The Delta Snake Review

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Monday, September 24, 2018

Review: 2016 Fender MIM Standard Telecaster (review and essay)





I remember my first Telecaster, purchased from a friend for it's new price, 250.00. It was a 1971 CBS era Standard that had fret work done, and a rewound front pickup. The back pickup produced a typical CBS era ice pick sound, but that wasn't a concern as I preferred to use the front pickup with the treble cranked up (which has been my preference since then).

It wasn't my first guitar, which was an old Gold top Les Paul that I hated, but it was the one that created a connection that lasted 20 years and to this day, my primary guitar is always a telecaster. That could change if Gibson ever creates an affordable SG with a shorter scale that won't neck dive. But even then, a tele would always be kept on hand.

One of the things guitar shop salesmen said back then (and was described in reviews) was that the Fender Telecaster was the cheapest "pro-level guitar" you could buy. For 250.00, a musician had a "serious" gig quality instrument. 

That wasn't entirely true. A professional quality big amp was also necessary in an age with lots of underpowered PA systems, but the psychological effect was real. If you played a Fender, you had graduated from playing with toys.

Whether a Fender was made in America wasn't as big an issue as it is now. The main controversy was whether CBS buying the company was a good thing or not, and there was plenty of criticism of the stock pickups, neck quality, and various QA issues. All of which have been subject to revisionism in today's vintage loving age.

There was a short period when the only new Fenders available were made in Japan, and those are esteemed to this day as excellent values even at collector prices. That's because Fender was never viewed as a premium product by most of it's customers, and where it was made was a secondary issue by a small minority.

Leo Fender designed the telecaster to be a cheap appliance guitar that would make it possible for the masses to own a decent instrument. The parts were standardized, designed to be easily replaced to keep the guitar operational for a lifetime, and just as importantly, could be easily repaired or modified by it's owner.

I'm sure that even the first Ford Model T cars were constantly tinkered with due to the ingrained restlessness of the American character, though with the electric guitar, that urge to modify it didn't truly become possible until the advent of a third party parts market.

Fender moved the guitar away from the concept of a crafted piece that reflected a central artistic philosophy (or price range of course) and into the realm of industrial design and mass production, and customizable to even the smallest whim of the customer. 

The telecaster is perceived differently after a few decades. One remarkable thing is that Fender guitars that were designed to be more expensive models, like the Jazzmaster and Jaguar, are now considered to be esoteric. It's also seen as equal to the later Stratocaster model, which was created to be the next big thing.

It's been said that the true test in the marketplace is survival, and the tele has certainly met that test. It's no longer seen as an entry level guitar for the pro market, which is reflected in the current price of an American made version. Even if it's still costs less than a Gibson or a PRS, it's not a cheap guitar anymore.

That is, unless you buy one of the Mexican or Asian made models. Then a telecaster can be had new for a couple of hundred bucks, and even cheaper if you buy an off brand.

There was quite a bit of debate when the first Mexican Fenders came out. Part of it was concern (and criticism) about quality, but a lot of it was the perception that it diluted the brand. In retrospect, it was a great move. It kept the price of a Fender down and helped boost the third party parts industry that kept it an affordable guitar that could be played as-is, or modified into the perfect vision, however long that took.

Which brings up the question, what is a real telecaster?

That was an easy question back in the early days, and now, after over 60 years, it's still clear that if it looks like a tele, it is one. People can argue what it takes or costs to create a "good" one, but there's no doubt what one is. In my case, if it has an alder body, and a maple neck, then it's a tele.

The Internet and the vintage market (or the nostalgia market to be more exact) has created a sense that cost is a factor, and that's certainly true to an extent. There is a difference between a good wine and a cheap bottle of Night Train, and that holds true with guitars. There is certainly a qualitative difference in materials and construction in the various price ranges.

Whether that truly makes one guitar sound better than another is open to debate and if the discussion boards on the Internet are any indication, always will be. We're talking about sound, and that's as individual a thing as wine tasting. 

The pleasure will always be a mix of cost, packaging and mojo. If a person has the perception that a thousand dollar guitar is better than a six hundred dollar version, it will sound better. That's a scientific fact, at least how it applies to that person.

If you ask a bunch of telecaster lovers what the perfect one is, there'll be an endless variety of answers. 

The one thing that's hard to change is the very human notion that money denotes quality. Many Fender guitar owners will say that the headstock means nothing and that the guitar itself and how it sounds and plays is what counts. Like most concepts, it's true when it is true, and not when it isn't. There'll always be a perception that American made Fenders are superior to Mexican or Asian versions.

