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Peter Mac
Guitar God
Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 1060
Location: Sydney, Australia
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 Posted: Mon Jul 24, 2017 6:17 pm Post subject: |
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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.
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Mono
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Joined: 14 Nov 2009
Posts: 416
Location: London, UK
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| Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 12:11 am Post subject: |
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| Really? TE-55 was also natural... |
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villager
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Joined: 03 Mar 2005
Posts: 3548
Location: Middle of Nowhere.. France.
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| Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 4:53 am Post subject: |
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I am confused .. is this not natural? looks like it to me..
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guitar hiro
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Joined: 05 Dec 2013
Posts: 190
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| Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 9:43 am Post subject: |
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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 |
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Peter Mac
Guitar God
Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 1060
Location: Sydney, Australia
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| Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2017 8:30 pm Post subject: |
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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
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guitar hiro
Guitar God
Joined: 05 Dec 2013
Posts: 190
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| Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 5:05 am Post subject: |
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| Peter Mac wrote: | 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 |
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villager
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Joined: 03 Mar 2005
Posts: 3548
Location: Middle of Nowhere.. France.
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guitar hiro
Guitar God
Joined: 05 Dec 2013
Posts: 190
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| Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 1:20 pm Post subject: |
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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 |
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Peter Mac
Guitar God
Joined: 16 Dec 2001
Posts: 1060
Location: Sydney, Australia
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| Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 5:02 pm Post subject: |
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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
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guitar hiro
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Joined: 05 Dec 2013
Posts: 190
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| Posted: Wed Jul 26, 2017 7:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Peter Mac wrote: | 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 
I agree with your idea; the body is most likely a TE-55, with an 85 neck, and a bastard pick guard. No matter, I'm sure Phantom has a great Tele  |
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Phantom
Guitar God
Joined: 10 Apr 2010
Posts: 667
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 4:29 pm Post subject: |
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Ha ha I missed all this?
Phantom sure was busy.
So how can we confirm the body 100%?
Is there a way?
Ill see what other pics I have
Phantom |
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Phantom
Guitar God
Joined: 10 Apr 2010
Posts: 667
Location: Canada
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Phantom
Guitar God
Joined: 10 Apr 2010
Posts: 667
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Mon Feb 12, 2018 2:59 pm Post subject: |
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I'm entertaining offers for this guitar at the moment.
Let me know if your interested. |
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