Hoffman Amplifiers Tube Amplifier Forum
Other Stuff => Guitars => Topic started by: RicharD on July 29, 2011, 11:56:55 pm
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My brother-in-law has let me borrow his 75 Tele. He hasn't played it in years. He siad, "keep it as long as you need it," which means I can probably buy it. It's previous owner ran it hard and put it away wet. I don't know what they did to the body before they shot it with plain ol spray paint, but they destroyed any resale value. Regardless, it plays great. It has a really thin neck. It feels different, but I like it and it stays in tune which is more than I can say for my TeleMex. I need to visit it's belly cuz it's buzzy when you let go of the strings, scratchy bent pots, the usual. It's totally beat which suits me fine.
(http://www.swastikittens.com/Dick/Images/Tele2.jpg)
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Which one is it?
I have a soft spot myself for underdog guitars that need a little love. They're fun to play, & have a little personality.
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The black one on the right is the 75. The purple one on the left is Juanito.
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Oh MY!
That's not just a 75 Tele, its a 75 Tele CUSTOM!
I figured the black one was a modern reissue.
The neck pickup is a Seth Lover Wide Range Humbucker and very desirable.
You may want to try and repair the pots instead of replacing them. If you do replace them, save them, and anything else you may remove.
On that same note, it is a popular mod to change the value of the neck tone and volume controls. The WRHB is a bit dark and a high value pot helps brighten them up.
You have one of the more desirable Tele's, certainly one of the most desirable CBS Tele's.
You bet your Bro in law deserves BIG thanks.
I notice too that 2 of the pot knobs have been replaced. all 4 should be the Fender amp knobs. The re issues are labeled with Vol. and Tone inked on the silver inset on top, while the originals were just plain amp knobs. that is if I remember correctly, I've never actually had an original in my hands.
Curious, does it have the 3 screw micro tilt neck or the standard 4 screw?
Awesome Axe!
Ray
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Hey Richard,
Just my opinion, Because of the nature of that being a desirable vintage guitar, you may want to check out this forum:
http://www.tdpri.com (http://www.tdpri.com)
It is a whole forum dedicated to the Telecaster with a LOT of qualified members.
The atmosphere is very friendly and respectful like here.
The guys over there may help prevent any costly mistakes while you're repairing it.
Just my .02
Ray
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Ray,
Thanks for the info. To answer your question, it has a 3 bolt neck plate. I'm pretty certain the front pickup has been replaced but the back one appears to be original. 1 volume pot has been replaced but the other 3 are original. I was able to keep all the post with the help of some magic deoxit spray. I think the selector switch has been replaced. Unfortunately all the wiring at the switch had been hacked about 2" too short and had crappy extensions that were shorting. Fortunately the pickup wires were still long enough. Vintage or not, if the wires are too short, they're too short and have been replaced with surplus wire from Lockheed. I also regrounded the pots. I dunno why someone would cut those but the sad fact of the matter, the damage is already done. You can't tell from the picture how molested the body is. Somehow the neck has survived with only minor dings and the frets are in better shape that one would expect, especially after looking at the rest of the body. My theory is that whoever had it before my brother-in-law didn't like the skinny neck, so they decided to "punk" it out but then didn't play it much. I like the skinny neck. I find very comfortable given the state of my construction riddled paws. I immediately fell in love with the Les Paul pickup switch. We have a song where I have to go from quiet to loud and back to quiet again, where the 2nd transition has to happen in a single beat. Using Juanito, I had to make these changes using the volume knob and I always finalized either too quiet or too loud. I just set the humbucker quiet and the single coil loud and use the switch. Juanito has 2 single coils and is much twangier with both pickups on. This actually works out perfect whereas Juanito is now exclusively an open tuned slider.
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Richard,
The neck Pickup may have been replaced, but it would have been with another WRHB from that era.
The re issues only look like the originals, but the insides are very different and the exterior dimensions are smaller. There is only 1 person who makes replacement WRHB's and its only been in the last few years that they have been available.
http://www.telenator.com/ (http://www.telenator.com/)
This guy (as far as I',m concerned) is THE authority on WRHB's
You'll find him on the TDPRI forum under the name Telenator.
He was Very helpful to me and my son assembling a parts caster custom.
That was my first go at building (assembling really) a guitar and it came out wonderfully.
hacked paint job and all.. its still an awesome guitar worthy of lots of playing time.
restored or roadworn you got a guitar you can be proud to own for the rest of your years.