I've owned American made teles, the best being a '66 Esquire and a 2013 Standard. There was a 2010 American Special and a 1976 Standard modified with a B Bender that I never could connect with, and being American made didn't make any difference. 

The 2016 Fender MIM Standard Telecaster being reviewed here is better than another tele I own, a Squier affinity, but not because it has better components or better finish.

The fact is, both are good players that are a pleasure to play. I like the front pickup of the MIM Standard a lot more, and that's important because, as I've said earlier, that's the one that's used (by me) the most.

I actually had gone into the Guitar Center to try out the slightly cheaper Modern Player Nashville style tele with the Strat pickup in the middle position, and didn't like the feel. There happened to be a used 2016 MIM Standard there and I couldn't put it down. That it was cheaper sealed the deal. 

A bargain price has a lot of mojo in the Fender world.

I once said in an earlier review that decades of existence had made the notion that there is a definitive or "traditional" telecaster sound almost meaningless, and it's true here. I bought this Standard because it had a great sound with various levels of gain, and a great front pickup, so it's a nice complement to my Affinity, which has a great middle (both pickups) sound (but a so so neck pup).

I did due diligence and checked the back pickup, which with the stock ceramic had a nice chimey tone, which is the most usable sound in my case. There's some twang and spank there, but whether if it's sufficient for country or chicken picking is a question for a different kind of player.

It has a nice tone in clean, and sounded loud and musically clear unamplified, which I like in a tele. It's a bit heavy, but that's not an issue to a sit down player who'll mainly use it to record with. I was able to test it on the same amp model it would be played on at home, so that was a real help in determining how it'd sound. It's fun to try out a new guitar on a high end Marshall or Fender twin, but always try to play on an amp that's similar to the home unit.

A lot of what will make this tele good for you depends on what will be played on it. The prevailing wisdom is that the stock ceramic pickups here are best for higher gain sounds in blues and rock, and should be replaced with alnico type pickups for a more traditional sound (whatever that means). 

The main thing for me was that I could get the front pickup sound that seems to come come out on any telecaster I've owned when playing blues. There's other sounds of course, but that one has to be there. If a ceramic pup does the job, then there's no need to replace it with alnico.

I'll be using this tele to play blues, alternative rock, and electric fingerpicking pieces, and so far, so good.

Another question is if an MIM Standard is worth six hundred dollars new when a used American version can be had for around that price.

Again, that's a yes or no...if that American tele sounds better, but one can't know that until one comes along at that price range. If having an American tele is important from an emotional point of view then it's better to wait. The fact is, owning a guitar is all about fun and pleasure, what dreams it gives you, and so yes, what's on the headstock can be important. It's your money.

I got this one for 370.00, in new-like condition and fully returnable. Since I was in the market for a mid-priced tele, it was a no brainer for me. However, I'd have passed on it at even 200.00 if I didn't like it. Any dollar spent on something you don't like is a wasted dollar on a guitar that won't be played. That's empirical wisdom from a guy who did a lot of GAS buying when younger.

The most important advice you'll hear from the majority of Fender owners is that your ears are the most important way to judge a guitar. It's also a very good idea to like the stock guitar being played and not what you think it'll sound like in the future after modifying it. The often vocal minority of players who think all stock parts are crap, that this or that guitar will need this or that change to be good are sometimes right, but not often enough to bet a few hundred dollars on.

This 2016 MIM Fender Standard Telecaster isn't the same as my first, in many ways it's better. I like the slimmer modern necks with better frets, and the slightly hotter pickups give me the same sound that rewinding produced back then. The fit and finish is better, though I think that's more of an aesthetic judgement. My '71 got pretty beat up, and I didn't notice any drop off in sound quality.

The beauty of a telecaster is that the right one gives you the sound in your head. I've owned some nice ones in the past, including that great '66 Esquire, and while there's some wistful regret at their loss, thanks to Fender consistency, I've never lost the sound. You'll find that after all is said and done, telecasters are much more similar than different.

Given the way this one has sounded so far, yes, I'd have passed on the Modern Player and spent the extra hundred on this one. That I got it cheaper just confirmed it was destiny.

-Al Handa

Note: I did make some practice recordings with that original '71 Tele back in the 80s that were digitized and put on my Electric Fog Factory Website. The transfer from analog is a little primitive, but check those out if you'd like to hear how that tele sounded. It was mainly the front pickup, treble cranked, with high gain on a nice little Peavey amp.

The cuts are: Internationals Rock The Blues (you should be able to tell which parts are done by a tele), VJ Hook, Rocking Juke Joint Shuffle, Night Train, and Texas Jook Blues.

