Which Tele builder ?

[JTurbide]

Ok, I'm just thinking about it, I don't have the money right now but I may throw all common sense out the window and buy another guitar this year. I'm just craving a Tele so much (I'll have to actually play one in a store before pulling the trigger as the only Tele I played was a couple years ago when I was just starting to play guitar and I remember I felt like the body shape wasn't the most comfortable but yeah..).

I thought about getting a EGC TT2 (ognoy's EGC just look so badass) but I'm also really interested in more conventional reliced Tele ... I'd more likely get a humbucker in the neck so either a 52 style tele with a neck humbucker, a 72 custom tele (bridge pickup, bigger pickguard and more controls and cool tele style bridge)

Anybody has experience with MJT, Nash, Danocaster ... others? I wonder how they compare to Fender and if they are worth it. EGC and Danocaster are really pricey and I don't think I can afford either one of them for now.. MJT is tempting since it's almost half the price of these two other brands. Any other great brands out there ? I live in Canada so if you know a great Canadian builder that would save me customs and all that.

So yeah any opinions, ideas, info, experience to share would be appreciated !

[jirodreamsofdank]

A lot of the MJTs I've seen look cheesy to me - I like the finishes in Bad Mojo Makeovers gallery, and they have a deal with a local luthier/repair guy so I'm thinking that if you send in all the parts you could pay to have him assemble and finish it out as well if you didn't want to do the assembly.

https://www.badmojomakeovers.com/

In Canada, I follow Shyboy Guitars on Instagram, they seem to do nice work but I have zero clue about pricing/etc.
http://www.shyboyguitars.com/

[JTurbide]

Hey thanks jirodreamsofdank !

I went to the luthier shop I usually do business with to drop off my bass for a setup and had a very brief conversation with the guy and he showed me a Tele and a Strat they did (assembled pieces, with their custom pickups, and reliced) and it looked really amazing. I didn't play it because I was with my girlfriend and didn't want to make her wait too long but I might try it this week when I go get my bass back. He told me the strat would cost $5000 CAD but they went all in with it so I could get something great for a little less. He said it would be hard to go under $2-3000 CAD but I wonder if I get some used parts and don't nescessarely go for custom shop stuff (japanese or standard US parts, or even allparts, warmoth stuff) and let them relic it, assemble and set it up if I could get something great for a pretty fair price.. I'll have to do some research and talk to him more about it..

Let me know if you have any suggestions, opinions on parts ! for example, are warmoth/MJT neck and bodys great ? comparable to fender US stuff ? what about tuners/bridges etc ? any good company who sell great reliced parts for a good price ? Should I get a finished body and let them relic it or get a stripped one so they really can work their magic on it ? would that cost me more to go the stripped route ?

soooo many questions ..

[popvulture]

It'll be a bit more expensive than an MJT or any other kind of partscaster, but I'd check out K-Line—you could probably get one used for a good price. Their Tele is called the Truxton. I think their build quality is far better than that of the Fender Custom Shop, and at a much more accessible price (new they're somewhere around 2K, vs beyond absurd 3-4K and up for FCS).

[dubkitty]

i've never owned any of these, but i knew someone with a Nash Tele that was a great guitar.

[voerking]

i'll second K-Line. they're local to me & their guitars are very high quality.

i'll also second the MJT relics looking cheesy.

and i'll throw in Creston to the mix...
http://crestonguitars.com/
a few friends of mine have Crestons & they are excellent guitars.

for me, personally, if i was in the market for a Tele, i'd get a Hahn Jim Campilongo sig.
https://www.hahnguitars.com/model-c/

[JTurbide]

I agree that some MJT relic are kinda cheesy... I went to my luthier and he told me only the relic+refinish process would be between $700 and $1000CAD, that doesn't include the body ... that's pretty expensive if I compare to the MJT route where I get the reliced body for around $500CAD. I could also get a finished warmoth body and try to relic it by myself or let time do it's job or a unfinished body so my luthier can refinish it and maybe relic it if I got some money left after that...

Musikraft neck seems to be the cheapest option and I've read good things about them so I'd probably go with them...

Now if I could sell a thing or two to start this project !

[jirodreamsofdank]

I just got a Jaguar neck I ordered from Guitar Mill seven months ago, my only experience with MK is that they beat their delivery estimate by at least a week, so I'm pretty sure all my future partscaster necks (... if there are any) are going to come from Musikraft. Unless I get lucky and find a way to splurge on one of those Electrical Guitar Company necks they're offering for Fenders.