Highway One Texas Tele: Am I Crazy?

[marnold]

I've heard a lot of people all over the 'Net rave about the Fender Highway One Texas Tele (http://www.fender.com/products/search.php?partno=0113502367). I test-drove one today through a Fender Deluxe. I chose that one because the guitar guy said that it has the Fender Texas Tele pickups in it when in fact it does not. It is a nicely balanced axe. It looked really nice (although I'm not sure about the wood-grain-showing-through-the-paint look). I liked the 12" radius neck as opposed to Fender's standard 9.5". I was going to play a bunch of Metallica riffs off-key for Jimi, but sadly I don't know any. (As an aside, their amps are in a separate room with a sliding door. You will annoy no one with your noodling other than your fellow noodlers. As it happened, I was the only one in the guitar part of the store.)

I played some blues progressions, a few licks, a couple scales to be annoying. And I just didn't like it. The pickups just seemed kind of dull and un-Tele-like. Messing with the tone on the amp made it better, but there just seemed to be no brightness to it at all. If I had a blind taste-test between by '51 and the Highway One, I would immediately pick out the Highway One as the more expensive one, but I would have picked my '51 for tone. If I could take the Highway One neck and slap it on my '51, I'd be all set. (Except for the fact that the truss rod is adjusted at the heel which is a design that should have been relegated to the dustbin of history.)

So, am I crazy for not liking a guitar that so many seem to really like or is it one of those things?

[SuperSwede]

I havent tried the HW1 texas tele myself, but I did try the "light ash" tele (and strat) recently, and I was NOT impressed. The neck was pretty good (birdseye maple) but the sound was as you described it was rather dull and lifeless. I wonder what wood they use for the body in the HW series...

[Jimi75]

[QUOTE=marnold]I was going to play a bunch of Metallica riffs off-key for Jimi, but sadly I don't know any.

Hahahaha! That was a good one!

Hey you know what, when I worked for Fender I remember the day the first Highways series guitars arrived and we unpacked them. God, that was a shock! You either love or hate the finishes of the Highway series, there is no way between it I guess. I think the Teles out of this series are good instruments, but I highly prefer the Mexican Classic series. I have played the Texas Highway Tele for about a month as I had it in my sample stock with a Japanese Deluxe Tele that has beaten it by lightyears.

***Do I hear someone playing Enter Sandman?**** :) :DR

[duhvoodooman]

Funny this subject should come up! I was out with my son on Monday (schools are out for the week here) for an orthodontist appointment (another reason I lean toward cheap guitars), and we stopped by our local GC, which was nearby. I played a few Teles, including the Highway 1. Marnold, I didn't like it either; had much the same impression of it that you did. Dull (at least compared to my "ideal" of a Tele) is a good way to describe it.

On the other hand, I tried a butterscotch & black '52 reissue (marked "down" to $1233) that played & sounded fabulous! Spank unlimited! Figures, huh? The good news was that I reconfirmed how impressed I am with the $549 MIM Nashville Tele. It's got that telltale Tele twang in spades, and the extra Strat pup in the middle adds a lot of tonal variety while staying true to the character of the guitar. Great value there!

BTW, I was trying everything through a '59 Bassman Reissue. Man, what a gorgeous round, clean tone from that puppy! I can understand why so many players consider this THE vintage Fender model. The GAS pains never stop.... :D :DR

[marnold]

Good to know I'm not insane. With a Tele, I expect to hear brightness and twang. This guitar had neither. The Texas Tele body is made of ash. The wood seemed to have very nice grain. I though that it would look awfully sexy if it were just stained.

I read the Harmony-Central reviews on it. Most people gave it very high scores for sound, but then said that they replaced the stock pickups with Fralins or something. To me, it doesn't seem right to spend almost 900 clams for something and then immediately have to fix it.

A member of the Fender Forum works as a tech in a local guitar shoppe. He let me play this homemade Tele of his (http://www.fenderforum.com/userphotos/index.html?recid=39171). THAT sounded like a Tele. Very nice. I've been think about that guitar and doing something with my Charvel since it has developed a short so now it won't make any sound at all. I liked the middle position now that it sounds the way it's supposed to, but I was reminded that I just don't want a single coil-sized humbucker like the one that's in there. All Telefication is lost, although it sounds kinda cool for classic rock stuff.

[ShortBuSX]

I scored a 2005 Highway One Tele 3 tone burst off of Craigslist for $500 that included a tweed Roadrunner case on Tuesday.
But then I read this and am wondering if were all playing the same guitar???
Granted the 05s and earlier had different frets...but the bodies on these things are great! And they even sound great acoustically!

