Is this worth keeping?

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Ok so TE-A pups
Nitro
bridge is Fender
everything else seems original

So the phantom wants to know
any takers

make an offer
 
Found this.... still doesn't have that nice rosewood neck:

https://reverb.com/item/2713013-tokai-breezy-sound-te-80-nitro-finish-top-model-1981-vintage-japan-made
 
marcusnieman said:
Found this.... still doesn't have that nice rosewood neck:

https://reverb.com/item/2713013-tokai-breezy-sound-te-80-nitro-finish-top-model-1981-vintage-japan-made

yup
 
Phantom said:
marcusnieman said:
Found this.... still doesn't have that nice rosewood neck:

https://reverb.com/item/2713013-tokai-breezy-sound-te-80-nitro-finish-top-model-1981-vintage-japan-made

yup

you've always been great at scouting things out Marcus ;)
 
ok so somehow this got misplaced. I have the correct neck pickup marked TE-A. by fluke ended up in another guitar. Long story.

I shouldn't have plugged this in.

Unless an offer was very tantalizing, I may have to keep her after all.

Phantom
 
Hi guys,

This is not a TE-85 or at least the body isn't.
Do you have a pic of the neck heel showing the stamp?
And a close up of the bridge too please. What is the serial number as this will help close it down to either 1981 or 1982 as the truss rod adjuster shows.

'85' was an indicator of a Natural finish only. All other finishes would end with a '0', regardless of whether they had a Maple 'skunk stripe' neck or the Rosewood plain back neck.
 
2 pc./center seam alder body w/natural finish, 8 screw 'guard, rosewood fingerboard

if all above is original = TE75-NR :) which would be extremely rare
 
Woah guitar hiro, TE-75NR would be extremely rare - even rarer than the ES-200 considering it was never made . . .
As this ash body has no body binding as per TE-70 and the fact that Natural was not an offered finish for the TE-70 in any Year the likelyhood of this being a TE75Nr are 1 in never.
So, for both 1981 and 1982 a natural finish was offered for TE-55 and TE-85 only - and this body is a Natural finish. I would stake my rep on the body being a TE-55 with TE-85 goodies added - possibly including the neck and only the neck stamps will confirm this. As the bridge has been changed to a Fender unit, any other tell tale signs of its origins have been removed.
So I will wait for the photos requested to confirm how much is TE-85 and how much is TE-55 and for now, the body is TE-55. [Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Phantom]

Peter Mac
 
Peter Mac said:
Woah guitar hiro, TE-75NR would be extremely rare - even rarer than the ES-200 considering it was never made . . .
As this ash body has no body binding as per TE-70 and the fact that Natural was not an offered finish for the TE-70 in any Year the likelyhood of this being a TE75Nr are 1 in never.
So, for both 1981 and 1982 a natural finish was offered for TE-55 and TE-85 only - and this body is a Natural finish. I would stake my rep on the body being a TE-55 with TE-85 goodies added - possibly including the neck and only the neck stamps will confirm this. As the bridge has been changed to a Fender unit, any other tell tale signs of its origins have been removed.
So I will wait for the photos requested to confirm how much is TE-85 and how much is TE-55 and for now, the body is TE-55. [Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, Phantom]

Peter Mac


Sun Dec 11, 2016 12:08 pm post by Phantom shows the body to be alder :)
 
ash = open grain generally without mineral streaking

alder = closed grain generally with mineral streaking

routes show closed grain & last photo gives it away with mineral streaking, big time :)
 
Hi guys,

I took the liberty of downloading the body and enlarging it several times and I noticed a few things more about the grain that leads me to the conclusion it is Alder and not Sen Ash as I had originally thought. Thank you for pointing that out, guitar hiro.
On the pic of the front pickup cavity, off to the right you can see the filler used prior to finishing (off colour streaks running with the grain). Filler was never used with the Sen bodies. . . plus the gaps between the grain are wider with Alder than they are with Ash. I also compared the photo with other TE-85/TE-80A/TE-120 body shots I have in archive and the difference in the 2 grains becomes more noticable.
This further strengthens my belief that the body is from a TE-55 and not a TE-85. I also noticed the serial number 'Lxxxxx' which confirms a 1982 build Year.

Peter Mac
 
Peter Mac said:
Hi guys,

I took the liberty of downloading the body and enlarging it several times and I noticed a few things more about the grain that leads me to the conclusion it is Alder and not Sen Ash as I had originally thought. Thank you for pointing that out, guitar hiro.
On the pic of the front pickup cavity, off to the right you can see the filler used prior to finishing (off colour streaks running with the grain). Filler was never used with the Sen bodies. . . plus the gaps between the grain are wider with Alder than they are with Ash. I also compared the photo with other TE-85/TE-80A/TE-120 body shots I have in archive and the difference in the 2 grains becomes more noticable.
This further strengthens my belief that the body is from a TE-55 and not a TE-85. I also noticed the serial number 'Lxxxxx' which confirms a 1982 build Year.

Peter Mac


the, "off colour streaks running with the grain" are actually the mineral streaks in the alder, previously mentioned.

again, alder is a closed grain lumber, just as maple is a closed grain lumber; typically there is no need to use a grain filler on an alder guitar body.
After finish sanding alder, a sealer is typically applied.

Ash being an open grain lumber, typically a grain filler is utilized for ash bodies, just as mahogany, also an open grain lumber.
After grain filling an open grain lumber, further sanding occurs, and typically a sealer is then applied.

That is actually the biggest reason why Fender switched from ash lumber to alder lumber in the mid/late 1950s. By switching from ash bodies to alder bodies Leo removed the grain fill step & a sanding step from the production line for >95% of Teles & Strats :)
This saved time & money 8)

I agree with your idea; the body is most likely a TE-55, with an 85 neck, and a ******* pick guard. No matter, I'm sure Phantom has a great Tele :D
 

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