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Post by jfj84 on Jun 3, 2017 19:16:33 GMT
I'm looking for a telecaster style guitar, which is suitable for gigging. I'm playing in a Rolling Stones cover band and I need a T-style guitar and rehearsal and gigging. I have looked at the HB te-52 na, which I think come closest to Keith Richards guitar in terms of looks, but how does it play?? I'm willing to do some upgrades on it if needed(bridge, tuners). Does anyone in here have any experience with the te-52 and can tell me about it's pros and cons.
Thanks
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3,968 posts
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Post by salteedog on Jun 3, 2017 21:50:11 GMT
I have a TE52. Lovely guitar but heavy and it has a thick neck. Quality of late from Thomann seems to be patchy - some here have got duds, others have gotten perfect examples.
Incidentally I also have a TE-20 which is lighter and has a thinner neck. I use that as my Keith Richards guitar - tuned in open G with the low E string removed. I have upgraded the pickups and saddles and I'm perfectly happy with it. I'm just a bedroom player though.
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Post by tarn on Jun 4, 2017 6:39:12 GMT
the most worthwhile upgrades would be the pots and switch.
brass saddles also made a big difference on mine.
as of the weight, mine's 3,6kg. and as i recently sanded the body down in can report that the body only weighs 2,2 kg, which is an average weight for a tele body. after all its a big/thick slab of ash wood with only a single cut out.
the lightest tele i ever had in my hands was 3 kg.
as for the neck its not baseball territory but is thick non the less.
and as always with a budget guitar, you can get a good one or not.
mine for example had only i high spots of the 9,10,11 frets, just under neath the high E. and the frets where not rounded of.
on a side not ill also mention that the laquer on the body is not thicker than a 2K aryl lacquer for example. so not much sanding was needed. if it would have been a two pice body i would have used a paint striper. and just left a 5cm strip in the middle just to sand down. but with a multi piece body its useless as the strips would be so thin and as its also impossible to know what kind of glue has been used. because paint striper softens up certain types of glue, which creates all kind of problems afterwards.
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Post by jfj84 on Jun 4, 2017 10:22:00 GMT
I'm use to playing a Gibson Les Paul so the weight and thickness of the neck wouldn't be an issue 😉 I was thinking about upgrading the bridge to a six saddle one, since I need to have perfect intonation. Pots and switch might follow if I find them too cheap. Would you say that the te-52 is a better guitar compared to Squier affiniy/classic vibe?
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608 posts
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Post by oghkhood on Jun 4, 2017 10:49:14 GMT
I wouldn't say better thant most Squiers, and surely not better than Std or CV. But it is a bang for the buck, and once upgraded (electronics + bridge + pups), my TE52 was above my Squier Strat Std ... before I upgraded it with a Van Zandt Pup set. So yes, you can use the TE52 vanilla for live : .... but it really deserves an upgrade
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Post by rookery on Jun 4, 2017 11:20:07 GMT
I too am looking for a Tele and have considered many makes at the cheaper end of the market. I'm a novice so not worried about upgrading parts, I just want the thing to be put together properly in the first place. And that's what has stopped me from buying a TE30 or a TE52 so far because they seem to be very hit and miss in that respect. They've been out of stock for a while but both now available again so it will be interesting to see how any B stock (returns) come up for sale in the next few weeks. I have listened to quite a few reviews and the tone of the TE30 is more to my taste although I like the look of both. I know I could buy and then return if necessary but I don't really want the hassle of that.
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3 posts
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Post by fmesbla on Jun 6, 2017 23:58:02 GMT
I'm use to playing a Gibson Les Paul so the weight and thickness of the neck wouldn't be an issue 😉 I was thinking about upgrading the bridge to a six saddle one, since I need to have perfect intonation. Pots and switch might follow if I find them too cheap. Would you say that the te-52 is a better guitar compared to Squier affiniy/classic vibe? This model, TE52, with some upgrade improvements, is the closest (in budget) as you can get of a SQ Classic Vibe, which, btw, is a great non-expensive Tele for bedroom guitarists, enthusiasts and even, gig musicians.
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