TE-52 NA Vintage Series : BLOWN AWAY!

Read good reviews & I heard good reviews on youtube but you never know really until you have one in hand. I am blown away by the TE-52

Let's start with the BAD! Just the tuners, everything else was good, fixable/setup issues, or great!

GOOD

3 piece ASH body

Pickups surprisingly sound great! Those youtube reviews changed them in many cases, but I don't believe you need to. They sound exactly as a TELE should, not as loud as my G&L & not as articulate as my American Fender Tele with Broadcaster and Twisted pair but sounds more like a TELE than both

NECK

Frets were polished but not as well as an Am Fender, Fret ends were filed nicely, better than an American Tele but Fender puts glue/varnish on theirs that make their necks smoother. Neck was almost straight but it still had high action and then buzz if I lowered it. So I straightened the neck STRAIGHT and adjusted the height and it's perfect now

BRIDGE

Great! but I will eventually replace saddles with comp brass saddles but I like this tone so if it changes that I will change them back

I always heard Wilkinson made decent pickups but I had never played them before. I'd say these are VERY GOOD, as I said maybe not comparable in some aspects to G&L or Fender pickups but where they surpass this pickup in some aspects, this pickup also beats them in others.

Will be ordering 2 more of these very soon, they are "that" nice. I'd say this is comparable to a Fender Baja Strat or the other MIM Fender Ash strat, both of which I have played before. I also bought (2) TE-30 as project guitars and they are not as nice. Their sound is just a tad warmer with less bite, in other words, it doesn't stand out. The TE-30 neck is also a bit unfinished, but about 2 or 3 weeks of playing will get it close to the TE-52's neck with the exception of the filed edges. You will have to do that yourself, although I have played Fenders with worse necks than the TE-30. Also the TE-30 has a thicker bridge, but it's not an ashtray type, and it does not have string through body. It also does not have a skunk stripe or truss rod rosewood like insert so it looks like a plain neck. The TE-30 has a beautiful ASH body still though, I got lucky and got a ONE piece and the other was a 2 piece also centered. If you are wondering which is better, the TE-52 is better than the TE-30 in every aspect. If you want a guitar to upgrade, the TE-30 once fret ends have been filed and string through holes drilled, and pickups replaced would be as nice as the TE-52. It's ASH body and paint job is just as nice.