I bought a relic guitar and I'm ok

[Badonkey Kong]

Wow! That is

 

[laxu]

After setting this thing up yesterday, I did find a stupid design issue: The truss rod cavity at the headstock is cut so that you can fit an allen key, but you cannot remove the nut on the truss rod. To get a decent relief I had to back it up as far as it would go before hitting a narrower section so the nut can't physically move more. It's a classic "form over function" thing.

I'd have to carve more room for the truss rod nut to come out further if I wanted to add more relief to it, and then I'd need to figure out how to stain the bare wood so it looks original. So that kinda sucks, but since I didn't pay a whole lot for this guitar I will file this under "less experienced builder not taking everything into account". I reported the issue (and the cavity sizing issues) to the builder so hopefully his future guitars will take care of this.

There's still a tiny bit of buzz around the 7th and 8th fret on the low E and A strings but otherwise no issues. I think there might be a bit of a high fret in that area but the truss rod adjustment cleared it up for the most part. Maybe slight action adjustment can fix the rest.

Another issue with the guitar is the saddle design. The previous owner had I think 11s or 12s on this and the low E would not fit quite right in the slot because the bridge saddle slot is too narrow, so it sounded a bit muted. This could be solved by filing the saddle of course but with 10s I put on it, it works correctly so no need to do that for now.

I think this sort of stuff is par for the course when you buy guitars from unknown builders, buy partscasters or just buy cheaper guitars in the first place. You might end up with some not immediately apparent problems. If you can do the repairs and modifications yourself, don't put value for your time spent (or enjoy repairs/mods as a thing in itself) it can be a great deal. Plus I learned a thing or two fixing it up, so that's always good even if I'd rather not spend time fixing issues like that.

I've put "less than a new MIM Fender Tele in Europe" money into the guitar + parts so far. This got me a Tele that looks unique, is lightweight, has boutique pickups, custom hardware, sounds and plays great, so can't really complain too much.

 

[Eagle]

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I've been wanting a Telecaster for a while. To me a Tele needs to be a bit rough, worn, and not super pricy considering how simple it is. With most "relic" finish guitars being several grand, this is of course in opposition to what I was looking for, considering real wear doesn't happen quite like this. But by a stroke of luck, someone was selling one styled very much like what I was thinking. I got this at a very fair price considering the builder is not well known.

This is a handcrafted Tele built by KDC Guitars from Slovenia. They don't seem to have anything but a Facebook page and Instagram, it's apparently one dude building these.

Specs:

• Pine body from a pre-WW2, 80 years old barn.
• Flamed maple neck.
• Grenadillo fretboard, 21 fairly narrow frets.
• Custom KD hardware.
• Gotoh staggered tuners.
• DiMarzio Pre B1 bridge pickup.

This has had a few mods from a previous owner: the tuners, removing the neck pickup, switch and changing the bridge pickup.

The neck is pretty chunky in a good way, the guitar plays well and the bridge pickup sounds nice.

My plan is to restore this to its former glory, I need to contact the builder and ask if they can sell me an aged metal neck pickup ring it originally had. The previous owner should send me the original neck pickup later.

The Dimarzio Pre B1 is darker and beefier than a typical tele bridge pickup, not sure if I will swap it or not as it's just right with tone on 9 or 10, but gets a bit too smooth too quickly for my tastes. Maybe a higher value tone pot would work? I haven't cracked it open yet to see what's there now.

The relic finish is very nicely done. The surf or mint green body looks worn in a nice way, it doesn't come through in pictures how it sinks into the grain and how it's worn through in the right places. The aged hardware and how the neck looks play well into the whole aesthetic. The vibe is like an old barn in the countryside that's been eroded by wind and rain. "Rustic" is a great word for it.

Extremely pleased with this find.

I love that but it's not really a relic, more a barbecue incident .