I can see why some would wanna replace the pickups...they are somewhat noisey, but I blame the poor grounding to the bridge.
And BTW appearantlly the newer HWY1's have hotter pickups...so that may also be a factor.

Im gonna fix the ground issue and do some minor upgrades...but at $500, I think I got a pretty good deal.

[marnold]

I scored a 2005 Highway One Tele 3 tone burst off of Craigslist for $500 that included a tweed Roadrunner case on Tuesday. But then I read this and am wondering if were all playing the same guitar???
Holy thread resurrection, Batman!

Anyway, no actually we weren't playing the same guitar. The Highway One and the Highway One Texas are two different animals. My complaints were with the finish (very minor), pickups (blech--no "Tele-ness"), and the location of the truss rod adjustment (minor, but annoying nonetheless).

[sunvalleylaw]

Congrats! I am always interested in good finds. Pics please! :bravo:


I scored a 2005 Highway One Tele 3 tone burst off of Craigslist for $500 that included a tweed Roadrunner case on Tuesday.

[ShortBuSX]

Holy thread resurrection, Batman!

Anyway, no actually we weren't playing the same guitar. The Highway One and the Highway One Texas are two different animals. My complaints were with the finish (very minor), pickups (blech--no "Tele-ness"), and the location of the truss rod adjustment (minor, but annoying nonetheless).

What can I say? I didnt really see any other topics on the HWY1 *shrug*

The finish on mine is an Acrylic Lacquer, which doesnt seem to be as dull looking as the nitro, somewhat glossy but not as glossy as poly...and its nice and thin(not like poly)...this is gonna show age very nicely!
The pickups are very Tele, not as hot as the newer HWY1...but Im really not digging the ground noise...the #2 position hums worse than #1 and/or #3 :thwap: But that should be an easy fix(once I get around to it).
Mine has the headstock trussrod adjustment, but my neck is poker straight...but if I were you I wouldnt bash the heel trussrod, once youve got it set youll likely never need to adjust it...and that plug on the headstock end just looks really cool/classy.

PS, I like my smaller frets too!

If you can find one of these used, Id highly recommend one!

SVL...pics soon to come!:AOK:

[marnold]

Mine has the headstock trussrod adjustment, but my neck is poker straight...but if I were you I wouldnt bash the heel trussrod, once youve got it set youll likely never need to adjust it...and that plug on the headstock end just looks really cool/classy.
Well, my issue with it is that since I live in a climate that varies from very cold and dry to quite hot and humid, truss rods just need tweaking from time to time. To have to physically remove the neck to adjust the truss rod is a PITA. My Floyd adjusts at the heel too, but there is a cutout in the pickguard and body by the neck pickup so it can be adjusted without removing the neck.

[ShortBuSX]

Pics please!

Here you go!
Sorry, theyre kind of dark...I took them as soon as I got home from buyin it.
I plan on doin some work/mods to it...so there will be more pics in the future, ones that look better.

http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w10/ShortBuSX/100_2182.jpg

Notice the strings...the guitar wasnt even in tune when I tried it out...the frets have NO WEAR!
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w10/ShortBuSX/100_2184.jpg

BTW Marnold, the body on this one is cut out for a heel adjustment(not the pickguard though).
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w10/ShortBuSX/100_2187.jpg

The reason I took it apart so soon was its got some ground noise in the #2 switch position...looks as though its because the bridge isnt(properly)grounded, but Im looking into that.
See the blue wire, it jumps to a ground washer on one of the pickup height adjuster screws...and it doesnt seem to work very well.
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w10/ShortBuSX/100_2187-1.jpg

Any help with the ground noise would be appreciated.

[sunvalleylaw]

Wow, I sure like the looks of that guitar. Nice! And I am sure you will get the ground issue worked out.

[markb]

Nice guitar, ShortBusX. The traditional way to ground a tele is to strip back the ground wire, flatten it out and simply sandwich it between the bridge and the wood. This gives a nice large contact area for the ground connection and fits nicely with the Flintstones vibe that us tele players love.
As for truss rod adjustments, you can file out a slot at the end of the body to get to the adjuster without removing the neck. You'll see this "mod" on a lot of old teles. Fender originally went for the heel adjustment because of the weak spot that a cavity under the nut causes in traditional instruments. Of course, when you're using maple as your material it's less likely to break than (say) mahogany anyway, plus the stepped headstock design puts loads of material there to play with. Dear old Leo designed a neck that can be easily replaced but coincidentally designed a neck that is pretty near impossible to break in the first place. Just another quirk of the whole Fender concept.
With regard to tele tone, I've never been a lover of the US standard/series teles either. They're just a bit tame really. I think it's a combination of the brass bridge plate and the pickups. The HWY 1 series now have horrible sounding overwound Alnico III pickups, ugh (IMO, of course).

