Fender '69 Thinline Reissue - A GREAT Value
Written: Oct 03 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: great value, great tone, reliable, versatile
Cons: no metal tones
|
|
|
| mikeyjake's Full Review: Fender 69 Telecaster Thinline Electric Guitar |
FEATURES
21 frets, solid mahogany body with F-hole and fairly large cavity under the controls, volume and tone, 3 way selector, maple fretboard. Bridge is old ash-tray style tele bridge, fundamentally crude but good enough for some of the best '50s guitars ever made I guess. Neck is maple, also a nice piece of wood. The body finish is Polyester and the neck finish is Polyurethane . The neck is EXTREMELY comfortable – thinner than any other strat or tele I’ve ever played. The action was set very low… so low that I raised it a tad, but its nice knowing that the guitar is well enough put together to do that. No visible flaws or scuffs on the guitar.
SOUND
The guitar is much louder acoustically than any “standard” tele (giving it nice plugged-in sustain as well), but it won’t feed back even with significant amounts of volume and distortion.
This is a lovely guitar. All three pickup positions sing, differently, and well. I repeat, this is a guitar with a singing voice, especially the neck position. I roll back the treble a bit and get lovely variations in tone. This thing sounds great through ANY amp I tried. Clean, it had that great twang. Distorted, it had that amazing bite, and changing your picking attack or backing off on the volume control could bring about an ever greater range in sounds. Coupled with any decent amp (I tried a Boogie, a JCM 800, a Fender Vibrolux, and a Bruno), I don't need anything unless I want some different effects (Flange, Tremolo, etc.). You get enough variety from just that and changing the way you play.
You can pretty much hit anything but extreme metal with this one – from Keith Richards rock to Twang Rockabilly to Big Rock Solos (think Prince in Let’s Go Crazy) to Hollow Jazz to Andy Summers with the Police. It really just depends on using a decent amp on the right settings. I play a fairly wide range of styles, and feel comfortable using this guitar for any of them, especially since the character of the guitar stays consistent through all of them. The ideal setup might be this guitar through an AB box going from a classic Fender Blackface to a Vox or Marshall-vibe Boutique Amp – no guitar or pedal will make those amps sound like one another, and between the two you’ll have an AMAZING range.
The pickups aren’t Fender’s best, but are relatively warm and are louder than most standard teles. The guitar already has a great bite and growl, but I would look into swapping them out for a set of the Fender Custom Shops ($100-$150 bucks) to hit tone heaven. I think that the pickup swap (and maybe a change in nut – I’d suggest bone) are the only thing separating this from being a totally professional instrument.
RELIABILITY/DURABILITY
This guitar is totally dependable and doesn't need a lot of maintenance. I've knocked it up a few times, and the finish still looks that same as when I got it. The only problem is the cord output jack, because like many guitars, it's a screw in type deal, and it can get unscrewed and rattle around a lot. Other than that, it's got such a range that it could be the only guitar you use at a gig. This is a very low maintenance guitar. I play hard, and it generally doesn’t go out of tune. I thought I’d need licking tuners, but that just isn’t that case.
VALUE
Overall, a phenomenal value for the money. I own 14 guitars, including a PRS Custom 24, an American Telecaster, and a Gretsch Jet, and this has surprisingly become my main guitar. I find it much more versatile – changing picking attack and playing with the volume brings about very different and very usable sounds, while still keeping the guitar’s “signature” tone.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
mikeyjake
|
|
Member: Mike Jacobs
Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 10
Trusted by: 3 members
About Me:
Guitarist/Vocalist for rock band Evil Jake. Called a "guitar virtuoso" by Lycos Music.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.