Offset 21

From the Japanese camp - 'new' Offset Telecasters. Ash body + rosewood / maple fretboard models. I think we are the fortunate ones to be enjoying the Fender Japan stuff without an extravagant price tag. Hope these would make it here. 

Paranormal presence

If you are waiting for these Squier Paranormal instruments to be here then be informed that they are now available at Swee Lee. Two price camps (bag not included):

$499 - Super Sonic / Toronado

$579 - Cyclone II / Cabronita (baritone) / Offset Telecaster / 54 Jazz bass

My take - the Offset Tele would be the hot-selling one. Since its conception, it had seen some iterations along the way, including a Japanese version featuring a P90 neck pickup. Surely, this more affordable spin would get this camp excited, especially those with modding intentions. 

PICs: Guitar & Bass / Guitar

Twang Tuesday

One for Tele Tuesday. Have no obligations to play this on a Tuesday, really, just a coincidence. Anyway, purists are still putting this down for not being a Tele. There is a sizeable following that says it is. As the dichotomy continues, we sometime failed to see the culprit - Fender. That's right folks, the manufacturer named it as such so don't blame people for calling it as such. 

Offset re-string

Had the sudden urge to play this. Endured the 10s that came as default. Time for change.

But before that, a quick re-conditioning of the fretboard. Three months on & the drying became rather obvious (before the 12th fret- unconditioned).

D'Addario 9s for a no nonsense performance. This guitar has a near baseball bat neck profile. something I'm averse to but find a joy to play lately. After playing this one, a quick switch to any Ibanez & I could feel some 'improvements' in terms of efficiency & effectiveness. 

Quality

Had been playing my offset Tele for the past few days or so. This thing is heavy.

Was curious to see what those Japanese folks included in there in terms of electronics & was surprised they didn't go with Gotoh. A pair of CTS pots but both are A models. Hmm...

Good offset tones

Was at Swee Lee today & managed to re-try the Fender Offset Tele with a different amp. Nothing boutique, just the BOSS Katana amp 😁

This guitar is equipped with a pair of American Custom pickups. Whatever these were meant to be, they sounded impressive with high gain. I managed to bump the midrange & the bridge single coil was just menacing- totally unexpected. The guitar was also set up to be low profile so shred was no issue here, just too bad the default strings were rusty. These pickups are also the rare breed that do well on clean mode. Of course, mind the Tele honk but it doesn't get in the way. I don't mind the Tele details at the body but I can't come to terms with the Tele headstock being fused into an offset body. Just me.

Offset/ upset?

A recent release, this one, you might have seen it.

Not a totally different design, this one, you might have known it. It's a Telecaster. That's right, it's not a Jaguar but a Tele. A limited edition release by Fender. I see this as a classic case of designer mental block.

Wonder what this one will be called...