Specs (as stated on Internet:

Body:

Body Type: Not Specified
Cutaway: Single Cutaway
Top Wood: Not Specified
Body Wood Back and Sides: Alder
Body Bracing Pattern: Not Specified
Body Finish: Gloss
Orientation: Right Handed

Neck:

Neck Shape: C modern
Nut Width: 1.65 in. (42 mm)
Fretboard: Maple
Neck Wood: Maple
Scale Length: 25.5"
Number of Frets: 21
Neck Finish: Satin

Other:

Headstock Overlay: Not Specified
Tuning Machines: Die-cast sealed
Bridge: Not Specified
Saddle and Nut: Not Specified
Number of Strings: 6 String
Case: Not Specified
Accessories Included: Not Specified
Country of Origin: Mexico



The Quitters by Al Handa, now on Amazon Vella!


Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Delta Snake Guitar Review: Recording King Dirty 30s Series 7 000 Acoustic-Electric Guitar with Gold Foil Pickup Tobacco Burst



Recording King Dirty 30s Series 7 000 Acoustic-Electric Guitar with Gold Foil Pickup Tobacco Burst.

The Recording King Dirty 30s series instruments have been around for a few years, and are part of a large assortment of old time catalogue instrument revivals. Gretsch, for example, has some out that are modeled on the old Sears Silvertone guitars, and in this case, the Dirty 30s are based on the old Montgomery Ward Catalogue instruments.

This wonderful line of inexpensive guitars isn't an accident, or some attempt to create demand in a price category that became a knife fight a decade ago. It's a natural outgrowth of the superheated vintage guitar market that began in the 90s. As the top name brands like Gibson, Martin, and Fender became too pricey, many collectors moved down the scale to the older economy level brands, aided by the popularity of artists like Jack White who initially used cheapo vintage axes like Airline and Kay.

That created a mixed bag for lower level collectors and vintage lovers. Many of those guitars (that actually survived into this decade) have tangible virtues, like the better wood used when the materials were much cheaper, which after 50 years or more of aging have made some of the guitars sound as nice as lower line Gibsons, etc. of the same era.

The trade off was putting up with problems on many models, particularly worn or bad  tuning pegs, overstressed or poorly reinforced necks, and cheap frets. The wide range of inexpensive vintage recreations with decent hardware is a nice development.

The Recording King Dirty 30s series gives the average player a nice alternative to the minefield that the lower line vintage market has become. Particularly when the price of a mint Kay, for example, can go over a thousand, and everything else one can afford comes with some sort of issue. If you like the old catalogue guitar look and sound, it's available now with modern conveniences like good tuning pegs and necks.

There are some differences of course, mainly less traditional woods. The neck wood on the Recording King is nato, and the fret board is an African wood called ovangkol. Feels a bit like the baked maple Gibson used on some guitars, and has a similar sound and sustain. It feels a bit slick when bending notes, but that's really a matter of preference. I prefer a maple neck on my telecaster, so it felt fine.

The body is described as "white wood," which can mean poplar, but even a Google search didn't bring much clarity. At this price, maybe not knowing is best anyway. Guitar discussions have become as coded as sports analytics, with woods ranked in order of sound quality, types of bracing, bone or plastic nuts, and other nuances like which automatically determine if it's a pro or amateur instrument in many minds.

More than a few guitar players who own higher end stuff, while treasuring their Martins or Gibsons are finding that adding vintage replicas like these Recording Kings are a nice way to add vintage mojo without buying thousand dollar guitars that should really cost a few hundred. 

In the real world of guitars, looks count. Good vintage reissues with authentic detailing fill a real demand. What drew me to this Recording King was that I could add a long desired blues and roots music configuration to my sounds at low cost. 

I've wanted to get a smaller body acoustic with a sound hole pickup for some time, but the classic blues setup with a vintage DeArmond pickup a la Elmore James was out of reach. To get a nice vintage looking guitar with a Gold Foil pickup for two hundred was a no brainer.

The guitar itself, part of the Series 7 Dirty 30s, would run around 150.00 and would be seen as a entry level or secondary guitar for most. The laminated spruce top could be a turn off for those who prefer a solid top (or believe it wouldn't sound good without one). On the other hand, laminated bodies and tops have less feedback issues, relatively speaking, so in this model, it can be a plus.

The Gold Foil pickup, which I've discussed in an earlier blog entry, has a (modern) mythology and mojo that dates back to Ry Cooder putting one on a Fender Strat. It's a type of pickup that I've read DeArmond created (with cheaper versions made under subcontract for various Japanese guitar makers). The DeArmond pickups are justly famous so the Gold Foil is a classic design.

