Got a Fender Roadworn Tele the other day...

[blackba]

The thing that scares me a little is that the one time I did a shootout at GC (over about 25 minutes on a TSL combo), I thought the 50s Roadworn strat smoked an American Deluxe, 2 Am Stds, and an SRV.

That doesn't surprise me at all, there is a ton of variation between Fender guitars. With the roadworn series you are getting Fender Mexico's top end guitar, where as the Fender American Standard is Fender USA's low end guitar. That doesn't explain why the Deluxe and SRV were not as good though.

When trying guitars, its best to ignore the price tag and brand and just go on feel and sound. Easier said than done.

I am very happy with my 2 American and 1 Mexico strat, but I am interested in one of these road worn tele's...

 

[Anonymous]

If you go to GC to get that strat, let me know. I'll meet up and we can check a few out.

 

[mysticaxe]

The thing that scares me a little is that the one time I did a shootout at GC (over about 25 minutes on a TSL combo), I thought the 50s Roadworn strat smoked an American Deluxe, 2 Am Stds, and an SRV.

That doesn't surprise me at all, there is a ton of variation between Fender guitars. With the roadworn series you are getting Fender Mexico's top end guitar, where as the Fender American Standard is Fender USA's low end guitar. That doesn't explain why the Deluxe and SRV were not as good though.

When trying guitars, its best to ignore the price tag and brand and just go on feel and sound. Easier said than done.

I am very happy with my 2 American and 1 Mexico strat, but I am interested in one of these road worn tele's...

I know to shop with ears and not eyes, but it's hard not to expect the eyes to justify what the ears hear. Don't get me wrong, the SRV and deluxe were better assembled/fit instruments, but the Roadworn had mojo. It rang out like a bastid.

I kinda alluded to it a couple posts ago, but I'm convinced thin finishes let the guitar breath a lot more. I noticed the Standard and Deluxe had a more focused, tight sound (frequency wise). That's consistant with my Am Std. The RW was loud and rude, more like my Musikraft.

I have never gotten the relic trend until I tried these guitars. Still don't know how much I like the relics, but I kinda get it. The other thing you see people rag on is the whole "$950 for a tacocaster???" I liked it better than a $1K Std, $1200 Deluxe, and $1500 SRV... I'd rather buy the RW and save the $500!

 

[70strathead]

I have a bit of a dilemma with this Strat stuff. On one hand, I want the Rosewood board to tame some of the single coil "harshness" and if I go that route, I'm not sure if I like the white or 3 color sunburst better. But the '50s Strat has the V-neck shape, which I also want. But it has a maple board and comes in black or 2 color sunburst. Not sure which color I like better there either. lol...

I definitely like rosewood boards better on Strats, BUT that's because I had maple with a big thick finish on it (like most Fenders.) These Road Worns pretty much have all of the finish removed and in that case, maple rocks.

So in other words, I have no clue what to do. I should just go sit down with all of them and pick the one that screams at me the most, regardless of color, neck shape, fretboard wood, etc...

But yeah, I'm pretty sure I'll have one in my hands very soon. he he... Then I'll put my McCarty up for sale. Watch for a good deal on that guitar soon.

i used to have that dilema too, until i ended up buying a ton of them and selling them buying them pieced by piece to get the perfect neck with the perferct body..color, wieght, tone etc. I drove myself nuts! I would need to play them really, just like the custom shops, which to me, were a little inconsistent. The white 60's attracts me only because i have a sunburst vintage rosewood guitar. Sunburst is just classic especially on rosewood IMO. hint hint

 

[rupe]

I played a bunch of these and didn't care for them...I thought they completely missed the mark on making the necks feel old and broken in. They look right but still feel like a satin finish, not like raw or oiled wood.

That said, what matters is that you like it and it works for your needs. Congrats...it definitely looks cool as hell.

 

[James Lugo]

I love mine, I did switch out the bridge for a 6 saddle, can't get into the G and D string on the same saddle, not my thing at all. I also put a set of Lollar Special T's in her. Sounds and plays great, I love the fret job on mine.

 

[grimmchaos]

Nice Tele!

I noticed the same thing on the bass side of the fence too. The Road Worn Pbass out thumped the 3 American made Fender P/PJ basses I pulled off the wall. I wasn't expecting much out of them, mainly because I'm not a fan of the fake worn finish. I'd definitely keep them in mind if I needed a new Fender style bass.

 

[Copperhead]

Hi Chris! Looks great.
I would highly suggest that you build your own.
I got paid the highest compliment from a sound guy last night about my new Tele. He said "I think you've finally achieved your ultimate tone. I bypassed the EQ on your channel tonight and ran you straight through. Sounded great"

Do it!!!

 

[rupe]

I played a bunch of these and didn't care for them...I thought they completely missed the mark on making the necks feel old and broken in. They look right but still feel like a satin finish, not like raw or oiled wood.

That said, what matters is that you like it and it works for your needs. Congrats...it definitely looks cool as hell.

Hmm... The back of my neck feels like the oiled maple necks from companies like EBMM, Peavey, etc...? It's not like the normal satin finish they put on other Fender necks.

I'd love to check yours out. I played 8 of them and none of them felt the way they should. I played a few new production Charvels for comparison just to make sure it wasn't me...it wasn't
Perhaps I'm just pickier, but I think they missed the mark on feel

 

[70strathead]

Just got back from buying the '50s strat in sunburst. Man, these sure are great guitars... I compared several '60s and '50s models and they were all a little different. Mainly from the setups and difference in the fretboards/neck profiles.

