I’ve been looking for a telecaster-ish guitar forever, just not very seriously. I didn’t want a Fender because there are too many options and I always convince myself the most expensive one is the best. Surprisingly, I found one on Craigslist, for $200. That’s not that big a deal, but it’s a Charvel Model 7. Late 80’s, Japanese made. Not super common. Certainly a steal.
That’s a big ding or something below the pickup selector. The ad said it was “naturally relic’d”.
It’s a weird one. The neck wasn’t right. Turns out it’s a WD replacement. It’s not great, but enjoyable. I’ve read the original necks were pretty thin and most of them had a pointy reverse headstock that is certainly an acquired taste. I’d rather have a warmoth neck, but this will do for now.
It has Jackson branded pickups. They suck. I have no idea if they’re the originals, but they sound like it. Pretty worn out. I got a steal of a deal on an OC Duffy bridge pickup, so I swapped that in. In doing so, I found the pickup that was in it didn’t have the metal plate that makes a big portion of the tele sound. So that’s a big improvement.
Left: old pickup. Right: new
So there we go, another project underway! I don’t have much ambition with this one. I might order a new neck if I feel like this is worth keeping. It seems the thing to do. Plus I’d really prefer a maple fretboard. Off to Warmoth!