Deleted my test pic ... 
Lovely stuff ☺
Very, very nice 
I love those '52 Teles! 
Never tried the Hot Rod model thought, how does sound this humbucker in neck position?
Nice!
I love those '52 Teles!
As you'd expect, the humbucker is a bit thicker sounding than the single coil. I'm enjoying it, but I do like the standard tele neck PUP too. The stacked humbucker in the bridge (it comes stock with a standard single coil bridge PUP) is really nice. It still has enough spank to do tele stuff, but it's more versatile. Suffice to say that I'm thinking of trading away my American Standard Tele for something else ...
Beautiful guitar!
And don't give away your other Tele.
In fact, don't give a Tele away ever. 
But, if you do decide to give the tele away, I don't have one.....
LOL!
When I first saw these I HAD to have one, so I played about 5 of them and one just resonated wonderfully. Had it a few years and only sold it because it's a righty and I'm a lefty. I loved it so much I WAS going to cut it out for a lefty. That's how amazing it was. But in the end, I couldn't do it. Couldn't mess it up that way. So I sold it and found a '98 52 RI which is my current one.
I remember first pairing the Hot Rod's mini with a Fender Bassman 4x10 and you could literally pluck one note and listen in awe. The resonance is so good you can play them dry too for practice.
I like the center grain in yours, Zappledan!
Beautiful guitar!
And don't give away your other Tele.
In fact, don't give a Tele away ever.
Hey, I wasn't going to give it away - I'm thinking of trading it for a custom hand-built guitar. I'll be trying it out this coming Friday.
Edit: The guitar I'll be looking at is a 335-type, but with bolt-on neck and 25.5" scale, built by this guy: http://www.crossguitars.com/
I was reading an interview in a guitar magazine and the guitarist was praising Nash Guitars. I looked them up quickly and they make custom order relics. Might check into that.
Update: They do make relics, but also period with modern updates, etc.
@Zappledan: what I want to say is: you'll eventually miss the other Tele, don't you think?
Edit: The guitar I'll be looking at is a 335-type, but with bolt-on neck and 25.5" scale, built by this guy: http://www.crossguitars.com/
Those are some darn fine looking guitars!
@Zappledan: what I want to say is: you'll eventually miss the other Tele, don't you think?
Possibly, but I've been playing the Hot Rod tele for several hours today and am bonding nicely with it 
I won't do the trade unless the other guitar feels really good to me. We'll see ...
@Zappledan: what I want to say is: you'll eventually miss the other Tele, don't you think?
The guy backed out of the trade, so I guess I'll just have to be content with two teles
OK, I've been playing the Hot Rod Tele for several days now and it's officially my #1. I LOVE this guitar in virtually every respect. Everyone at church practice made positive comments about my tone (and of course how this thing looks ). Highly recommended! BTW, this is the older '52 version, not the ones that came out subsequently.
That is my favourite guitar Fender has ever made. I have a black one, modified with a black guard, electrosocket jack and a Seymour Duncan BG1400 in the bridge. I'm keeping eyes out for a deal on a butterscotch. And I'm currently building a tele based on the VHR52, but mahogany with maple top and no guard.
The 50's Hot Rod had a sweet, sweet neck, but the WRHB was nothing on the SD SM1 the VHR52 has.
Enjoy it!!
