2003 Fender TL52-SPL Telecaster MIJ Review

Howdy!

The Fender Telecaster has been around for 60 years, but I still think of it as the ultimate electric guitar, and if I could only have one guitar it would have to be a Telecaster. Of course I have a many guitars, but there is no good reason for me to have more than one Tele, but one of the ones I have chosen to keep is this 2003 Fender Telecaster TL52-SPL. This is a guitar that was made by Fender’s Japanese subsidiary, and it is kind of a nod to Keith Richard’s iconic Micawber guitar.

If you are not familiar with Keith’s guitar, it is a truly a one-of-a-kind, and mysteries about what parts were used to build it. It started out as a 1952 to 1954 (nobody is really sure of the year) butterscotch Fender Telecaster, and it has been routed at the neck for a humbucker, which is generally held to be a Gibson PAF. The pickup is installed backwards so that the pole pieces are closer to the bridge. The bridge pickup is from a Fender lap steel with only two mounting holes for the screws. I think he uses the stock 3-way switch configuration.

The bridge on Mr. Richard’s guitar is a six-saddle solid brass unit, probably from an old Schecter. The low E-string is left off, so the saddle has been taken off too. He tunes it to open G with 0.011, 0.015, 0.018, 0.030 and 0.042 gauge strings. His tuners have been replaced as well.

Supposedly he named his guitar after a character from Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield (the one that ended up in a debtor’s prison), believe it or not. Anyway, it seems like everybody out there has tried to build one of these, and the specs for them are all over the place, which seems like a good place to start talking about my guitar.

This one was built by the Fender Japan Custom Shop in 2003, as model TL52-SPL, so they chose to base this guitar on a 1952 Telecaster spec. It has a white ash body with a clear blonde finish that allows the grain to show through. It has darkened over the last 15 years and gotten some bumps and bruises so it has a nice vintage vibe to it. It has a simple single-ply flat black pickguard.

They did not go for the early 1950s V profile, but rather with a chunky C profile neck with a 1950’s type spaghetti logo on the headstock. This one shows honest wear here and there, but there are still a few years left in the original frets. They chose to install Gotoh sealed back tuners, which work very well, but I am not sure how they match up with what is on the original guitar.

The bridge is a modern chrome piece with block-style saddles, so it does not match up with the brass piece found on Mr. Richards’ guitars, or many of the other Japanese copies. This should be easy enough to fix. .

The pickups are a Fender Dragster humbucker at the neck and a traditional vintage single coil at the bridge. I went ahead and turned the neck pickup around so the pole pieces are closer to the bridge; there was plenty of wire to do this without any problems. I would really like to try out a PAF re-issue to see how it changes to tone on this beast.

Fender’s Japanese subsidiary has a legendary quality reputation. This one has been played for a few decades, so the finish has dulled but it is still a solidly built guitar that will be around for another twenty years. It is not too heavy for a Telecaster, coming in at around 8 pounds, which is pretty ok.

It came to me with 0.009s, and it just did not sound right. I now have it set up in normal tuning with 0.010 Slinkies and it sounds and plays marvelously. The neck humbucker really provides a lot more body to the tone, but as I said earlier I would really like to see how a PAF sounds in this thing, as well as a brass bridge.

These were never imported to the US, so if you want one like this you will have to find one from a Japanese seller on eBay, or build your own. This might be a good place to start!

Mahalo!

2008 Martin HD-28V Custom Acoustic Guitar Review

Hiya!

Today we are looking at a guitar that unfortunately never stood a chance in my collection, a 2008 Martin HD-28V Custom acoustic, that was part of a special run of 10 that were produced for Gruhn Guitars of Nashville, Tennessee. This is not fault of the guitar, but rather is the victim of my return to school and the complete lack of time to play very much anymore – my D18-GE is still the number one guitar in my life. However, this is still a beautiful dreadnought that anyone in his or her right mind would be proud to possess.

