That Baked Maple Fretboard is exactly why I bought a used one from '08. I played one with the baked maple and while doing so, I couldn't quite put my finger on what was not quite right tone wise...then the salesman asked how I liked the baked maple fingerboard and then it hit me...that is what I didn't like about it. The tone was very bright, too bright for Les Paul IMHO. FWIW T2

This guitar regained some popularity through the band 'Radiohead'. I bought mine used off the wall for $300. It had a gorgeous natural finish, solid maple neck, and one small cigarette burn on the back. Other than than that, it was flawless. This guitar was fitted with a blue Lace Sensor at the neck, and Red Duallys at the bridge. It had a mini-switch in the circuit in addition to the 3-way so you could coil-tap the Dually's. The neck on this particular Tele was very comfortable to my hand. Most arenot. This was not a classic 'country' Tele but rather a serious rock guitar which would have held its own through an amp with a lot of headroom. Fender discontinued the used of those pickups in the successor Tele-Plus and then discontinued the guitar altogether. I'm more comfortable with a Strat body than with a Tele or an LP. When I had the chance to purchase a used black Artist Series Clapton in equally find condition I swapped it out. Years later the interest in that Tele was sparked by the band. I have never seen one in any used gear section of any guitar store I've been in since I purchased that one over 15 years ago, and rarely, a natural finished body with a maple neck on eBay.

[quote="ZZDoc] This guitar regained some popularity through the band 'Radiohead'. I bought mine used off the wall for $300. It had a gorgeous natural finish, solid maple neck, and one small cigarette burn on the back. Other than than that, it was flawless. This guitar was fitted with a blue Lace Sensor at the neck, and Red Duallys at the bridge. It had a mini-switch in the circuit in addition to the 3-way so you could coil-tap the Dually's. The neck on this particular Tele was very comfortable to my hand. Most arenot. This was not a classic 'country' Tele but rather a serious rock guitar which would have held its own through an amp with a lot of headroom. Fender discontinued the used of those pickups in the successor Tele-Plus and then discontinued the guitar altogether. I'm more comfortable with a Strat body than with a Tele or an LP. When I had the chance to purchase a used black Artist Series Clapton in equally find condition I swapped it out. Years later the interest in that Tele was sparked by the band. I have never seen one in any used gear section of any guitar store I've been in since I purchased that one over 15 years ago, and rarely, a natural finished body with a maple neck on eBay.[/quote]


Thanks. Your "Telecaster" seems like a PLUS ULTRA within the "Strat" series of Pluses.
Am I right? Toppscore [/quote]

To the best of my knowledge, the guitar I've described was the first Tele to be wired as such. I don't recall the name Ultra being used for the Telecasters and, unlike the Stratocaster Plus series, whose pickup configurations usinig Lace Sensors evolved into different combinations, including the one called the Ultra, there was only one edition[the first] of the Tele-Plus which had Laces. The one I described, afterwhich Fender started using their own pickups. I also recall that their 35th Anniversary Stratocaster was a Strat Plus/Clapton hybrid as far as the electronics were concerned. It was a beautiful instrument.[/quote]