c.2004 Fender MIM Telecaster (Modded)

I realized that I've never actually shown off my "go to" electric guitar. Maybe because I'm such an acoust-o-phile? I bought this Tele new in late 2004, as I recall, and used it for band and recording work ever since, tinkering with it now and then.

A couple years ago I replaced the stock pickups and pickguard with some of the noiseless ones and then last year I added the Bigsby whammy bar and modified bridge, including a non-rickety Mustang-style adjustable saddle. Later on I swapped the bridge pickup for a GFS Danelectro-style lipstick single coil unit and the neck pickup with a GFS mini retrotron unit.

Between the two I get a mixed Gretsch and surf-y/Tele vibe which, once one plays around with tone and volume, a pretty big spectrum of 50s and 60s sounds.

Like '70s Teles, I added a 2nd string tree to get better downpressure on the D&G strings.

The frets are still in great shape despite a lot of play. I'm generally pretty easy on frets.

Chrome, chrome, chrome!

The Tele tophat on the pickup selector is long since lost at some show or another and now it sports a strat knob.

Note the happy elbow-wear on the octopus sticker.

This is the "midnight wine" finish.

At some point I installed some slightly more rounded strap buttons so they wouldn't stick into me so much while moving about with the guitar.

I'm actually surprised this thing is in such good shape, as far as the finish goes, considering the play it's gotten. I guess a fella can toss that off to the fact that these have auto-style finishes on them.