The HD-28V is the most popular model in the Martin vintage series, and it is a fairly faithful replica of the original rosewood dreadnought. As I said, this is one of ten custom guitars that were built for Gruhn six years ago. They incorporated popular pre-war features into a vintage herringbone D-2 format, including: grained ivoroid bindings, forward-shifted scalloped bracing, butterbean tuning machines, and a diamond-and-squares fingerboard inlay. These combine to result in an exceptional pre-war re-creation in both tone and appearance.

For Gruhn, they went a step further and used an Adirondack spruce top, Indian Rosewood sides and back, Golden Era style Adirondack bracing and a thicker 1-3/4" nut width to make this HD-28V even better. Finished off with a gloss body finish, aging toner on top and a bevelled & polished tortoise pickguard this guitar became an instant classic.

This Adirondack top provides ample power suitable for most applications. The tone is punchy, bright, clear and loud. Additionally, the Adirondack top allows for lots of headroom and power when you need it. Adirondack is the stiffest tonewood and provides an instant attack and unmatched clarity, though it takes a bit more pick attack to drive it.

The body has zig-zag herringbone black and white binding, which always looks very nice, and it carries over to the purfling on the back. The V-shaped neck is a fine piece of workmanship. It is made of satin-finished hand-shaped mahogany with an ebony fretboard (the bridge base is ebony too). The neck is not bound, and 14 of its 20 frets are clear of the body, which is a change that Martin made in 1934. The neck has an easy and shallow profile, with a 16-inch radius. The nut and compensated bridge are both made of bone.

Of course the craftsmanship is first-rate. It came to me perfectly set up, and the nut and fretwork is unparalleled. It plays very smoothly, and it feels very comfortable even without any break-in period. It can be a very loud guitar, and the more you lean into it, the more you realize how well balanced it is from string to string. I go back and forth on whether I like the sound of mahogany or rosewood better, but the tone of this one is great, so rosewood it is…

The limited edition Gruhn guitars are all gone, but you can get close with a standard HD-28V if you are willing to pay the price. These guitars are fantastic, but not terribly cheap. A brand new Martin HD-28V has a list price of $4599 and a street price of $3499, which includes a nice hard case and a limited lifetime warranty for the original purchaser. Think of it as an investment in your future, as these guitars will last a lifetime if kept in a loving environment. By the way, a while back I went on the Martin factory tour and got to see first-hand the care that goes into building these guitars, and it made me proud to own one. If you are ever in Eastern Pennsylvania, I highly recommend that you stop by their factory for a tour.

Fortunately, I was able to find a good home for this fine instrument, and I am sure that I will come to regret selling it. But, guitars were meant to be played, and to have this one just siting in its case was certainly a crime.

Mahalo!

Gibson Explorer Back from the Hot Rod Shop

Greetings!

Well, I recently got my Gibson Explorer back from my buddy the hot rod builder, where he had it to do his magic with. He always wanted to do a guitar and I gave it to him with no instructions or direction, and he used his own style to make the guitar look the way he thought it should look, and he went all out!

Pictures cannot do this guitar justice. He sprayed a flawless green and black flip-flop metallic with a scratch resistant clear coat. He had it pinstriped by the number 1 striper in the So Cal hotrod scene, and he had a sign shop custom make lettering that celebrates famous users of the Gibson Explorer. It is a smooth as silk, and this one is actually a keeper in every sense of the word.

It is pretty, but I plan to play the crap out of this guitar as it is so powerful, and it sounds amazing with proper set-up from the guys at Long Beach Guitar Repair. Of course the clear is amazing, and it is renowned for its resistance to scratching (at $400 a quart…), so I am not too worried about wearing it out. The only thing I can think of doing to it is possibly putting a different color (black or matching green) pickguard on it.

The best thing is that it was a labor of love by a good friend, and it carries a lot of good memories with it. It is not going anywhere!

Mahalo!