TE-52 NA Vintage Series : A proper Tele

I actually got this in 2015, and didn't get round to doing a review, so this probably won't be much help to anyone, but apart from the pickups (mine came with Wilkinsons) I don't imagine much has changed.

As many reviewers have noted, these are very heavy guitars: I haven't bothered to weigh it, but trust me-it's heavy. It is also absolutely beautiful, the finish is high gloss on the body, and a sort of satin vintage tint to the neck.

I have my reservations about HB quality control, I have three, and have had to do a bit to them all, (but never anything major, or damage etc). The neck fit on mine is great. I had to do the usual stuff, truss rod, action, intonation etc, but none of it was miles out. The nut was ok ish, but I had a bit of an issue with the high E slipping off the neck sometimes. I have seen others mention this on youtube reviews, I think John Robson mentioned the string spacing at the bridge being to do with it when he had a FLT 90. I prefer heavier strings than were supplied, and changing these and fitting a Tusq nut sorted that for me. The tone pot was loose on arrival. The original saddles have been replaced with compensated brass ones, and I have fitted roller string trees. Oddly, mine arrived with only one string tree. The tuners were pretty cheap, but actually worked ok, if a bit stiff, but it stayed in tune pretty well. One of the tuner buttons broke about six months ago however, so I have replaced them for split post Wilkinsons.

With a little work and a fret polish it is now a really lovely guitar. It looks great, sounds like a Tele should, and plays beautifully. Oh, and it's cheap as chips.