Flamed Telecaster: Unboxing

On a whim, about a month ago I ordered a Telecaster kit from a wholly unknown Chinese supplier (Zimbo J&W International) advertising on Alibaba. I chose this kit and this supplier in particular, because a) not only was the price good, but b) because they accepted Paypal! Woohoo! The price was so good that I thought 'what the hell' and placed the order basically to see what the result would be! My original specifications were a little different from the advertisement, but Betsy the nice Chinese lady I dealt with was very patient and cooperative in meeting my every request. This is what we eventually agreed on:

• Mahogany body.
• Maple neck and fretboard.
• Flame maple veneer with white binding.
• Pickup routing as per traditional Telecaster with a small route at the neck.
• Bolt on neck.
• All hardware including pickups etc.

The kit arrived today and I gotta say I'm pretty happy with the quality. The mahogany looks great, as does the figure in the maple top. It will look lovely with some Colortone dye!

You may have noticed that there is, however, one issue with the kit as delivered - the binding around the top has been missed. This is a pretty large omission as it happens, not in a monetary sense (it was only a $5USD addition to the overall price) but in regards to the look of the finished guitar. Hmmm.. oh well, it could have been worse right? I've emailed Betsy so maybe I can get some credit for it or something, but that remains to be seen.

Even with this oversight I'm pretty excited about this build. I've never owned a Telecaster before, but I have always wanted one.  Anyway, the next step for this bad boy is a test fit of all the hardware. I have already ordered a Premium 4-way Telecaster Wiring Harness from Stewmac and 1952 Tele Professional Series pickups from Guitar Fetish - both of which I have very high hopes for!