I have that same Telecaster. Mine was made in 2018. The neck is, as you say, outstanding. I don't know if I just lucked out, but I don't have any high frets. The body is supremely resonant. I have a MiM Stratocaster (classic 50s) that is better than my American Standard Stratocaster. I have also had my share of MiM dogs, so the quality is definitely uneven, but a Mexican Fender CAN be something special. Of, and my purple road worn Tele gets more play than my Custom Shop Tele. 🙂
I completely agree with your assessment, they can be special indeed! I've had two in the past that far exceeded expectations to the point where I was shocked - one was a baja 60s tele and the other was a lacquer fiesta jaguar. I think that particular time I got extremely lucky with what they were making they were bought about 6 months apart. It's just a shame that it's a roll of the dice, when the MIM stuff was significantly cheaper ( standards aka players were 500 new ) I could live with all these things, but not at double and sometimes even more it's a shame to see they don't have the consistency so everybody gets the same magic you and I both have.
I recently bought this guitar used, and absolutely love it! That neck is the best Ive ever felt! No problems at all with fret levels on mine. It feels, plays, and soon will sound better than my 52 American Vintage Hotrod Tele I sold. Waiting for my Lollar Vintage T neck + Special T bridge pickups to come in now! 💜🔥👌🏻
I have had good luck with frets on MIM guitars. I recently bought a 2003 Jimmie Vaughan strat for $550 and the frets were perfect. It has the Texas specials on it as well as unique wiring for middle pickup that makes it sing. The Vaughan strat is a secret gem in the MIM lineup. I also have a 2017 MIM Duo Sonic with great frets. I like your comment about 7.25" radius, I'm also a fan of that as well as the V shaped neck. My Vaughan strat has the V neck and its the best. The other thing I wished Fender would do would be to switch to medium jumbos on most models instead of narrow talls. There is something about medium jumbos for a blues player like me that just makes it a better playing experience. Curious to get your thoughts on fret size.
it's weird the fret selection they have depending on the model, they have "vintage" and "traditional" spec guitars with bigger frets but modern guitars with narrow talls. I swear whatever they drink at their dev meetings must be pretty good.
Have a vintage blonde one with the brass saddles, I believe it’s from 2019, def can see some improvements from the older models. Frets are perfect, no rough edges or buzzing and waaay more resonant than my American standard model. Awesome guitar and great tone, if anything I wish the relic finish would be less generic as you said. Great review man, keep up the good work!
The feel of the neck really is the best part of these. Happy to hear they have improved on them too these really are great guitars. Would love if they offered them without the body relicing on them being identical or just NOS with the nitro so they age in their own ways
My 2021 roadworn telecaster had the slightest fret sprout (probably because the finish is so thin), but otherwise great. The template relic is cool so long as you don’t have more than one in the same room. Plus, unless it goes in a closet you’ll be adding your own chips in no time. Had a strap start to melt the lacquer after a couple days, so there’s that.
That's part of what I like guitars like this, it's gonna get chipped, bumped, dinged, played outside, and played around the dog and kid. I have no reservations about play wear on guitars like this and this will definitely age in it's own way for sure
It really lends me to believe in order to keep costs down they just give as little time as possible to the manual labor aspect of production there... while raising our costs as consumers... sad because there are some great guitars in here and it shouldn't need a full fret job at this price point.
@@AudiomoMusic Yeah once I worked on the frets it was a really solid guitar. I love the roadworn teles. Don’t love the current higher prices, but great guitars. The guy I sold mine to added a bigsby and it really sings now.
Thanks Alan, it's fun to just fiddle around and with how strict youtube are with copyrights I find myself avoiding all sorts of covers and just messing around. It's kept me out of trouble for the most part
@@AudiomoMusic the purple nitro is dinged up due to it being a roadworn. If i have a dinged up guitar it would be from me and not some goof at a factory. Needless to say roadworns are my least favorite telecaster.
