Members mdrake34 Posted November 27, 2012 Members Share Posted November 27, 2012 ESP LTD TE202. They normally sell for $350, always been interested, but a local shop was blowing it out for $200, couldn't pass it up. The neck is great. I need to take it back and get it set up, especially to adjust the pick ups. The neck humbucker was almost flush with the pickguard and sounded like quiet mud. I raised it and got it sounding better, but I still want a pro to adjust it. Will probably replace both pickups eventually. Might go the cheap route and check out the new GFS professional series, or save up for some dimarzios or SD's. Any suggestions? Maybe even a mini hum in the neck? I like the classic tele bridge sound, and a nice round, but bright neck pickup tone for soul/r&b type sounds. Humbucker might not be the best bet for that, I dunno. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Zappa74 Posted November 27, 2012 Members Share Posted November 27, 2012 Those are pretty nice. Kinda wish they made one with out the fake wear on the finish, but whatever. For $200 that's a score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mdrake34 Posted November 27, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 27, 2012 Originally Posted by Zappa74 Those are pretty nice. Kinda wish they made one with out the fake wear on the finish, but whatever.For $200 that's a score. Definitely would have preferred no relic finish, but the neck and frets are great, it has a extra cut in the neck joint for better upper fret access, and it has 22 frets, which I prefer. You can't really find those features on comparable squiers/MIM fender's.And yeah the price was stupid good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TravvyBear Posted November 27, 2012 Members Share Posted November 27, 2012 Not a bad lookin' Tele. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mandooks Posted November 27, 2012 Members Share Posted November 27, 2012 I had an eye on those earlier this year but forgot about 'em. Good score. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members macadood Posted November 27, 2012 Members Share Posted November 27, 2012 other than the headstock that is a sexy guitar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mdrake34 Posted November 27, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 27, 2012 Thanks doods. Also, how {censored}ing awesome is the camera on the iphone 5? I went from a blackberry to an iphone 5, I feel like a monkey with a flame thrower trying to work it but it's awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mdrake34 Posted November 27, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 27, 2012 And yes, I realize the paint in my office is baby {censored} yellow. I didn't pick it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Crxsh Posted November 27, 2012 Members Share Posted November 27, 2012 Originally Posted by macadood other than the headstock that is a sexy guitar As far as headstocks go, I've seen worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jisatsu Posted November 27, 2012 Members Share Posted November 27, 2012 The LTDs coming out lately are pretty nice for the cash. Easy to play and pretty good hardware from the factory. Good deal on that tele. I'm not a fan of relic'ed guitars, but for $200, who cares if it plays good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mdrake34 Posted November 27, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 27, 2012 Waylon sat in the pedal board case while I played last night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members vinnies Posted November 27, 2012 Members Share Posted November 27, 2012 $200 is a steal. relic'ing tho, is a waste IMO. it always looks like someone just took a sander to the part where the arm rests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sparkfriction Posted November 27, 2012 Members Share Posted November 27, 2012 great guitars imo - but beware, not all LTDs from the same line are great. dunno why, maybe the factory workers smokes {censored} on some days Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members GuitarSlim101 Posted November 27, 2012 Members Share Posted November 27, 2012 Yeah, I'd be okay spending $200 on that. Looks sexy, even with the relicing. The headstock reminds me of the Teisco Spectrum 5 headstock. As far as pickups are concerned, I have a GFS Retrotron Liverpool mini-humbucker in the neck slot of my tele and I love it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mdrake34 Posted November 27, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 27, 2012 The more I read, the more I'm leaning towards some GFS. Definitely interested in the professional series 63 tele bridge pickup, but torn about the neck pickup. Could go with the professional alinco II to stay with a covered humbucker, but I'm also intrigued by their mini humbuckers and retrotron/mini-retrotrons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mdrake34 Posted November 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 30, 2012 Ok, I've been doing some more reading, and I'm thinking two routes. For now, the cheaper route that I want to try is upgrading the pots. I believe they're both 250K, and I've read that I could sub in two 375K Fender pots like on the hot rod tele, or get a 500K volume and a resistor to lower the load to 250K when it's switched to the bridge pickup. I'd like to try this first. Second, I think I'd eventually like to put a mini-humbucker in the neck. What's a good one? Consensus seems to be the SD vintage that comes stock in the hot rod. Are the GFS mini's any good? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Loobs Posted November 30, 2012 Members Share Posted November 30, 2012 nice guitar, but the relicing is silly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mdrake34 Posted November 30, 2012 Author Members Share Posted November 30, 2012 I agree, I wish it wasn't relic'ed, but it plays great and is a great modding platform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mdrake34 Posted December 9, 2012 Author Members Share Posted December 9, 2012 I've decided to hot rod this guitar. I already have an american standard tele for regular tele sounds, so I'm going to put a single coil sized HB in the bridge and replace the pots with 500K. Don't have a solidbody guitar with two humbuckers anymore, would like to have one again. Leaning heavily towards SD lil' 59 tele. Also considering dimarzio chopper T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jisatsu Posted December 9, 2012 Members Share Posted December 9, 2012 I've used GFS pickups in the past and while they are an improvement over most {censored}ty stock pickups, they leave a bit to be desired over time. I'd say spring for Seymour Duncan or dimarzios. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jisatsu Posted December 9, 2012 Members Share Posted December 9, 2012 I've used GFS pickups in the past and while they are an improvement over most {censored}ty stock pickups, they leave a bit to be desired over time. I'd say spring for Seymour Duncan or dimarzios. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mdrake34 Posted December 10, 2012 Author Members Share Posted December 10, 2012 Originally Posted by Jisatsu I've used GFS pickups in the past and while they are an improvement over most {censored}ty stock pickups, they leave a bit to be desired over time. I'd say spring for Seymour Duncan or dimarzios. Yeah, I think I'm definitely going to spring for the SD lil 59T soon, and I'll see what difference the 500K pots make for the neck pickup. Could upgrade it to a full size 59 eventually. At that point I'll have nearly as much in the pickups as I do the guitar, but oh well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mdrake34 Posted January 9, 2013 Author Members Share Posted January 9, 2013 Update: Just got it back from the shop, I had a SD lil59 and 500K pots put in it. Can't wait to crank it up tonight. It's a low-rent "Cooleycaster" now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members One Man Banned Posted January 9, 2013 Members Share Posted January 9, 2013 Funny...people call LTD's ESP's but no one calls a Squier a Fender. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mdrake34 Posted January 9, 2013 Author Members Share Posted January 9, 2013 Originally Posted by One Man Banned Funny...people call LTD's ESP's but no one calls a Squier a Fender. I can't afford the real deal like you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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