Better Guitar

player opinions

Name: Stefan Alexander Schmitz
Band: The Wrong Haircut
Model Year: 1983?
Price Paid: 800 DM
Performance
Basically looking like a Telecaster with a Strat-shape solid metal scratch plate and only two single coil pus. The neck pickup is slanted. The neck is a very old Telecaster piece. If you know Fenders, there won’t be any surprise with this one. The neck is definitely made in the 60s (no truss rod access from the headstock, big and fat profile, Kluson Deluxe vertical lined nuts, #102107) and plays that way. No metal neck at all.
Performance Rating: 6
Sound Quality
Great fat Tele sound. I specially like the neck pick up. No lipstick but a single coil, so the sound is fatter, better cutting. I play a lot of Strats and this sound is very close to old Strat sounds. The bridge pickup sounds 100% like a Tele. And the intermediate position is what every Strat player is missing. The guitar is perfectly completing my Fender collection.
Sound Quality Rating: 8
Construction
The guitar feels very Fender-like. Everything is solid and sturdy. The interesting part is the fact, that the neck is 100% 1960s (I would say 67) but the Bullet only appeared in the early 80s. Mine is from the first series (star - one - logo) and sporting a nice Made in USA sticker. She has a typical sound, is cheap to buy (not a collectors favorite), solid built and beneath all this still a US Fender. Whenever you come across one, play it. You might be surprised.
Construction Rating: 8