Really dig your in for repair guitar. looking forward to it. btw, there's a Japanese exclusive road worn. i saw in the youtube but i forgot which video. really dig that Japanese exclusive not sure if its MIJ or MIM.
I've seen it, and they had a road worn bass guitar too I believe for the bassist of janne d'arc or maybe it was Luna... it didn't go over well in Japan sales wise
@@AudiomoMusic i wonder why is not a hit in Japan? maybe the road worn finishing? btw, i never tried road worn before, you've mentioned that the neck is a tad thinner than baseball bat. more or less like Japanese U-shape neck?
I bought mine for $800 new. Now my local guitar center selling them for $1200. I changed my nut to bone and swap the 3 saddles to brass. Also I put a gold anodized pick guard. The neck is amazing to play specially if you get short fingers. I can use my thumb over the low E with ease. The finish on the body is so thin which makes the guitar breath with sustain. When I sent my guitar for a set up, the tech probably put it on a C-clamp cause when I got it, you could visibly see the marks. That how thin the paint is. It’s soft. I didn’t care cause it’s already lightly relic and the more dings, the more character the guitar has. Same goes with the neck. Finger or nail marks chips off the wood so nicely. Pickups I do not like. Swapped them with fender custom shop pickups. And it’s purple. I also own a 2009 road worn 50s strat when they first came up with roadworn series. They have more relic on them in the body and neck. Also with much better electronics.
Where did you get the blue padded bench/chair that you were sitting on? Looks like it would be comfortable and also appears to have storage. Thanks for your videos!
That's the beauty of second hand, you find some real gems sometimes! I was thinking at the start that purple Tele suited you, nice deal. Have fun with it, Peace.
When I saw it I was thinking "what kind of deal will they make me if this isn't a total piece of junk"... but hey it's purple, it's light, it's a telecaster, that's pretty much everything I want haha
I'm supposed to be getting the LPB version of this tomorrow. Pretty pumped about it. Most of my MIM guitars, especially the higher end MIM models, have been great. Same with my Squier CV's. This is wothbthr exception of the CV Mustang in CAR I got as a Guitar Center exclusive (FSR) model. Seems the Guitar Center exclusives come with issues whereas exclusives from other big stores, or regular models, don't suffer. Could be anecdotal, likely is, but it's what I've experienced personally. The last Nitro Tele I had my hands on was an AVRI. It was junk. The neck pocket was loose and sloppy. The frets needed a level and recrown badly. I couldn't get the action that low at all it was so bad. All up and down the neck the fret rocker was wiggling like crazy. It was worse than any Squier I've ever had. Didn't sound all that great either. I mean good but my VM Thinline Tele sounded just as good. Also had full sized pots, CTS and Cloth wire from the factory on that Squier. 🤷🏼 The wonky frets could be due to storage conditions too. Who knows exactly how it was taken care of before it came to you.
I know I'm living in the past, but 10 years ago you could get brand new Ibanez Prestige guitars for $1000 to $1200 all day, and they would be perfect. I have stopped buying "budget" guitars simply because they're no longer budget to me. In fact I returned a brand new PRS SE Silver Sky because I felt $849 was too much to pay for sloppy inlays, tool marks on the fretboard, and cheese grater fret ends. That said, I really do want to try these road worn guitars. I hear pretty much great things from the majority of people who play them.
If this was in the store at the going rate used - call it maybe 800-900 - there is no chance I'd spend that. I agree with you and even with these ridiculous basically half price budget guitars from Mexico, Indonesia, and China over the weekend part of me was tempted to buy one or two because of this stupid youtube channel... then I remembered just how disappointed I am everytime and that they end up never being played. Once you have the experience people like us do, it's really hard to go back. This is why for "budget" Fenders I don't even consider MIM when shopping, i go new Fender Japan or used USA. So much of the hype for these guitars is generated by youtubers and I'm guilty of it, but a serious reality check needs to be taken into account especially when like you said - the "budget" guitars are a grand or so and in some cases more.