It's a lower output passive pickup and ideal for clean electric or low volume acoustic work, and if managed correctly on an amp, easy to overdrive for a cool vintage dirty sound. Another reason it's popular in the custom market is that it's flat (and doesn't require routing on a solid body) and ideal for surface mounting.

The guitar is a comfortable 000 size acoustic, with retro stenciled fret markers on a very playable C shaped neck, and cool two tone binding. It came well setup out of the box (though I played it in the store first) and has a nice even tone across all the strings. It doesn't boom like a dreadnaught, and sounds woody, though a bit more resonant due to the Recording King designed X bracing. It's a good package for roots folk, country, blues, and finger picking work.

It has a decent amount of volume, but if you're looking for dreadnaught level sound, a 000 size body isn't going to give you that unless it's a Martin for thousands more. 

But then...that's what the pickup is for, isn't it?

When I took the guitar out of the acoustic room and said I wanted to try it out on one of the Fender amps, the young sales guy looked puzzled and said I might prefer to try it on an acoustic amp to get a better sound. I just told him that if I wanted an accurate acoustic sound the I wouldn't want a Gold Foil pickup on it. 

The amplified sound at low volume and clean was fine. I found that the Recording King acoustically produces a balanced tone with nice woody character, great for roots music, and in my view, the amplification system takes over after that.

Through a small amp, at lower volume, I was able to get a nice range of usable tones, from clear acoustic to dirty Memphis and Blues...for my purposes, which will be for recording and some live work with the amp miked, it was just fine. At the volume I was working at, feedback wasn't an issue.

Since this guitar is available at a much lower price without the Gold Foil, it's good to also look at this as an electric instrument. One question that can come to mind, would it be better to buy a lower priced hollow or semi-solid body electric like an old Harmony, an entry level Epiphone or Ibanez or buy a purpose built acoustic with on board amplification like Fishman.

Most of those electrics are overbuilt (to reduce feedback) like with arch tops, which were originally designed to be loud enough in ensembles and naturals for electric work. However, plenty of artists simply mounted pickups on standard acoustics, which led to overbuilt box guitars with internal electronics.

All of those started off as attempts to make the acoustic sound louder, but really resulted in a variety of acoustic-based electric sounds that are manipulated via tone and volume controls. It really comes down to whether you like the sound that the configuration produces.

In the case of the Gold Foil, it will produce a nice clean sound, but to these ears, really comes to life when the mid and treble are boosted into blues or rockabilly territory. It's also a decent classic jazz guitar, as acoustics with a sound hole pickup were used by artists like Gabor Szabo and others. A purpose built acoustic with a preamp might be better for producing a louder "natural" sound.

This guitar gave me the range of folk and roots tones I wanted, and at much less than the price an old vintage catalogue guitar and pickup. The playability is several times better than any vintage beater, and it stays in tune. Things that you really would prefer to not have to think about.

These catalogue inspired instruments have a unique link with the past. The Montgomery Wards or Sears guitars brought music to people who didn't have much access to it before, or made possible a life playing music to greater numbers of people. The sound may not have filled concert halls, but it certainly enlivened the air at street corners, living rooms, small parties and juke joints. 

If guitars like this remain regarded as beginner or amateur level instruments, that's pretty much what the catalogue guitars were back then too. That the modern versions have remained cheap and accessible means that they'll do the same amount of good.

There is a lot of guitar here for the price. It's got a great vintage look, a good electric guitar style neck, with a perfect choice of pickup that will make it as fun as any old Silvertone, 60s Japanese electric, or Gretsch. It has a fun factor that's off the charts.

- Al Handa

Features:

Body:
Body type: 000 14 Fret
Cutaway: No
Top wood: Spruce
Back and sides: Whitewood
Bracing pattern: Cross Lap X
Body finish: Satin
Orientation: Right handed

Neck:
Neck shape: Thin C
Nut width: 1.69 in. (43 mm)
Fingerboard: Ovangkol
Neck wood: Nato
Scale length: 25.4 in.
Number of frets: 20
Neck finish: Black Satin

Electronics:
Pickup/preamp: Yes
Brand: Recording King
Configuration: Gold Foil Magnetic
Preamp EQ: No
Feedback filter: No
Tuner: No

Other:
Headstock overlay: Black
Tuning machines: Ivory button
Bridge: Ovangkol
Saddle and nut: Bone
Number of strings: 6
Special features:
Case: Sold separately
Accessories: Truss rod tool, printed box
Country of origin: China



The Quitters by Al Handa, now on Amazon Vella!