*NGD*| Squier Tele Custom II

[FrankenFretter***]

I've been gassing for a Tele Deluxe/Custom for a while now. I had seen the Squier Tele Custom, but it only comes in black. Then, not long ago, I saw the Custom II come out. Similar to the Custom, but with P90s and available in Vintage Blond. Well heck, I was sold! I figured I could buy a Custom I pickguard and load it up with some good humbuckers and swap it out for the stock one.

I ordered my Custom II on Sunday night from American Musical, and it came on Wednesday morning. Pretty fast, considering that Monday was a holiday. I also ordered a Fender hard case, their "economy" model. I figured they'd ship the guitar in the case, ala Rondo Music, but that was not the case (pun intended). Here's the case:


Untitled by FrankenFretter, on Flickr

I was not terribly impressed with the case, it feels cheap. The latches feel pretty shoddy, and it's not especially sturdy in general. That said, it does fit the guitar snugly, and I don't plan on any world tours this year, so it's fine for my purposes.

The guitar was packed well in two boxes (box inside a box, not two halves). I was a bit disappointed at first, as the switch tip seemed to be missing. This wouldn't have been the first time that I'd had a switch tip break in shipping. Fortunately, I found the tip in the box, rattling around the bottom. The other immediate concern was the sharp fret ends. I've heard that these Squiers are hit and miss with the frets, and I guess I got one of the less-than-perfect ones. They're not horrible, but I will have to file them to smooth them out. The neck is unfinished, which is my personal preference, so that was a nice plus. I checked the guitar out thoroughly for any damage, but it seems to be flawless. At that point, I decided to go plug it in.

I have to say, I love the way this thing sounds! The P90s are very meaty, sounding far more like humbuckers than single coils. I don't get that trademark Tele "twang", but I wasn't expecting to. The bridge pickup is articulate and chunky, and a little warmer than I expected. Not muddy at all, but not overly bright. The neck pickup is sweet and smooth, with just enough bite. With the tone rolled back, it does the "Woman" tone pretty well. I'm extremely happy with both pickups, and now I don't know about replacing them with humbuckers. I may just have to buy another one of these for that purpose.

And now the photos, because I know the rules:


Untitled by FrankenFretter, on Flickr


Retro-style photo! by FrankenFretter, on Flickr (This was meant to look "retro")

If we ever get any more sun in Oregon, I'll get some good outdoor photos. Right now. we're loading up the arc. Up to our elbows in water around here right now.

[Tig***]

HNGD! Those are great P90 guitars for such a good price.

[Spudman***]

Congrats on the new guitar.

I had on just like that for a short period. For some reason I just didn't bond with it mainly because of the pickups. They weren't what I was looking for in a P90 guitar. I might have gotten a lemon though. I didn't keep it long enough to even consider doing anything to spruce it up. Still, it didn't completely sour me on the P90 guitar notion. I think that model Tele is pretty sexy for sure. I'll just need to keep looking to find a keeper. I hope yours is a satisfier.

[sunvalleylaw]

Looks cool! HNGD!

[Eric***]

Nice work; that looks like a fun guitar. Happy NGD!

[FrankenFretter***]

Thanks everyone! It is a fun guitar, and I haven't touched any of my others since I got this. It needs new strings, but I haven't taken the time to do that yet. I figure I'll pull the pickguard off when I change the strings, and see what's in there. I'm guessing that it's probably already routed for humbuckers.

[Katastrophe]

Congrats! That guitar is a beauty.

[Bookkeeper's Son]

Sean, you're such a gear slut, but I suppose you did need to round your collection out with a P90 guitar. You know I like P90s, so I very much approve. Is the attic floor starting to sag yet?

[FrankenFretter***]

Sean, you're such a gear slut, but I suppose you did need to round your collection out with a P90 guitar. You know I like P90s, so I very much approve. Is the attic floor starting to sag yet?

Heheheh...yeah Ron, I am a total gear slut. I was doing okay for a while, though. The attic has maintained structural integrity so far.

I was actually planning on some brand of Les Paul goldtop for my P90s guitar, but this one was such a good deal I couldn't pass it up. I still have a spot reserved for that goldtop, though. And a Cabronita. And a Thinline.

[NWBasser]

Sean, I think you buy guitars like I buy food.

Cool guitar though.

[Bookkeeper's Son]

I fear that Sean buys guitars instead of food.

I agree with Sean that P90s sound more like humbuckers than Fender-type single coil pickups. I think a lot of people assume that since P90s are single coil, they logically are a direct comparison to Fender singles - not the case.

[FrankenFretter***]

I had another P90 guitar a while back, and the pickups sounded less like humbuckers than this one does. They did have that nice P90 grunt, but with less of a meaty tone than these DD pickups. It's enough to make me wonder if they're the "faux" P90s; humbuckers inside a P90s shell (although I don't know how that would work with the poles in the middle). I'm not motivated enough to take them apart to find out, though. They sound good, and that's what counts.

[stingx]

Nice looking geetar! Have fun with it!

[FrankenFretter***]

Nice looking geetar! Have fun with it!

Oh, I am!

Finally had some sunshine here, so I took some outdoor shots:


Full frontal nudity by FrankenFretter, on Flickr

A closeup of the Duncan Designed P90s by FrankenFretter, on Flickr

We finally had some daylight here... by FrankenFretter, on Flickr

[Eric***]

That's some mighty green grass for January. Oh, and nice guitar.

[FrankenFretter***]

That's some mighty green grass for January. Oh, and nice guitar.

What you can't really see in the picture is that there is standing water in the grass. Today is nice, but we've had a ton of rain lately. Flooding, sewers backing up, all kinds of fun stuff. During a 48-hour period, we got six inches of rain (Wednesday and Thursday, I believe). I was getting to the point that I was considering pontoons for my Civic.

[Spudman***]

What's the serial number start with? Did you get one made after the recall?

[FrankenFretter***]

Recall? Was/is there a recall? ICS11 are the first 5 on the serial.

Oh, you mean the Civic. I'm on the mailing list from Honda, so they're supposed to let me know. Actually, I think they were supposed to let me know by last month. I haven't heard anything.

I thought you meant my guitar!

[Brian Krashpad]

Congrats! An ex-bandmate of mine used to have 2 of those, one blond and one black. I'm pretty sure the DD P-90's are the same as are in my Schecter Tempest Special.