My Baby

This is a guitar that I bought used for $350 in 2003. It's a Made in Mexico Fender Nashville Telecaster, and is considered 'cheap' for a Fender. But I love it.

I have owned a great Gibson Les Paul. I've owned a 1956 Guild archtop guitar. I've played D'angelico's. I've played a 1954 Stratocaster. I've played a 1939 Martin. And I've played a 1951 Broadcaster. Sure, I'd trade this guitar for some of those. But this Mexican cheapo sounds so great right now, and I just love to play it. Guitars are tools. Does it get the job done? Mine does.

This guitar plays great. It was made in 1998. I understand that this year was a good year for Mexican Fenders: the neck is really comfy. It's not too 'clubby' like Fenders often are, in my opinion. The recent Mexican Fenders that I've tried are a different ball game altogether, than this one. They suck.

Soon after I bought it, I replaced the cheap 6-saddle bridge with a vintage style 3-saddle bridge. This improved the sound of the guitar immensely. The round brass saddles have a bright, yet warm, sound that I love.

The saddles are the intonating ones sold by Stew-Mac.

I also moved the neck pickup to the middle position and installed a Joe Barden Tele neck pick up in the neck position. Lastly, I put a GFS twin blade humbucker in the bridge position.

I can't say enough good things about Joe Barden. The sound of his pickups are exactly what I want to sound like. I'm so glad that he's back in business. The GFS pickups sound great for the cost. But if I ever have an extra coupla C-notes laying around, I'd love to get a Barden for the bridge postion.