Baja Tele and sustain generally

[matt keen]

I recently bought a Fender Baja Telecaster - its great, as good a Fender as I have ever had. Terrific pick ups, S1 switching options - so very versatile. Ok, wont ever be a shredders guitar but for many many styles its great.

The neck on it is very chunky for a tele - and seems one of the reasons they are so popular. So:
anybody else use one?
Sustain on it is noticeably good - I think this could be to do with the chunky neck any thoughts on that?

[Guest]

...when I picked one up I instantly felt/thought Christ, what a baseball bat of neck, yuck! Horses for courses.

Glad you're happy - the larger neck will make some contribution to sustain, but good sustain is really a product of several factors, notably a good fit of neck to body, mass of the bridge (it's a classic three saddle bridge, right? better tone), through-body stringing. Last, certainly not least, the quality of the wood - strong resonance is desired.

A quick test - when you play the Baja, can you feel the vibes in the neck down at the nut end? Also give it a strum and place your hand on the body above the bridge. You should feel the body resonating along.

All in all, it sounds like Tele goodness is yours. But that neck...

[matt keen]

I can understand that the neck is a divisive issue - but really it seems that is one of the factors that have made this tele a success

Course the Twisted tele and broadcaster custon shop picks also make a big dufference.

The resonance is very noticeable - cant check right now as its away having a check up/set up and some compensated saddles put on by Paul at Arrowhead guitars.

I am quite surprised bout how much I like the neck as I have small hands. Mind you its nowhere near as big as say a Les Paul neck

Plugged in it sounds great through my Blackstar HT5

[muzines]

When I was off to buy a Tele, it was basically between the Baja or the cheaper Squire Classic Vibe.

The Baja was nice for sure, but it was too chunky for me, and as I'm not really much of a guitarist I went for the Squire and it's been a little gem of a guitar for it's price...

There's little to doubt that the Baja is a better guitar, but I just didn't feel that comfortable with it... plus I quite like tele's to be simple, the simplicity is part of the appeal to me.

[jaminem]

I love mine, especially the neck, but then I am a bass player first and foremost so I like a baseball bat!

Records really well too. Only complaint - build quality not the best I've come across, especially neck/body join....

[matt keen]

I love mine, especially the neck, but then I am a bass player first and foremost so I like a baseball bat!

Records really well too. Only complaint - build quality not the best I've come across, especially neck/body join....

Interesting - build quality on mine is very good

After looking at a few different types of tele I would say now that any further additions will def be Made in Mexico rather than USA

[Guest]

Records really well too. Only complaint - build quality not the best I've come across, especially neck/body join....

Yeah, that really can vary from guitar to guitar. I got a Classic Vibe 60s strat which is very well put together, on a par with my US Standard. I checked out the new batch of CV Teles and I swear I could feel a dip in quality, - given the demand for them perhaps Squier have upped production a bit too much. But the fact remains that within a given series there can be a siginificant variation from instrument to instrument. I recall reading posts elsewhere about the variable quality of the Bajas, but it sounds like the OP got a good one. Interesting to learn they fit Broadcaster pups - they quite hot?

[. . . Delete This User . . .]

throughout the 90's and early noughties, when i was a fender dealer... i'd re-align about 6/10 of the neck joins of the US instruments arriving in to stock... an about 1/10 of the japanese, mexicans being about 4/10

a properly fitting neck pocket/heel joint is frankly, almost unheard of on a production instrument from fender...

"properly fitting" means they should fit together snugly, such that you can lift the whole instrument straight up by the neck... (when the thing is standing up, as it were, and no lever action forces are involved on the join)

and it should NOT be possible to get rizla papers down the side of the join....

[matt keen]

Records really well too. Only complaint - build quality not the best I've come across, especially neck/body join....

Interesting to learn they fit Broadcaster pups - they quite hot?

Twisted tele in the neck (fantastic in my op)
Broadcaster in the bridge - really good too
Yes, both are hotter than vintage style pick ups - but not overly so
They are both not as ice pick toppy as some tele pups

idris is comment is spot on - my baja has a great neck fit
I have read the variable quality thing about the baja but my experience is all that I tried were consistently good - but hey you know what the internet can be like for opinions

[clube]

If you want to add a Telecaster to your collection (and you should) then the Baja is a no brainer. Absolute steal, but replace the strings with a .10 set to get the extra tone.

I love mine, and so did my son - within 24 hours of buying mine, he went to the shop and bought one!

[Frisonic]

throughout the 90's and early noughties, when i was a fender dealer... i'd re-align about 6/10 of the neck joins of the US instruments arriving in to stock... an about 1/10 of the japanese, mexicans being about 4/10

a properly fitting neck pocket/heel joint is frankly, almost unheard of on a production instrument from fender...

