John 5 Telecaster

[nevpugh308]

Anyone got, or played, the John 5 Telecaster ? Opinions ?

Rather taken by the looks but wonder if it's too much of a metal guitar.
How clean is the neck pickup, or does it should just like any other telecaster neck pickup (ie. jazzy) ?

Edited by nevpugh308 on Sunday 23 September 13:56

[Rob-C]

That just looks wrong to my eye. Fair play if you're in a tribute band, but not to my taste.

[danger mouse]

Why does it look wrong Rob?

Just looks like a cleanly presented Tele' to me apart from the non-trad styled headstock.

Seeing as the basic architecture is conventional Tele', surely any major difference in sound would be more down the pickup spec.

[Rob-C]

90% the headstock, 5% the humbucker bridge and 5% the switch in the wrong place. The tele is such a simple, classic design that (to me) those changes jar on the eye.

Similarly I hate the 6-saddle bridge on my own USA tele.

[tobster]

I've got one. They also do a model with a Bigsby as well. Pick up selection switch is round the wrong way , up selects the bridge , down the neck.

I had to have the guitar cavities cleaned and copper coated as it wasn't earthed properly. Also the factory set action was way too high and all the frets needed redressing.

Apart from that , the guitar does sounds pretty good !!

[nevpugh308]

tobster said:

I've got one. They also do a model with a Bigsby as well. Pick up selection switch is round the wrong way , up selects the bridge , down the neck.

I had to have the guitar cavities cleaned and copper coated as it wasn't earthed properly. Also the factory set action was way too high and all the frets needed redressing.

Apart from that , the guitar does sounds pretty good !!

LOL @ the switch

Re. it having set up properly though, don't you find that with most guitars ? I've even had my Les Paul std and USA Stratocaster fettled (the nut slots on the LP were WAY out of Gibson's own tolerances)

Is it as jangly / jazzy as a normal tele ?

Cheers all for thoughts

[ganglandboss]

Rob-C, you've hit the nail on the head!

Edited by ganglandboss on Tuesday 25th September 00:08

[Rob-C]

tobster said:

...and all the frets needed redressing.

That surprises me - what was the problem?

[tobster]

The fret ends needed sanding down as they hadn't been done properly @ the factory. As it's a Mexican built Tele it's all built to a budget.

It's a really good guitar , I got mine online from GAK in Brighton. I drove down there to try the guitar and then purchased the same guitar over the net.

I wouldn't say it's an out and out metal guitar as John 5 also does finger picking style of music.

[Rob-C]

Ah. I thought you meant the fret crowns weren't right somehow.

What can happen with rosewood fretboards is that the wood shrinks with changes of temperature and humidity, leaving the sharp fret ends protruding.

[tobster]

Nah , just needed some fettling to get it spot on. Whilst it was away I had to buy another guitar as well !!

i managed to pick up a Epi LP standard from Ebay for 140 quid , the guitar is in really good condition given that it's 11 years old. Only problem seems to be a crackly pot.