There is a place here (Australia) that has the odd sale. By buying then you get a new guitar with a full set up incl PLEK to your requested requirements for about the same usual price, just maybe even less sometimes. If I can't be bothered going into a shop to check something I am comfortable with that proposition. OK that's a brand spanking new guitar purchase but it does go to show how careful you have to be on price points. Hopefully, a brand new guitar would not turn up like that from anywhere but I guess it happens...............
That's a great deal actually, I wish more places had that machine to do it for customers. I find it completely unacceptable for an instrument over a grand to have major fret issues... it's just wild what people are ok with but hey, that's why when I'm looking for myself I go to Fender Japan.
I recently traded an Indonesian made G&L and a classic vibe for a 2020 road worn 50s telecaster because it feels so good. My frets are very level I'm able to have the action lower than my Ibanez with zero fret buzz. I love this thing. I wouldn't mind that purple color though. Mine is blonde.
I love to hear that, you got pretty lucky! The core parts and feel are there, and I've already tweaked this thing and did the frets myself and it is flawless now. Absolute steal honestly.
I have that same Telecaster. Mine was made in 2018. The neck is, as you say, outstanding. I don't know if I just lucked out, but I don't have any high frets. The body is supremely resonant. I have a MiM Stratocaster (classic 50s) that is better than my American Standard Stratocaster. I have also had my share of MiM dogs, so the quality is definitely uneven, but a Mexican Fender CAN be something special.
Of, and my purple road worn Tele gets more play than my Custom Shop Tele. 🙂
I completely agree with your assessment, they can be special indeed! I've had two in the past that far exceeded expectations to the point where I was shocked - one was a baja 60s tele and the other was a lacquer fiesta jaguar. I think that particular time I got extremely lucky with what they were making they were bought about 6 months apart. It's just a shame that it's a roll of the dice, when the MIM stuff was significantly cheaper ( standards aka players were 500 new ) I could live with all these things, but not at double and sometimes even more it's a shame to see they don't have the consistency so everybody gets the same magic you and I both have.
I recently bought this guitar used, and absolutely love it! That neck is the best Ive ever felt! No problems at all with fret levels on mine. It feels, plays, and soon will sound better than my 52 American Vintage Hotrod Tele I sold. Waiting for my Lollar Vintage T neck + Special T bridge pickups to come in now! 💜🔥👌🏻
Ya picked the best pickups out there too!!! The neck really is a fantastic feeling one congrats!
@@AudiomoMusic Are you still playing this one?
I have the same guitar,bought it from Andertons FSR.Mine came with twisted tele in the neck and nocaster in the bridge.Nice touch.
Now THAT would have made this perfect, lovely pickups for a great guitar. Thanks Nicholas and I'm happy you also have one of these
I have had good luck with frets on MIM guitars. I recently bought a 2003 Jimmie Vaughan strat for $550 and the frets were perfect. It has the Texas specials on it as well as unique wiring for middle pickup that makes it sing. The Vaughan strat is a secret gem in the MIM lineup. I also have a 2017 MIM Duo Sonic with great frets. I like your comment about 7.25" radius, I'm also a fan of that as well as the V shaped neck. My Vaughan strat has the V neck and its the best. The other thing I wished Fender would do would be to switch to medium jumbos on most models instead of narrow talls. There is something about medium jumbos for a blues player like me that just makes it a better playing experience. Curious to get your thoughts on fret size.
it's weird the fret selection they have depending on the model, they have "vintage" and "traditional" spec guitars with bigger frets but modern guitars with narrow talls. I swear whatever they drink at their dev meetings must be pretty good.
Have a vintage blonde one with the brass saddles, I believe it’s from 2019, def can see some improvements from the older models. Frets are perfect, no rough edges or buzzing and waaay more resonant than my American standard model. Awesome guitar and great tone, if anything I wish the relic finish would be less generic as you said.
Great review man, keep up the good work!
