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Post subject: 1983 Tele Top Loader
Posted: Wed Oct 04, 2017 8:17 pm
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I have an '83 Top Loader that is a real "Closet Classic". Sun burst with a beautiful honey colored maple fret board and beautiful bar tanned white pick guard. Are these good, bad, ok and are they rare? Pics coming when the wife gets home as she is bringing it from the other house.


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Post subject: Re: 1983 Tele Top Loader
Posted: Thu Oct 05, 2017 1:21 am
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I have a 1984 top loaded, is a great sounding guitar. I like it.
I don't know more about these guitar.


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Post subject: Re: 1983 Tele Top Loader
Posted: Sat Oct 07, 2017 9:35 am
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mangorockfish wrote:
I have an '83 Top Loader that is a real "Closet Classic". Sun burst with a beautiful honey colored maple fret board and beautiful bar tanned white pick guard. Are these good, bad, ok and are they rare? Pics coming when the wife gets home as she is bringing it from the other house.


Looking forward to the pics. :D

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Post subject: Re: 1983 Tele Top Loader
Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2017 9:10 pm
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mangorockfish wrote:
I have an '83 Top Loader that is a real "Closet Classic". Sun burst with a beautiful honey colored maple fret board and beautiful bar tanned white pick guard. Are these good, bad, ok and are they rare? Pics coming when the wife gets home as she is bringing it from the other house.

My first electric guitar was a 1983, cream colored, Fender "Standard" Telecaster with the "elite" top loader bridge.
I no longer use it because it needs a fret job, and changing the frets on these guitars is a little questionable, as the frets slide in from the side and are not pressed in, as is common today.
The 1983 - 1984 Fender guitars are known as "Dan Smith Era" guitars.

Dan Smith was Fender Vice President of Marketing under CBS, from 1998 to 2003, and also ran Fender’s guitar R&D department from June 1995, until his 2006, retirement
The '83 - '84 "elite" top loader Fender / Schaller bridge is a beautiful work of art in my opinion, and plays well, but may rust and pit under heavy use.
When these guitars were new, a guitar myth was circulated which often times continues today, that either "tone" or "sustain" were diminished because the strings did not pass through the body, which is just complete bullshit.

These guitars were also criticized for the thick coatings that Fender applied to the body, which again was falsely argued to diminish the electrified sound of the guitar, while admittedly being somewhat less pleasing aesthetically.
The body of my cream colored Tele also has a unique "vanilla" smell when you open the case, which never went away.
The neck on my Standard Tele appears to be a quarter-sawn maple neck with maple fret board, which was extremely stable, and is the only guitar I have ever had that never required a truss rod adjustment.
The only complaint I have about these guitars is that the pickups were not very good in my opinion, and the frets, which are like bass frets, are just too big.

You did not say whether you have an "Elite" Tele or a "Standard" Tele, both of which were produced in small numbers, as Fender was planning to move all production to Japan, before the Fender employee buyout in 1985, forming the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC).
Following the sale of Fender, the Fullerton, California plant was closed, and the Corona, California, plant established.
These unique '83 -'84 guitars are generally not viewed as extremely collectible, but they are attractive guitars, worth several times their 1983-1984 purchase price in good condition, which are fine to play (if you consider changing the pickups and don't mind the big frets).


Last edited by MickJagger on Tue Oct 10, 2017 11:00 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Post subject: Re: 1983 Tele Top Loader
Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 12:54 am
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MickJagger wrote:
mangorockfish wrote:
b
I no longer use it because it needs a fret job, and changing the frets on these guitars is a little questionable, as the frets slide in from the side and are not pressed in, as is common today.


Where is the problem ? Any good luthier can do that fret job.


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Post subject: Re: 1983 Tele Top Loader
Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 10:29 am
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stratele52 wrote:
MickJagger wrote:
mangorockfish wrote:
b
I no longer use it because it needs a fret job, and changing the frets on these guitars is a little questionable, as the frets slide in from the side and are not pressed in, as is common today.

Where is the problem ? Any good luthier can do that fret job.

Perhaps I should have been a little more clear.
I have other guitars to play and I do not wish to invest the required money into this guitar to have a luthier replace the frets.
The second "problem" is that while I do a lot of work on guitars, I don't need the hassle involved in replacing the frets myself.
Hopefully this explains the matter more fully.



I have also used the replacement pickups from the '83 Tele in a T-Style build I did using an '83 - '84 bridge that I found on eBay.

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Post subject: Re: 1983 Tele Top Loader
Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2017 7:52 pm
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What is/are the difference/s between an Elite and a Standard Mick? I'm really a drummer and am new to guitars. Thanks


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Post subject: Re: 1983 Tele Top Loader
Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 4:10 am
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mangorockfish wrote:
What is/are the difference/s between an Elite and a Standard Mick? I'm really a drummer and am new to guitars. Thanks


Google 1983 elite telecaster;
See bridge, Pickups knobs...

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Post subject: Re: 1983 Tele Top Loader
Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2017 5:24 am
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Thanks for the info. Mine is a Standard.


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Post subject: Re: 1983 Tele Top Loader
Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 11:57 am
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1983 - 1984 Fender Elite Telecaster (pickguard removed)

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