"properly fitting" means they should fit together snugly, such that you can lift the whole instrument straight up by the neck... (when the thing is standing up, as it were, and no lever action forces are involved on the join)

and it should NOT be possible to get rizla papers down the side of the join....

I have always enjoyed the dry whit of Steely Dan's Walter Becker and on their website you will find a page of his 'collected memos'. There's a great one from him to his tech just prior to debunking for a recording session somewhere away from home for a few weeks. He's telling his tech what to bring and number one on the list... "Stratocasters, all 14 of them. Even the Fender one". My telecaster (every home should have one) is not built by Fender.

[matt keen]

throughout the 90's and early noughties, when i was a fender dealer... i'd re-align about 6/10 of the neck joins of the US instruments arriving in to stock... an about 1/10 of the japanese, mexicans being about 4/10

a properly fitting neck pocket/heel joint is frankly, almost unheard of on a production instrument from fender...

"properly fitting" means they should fit together snugly, such that you can lift the whole instrument straight up by the neck... (when the thing is standing up, as it were, and no lever action forces are involved on the join)

and it should NOT be possible to get rizla papers down the side of the join....

I have always enjoyed the dry whit of Steely Dan's Walter Becker and on their website you will find a page of his 'collected memos'. There's a great one from him to his tech just prior to debunking for a recording session somewhere away from home for a few weeks. He's telling his tech what to bring and number one on the list... "Stratocasters, all 14 of them. Even the Fender one". My telecaster (every home should have one) is not built by Fender.

Me to

I have had Schecters, Tokai's and hand built customs plus pre cbs strats but the baja is great

clube thanks I had no idea you could get strings in different thicknesses

[RitchieM]

Funny, when I started, Teles were evil to me (Metallica fan!!!), but as tastes evolved it became a prize I MUST have!!

So in addition to the Taylor, LP studio and Jackson Stealth Pro, for my wedding present I bought the '52 Reissue ( not hotrod).

In my cover band, the rhythm guitarist plays an Epi Zakk Wylde, and I use my Tele for lead. Bit of a guitar role reversal!!!

[muzines]

I think I first got into the Tele thing watching the film Crossroads (not, not the Britney Spears one. She plays Flying V's only.)

I just like the basic, unpretentious plank of wood with strings thing. I find them far more beautiful and interesting than Strats, which I find rather dull in general.

[jaminem]

and it should NOT be possible to get rizla papers down the side of the join....

Rizla papers? I could get 10 B&H down the gap in mine...

[matt keen]

I think I first got into the Tele thing watching the film Crossroads (not, not the Britney Spears one. She plays Flying V's only.)

I just like the basic, unpretentious plank of wood with strings thing. I find them far more beautiful and interesting than Strats, which I find rather dull in general.

The other great thing about them is you have a really wide choice of guitar heroes to chose from - I am a more of a Keef fan than roy buchanan - then again there's jeff buckley or joe strummer......

[Findo]

...jeff beck, james burton, jonny greenwood, jerry donahue, john 5, jimmy page... and that's just the J's...

[matt keen]

...jeff beck, james burton, jonny greenwood, jerry donahue, john 5, jimmy page... and that's just the J's...

C's
Mike Campbell, Steve Cropper, Graham Coxon, Albert Collins.....

[CPU toast]

My strat has an incredible neck but it still has that trebly Fender sound, which sometimes really sucks. My old LP has incredible tone, but an execrable neck. What's with the bullshit upper fret non-access? The guitar is a limited range instrument to begin with. Why saddle it with bad ergonomics in the upper register?
My next guitar will be set-neck with a contoured heel and Double Cutaway! At least the Strat has good upper fret access, and it's a bolt on, unlike the LP. However, that LP positively resonates with
sustain and warm sound. Incredible.
So, you can have playability, or you can have tone.

If there were a double cut LP with a shaved next joint, then heaven would be achieved. Boycott single cutaways, especially if you're going to spend too much money on some bullshit boutique axe.

[zenguitar]

cutaways are very important... they give better access for a duster or brush to clean the dust.

Andy

[Frisonic]

I don't agree that you can either have playability or tone. The body of my Telecaster is alder on alder and amazingly rich and warm tonally. If you play it unplugged you feel the chords, even single notes right through the body of the guitar into your own. Its certainly not 'twangy' unless you switch it to bridge pick up only and turn up the tremble on the tone controls. Fender used to use alder and I expect their custom shop still does.

[matt keen]

You say you have a strat the still sometimes sounds like a Fender?

Send it back immediately and demand a full refund

Frisonic (being a tele man) is of course right