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Post subject: Do you know what model this MIM Tele is?
Posted: Wed Jan 20, 2010 9:18 pm
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According to the serial number it is a 1995 mexican tele. Its black with a maple neck and a white 3 ply pickguard. It has the vintage style tuners, 4 way switch, and an ashtray bridge. It looks like the vintage 62 but it has a maple neck instead of rosewood neck the vintage 62 had. I can't post pics because I haven't bought it yet but I may get it tomorrow or the next day. Does anyone know what model this is or have any other info about it? Thanks.


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Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 5:30 am
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I suspect the switch and ashtray is a mod. I cant remember a 4way switch on a stock tele before the Baja tele.


It may be worth being cautious about that guitar. I'm not 100% sure but I think mim Teles have the same string spacing as mim strats, 52mm. American guitars have a 56mm spacing. So maybe the bridge section has been changed out too.

Pic's or a link would be nice to ascertain its validity.

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Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 10:14 am
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Hard to say without pics. Good description though.

Some thoughts -

4 way switch is certainly not original but a good mod IMO. To me that's a plus if wired correctly. And the 4 way switch tells me whoever owned this guitar wasn't afraid to modify it, so that makes it even harder to guess the exact model.

Vintage tuners, ashtray bridge, and black color makes me think of a '50s Classic. But in '95 the less expensive vintage reissues (the non-MIA ones) were still MIJ, not MIM. The model at the time was called a '50s Telecaster and it was MIJ - I'm certain of that. However, just because you have a MN5 serial number doesn't guarantee it's a '95 - it could be later, like the '98 I bought in '98 that had a MN6 serial number. But let's assume for now that it's a '95.

I'm thinking of a mid-'90s MIM Tele called a Tex-Mex Telecaster. Those had vintage hardware but I think they all came with a humbucker in the neck. I could be wrong - I'm at work and my old Frontline magainzes are at home. It's easy enough to remove the humbucker and install a single-coil pickup, though, and anyone who can solder in a 4-way switch could easily switch a pickup too. That might also explain the new 3-ply pickguard too as most Teles with vintage bridges and tuners have one-ply guards.

Do you remember anything about the headstock? Was the truss rod adjustment at the headstock with black plastic surrounding the hole? Or was the truss rod adjustment at the body end and a walnut plug at the headstock end? Was the string tree round or the butterfly type? Was the logo the vintage "spaghetti" logo or the more modern Fender logo? Where was the serial number? Front of headstock or back? Was the neck a dark amber color and glossy or more pale with a satin finish?

Taking the partscaster angle for a minute -

It could be a '95 MIM neck on a black body, and a black Tele body could be from almost anything.

It's not a '95 MIM Standard body as those had top-loader bridges until '98 and mounting a vintage style bridge would require drilling string holes through the body and new holes to mount the bridge. That's certainly possible, but not likely in my opinion. It's probably not a Squier or "off brand" body as those generally have similar problems when mounting a Fender vintage style bridge. Speaking of that, do you remember if the bridge has FENDER stamped in it? If so, is FENDER straight across or angled? Does it also say PAT PEND on the bridge? What about the knobs? Flat-top or dome-top? What kind of switch tip?

I'm just trying to narrow down parts with those questions. For example, if it has a PAT PEND bridge, that's from a MIA '52RI most likely and more indications of a Tele that was either assembled from parts or had parts changed.

I'm not saying it's a partscaster though, and I don't think you should be necessarily be afraid of it if it is. And if there's any way you can go by and snap a couple of pictures for us, that would help a great deal in identifying this guitar.

If you don't mind telling us, what's the asking price? If it's cheap, I say go for it. You obviously know a bit about Teles from your description. If the neck says Made In Mexico on it, most likely it's not a Squier or some off-brand Tele with fake Fender decals on it. If I were you, I'd be more concerned about the overall quality of the guitar, how it sounds and plays, fret wear, and the usual other things you check out when considering the purchase of a used guitar.

Good luck!


Last edited by George on Thu Jan 21, 2010 10:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Posted: Thu Jan 21, 2010 10:20 am
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nikininja wrote:
I'm not 100% sure but I think mim Teles have the same string spacing as mim strats, 52mm. American guitars have a 56mm spacing.


Strats have string spacing that varies at the bridge depending on the model. You can't, for example, put a bridge from a MIA '57RI Strat on a MIM Standard Strat. Well, you CAN, but it's complicated and not worth the hassle for most.

But you can put a MIA '52 RI Tele bridge on a MIM Standard Tele (I've done it a few times). Or a MIA Highway One bridge on a MIM '50s Classic or a MIM '69 Thinline RI. Or a Custom Shop Nocaster bridge on a MIM Nashville. They are all the same size and mount in the same holes.

Tele nut widths vary slightly but bridges don't, with the obvious exception of the drilling to mount the bridges to the body which is different on the American Standard and American Deluxe Telecasters than on all the ones with vintage-style bridges. Even though MIM Standard bridges have six saddles, they still have the vintage-style drilling pattern.

Sorry to go off topic here, but I wanted to clarify that for any who might read this and start worrying about string spacing at the bridge on Teles.


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Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 8:06 am
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Well I'm not gonna buy it, the guy lives about an hour and a half away. I told him if he we could meet halfway I would buy it but he won't. Anyway here is a link to the craigslist listing he posted of it this morning if you want to see what it looks like. Thanks everyone for the info, I appreciate it.

http://lexington.craigslist.org/msg/1564729882.html


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Posted: Fri Jan 22, 2010 9:57 am
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"It has a F stamped neck plate."

More evidence that it's either a parts guitar or heavily modified. The string tree looks like it has been changed from round to the butterfly style, too.

At least he's not asking a fortune for it.


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