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NBD: '72 Telecaster

jbiscuti

jbiscuti

Dec 22, 2007
912
101
NYC / LA
unsatisfied.guitars
Disclosures
Endorsing Artist: Grolsch Strap Locks
#1
Grabbed this one on a whim off craigslist this afternoon. I've had bass GAS lately but with no particular direction. Figured "why not!"

Haven't gotten to plug it in, but the neck is fantastic as these generally tend to be! It's got reeeeeally light strings and thus a bit of an up-bow. I'll slap some flats on it later. It plays excellent as is but I prefer heavier flatwounds to light rounds.

Note the Bad Ass bridge. The ferrules have been removed from the string-through holes in the back, curiously. Wondering if I were to go back to a normal Fender bridge, will there be any new holes?

Thumbrest has also been moved to the top, and the pickup cover is gone! I'm wondering if these "player mods" were the owner's way of getting more high end out of it?

Funny enough, despite all the "player mods", there is very little play wear and virtually no fret wear.

I do like the way these basses sound (with some careful EQ adjusting) and I can't wait to plug her in! OHSC too.

If you happen to have a pickup cover for one of these, let's talk. :)

8ce5a82d.jpg


0eb2ce72.jpg


71192fa9.jpg
 
#2
Nice.

I've always loved the Tele basses. Such a raw simplicity to them.


I've played tons of split coil P's and a fair number of single coil P's but the Telecaster is the one vintage Fender offering I haven't ever tried.

Interested to hear what you think of the tone when you get to plug it in.
 
#4
I was wondering that too.

With a vintage bass that has already been modded somewhat I think you've got two options:

1. Restore it as closely as possible to it's original condition

2. Mod the hell out of it.

Either way, sweet bass.
 
#5
:cool:

Sweet Bass, 1972 was first year for the Humbucker.
I had a Sunburst 1972, one of the best fender necks I ever owned.
Sadly, it's gone now.
I do have a stripped 1071 Tele-Bass. It's a keeper.
 
#7
major fart in the tub mudbucker. should top 30 on the meter. if treble and lots of mid is your thing you have the wrong bass. great for reggae and some late 60's ebo sounding tunes. If you decide to mod it think about a second humbucker near the bridge like the lotto bass ($ 5000 PLUS) and now the chinese made modern something or other. This HB will be more powerfull than the now made squire ones but in the right spot would add a lot of "clarity" to that baby. I modded mine back in the mid 80's but if i were to do it again i would have gone with a second HB.


fendtele2.jpg
 
#8
Thanks guys! Luckily, clarity ain't my bag. Gimme a loud clean amp and some big funky old flatwounds. :)

Restore? Well, it won't need much.

It hasn't been stripped or anything - that's the original finish. Not much can be done about the thumbrest; the bridge can be put back to original and obviously I need a cover for the pickup. Don't know what route I'm gonna go honestly! Got rehearsal tonight; I'll see how I like it as-is.
 
#9
Do what you want with it, but if it were mine I'd restore it. Those Tele's are interesting in appearance because they're one of the few Fender basses with a large empty spot between the pickguard and the bridge.

Is the string alignment really that far off or is it the angle of the picture?
 
#10
Restore it how exactly? Those holes can never be filled and look "right". Obviously an original bridge and pickup cover would be nice and I'll be on the lookout for them, but I don't see what can be done about the holes aside from having the thing finished in a solid color.
 
#12
I am surprised you like those big 'ol tele necks,John. ( at least my '68 was WAY fat,dunno if the later models like this differed much)...and is that the original Fender mudbucker? I don't believe i have ever seen one with the chrome cover off. At any rate,yeah,it puts out a very phat,low tone. One of the TB members here (chef,i think) put a Darkstar in his,and had great things to say about it. The closest i ever came to playing with something like that was an old Gibson EB-O,and i can't say i loved the sound,but blues guys seem to love 'em! I do think it is one of Fender's cooler looking basses. Congrats!
 
#13
woodyng said:
I am surprised you like those big 'ol tele necks,John. ( at least my '68 was WAY fat,dunno if the later models like this differed much)...and is that the original Fender mudbucker? I don't believe i have ever seen one with the chrome cover off. At any rate,yeah,it puts out a very phat,low tone. One of the TB members here (chef,i think) put a Darkstar in his,and had great things to say about it. The closest i ever came to playing with something like that was an old Gibson EB-O,and i can't say i loved the sound,but blues guys seem to love 'em! I do think it is one of Fender's cooler looking basses. Congrats!
Click to expand...

Thanks Woody! This one is certainly a different flavor in many ways. I don't know how usable it'll prove to be for me, but it does play quite nice.

I suppose I can't be sure that's the original pickup - just assumed. I have also never seen one sans cover.
 
#14
I'm thinking 'restore' has been used here to mean get a pickup cover and Fender bridge. Possibly removing the thumbrest and plugging the holes. But I wouldn't do that last bit unless it's in your way for playing (probably would be for me)! And I don't know about necessarily ditching the badass, but I'd def get a cover for the p'up (which it sounds like you agree with already)

Sweet bass! Hope you enjoy it. Would also be curious to hear about the sound.
 
#15
jbiscuti said:
Thanks Woody! This one is certainly a different flavor in many ways. I don't know how usable it'll prove to be for me, but it does play quite nice.

I suppose I can't be sure that's the original pickup - just assumed. I have also never seen one sans cover.
Click to expand...

that is the original pickup. took one of mine off years ago to look like Jeff Beck.. :-((( luckily i kept it..
 
#16
jumbodbassman said:
that is the original pickup. took one of mine off years ago to look like Jeff Beck.. :-((( luckily i kept it..
Click to expand...

Thank you!

Now, can anyone tell me if those Vintage Modified Squier Tele Basses have "Fender" or "Squier" on the pickup? Perhaps I could grab one of those pickups, remove the cover, and age it a bit...
 
#17
Huh...I've never seen one with the cover off!

I replaced my pickup with a DarkStar; believe it or not, it was a drop in replacement.
I pulled the stock (white) pickguard, pickup and all as an assembly and boxed them.

tele.jpg
 
#20
Yes, very significant!
Much brighter, it's a single coil, with big, broad frequency range response.

It seems Hammon Engineering has tanked since then though, so I'm not sure you can duplicate that...
 

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