Santy Claus? I don't need no stinkin' Santy Claus!

[stelligan]

Merry Christmas already......
Two good friends gave me presents this year. One gave me a '61 Les Paul Junior and another a 5-string Variax bass. I couldn't accept the Junior. I told him I'd keep it safe and maintained until a niece, nephew or grand-cousin took up guitar.

[Cliff Schecht]

Great looking Junior! There are a couple of late 50's Juniors at my friends shop down the street. They're worth a lot more than I have at the moment (haven't found job yet!) but he'll whip one out every once in a while and I'll play it for a while. The two things that really do it for me are the necks and the pickups on these guitars. The necks fit really well into my hands and my god those pickups sound GREAT!

[stelligan]

Great looking Junior! There are a couple of late 50's Juniors at my friends shop down the street. They're worth a lot more than I have at the moment (haven't found job yet!) but he'll whip one out every once in a while and I'll play it for a while. The two things that really do it for me are the necks and the pickups on these guitars. The necks fit really well into my hands and my god those pickups sound GREAT!

This thing growls and yes, these necks are slim. Not too slim, though. Do you still play that Tele? I went though a bunch the day I bought that one.

[Reeltarded]

Great gifts!

Technical as I am, they made the change from LP style LP to SG style LP in middlish '60. That should be a '58-'60.



Love the necks on the '60s!

[Cliff Schecht]

Well kinda, now I have three Tele's that I switch between. The red MIM Nashville I bought off of here has been through many changes but I really nailed it with the current pickup setup (SD '59 Tele bridge, BL 280SM middle, SD Hot Rails in the neck, neck and bridge have series/split/parallel switches). The only reason this pickup combo works is because the Hot Rails sounds fantastic in parallel (and distorts any amp in series) while the bridge sounds good in both series and parallel. The middle pickup is just icing on the cake.

The other is a GFS body, EY neck and GFS "Fatbody" pickups. I like the pickups, but I suspect the bridge would twang better with a real copper plated steel bridge pickup plate instead of the current brass piece. Still a really cool guitar for the price.

With all of that said, my stock Tele AVRI with the stock Fender OV pickups is the best sounding electric I own period. Fender nailed it on these pickups and really the whole guitar. It's just a heavy and expensive guitar so I try not to play it out anymore, I save it for home/studio use.

[stelligan]

Great gifts!

Technical as I am, they made the change from LP style LP to SG style LP in middlish '60. That should be a '58-'60.



Love the necks on the '60s!

That's what I get for looking up info on the interwebs.....
I know my buddy got it in '63 for $125. His parents bought it for him. I guess it doesn't matter what year it is - it ain't goin' nowhere or getting any younger

[Reeltarded]

Keep it away from windows. I have street view on Google Maps.

-sneaks around-

[Phil_S]

Wow, that LP jr is a jaw dropper! Just dropped in your lap! It's the Leslie West guitar! I can still remember seeing Mountain in the spring of 1970, Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY. He pumped all manner of tone out of that little guitar and a man of his (former) girth made it look really small, especially from my balcony seat!

[vibratoking]

Nice gifts and Merry Christmas!

The red MIM Nashville I bought off of here has been through many changes but I really nailed ...

Cliff - I have a MIM Nashville too. Just wondering if the frets are soft on yours? I have pretty much worn my frets out in just a few years and I don't play that guitar everyday. I noticed that I can feel the fret heat up, soften and get sticky while applying vibrato to a note. I think this is when the fret really degrades quickly.

[stelligan]

Wow, that LP jr is a jaw dropper! Just dropped in your lap! It's the Leslie West guitar! I can still remember seeing Mountain in the spring of 1970, Capitol Theatre, Port Chester, NY. He pumped all manner of tone out of that little guitar and a man of his (former) girth made it look really small, especially from my balcony seat!

I was playing Long Red on it this afternoon and it screams. He played a lot of single cut models and I read somewhere that he went to all the pawn shops on the road buying these things up back then. I make the guitar look twice as big as Leslie did....

[Structo]

Sweet!

Man some people are so generous during the Christmas holidays.

[Phil_S]

... I read somewhere that he went to all the pawn shops on the road buying these things up back then...

There is a youtube interview of LW somewhere and he talks about buying up LP jr's for dirt cheap. It's true and now hard to believe.

[Cliff Schecht]

Nice gifts and Merry Christmas!

The red MIM Nashville I bought off of here has been through many changes but I really nailed ...

Cliff - I have a MIM Nashville too. Just wondering if the frets are soft on yours? I have pretty much worn my frets out in just a few years and I don't play that guitar everyday. I noticed that I can feel the fret heat up, soften and get sticky while applying vibrato to a note. I think this is when the fret really degrades quickly.

I haven't really noticed this. The frets on mine seem to be going strong and I've gigged this guitar quite a bit now. With that said, what you are experiencing is not unheard of. I know I've read threads about this specific topic on TDPRI, but the guitars are usually a bit older (5-10 years). I'd poke around on TDPRI and see what others say. FWIW some people go for a refret on these guitars, but most people just buy a new neck as this is cheaper many times!