A Mexican tele for £50

Ninja_RebornNinja_Reborn Posts: 124Member
edited August 2016 in Guitar Chat
Just bought a Mexican tele locally for  £50 - very pleased! It does of course need some work - the control plate is loose and hanging off and the jack plate is missing.  Frets are green (but good underneath). Electrics all work - need a new jack, possible switch Above all it just needs a damn good clean and pick guard screws changing. I reckon I'll need to spend around £30 to bring to life, so very pleased.  It's midnight wine/maple. I've done some (poor) pics - will post shortly!

Comments

  • stickyfiddlestickyfiddle Posts: 355Member

    Well done! I've never found a bargain close to that!

  • Ninja_RebornNinja_Reborn Posts: 124Member

    Pics - indoor ones are as it arrived, outdoor are after my initial clean of the body and neck, also swapped the pick guard screws.  off to get some wire wool and tape to attack those frets.  

     

    Just need to order the control & jack plate from axes r us - think I have everything else I need in my parts bin.

     

     

    fiddy3-2

    fiddy3-3

    fiddy3-4

    fiddy3-5

    fiddy3-6

    fiddy3-7

    fiddy3-8

    fiddy3-9

    fiddy3-11

    fiddy3-12

    fiddy3-13

    fiddy3

  • Just TelJust Tel Posts: 519Member

    Bargain of the week. What a find.

  • lancpudnlancpudn Posts: 1,393Member

    WOW 50 quid! Result. It just goes to show the bargains are still out there. nice find.

  • Ninja_RebornNinja_Reborn Posts: 124Member

    Thanks guys - this was a chance find on one of those Facebook trading pages - a mate posted a laptop so I clicked in to look at that and this was below.

     

    I've given the frets a clean and polish and they look great - still a couple of stubborn marks here and there, but nothing to worry about.  There's also a little bit of wear - again consistent with age - I'll probably have it dressed in due course.

     

    Was trying to find out why the frets, strings and controls could be so corroded and think it might be a result of "gassing off" (which I only found out about from a random website), basically chemicals leach out of the case lining and attack the metal bits.  As I think about it this may be why I get an odd smell from stings that have been on guitars I've not played in a while.  I'm sure this tele has been stored for a long time in less than perfect conditions.

     

  • JockoJocko Posts: 7,107Member, Moderator
    Originally Posted by Just Tel:

    Bargain of the week. What a find.

    Of the week. Of the forum more like.

  • Mark PMark P Posts: 2,314Member

    No wonder you couldn't resist - one amazing bargain! In the value for money stakes I find it difficult to remember seeing better.

  • Ninja_RebornNinja_Reborn Posts: 124Member

    Well the control plate & the knobs cleaned up amazingly with some wire wool so the only bit I need to buy is the jack cover.

     

    The guy who sold it to me said that he was "just going to throw it in the skip" so I'm very pleased that I was able to rescue what is a pretty solid guitar.  

     

    Given this is the a 2002 standard I'm pretty sure they're ceramic pickups (I forgot to check when I had the guard off! they do sound a little vanilla - just lacking a tele bite.  I'm thinking that a worthwhile upgrade would be to swap them for some hot Alnico pickups.  I checked Iron Gear and they don't seem to have any tele sets (unless I missed them).  So if anyone has any recommendations for good inexpensive options I would be grateful.

     

     

     

     

  • JockoJocko Posts: 7,107Member, Moderator
  • JockoJocko Posts: 7,107Member, Moderator

    For a jack socket might I suggest a JPTL03 as found here.

    This is the type I use on my Teles. No issues with them coming loose.

  • BryBry Posts: 652Member

    Iron Gear have "Steel Foundry" and "Steel Twin" sets for Tele here...

    http://www.irongear.co.uk/irongear_pickups_031.htm

     

  • Ninja_RebornNinja_Reborn Posts: 124Member

    Cool thanks Bry - I was only looking at the front page so didn't see the neck ones.  I like Iron Gear stuff so there are some nice options there - I've also seen the Tonerider Hot Tele set which sound pretty cool to.

     

    Thanks Jocko I've just ordered one of those - that's such a sensible idea - I can't think of anyone who enjoys the Vintage Wobbly Jack Plate!

  • Reg SoxReg Sox Posts: 3,121Member

    I put the Tonerider classic tele set in my home build and I've been very happy with them.

     

    So if you want something slightly hotter then it's likely the hot ones will be good as well - I um'd and ah'd over the two sets listening to the clips on their website and eventually went for the classic set just through personal preference, and being as it was my first tele I thought I'd try to get as near as the original sound as possible.

     

    Great find!  Congratulations.

     

    Cheers, Reg.

  • SteerSteer Posts: 132Member

    My Tele is a MIM 2002 as well. I thought mine was a bargain, but by comparison I massively overpaid!

     

    The stock pickups sound good to my ears. Not saying that you can't imrove on them of course...

  • Ninja_RebornNinja_Reborn Posts: 124Member

    Having played a bit more I have to agree the stock pickups sound pretty good - I think that I'm more used to the bite of my Baja and CV.  I wonder though if the the extra bark from those two comes from the brass saddles more than the pickups.  I'm giving quite a bit of consideration to swapping the bridge for a Gotoh Vintage style one.  

     

    Time will tell though as I intend to play the current set of strings into the ground so I get an idea of what changes I want or even need to make.  Given the guitar was so cheap it's a blank canvas for upgrades - although residual value is never really a concern, it's nice to be consequence free!

  • Soft PluckerSoft Plucker Posts: 55Member

    I daresay a US Tele wouldn't sound very different - in spite of being nearly ten times the price!

Sign In or Register to comment.