#1
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Ngd - tlo
TLO - Tele-Like Object.
After much reading, much YouTube research, and a tempting offer from Rondo Music, one of these just arrived. It's branded as a 'Douglas' - semi-hollow Tele, two P90 pickups, for a ludicrous $99.95 + shipping. The finish is excellent. The neck is lovely, the fretwork very clean. Tuners are adequate, as is the string-thru 6-saddle bridge. Electronics as expected - tiny, tiny pots, an enclosed 3-way switch, and solid, but hurried, wiring. Still, it all works. Setup was pretty good - it needed a quick truss rod tweak to correct a bit too much relief, and the intonation needed a little work after installing a fresh set of D'Addarios. The pickup heights were way out of whack. When I took it apart to investigate, I discovered that for each pickup, one of the screws was going thru a piece of foam between the bottom of the pickup and the body, so everything was getting hung up. I moved the foam and installed springs. Also the mounting screws are too big - the heads don't fit between the pole pieces, so they don't sit flush. Easy to correct, and a cosmetic issue only. How does it sound? Well, this is where all the setup niggles pale into insignificance. It sounds *great*. I can't believe I've played for over 40 years without owning a guitar with P90s; it's also close to that long since I've had a Tele-style guitar. I'm really very impressed. I'm going to have a lot of fun with this one.
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Martin 0-16NY Emerald Amicus Emerald X20 Cordoba Stage Some of my tunes: https://youtube.com/user/eatswodo |
#2
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David - Congrats! Are you planning any "upgrades" to the guitar or just play it and have fun with it.
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#3
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Right now, just play and have fun, Dru. I bought it with a view to upgrades, but I don't want to jump into anything until I've got to know it a bit better.
One thing I know will bug me is single-coil noise with those P90 clones - but in playing it so far, I've been able to ignore it quite well. The tone is so glorious, I hate to mess it up! Besides which, apart from GFS, most humbucking P90-style pickups would cost me more than the guitar did Most likely the first things I'll tackle will be electronics - switch and pots.
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Martin 0-16NY Emerald Amicus Emerald X20 Cordoba Stage Some of my tunes: https://youtube.com/user/eatswodo |
#4
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Quote:
Enjoy... |
#5
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Congratulations. It just goes to show that you don't have to spend $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ to get a good guitar (that's something I've believed for a very long time).
Looks good too |
#6
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Cool deal! I'm working on a 72 tele thinline style kit right now.
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#7
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Congratulations on the new guitar. I have a couple guitars from Rondo, an SX version of a Strat and Tele. Both, straight out of the box sounded really good. Both required minor tweaks and string changes and both were intended for mods that have never been done.
Use it in good health.
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