The feel of the neck really is the best part of these. Happy to hear they have improved on them too these really are great guitars. Would love if they offered them without the body relicing on them being identical or just NOS with the nitro so they age in their own ways
My 2021 roadworn telecaster had the slightest fret sprout (probably because the finish is so thin), but otherwise great. The template relic is cool so long as you don’t have more than one in the same room. Plus, unless it goes in a closet you’ll be adding your own chips in no time. Had a strap start to melt the lacquer after a couple days, so there’s that.
That's part of what I like guitars like this, it's gonna get chipped, bumped, dinged, played outside, and played around the dog and kid. I have no reservations about play wear on guitars like this and this will definitely age in it's own way for sure
I’ve had the road worn tele in the past. Love the neck. The Tex Mex pups are okay but I prefer a little less output, especially in the bridge
Such a great review. Very informative, honest, knowledgeable, obviously, and no BS. Subscribed!
Thanks for that, I'm happy you enjoyed it enough to leave the comment and subscribe
I had the same issue with the frets on a lake placid blue road worn tele. Mine was brand new. Great video!
It really lends me to believe in order to keep costs down they just give as little time as possible to the manual labor aspect of production there... while raising our costs as consumers... sad because there are some great guitars in here and it shouldn't need a full fret job at this price point.
@@AudiomoMusic Yeah once I worked on the frets it was a really solid guitar. I love the roadworn teles. Don’t love the current higher prices, but great guitars. The guy I sold mine to added a bigsby and it really sings now.
Great playing mate love scratch playing big Gang of four fan especially the debut album
Thanks Alan, it's fun to just fiddle around and with how strict youtube are with copyrights I find myself avoiding all sorts of covers and just messing around. It's kept me out of trouble for the most part
Congrats! Happy NGD!
Thank you kindly, it's been here for about a week but I really do enjoy it
I love the Tex Mex pick ups!
No comment about the purple nitro!!!! Sad bob, sad!
@@AudiomoMusic the purple nitro is dinged up due to it being a roadworn. If i have a dinged up guitar it would be from me and not some goof at a factory. Needless to say roadworns are my least favorite telecaster.
Mine has been spot on and its the only Mexican made Fender neck that i actually like
Just picked up a 2019 and don’t believe it has a U neck profile. All information on line shows a medium C profile from 2017 to 2019 production .
Really dig your in for repair guitar. looking forward to it. btw, there's a Japanese exclusive road worn. i saw in the youtube but i forgot which video. really dig that Japanese exclusive not sure if its MIJ or MIM.
I've seen it, and they had a road worn bass guitar too I believe for the bassist of janne d'arc or maybe it was Luna... it didn't go over well in Japan sales wise
@@AudiomoMusic i wonder why is not a hit in Japan? maybe the road worn finishing? btw, i never tried road worn before, you've mentioned that the neck is a tad thinner than baseball bat. more or less like Japanese U-shape neck?
Love it!
It's purple and a telecaster, what's not to live? haha
I bought mine for $800 new. Now my local guitar center selling them for $1200. I changed my nut to bone and swap the 3 saddles to brass. Also I put a gold anodized pick guard. The neck is amazing to play specially if you get short fingers. I can use my thumb over the low E with ease. The finish on the body is so thin which makes the guitar breath with sustain. When I sent my guitar for a set up, the tech probably put it on a C-clamp cause when I got it, you could visibly see the marks. That how thin the paint is. It’s soft. I didn’t care cause it’s already lightly relic and the more dings, the more character the guitar has. Same goes with the neck. Finger or nail marks chips off the wood so nicely. Pickups I do not like. Swapped them with fender custom shop pickups. And it’s purple.
I also own a 2009 road worn 50s strat when they first came up with roadworn series. They have more relic on them in the body and neck. Also with much better electronics.
I agree with the neck being amazing, to me it was the best part of the guitar. Awesome you got yours when they were much more reasonably priced new
Where did you get the blue padded bench/chair that you were sitting on? Looks like it would be comfortable and also appears to have storage. Thanks for your videos!
