing's changed. To think that it was the 80's when guitar players finally grew ears, or at least started using them, and realized that a PAF sounded different... then maybe it was just complete luck that Duane Allman played a 57 LP on all his historic albums in the 70's? ... and he didn't upgrade to a 70's LP... he bought a 59'. my 52' LP weighed nothing compared to my 70's LP Custom and the sound... not comparable. That Custom sat around waiting for a string to break to get its moment in the limelight. Players didn't buy 50's guitars because they looked cool... it was because they sounded great and played amazing.
Well in summary.. I believe there are lots of great manufacturers available today making fabulous products. Of course many/most are in search of the holy grail sound and feel of the 50's and early 60's era guitars; go figure. But it's a tough chew when it comes to cash to buy an old guitar, even for me.. but if cash were not an issue... why not own the real thing instead of a good copy? unless maybe it's a Kris Derrig LP?? 
My point was that there wasn't a need for custom shop.. 50's and 60's guitars were readily available and affordable. As in my examples, it was commonplace to own Les Pauls' from the 50's and Strats' from the 60's and Teles' from the 70's... even for a poor broke teenage musician such as myself in the day.
Strange to hear this. I've always known that guitars were quite expensive. IIRC, a Strato in the early '60s cost around 200 $. LPs cost more, of course.
I feel ya... my stepfather made around $20K in the 70's.... my brother and I lived in the attic of a four room house when my mother remarried; I was 8. seriously.. the attic, no heat or AC, just a small window and 100+ degrees in the summer and crazy cold in the winter.. 4 or 5 homemade quilts from grandma did the trick. We were low income but still had more than others... I started playing baritone uke when I was 3 1/2.. a college student down the block had a band; I'd go watch and listen, he gave me lessons as my uncle did too; it was his Martin uke that I played until mom bought me a Silvertone the following Christmas. I was reading music before I could read words... picked up the guitar when I was 5... my uncle had a 40' Martin 000-18.. that was my first and I still have her, Sally. Amazing guitar.. nothing like the sound of a pre-war Martin. I bought my first guitar (used, from my aunt) the next year... saved my money from Christmas from family and relatives... guess mom spread the word... that would have been around 60' or 61'. It was a Stella... green and black burst... ugly by some standards but it was mine! My first electric came when I was in the 3rd grade.. again I bought it used with money I'd saved; a Telestar.. looked like a Jaguar sort of.. and my first amp was donated from an uncle who didn't play anymore, a 2-12 Silvertone combo; not the stack. Made my first dollar playing at Duke university in the 5th grade... so not much different than other musicians that start early.
So to your point.. I'd noted in an earlier post of this thread that I purchased my 52' LP for less than $100. Actually, I'd purchased a MXR distortion pedal for $50 and traded it for the LP. Sounds crazy huh? But she was ragged out even in the mid-70's.. she was a gold top, back and neck.. no serial number. the trapeze didn't mount to the body, it floated in air above the body; the headstock was cracked; found out later she was one of the first 200 prototypes. Ken Hoover rebuilt the guitar for me.. Ken was the founder of Zion Guitars and now Moriah Guitars. I asked him to do her as a 59 faded cherry burst. He just happened to have one in his shop that we copied the color from; it took him 3 attempts to get it right and then aged it. We put real PAF's in it... amazing guitar.. I had to sell her in 84' to pay for college.. had a baby that needed shoes.
Amazing story, Duke!
Thank you Ingolf. wish I still had the 52' though... instead I'm playing a 61' ES175 with PAF's.. they sound amazing to me anyway..
and. so hopefully you believe me when I say we appreciated the 50's and 60's guitars in the 70's, yeah?
Thank you Ingolf. wish I still had the 52' though... instead I'm playing a 61' ES175 with PAF's.. they sound amazing to me anyway..
and. so hopefully you believe me when I say we appreciated the 50's and 60's guitars in the 70's, yeah?
Having learned about your upbringing, your musical development and your knowledge I believe every word you say now.
