Pink Paisley Tele Reissue

Here's a project I completed just before Christmas... These Japanese made Telecasters are very well made and a great buy.  Although I'm not a fan of the basswood body, an upgrade to the electronics can produce a very believable Tele sound with a great retro vibe.  So much so that this one required a refret!

Unfortunately they chose to apply a rather thick laquer to the fretboard, which the owner claimed felt sticky and inorganic.  Although bare Maple can begin to look quite grey with use, treating and cleaning regularly with lemon oil whenever re-stringing usually keeps it looking very good.

Whenever sanding a fretboard, I always keep a portion of the wood dust as it may prove useful for patching dings and dents that occur with use and abuse on every instrument.  With so many different species being used for guitars, it's good to have a small inventory of different types on hand for colour matching.

Using 6130 fretwire for a wider yet lower profile feel was selected so that it would feel much like the neck of another guitar used regularly by the owner.  Luckily the old frets hadn't been glued in, which can make an unbound fretboard take as long as a bound one if you need to heat each fret to beat the glue.

All done!  I was pleased to hear a short time later that this guitar sounded as though a blanket had been lifted off of it ~ a big improvement in sound.