It was a pawn shop score in San Diego California, one of the best 20 dollars I've ever spent
@@AudiomoMusic Nice! I’m going to hunt something like that down.
That's the beauty of second hand, you find some real gems sometimes! I was thinking at the start that purple Tele suited you, nice deal. Have fun with it, Peace.
When I saw it I was thinking "what kind of deal will they make me if this isn't a total piece of junk"... but hey it's purple, it's light, it's a telecaster, that's pretty much everything I want haha
@@AudiomoMusic That is all you can hope for, it looks good, but will "that dog hunt?".Hurrah! for the 'good guy'! Enjoy.
I'm supposed to be getting the LPB version of this tomorrow. Pretty pumped about it. Most of my MIM guitars, especially the higher end MIM models, have been great. Same with my Squier CV's. This is wothbthr exception of the CV Mustang in CAR I got as a Guitar Center exclusive (FSR) model. Seems the Guitar Center exclusives come with issues whereas exclusives from other big stores, or regular models, don't suffer. Could be anecdotal, likely is, but it's what I've experienced personally. The last Nitro Tele I had my hands on was an AVRI. It was junk. The neck pocket was loose and sloppy. The frets needed a level and recrown badly. I couldn't get the action that low at all it was so bad. All up and down the neck the fret rocker was wiggling like crazy. It was worse than any Squier I've ever had. Didn't sound all that great either. I mean good but my VM Thinline Tele sounded just as good. Also had full sized pots, CTS and Cloth wire from the factory on that Squier. 🤷🏼 The wonky frets could be due to storage conditions too. Who knows exactly how it was taken care of before it came to you.
I know I'm living in the past, but 10 years ago you could get brand new Ibanez Prestige guitars for $1000 to $1200 all day, and they would be perfect. I have stopped buying "budget" guitars simply because they're no longer budget to me. In fact I returned a brand new PRS SE Silver Sky because I felt $849 was too much to pay for sloppy inlays, tool marks on the fretboard, and cheese grater fret ends.
That said, I really do want to try these road worn guitars. I hear pretty much great things from the majority of people who play them.
If this was in the store at the going rate used - call it maybe 800-900 - there is no chance I'd spend that. I agree with you and even with these ridiculous basically half price budget guitars from Mexico, Indonesia, and China over the weekend part of me was tempted to buy one or two because of this stupid youtube channel... then I remembered just how disappointed I am everytime and that they end up never being played. Once you have the experience people like us do, it's really hard to go back. This is why for "budget" Fenders I don't even consider MIM when shopping, i go new Fender Japan or used USA. So much of the hype for these guitars is generated by youtubers and I'm guilty of it, but a serious reality check needs to be taken into account especially when like you said - the "budget" guitars are a grand or so and in some cases more.
Great video - your commentary is very insightful and clear. Well done, and you convinced me to get this guitar, which I absolutely love.
Glad I could help! The neck really is superb isn't it?
There is a place here (Australia) that has the odd sale. By buying then you get a new guitar with a full set up incl PLEK to your requested requirements for about the same usual price, just maybe even less sometimes. If I can't be bothered going into a shop to check something I am comfortable with that proposition. OK that's a brand spanking new guitar purchase but it does go to show how careful you have to be on price points. Hopefully, a brand new guitar would not turn up like that from anywhere but I guess it happens...............
That's a great deal actually, I wish more places had that machine to do it for customers. I find it completely unacceptable for an instrument over a grand to have major fret issues... it's just wild what people are ok with but hey, that's why when I'm looking for myself I go to Fender Japan.
I recently traded an Indonesian made G&L and a classic vibe for a 2020 road worn 50s telecaster because it feels so good. My frets are very level I'm able to have the action lower than my Ibanez with zero fret buzz. I love this thing. I wouldn't mind that purple color though. Mine is blonde.
I love to hear that, you got pretty lucky! The core parts and feel are there, and I've already tweaked this thing and did the frets myself and it is flawless now. Absolute steal honestly.