On 1/14/2014 2:20 AM, thumper wrote:
On 1/13/2014 9:00 PM, Tim wrote:
On Monday, January 13, 2014 10:26:27 PM UTC-6, thumper wrote:

Which one do you pick up more often, the tele or the strat?

(wondering if I 'need' a tele also...)

And what's the scoop on the little 'M' amp? A vintage deluxe-reverb
clone?

There's an old saying - "Tele's tell no tales" They are what they
are, and it just about seems they're mandatory for playing country.
But then again, Kieth Richards was always known for playing a Tele as
well as Geo Harrison.

IMO, they seem to stay in tune but they're heavier than a strat, and
they do have their quirks and limitations, but they're a 'gotta have'
guitar.

YMMV

I dig 'em.

These guys put 'em to good use.

http://www.hellecasters.com/



I had an interesting experience with a Telecaster a few years ago.

One day a couple of women ... probably in their fifties ... came to the
guitar shop carrying a strange looking guitar case. They were
interested in selling the guitar contained in the case along with the
case. They explained it was their father's guitar who had passed away
and no one else played it.

I opened the case and there was a vintage 1961 Telecaster. It was in
excellent condition, very little fret wear, straight neck and no major
dings or scratches. I checked the current book value for it and it was
just about $17,000.

Like Pawn Stars, I don't pay "book value" so after some discussion I
offered them $12,000 for it but also encouraged them to take it around
to other guitar shops in the area to see if they could get a better
offer. There isn't a huge demand for guitars in that price range and
although I was interested, I didn't want to tie up a bunch of working
capital on a guitar that might take a long time to sell.

They agreed to visit other shops (they had no idea it was worth that
much) and I figured that's the last I'd see of it.

After they left my luthier friend arrived at the shop and I was telling
him about it. At one point I mentioned that the case didn't look
original. It was old but it looked more like an acoustic guitar case
rather than the typical Fender rectangular case. He asked me to
describe it more and I mentioned that it had a strange "bulb" shape at
the top where the headstock rests.

Long story short, it turns out it was a Fender "Thermometer case".
They were used for less than 2 years when the original Telecaster was
produced in 1950. At that time the Telecaster was known as a
"Broadcaster" but the name had to be dropped because Gretch made drums
called the "Broadkaster". Fender removed the name from the headstock
for a brief period of time before renaming it the "Telecaster". The
guitars produced with no name on the headstock are known today as
"NoCasters".

Anyway, the Thermometer case is very rare. I checked on-line and could
only find one that was for sale on G-base. The owner wanted $8K for it.
That's just for a case!

It didn't make sense that a 1961 Telecaster would be in a 1950 vintage
case, but since I figured we wouldn't see them again I didn't worry
about it.

A month later the women returned to the shop and said they would accept
my offer of $12,000.

First, I asked them if their father had any other guitars thinking that
he may have had a Broadcaster or NoCaster as well and the '61 Tele had
simply been put in the wrong case. They said, no ... it was his only
guitar.

So, being a somewhat honest guy, I explained to them that the case
itself was rare and valuable and they may want to rethink my offer.
They told me that $12K was fine and would accept it.

I paid the $12K. Sold the case by itself for $3,700. Bought a era
correct but new rectangular case for $200 and sold the guitar and it
for $12K.