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Post subject: Got my new Modern Player Series Tele Plus!
Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2011 6:56 pm
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It showed up at work yesterday, I pre-ordered it the first day I heard about it. I've always wanted a Tele with H-S-S configuration and just when I thought I'd have to build it, here it came.

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First off, just to get it out of the way, the only thing I'm a little unhappy about with the guitar is the color - it's way darker than it was in the online pictures (yes, I was warned). There the grain was very visible and the color was a lot more brown. From six feet away, this guitar looks very dark and the transparent grain (solid pine in this case) is barely visible. In fact, the grain is more visible in the pictures I took than just looking at it now, but the pictures also look almost black & white. No flash was used.

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The Chinese craftsmen are very, very proficient when it comes to building guitars these days. Yes, it says Crafted In China on the back of the headstock, but without that glaring clue to the ethnicity of the guitar, I don't think you would ever guess it.

The body is pretty much flat out flawless. The gloss polyester finish is perfect in every respect. A very careful look at all aspects of the body, installation of all parts, everything, reveals only one single thing wrong on this guitar - the pickguard has a crack caused by apparent over-tightening of the screw right to the right of the bridge - if you look close you can just make out the east-west crack. Not a big deal to me, for now.

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The controls look like pretty typical Tele, but they aren't. With the H-S-S configuration, you get a 5-way switch and you also get a coil-tap toggle between the tone & volume control knobs. Fender appears to be going all out at making these guitars look like non-Chinese made in as much as all of the vintage style bridge's six saddles are emblazoned with the word Fender and the neckplate also says Fender. The bridge is a through-body hardtail that dishes up nice sustain with that contoured pine body. The guitar comes with the world's smallest Allan wrench for the bridge saddles - don't lose it!

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The neck and headstock are a solid piece of very nicely quartersawn maple - beautiful grain under a deep lustrous slightly tinted lacquer. I'm sure it's American maple (2/3 of our wood these days goes to China) and it's beautiful. Vintage style tuners top off the headstock, along with two round string trees - I've never had those on a Tele before.

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The 25-1/2" scale, C-shaped neck is as flawless as the body. The 22 Jumbo frets are perfectly finished, not a single sharp edge to be found. When I first plugged this guitar is to tune it up, the high and low E strings were about a step out of tune, the other four strings were almost dead on! The action was pretty good, but a little tweak to the truss rod helped and if I can find that danged Allan wrench, I'll drop the bridge saddles a bit and I think it'll suit me just fine.

I played it for about an hour tonight, then peeled off the protective film from pickguard (when I noticed the crack) and the pickups. Yes, I'm going to keep it regardless of the color issue, that's secondary to everything else and everything else is good.

The pickups. I'll admit it, they are about what I expected. Not bad, but a little thin, though they all sounded pretty good through a Mustang II with light gain and they sounded really nice loud and clean through my old Fender London Reverb. I think the weakest tone is when the humbucker is on solo and you flip the toggle to coil-tap. Flip the 5-way to combine HB and middle SC and it sounds a lot better. Will I swap out the pickups? Too soon to tell, but at this point the only thing I would consider is swapping in a Seymour-Duncan Pearly Gates HB, just about my favorite humbucking pickup.

For right now, though, I am just going to play the heck out of it and see what it can do. I have a couple dozen different amps here in the Music Room, so I will put it through its paces and see what I get, then probably take it with me to the Sunday Blues Jam this weekend and see how it handles the spotlight.

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Post subject: Re: Got my new Modern Player Series Tele Plus!
Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 5:27 am
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Thanks for the detailed review. :!: I like those tuners a lot.

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Post subject: Re: Got my new Modern Player Series Tele Plus!
Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 6:15 pm
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CRGM...first off nice review and very thorough...that is one very nice guitar you got there. I see from your pictures that the Chinese do appear to make a very nice, well made guitar. Enjoy it.

I have never really paid any attention to where a guitar is made as long as it is a nice one with good tone and playability. I had an 80's Squire that was a excellent player, a MIK Epiphone Les Paul with one of the nicest, albeit a laminated top, with beautiful wide flame that ended at the neck with quilting, which played and sounded just fine. I now own two MIM Strats, (2004 Golden Anniversary and a 2007 60s Classic) and both play excellent with very nice build quality. I did replace the 60s Classic pickups with Texas Specials, but that was a personal choice not that the original pickups were'nt fine sounding in of themselves. Both play just as nice as my '82 '57 US Vintage Reissue.

