Japan guitars are great guitars, better made than US guitars. The only thing you hae t do is to change the pickups and pots, and at a later stage also the fretwire (if you're picky like me). All else is exceptional.

Mathijs

I got that one, and replaced the bridge as you described. And of course I removed the low E, and tuned to Open-G:-) Sounds great with my Fender Tweed Twin 57 RI and with my Boogie Mk I. That's also my live setup, with a A/B-Switch between the amps.

ChrisM Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> open-g Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Hmm - that's a shame,
> > looks like Ishibashi isn't serving other
> markets
> > than Japan anymore.
> >
> [www.tdpri.com]
>
> > ore-fender-japan-us.html
>
>
> I had a 5'2 reissue Tele sent to me in California
> from Ishibashi last month (A great, well made
> guitar by the way) and their website does not
> mention not shipping abroad. Where did you hear
> this then? (The link above does not seem to work
> by the way.)


hmm - well the link works for me,
but here's an answer from Ishibashi to the inquireing forum member:

>>From Ishibashi. Thank you for your e-mail. This is Hiroaki from Ishibashi WEB SHOP.

Yes, exactly.
Originally Fender Japan was manufactured for Japanese market only not for overseas... So we can not send brand new Fender Japan guitars to overseas at the moment. I am very sorry such inconvenience.

If you have question, please feel free to ask me.
Thank you very much!

Best regards,
Hiroaki Gohno/International Sales Agent
Ishibashi WEB SHOP
Ishibashi Music Corporation
__________________<<

That being the case then I'm glad I got mine when I did. By the way, I have never tuned it to open G!

ChrisM Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> That being the case then I'm glad I got mine when
> I did. By the way, I have never tuned it to open
> G!


You're lucky, since these maketing politics seem to have been applied only recently.
That post was from November 14th.
never tuned to open G? well, you're missing out some fun - should give it a go, when you're in the mood

Mathijs Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> donnywas Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > open-g Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > >
> > > any thoughts about that one?
> >
> >
> > I think it's not too bad for a copy, but of
> course
> > the colour doesn't match the one on Keith's
> > "Micawber" at all. (Keith's is much more
> > yellow-ish...).
> >
>
> Getting the yellowed nitro lacquer correct is the
> most chalenging for a guitar builder, and not even
> the $4000 custom shop guitars got it completely
> right.
>
> > Has anybody noticed that the strap-locks aren't
> > resembling the one's Keith has? (They are much
> > bigger...can anybody please elaborate on this?)
>
> In Europe most people use Schaller straplocks, in
> the US Dunlop is more common. Fender has a deal
> with Schaller, not with Dunlop. The Stones use
> Dunlop, which I find nicer to look at and a bit
> handier to use.
>
> > Finally I have a question for all the
> specialists
> > out there: As we all know Keith has not only
> > "Micawber" but also "Malcolm". What are the
> exact
> > differences?
>
> Mainly the years. One is a '53, the other a '55.
> But lately Keith has been using dozens of Tele's,
> some vintage, some from the Fender Custom shop.
>
> > I noticed that on one guitar the poles of the
> > Humbucker pickup point towards the neck of the
> > guitar ("Micawber" ???) and on the other they
> > point "backwards". Is that "Malcolm" then ???
>
> The name calling is a bit of a press story. But
> Micawber is the famous Tele he started using in
> 1972, and has the brass bridge and nickel plated
> humbucker cover. The other blonde Tele (actually a
> natural, where you can see the grain) is a '55 (or
> '54 as some articles mention), this would be
> Malcolm. BUt there's also a real blonde one with a
> black humbucker, this one he used until '97 a lot,
> and that one could be Malcolm as well. I don't
> think Keith knows that himself.
>
> Mathijs


Mathijs, THANK YOU VERY MUCH for that detailed description! You're the man when it comes to guitar questions like these... ;-)

From several articles and pictures of Keith's backline I figured that there are at least three blonde 5-string Teles in Keith's flightcase. The one you mentioned with the black humbucker (w/o silver cap) and two with PAF's, of which one is reversed. And then there's the natural finished one of course and the sunburst...so we're talking about at least five 5-stringed Teles if not more. As you mentioned the name-giving is more or less a press thing, we all know Keith likes his stories...

Now on the current tour Keith uses the black '72 Tele Custom for songs where he had used one of his blondes before (JJF for example). It makes up for a thicker, crunchier and somewhat heavier tone (the term "grunge" would come to mind if it hadn't died in 1994...:-).
Keith must own AT LEAST two different ones of these black customs as one has the switch removed and covered with a steel plate.
Do you have more information on these guitars? Maybe this has been discussed here before, so I'm sorry but I'm just curious.

Thanks for all the information !

donnywas Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Now on the current tour Keith uses the black '72
> Tele Custom for songs where he had used one of his
> blondes before (JJF for example). It makes up for
> a thicker, crunchier and somewhat heavier tone
> (the term "grunge" would come to mind if it hadn't
> died in 1994...:-).
> Keith must own AT LEAST two different ones of
> these black customs as one has the switch removed
> and covered with a steel plate.
> Do you have more information on these guitars?
> Maybe this has been discussed here before, so I'm
> sorry but I'm just curious.
>

As far as I can tell (and I am quite sure) te black Custom he plays nowadays is the same one he bought in 1979 for the Barbarians tour and used constantly on the 81/82 tour. He has had it changed to 5-strings somewhere befor 193, where he used it sporadically.

I guess one of the reasons he started using it more and more is because Micawber is used less and less. I guess after 34 years of constant touring the guitar is close to worn out. He only seems to be using it for Brown Sugar thes days.

Mathijs

Mathijs Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> As far as I can tell (and I am quite sure) te
> black Custom he plays nowadays is the same one he
> bought in 1979 for the Barbarians tour and used
> constantly on the 81/82 tour. He has had it
> changed to 5-strings somewhere befor 193, where he
> used it sporadically.
>
> I guess one of the reasons he started using it
> more and more is because Micawber is used less and
> less. I guess after 34 years of constant touring
> the guitar is close to worn out. He only seems to
> be using it for Brown Sugar thes days.
>
> Mathijs

Thank you, Mathijs! Yes the black Custom is famous for being used for almost all "standard tuned songs" on the 81/82 tours and I've seen it for the first time in 5-string tuning on the Boston 1993 video (X-pensive Winos). Nice "comeback" for it on the current ABB tour ;-) What a guitar! For me this one is even more KEITH to me than his blonde ones that he is so known for...if you know what I mean ;-)

cheers,
Donny

open-g Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ChrisM Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > That being the case then I'm glad I got mine
> when
> > I did. By the way, I have never tuned it to
> open
> > G!
>
>
> You're lucky, since these maketing politics seem
> to have been applied only recently.
> That post was from November 14th.
> never tuned to open G? well, you're missing out
> some fun - should give it a go, when you're in the
> mood

What I mean is I have never tuned my new Tele to open G, open-g. I have often used the tuning on my other guitars over the years but have not done so lately. Most of what I'm playing these days does not lend itself to alternate tunings.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-11-21 01:07 by ChrisM.