i just picked this up yesterday. It is pre owned. Excellent condition for a guitar that has been around since 2000. It features a alder body, maple neck, maple fretboard. From the serial dating, This piece is probably made in 2000 at the Corona California factory. I'm not sure what these pickups are but my sources tell me that these are the stock pickups. I will have to take those pickups out to check on their item number to find it origins
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I love the finish on this one. Some say it's a 2 tone sunburst. Some say it's tobacco burst. Well whatever... Whichever it is, It's certainly beautiful with the grains showing through the finish. It's one of those G.A.S factor for me to pick this up without thinking too much about how i'm going to suffer through the month with the amount i have spent on this beauty. Counting down the days until my next payroll arrives so life will be back to normal,
This piece also features a 5 saddle bridge but personally, i still prefer the vintage 3 saddle setup. The electronics feature a delta tone control and a 3 way switch.
I personally love the sound of telecasters. This one sounds towards the warmer side. It's got a very punchy tone and the cleans are amazing. When driven, The string through bridge helps to boost the sustain. It's certainly a leap of difference from my previous CIJ TL71 which had a rather snappy tone that breaks up in tone and produces that "quack" of a tone when the guitar is picked hard.
With the tone knob turned down. Switch on the neck pickup and it produces a warm and jazzy tone with punch. The Bridge pickup just oozes with the TWANG factor with the tone knob in full position.
This is one very versatile guitar. The only dislike i about this guitar is the lack of a broken in feel on the edge of the fretboard. Unlike the 2008 American standard. This 2000 model feels less comfortable . I guess i just need some getting used to with the different types of neck i play daily.
I hope this guitar will be a good investment for me in the future.
9 years and counting till this "Teletubby" is labeled as Vinatge ....