FWIW

T2

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Post subject: Re: Got my new Modern Player Series Tele Plus!
Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 8:19 pm
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Hey T2!

I agree with you 100% on the unimportance of country of origin. I own guitars made in the USA, Japan, Mexico, Korea, Indonesia, China and probably elsewhere. I know there are plenty of people out there (and a few on this Forum) who wouldn't think of touching a guitar that wasn't made in the US, but this is a bias I have never ascribed to. I like guitars! I like variety! And I like guitars that feel good in my hands, look good hanging on the wall and sound good when I plug them in.

This guitar, made in China or not, is one heck of a guitar. It's as good a $400 as I think I have ever spent on a brand new guitar. And the color is growing on me, too. It's got enough interesting features to keep me coming back to it - the HSS pickups, the old toggle for coil-tap, the hardtail bridge, the vintage tuners... it's a very nice guitar, especially for the money. No, I didn't really NEED another Tele, but hey, NEED is not a word I ascribe to either! :D

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Post subject: Re: Got my new Modern Player Series Tele Plus!
Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2011 8:58 pm
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I love the finish on that guitar! A very interesting color. Hope it sounds just as nice!


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Post subject: Re: Got my new Modern Player Series Tele Plus!
Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 3:08 am
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love the color. But I mast say that the pictures of the Tele Plus on this website under the products section do it no justice.. I have just been swayed to this color :) Well done, nice guitar- congratulations :)

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Post subject: Re: Got my new Modern Player Series Tele Plus!
Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2011 6:31 am
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looks great. i like color.

congrats and enjoy

cheers :D

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Post subject: Re: Got my new Modern Player Series Tele Plus!
Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2011 3:09 pm
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Beautiful guitar, great review.

This finish is so much nicer than it was on the website. I want to see what the Honey Burst looks like now. You might have changed my mind


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Post subject: Re: Got my new Modern Player Series Tele Plus!
Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 10:32 am
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Thanks for the review, it's good to get some insight into these new models and I'm sure you've dispelled some fears about quality and origin too.

It looks like a great guitar, enjoy:-)

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Post subject: Re: Got my new Modern Player Series Tele Plus!
Posted: Sat Nov 12, 2011 11:47 pm
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you lucky bugger, i actually like the colour. enjoy 8)

sound demo?

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Post subject: Re: Got my new Modern Player Series Tele Plus!
Posted: Mon Nov 14, 2011 11:51 pm
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I found a YouTube video with the Honey Burst finish for those who have been dying to see what it looks like as much as I have.

Not the best review but you can see the finish and it is beautiful! Difficult decisions now :?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH33j6QjBh8


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Post subject: Re: Got my new Modern Player Series Tele Plus!
Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 11:08 am
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Thanks also from me for the guitar review.

When I first heard about these guitars the charcoal transparrent raised by interest, but when the publicity shots came out and like I thought it was more a brown colour I was a bit disappointed.

Now having seen the actual colour of the guitar it is more like what i was expecting and I like it and may weel add one to my collection.

Thanks again

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Post subject: Re: Got my new Modern Player Series Tele Plus!
Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 4:02 pm
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You are all welcome for the review. I am now quite happy with the color (having adjusted to the difference between the online color and the real color) and even happier with the guitar. Every time I pick it up I think I am enjoying it more. It's been quite fun to run it through many different amps - the tone textures are really nice.

I haven't been doing much with it as far as overdrive is concerned as I really prefer my Teles be played clean. This guitar, through most any Fender amp, with a pinch of reverb and delay is awesome. Right now I have five Teles out and I keep swapping back and forth between them - funny how they all sound different in their own way.

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Post subject: Re: Got my new Modern Player Series Tele Plus!
Posted: Tue Nov 15, 2011 8:31 pm
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whats the plate on the bridge pickup? i'm thinking of getting some sort of metal one, do you reckon it'd affect the tone?

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Post subject: Re: Got my new Modern Player Series Tele Plus!
Posted: Wed Nov 16, 2011 4:21 pm
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It's just a surround like the ones used on most Gibson or Epiphone guitars, only it's bright and shiny nickel plate instead of plastic. All the trim on the guitar is either black or nickel plate, so the humbucker surround goes nicely with the bridge and the control plate. It's just holding the pickup, so in and of itself, I doubt it affects the tone of the guitar.

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