The TeleBastard

[Guitar Repair Clinic]

Hey all,

A fun post…..The 80’s craze has hit my shop. My customers have been asking me to build an 80’s style guitar. 
41 years later, as a luthier I hit a new low..lol…..and decided to build the TeleBastard (photo's attached.). Ok, I have my leather suit on (or is it spandex) so insert comments at will!!

Cagey, I have read many of your outstanding posts and await your comment(s)…LOL.

This was a fun build. Floyd Rose, Maple fingerboard, and R3 nut are all dialed in at a perfect 12’’ radius. Pick-up is custom built Dimarzio Evolution.

This was the last Warmoth guitar (custom order) to be painted in neon. We had a few hiccups with the finish and Warmoth was outstanding!!! about getting things corrected.

I must say this is a terrific form and I always learn something new.

Enjoy, Joe

 

[ghotiphry]

Nice build, but kinda hurts my eyes.  Absolutely nailed the 80s aesthetic!

 

[BigSteve22]

Very interesting! Nice choice on the tuners too!  :headbang:

 

[Cagey]

I'm with ghotiphry - nice build, but it sorta strains the eyes :icon_biggrin:

My memory is very bad, with a lot of it accidentally erased, but I don't remember '80s guitars being so... colorful. Lotsa wild angles, protrusions, points, etc., but it seems they usually still followed a theme. But, I could be wrong and probably am.

In any case, as long as it consistently sounds/plays well, you can forgive quite a bit.

 

[Guitar Repair Clinic]

LOL.  Yepper, back in the 80’s once we saw the Ibanez Jem and the Dan Lawrence crazy guitar artwork we had to get in on the action.  It was like an explosion at a Crayola factory. Of course the colored locking tuners were not available at the time. We would just miss match chrome and black tuners, etc. It’s hard to believe this trend (at least in my shop/area) is coming back. I have two builds on the schedule for similar guitars. I often get a lot of inquires on the Sperzel colored tuners. I figured why not through them on this guitar for people to see. I called Ron up from Sperzel and asked him to put one of each color together for me with chrome stems. 

Dimarzio did a fantastic job on the pickup. It sounds like a warm JB but, screams like an Evolution. This is a fun comfortable guitar to play. This guitar has been grabbing far more attention then my mega beautiful quilted (AAAAA) guitars. Go figure?

 

[Cagey]

I do appreciate Sperzel's breadth of finish offerings, although I haven't take much advantage of it. It's just good to know it's there.

I suspect the "mega beautiful quilted (AAAAA) guitars" trigger a lotta guy's lust, but as a practical matter they become wallflowers because they're afraid to touch them for fear of damage. I had a few in my collection that I ended up selling partly for that reason, and partly because I just got pestered to sell them too much and eventually couldn't refuse the offers. Now they're collecting dust somewhere else.

I guess what it boils down to is some guitars are destined to be artwork, and some are a means to an end.

 

[Jusatele]

Love it

I had a HM Tele in the 80s, it was built in Japan and had a licensed by Floyd Rose bridge, 2 humbuckerrs. One of the best Teles I ever owned. Fender had a nice line of guitars coming out of Japan back then and they got no respect even though they were built rock solid and probably better than Fender was building back then.
Mine was grey though with a black eboney neck.

However the Floyd on the Tele brings back memories of one of the Teles I let get away. Great build