I thought I'd leave with a '60s model with the rosewood fretboard, but when I compared both models side-by-side, the '50s model clearly sounded better TO ME. The rosewood model sounded great, but a little "dead" when compared to the maple models. I was a little surprised that I liked the '50s model the most.

I got the '50s Tele and '50s Strat each for $800, by the way.

im not surprised the 50's sounded more pronounced..awesome. Is a solid V or does have a chunky "C" sorta shape?

 

[70strathead]

im not surprised the 50's sounded more pronounced..awesome. Is a solid V or does have a chunky "C" sorta shape?

I'm not an expert on Fender guitars like you and others are, but I would describe the Tele as a chunky "C" shape (chunkier than a typical American Standard Tele/Strat) and the Strat as a "V"? There's definitely the "V" shape, but I'm not sure if it would be described as "soft V" or what...

I just compared them both for 15 minutes and the Tele is definitely more my style. I just don't like that "scratchy" bridge single coil tone I hear in every Strat. The Tele still has a single coil tone in the bridge, but there's more meat to it and it's not "scratchy."

It may look kinda funny putting a single coil sized humbucker in a '50s looking Strat, but I think I'll have to do that.

Yeah tough to get around the brightness factor on a true bridge single, unless you either wire the tone knob to it ( like E.J. does) or get something else, which could potentially open up a full can of worms the duncan classic stack and HS-3 are not as bright, more smoother but it will make the rest of your pickups sound unbalanced because of the varying output levels.

good luck

 

[stratotone]

I don't think a bridge single coil HB looks that bad in a vintage style strat... Here's one of my EJ's with that setup.

 

[mysticaxe]

And now for something completely blasphemous...

I have the David Gilmour EMG pickguard in my American Standard, and like it a lot. I'm also a guy who has never really done single coils in the bridge, but this set has the mid-boost circuit on one of the tone knobs, so that fattens it up so it's almost humbucker-ish.

You could try the EMG route and mount all that stuff in the relic'd pickguard... There also has been a loaded pickguard on the Boston Craiglist that someone was trying to get $200 for...

 

[stratotone]

Yeah, I guess that doesn't look bad at all! What pickup is that? I think I'd try the Rio Grande version, since I like their BBQ so much. But I'm not real sure.

Duncan Hot Rail. Have one in a Charvel strat ('95 USA san dimas) too and I really dig them.

Pete

 

[blackba]

Duncan Hot Rail. Have one in a Charvel strat ('95 USA san dimas) too and I really dig them.

Pete

Hm... Those should be readily available locally somewhere. Are they EXTREMELY hot? How are they in relation to a Duncan JB or '59 Model (full-sized versions?)

The hot rails is pretty hot, hotter than the JB. It has a ceramic magnet, BTW. It can be a touch harsh or bright. It does split well too. I have had one in my MIM strat for along time.

If you are looking for clean from the bridge pickup and don't want to split, that it is too hot, but it works great for gain. I think you will like it. Its a touch hotter than a full sized JB.

 

[blackba]

The hot rails is pretty hot, hotter than the JB. It has a ceramic magnet, BTW. It can be a touch harsh or bright. It does split well too. I have had one in my MIM strat for along time.

If you are looking for clean from the bridge pickup and don't want to split, that it is too hot, but it works great for gain. I think you will like it. Its a touch hotter than a full sized JB.

Thanks Brian. I'd probably be better off going with that Rio Grande pickup. There's a dealer around 30 miles away that sometimes has Rio Grande pickups in stock. I think I may call them.

A pickup that's as hot as a JB would be fine, as long as it doesn't sound like one. ha ha...

I should probably either do the Rio Grande or some DiMarzio offering. Duncans may be too harsh in the highs for me.

The zebra JB you had in your old red MIA strat sounded great. I made the mistake of swapping it for a Tremspaced white one and just could not get the magic of the old JB back. I don't know what it was about that JB, but it sounded very good in that guitar. I ended up going with a Anderson H2+, which I really like.

I think the SC sized BBQ is a good choice for you, very curious to see how you will like it. Are you planning to put in a coil split?

 

[AmpliFIRE]

The Dimarzio Virtual solo has that traditional SC look, but it sounds more like a low output HB or p90...

 

[blackba]

Then again, I could just rewire it so the bottom tone control works with the stock bridge single coil, then use that to dial back some harshness. That obviously won't turn the pickup into a humbucker, but it would make it more usable to me.

Meh... Nah. I think I'll just put in a 'bucker.

Even if you get a humbucker, you should wire the tone control to the bridge humbucker. Its just 1 wire on the 5 way switch, very easy mod to do.....

 

[thiswaythatway]

Looks cool. Are these the $950 made in Mexico guitars?

I talked to someone who took a tour of the USA and the Mexican factories. From what he told me, I'd almost feel better buying a Mexican Strat. The USA employees gave off the feeling that they would rather be somewhere else, bitter musicians?

The Mexican employees were more grateful they had jobs and took more pleasure in doing it.

And at the prices of the new USA strats i wouldn't touch one. A used Road Worn at around $700 is pretty tempting though.

 

[blackba]

Even if you get a humbucker, you should wire the tone control to the bridge humbucker. Its just 1 wire on the 5 way switch, very easy mod to do.....

I think I'll do that first later today. Can you tell me which wire? I don't have the guitar apart in front of me or anything. I just need to swap one wire from whichever tone control to a different finger on the 5-way?

You need to add a wire. On this diagram, go from the open terminal on the right side of the 5-way switch to the next terminal down that is going to the lower tone pot.

https://www.seymourduncan.com/support/wi ... s_1v_2t_5w