Fender Thinline - tell me more

[Robert****]

So for some reason, I'm getting intrigued about Thinlines!

Tell me more about the good ones.

Do you prefer humbuckers or single-coils on them? I'm leaning towards this.

[duhvoodooman***]

I own a very non-typical '72 Thinline RI--all the details here: http://www.thefret.net/showthread.php/22055

I like the guitar VERY much. Killer looks, very comfortable to play, and the tones seem to split the difference between regular humbuckers and single coils, though I'm sure that a part of that is the upgraded Novak WR humbuckers. The aftermarket Bigsby is very cool, as well. The other guitar player in our church praise band owns a newer '72 Thinline RI with the 3TB finish, all stock, and I've also played that one a bit. Not quite as bright & chimey as mine with the Novaks, but still a very good sounding guitar.

[Robert****]

Nice one Vood, that blue is sweet!

I'll keep my eyes open for Thinlines - I really like these guitars.

[Tig***]

Like DVM, I'd replace the stock wide range humbuckers with something closer to original. For the real deal, I'd even spend some money on real CuNiFe magnets in an upgrade or NOS from http://www.telenator.com/pickups/ (a cool guy from Mark Wein's site).

[Jipes***]

I own two Thinlines both with Humbuckers my main one is a 78 Fender Custom Thinline with Wide Range pickups ( CuNiFe) and my other one is a Nash TL-72 equiped with two Imperial Lollar pickups which deliver a very similar sound like the original Fender Wide Range (not like the Reissue).

What I like a lot is the resonance of the Thinline guitars they have this bit of acoustic bite that I like a lot. As for the Wide Range humbucker pickups they are fat but still retain some of theTwang that I love in single coil Fender pickups. They go very well with stomboxes and are quite polyvalent I mainly playing blues but in Funk tunes or country like they also do the job quite well

As for the single coils Thinline I had the chance to try out a 1968 fender original and the sound was fantastic but the price was far to high for me (4500euros)

[Katastrophe]

I've played one of the more recent MIM versions. Solid, built like a tank, and played great. The pickups, IMO, while not real Wide Range pickups, sounded great as well. I get GAS most often for the version with the humbuckers, like the one you pictured.