Product: Premier Telecaster Copy
Price Paid: US $60
Submitted
02/10/1999
at
11:19am
by
Jeff Levenson
Email: jokeace72<at>aol dot com
Features
:
7
This appears to be a late 60's or early 70's copy, judging by the way it's made and the quality of it, pretty nice guitar. Standard fret scale, classic shape, whole guitar very consistant to 50's style Teles, including maple neck with ebony dots, and blonde body. Same headstock shape as F^*^(O)nder's, so probably pre-lawsuit days. I saw a National Telecaster copy on E-Bay a few days back that was identical to this one, except it had a rosewood fretboard. It's a little different in that the strings are not through-body like a normal Tele, and it has a LP style pick-up switch instead of the slide one Teles have. However, non of this detracts from it's playability. Neck is comfortable, maybe a little heavy for some, but feels good to me
Sound
:
8
I got it used, so of course I had to do some work on it, but not all that much. One ground was loose on the inside, easily fixed with a dollop of solder. Nice tone, very 50's sounding, great for Buddy Holly type sounds, but can get really dirty too. Seems to be very versatile, I mainly got it for a rhythm guitar. I sprayed the pots( a little scratchy when I got it) and they are dead quiet. Both the neck and bridge have chrome covers, and look cool, so I am gonna leave em both on. This guitar originally came with the ashtray cover over the bridge assembly, but it wasn't here when i got it, and a regular one won't fit, so it stays uncovered. Maybe if I ever decide to make it a string-through, I'll change the bridge and add one, we'll see.
Action, Fit, & Finish
:
8
seems to be well made, I assume it's a laminate body, although it's quite heavy. Finish had one little nick in it when I got it, nothing else. All hardware just needed a polishing and a set-up of course. As I said, the pots were a quick fix.
Reliability/Durability
:
9
I think it's a good basic Tele style, great for what I'd use a real Tele for. I wouldn't use it for my main axe, somply because I play mostly lead, and prefer my other guitars for that, but I am sure it could handle it. I wouldn't be afraid of it breaking, seems to be very solid. For rhythm work, I plan on gigging with it no problem.
Customer Support
:
No Opinion
n/a I don't know where this company came from, I assume it was a Japanese company, or an offshoot of National
Overall Rating
:
9
I've been playing since I was five, yes, five, and I have been playing for 21 years now. I have about 14 guitars now, a few more on the way, and I think this one fits in well with them. For $60, there's not much to complain about, the pickups are worth that alone. Good deal.