[ShortBuSX]

And I am sure you will get the ground issue worked out.

Well...yes and no.
I tried a couple of things to see where I was at in reguards to fixing this issue.
I used a jumper wire from the bridge to the control plate...no change at all.
Then I tested the polarity of the magnets...and they are the same, so the pups arent RWRP.
At first I was thinking of replacing the pups with a set that was RWRP...but then got to thinking that maybe there is a reason for this setup as is.
On a quasi related note, Im installing a blender pot on one of my Strat projects, this allows you to blend the bridge pickup into any of the other pickup positions...its said that blending the bridge w/ the neck pup yeilds a Tele like twang...so then a light went off:thwap: THIS isnt a RWRP setting either...hmmmm.
So I reckon this is set up for maximum TWANG(and some nice break up) and RWRP would get me more QUACK(and hum canceling)...so I guess its a trade off. :whatever:

So at this point I think Im gonna try my luck at shielding this one and seeing where that gets me...I mean its not too heinous, I can usually turn and the noise dissipates.

[marnold]

Well, if the neck isn't RWRP, then you will have more noise because now you have two noise antennas instead of just one. I've heard of them using non-RWRP middle pickups on some Strats but not on Teles. Then again, I'm not up on every Tele variety known to man. Some like the non-RWRP better--although I'm not sure why.

[markb]

Some like the non-RWRP better--although I'm not sure why.

Some people claim that the RW/RP setup cuts the top end. I can't say that I can tell the difference.

[ShortBuSX]

Some people claim that the RW/RP setup cuts the top end. I can't say that I can tell the difference.

Really? Hmmmm...maybe I'll try a set of Nocasters(in the not so distant future):thwap:

[marnold]

Some people claim that the RW/RP setup cuts the top end. I can't say that I can tell the difference.
I've heard (and seen sine waves that I can't interpret) that say that when hum is removed, the human ear perceives a loss of high-end even if there is none in reality. I've often wondered about that with regard to noiseless single coils too.

Oh and ShortBusX, I was glad to see the cut in the body for adjusting the truss rod. Removing the pickguard is much less of a PITA than removing the whole neck.

[Duff]

When I put the Fender Custom Shop Texas Special bridge pup in my Squire walnut stain Standard tele tonight I noticed the flattened wire stripped and placed under the bridge as a ground. I was surprised to see that on a Squire '97 Standard. Squires are getting better. The pup had a yellow wire going to the switch and a black wire going to the top of the pot for the pup ground. Works perfect.

The new bridge pup is hot at 10.5K and, therefore produces some noise, but the tone and bite is awesome. Can't wait to play with this Squire tele for quite a while. Gonna play myself to sleep tonight thru the Delta Blues.

By the way the Squire standard tele was completely painted with the black shielding paint in all the cavities.

I read a post by Bill Lawrence, the inventor of the Fender Hot Noisless strat pickups last night on the Fender Forum. Awesome posts. He explained in understandable terms why the hot noiseless are in many people's opinion, superior pups to the vintage noisless. They are a completely different design and not that much hotter because ohm value is not an absolute way to determine hottness of a pup. The hot noisless use 250 K pots not 1 meg like the vintage noisless.

I want a set of hot noisless to put in something nice, maybe for Christmas.

Duffy

[stratman67]

I have a 2004 Texas Tele. I can tell you that the stock pickups DO suck. They were Fender Tex Mex. I replaced those with Samrium Cobalt Noiseless and also replaced the bridge with an All Parts 6 saddle one(Ikept torque ing my palm on the ash tray stock one) and I have to say that this Tele will now dominate any Tele out there, period. Everytime I've played a show with it I have purchase offers afterwards, everytime.

I love the nitro finish cause it really allows the instrument to breathe and it also wears nicely.

And I absolutely love the 1 piece 52 maple neck on this thing.

Not for metal but killer for all else.

It's all personal though.

[mmannaxx]

I have a new "used" Texas Tele from 2003 and I had installed Nocaster pickups because the stock TexMex pups are too hot for a traditional Tele tone. My luthier claims the neck is not a 12" radius or a 9.5" either. Says it is closer 9.5 though. This guitar now sounds great with the nocaster pups.