NGD: Protocaster â59 Tee Type
Jul 23, 2019 14:47:03 GMT -7
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heynewguy (Ol’ Bill), Norrin Radd, and 4 more like this
Post by trojanhov on Jul 23, 2019 14:47:03 GMT -7
Just traded for this guitar and it came at the price of my Z-28 1x10 and my Benson Preamp. A hefty price in my opinion given how much the z-28 has meant to me over the years, but the Z-Lux has been ticking all the boxes for me, and with the brake-lite is one of the best amps I’ve played at bedroom volumes with 2 young kids. I got the guitar a little over a week ago and waited to post here about it because I wanted to see if it would pass the honeymoon phase for me. Basically, I’ve been playing it every chance I get and I cannot put this thing down. I truly feel like this guitar kind of ends my search for "the tele" and has things i've liked about each of the teles i've owned in the past.
My Tele Journey:
Fender AVRI 52 2007: Loved this guitar but didn't really get along with the neck finish (way too sticky) I had changed the pickups to Lollar Special T's and this was my main guitar for some time. The opportunity came to trade this guitar for a Suhr Classic T (plus $300 on my end) and I took the plunge.
Suhr Classic T olympic white with rosewood board: This guitar was beautiful. It was with this guitar that i realized i prefer rosewood boards on tele's. Overall, this guitar was great, but something was missing. I'm not sure if it was the stainless steel frets, poly finish, or what it was...maybe it felt too perfect? SO i traded the Suhr Tele for a PRS Stripped 58 (which i eventually traded for my current amp - Dr. Z Seafoam Green Z-LUX 1x12 combo- one of my best trades to date...Teedawg seems to love the PRS too!)
So after all this trading, i was left with my Dr. Z Z-28 1x10, Dr. Z Z-LUX, and my Gretsch g6112-TCB JR (my most sentimental guitar alongside my Martin D-17M).
I began to miss having a tele. Even when I had the PRS, i always wondered if I had made a mistake trading the suhr away because i loved how single coils could be so dynamic and open, and i couldn't get the PAF style 57/08's to sound like single coils no matter how i tried (they were great humbuckers though, no option to tap). I really didn’t want to go down the rabbit hole of PAF pickups and coil tappable pickups. There’s something about a good tele with that 25.5 scale length that just does it for me. i dunno. Maybe I’m just a tele guy.
I thought that I would run a wet dry rig with the z-28 and z-lux, but realized that not only was it going to cost me some more $$, i would never lug two amps to a gig.
So i started shopping the z-28 around and ran across this Protocaster Tee-type in the classifieds of tgp. I've always had my eye on guitars like nash, dano's, fender custom shop relics, but never heard of Protocasters. After some research, i quickly realized that josh grove's work is well respected not only on tgp, but by other luthiers and many people who have him refinish their guitars. I decided to make an offer and we were able to work a deal out.
The Protocaster '59 Tee type has everything i loved about the diff teles i've had and is overall more of what i was looking for. It has a nice medium-large neck (not a baseball bat) that just fits perfectly in my hand KIND OF like the AVRI, but MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE and without the sticky finish. It also has the ash body of the AVRI as well. It has the rosewood board i loved on the suhr, but the neck feels more comfortable and "at home" TO ME. The guitar overall weighs shy of 7 lbs and is about a pound lighter than the other two teles i've had. Just overall, extremely comfortable and a joy to play.
THE SOUND: The AVRI i had was lifeless unplugged compared to the suhr and the protocaster. Unplugged, it feels like the edge goes to the protocaster for resonance over the classic t i had. The protocaster has a Don Mare Super Sport in the neck position and a Peter Florance TE-60 (RIP) in the bridge. This florance TE60 bridge pickup is hands down the best tele bridge sound i've had to date. I think it’s the BL model and is maybe overwound a bit. This includes any of the custom shop teles i've played and any other tele i've ever held. Strumming a chord clean, or dirty with my timmy or black box 2 through the z-lux just put this huge grin on my face and i couldn't stop smiling or playing. flipped on my trusty handwired forest green compressor pedal in sustain mode and my goodness, the snap and snarl of the TE60 is second to none. So thankful I have this pickup! The middle position with the two pickups combined is some of the best funk and rhythm tones i've had as well and sounds lovely clean playing open chords. Neck by itself is lush and can go from jazzy sounds with the tone rolled off to a nice rhythm tone.
Overall, I am extremely happy with this guitar. The relic job on it is very tasteful and truly feels like an old guitar (nitro checking makes me happy...so do clay dot inlays!). The guitar seems to have had some minor dings to some parts of the neck where the RW board and maple neck meet. That may have either happened during the building process or when it was played, but I feel as though it just adds to the overall vibe of the guitar (and it's only noticeable to the eye when looking for it...don't feel it when playing).
If you're even considering a protocaster, just do it. I can't see myself ever letting go of this guitar. Josh grove is just a great guy too. I called him to talk about the guitar and we spent about 30 minutes chatting. He talked to me about his process and how he hand carves each of the necks and his process for finishing and setting up his guitars. Just a cool dude with such an amazing depth of knowledge of vintage guitars and how they should feel. Although I will miss having my z-28, this old blond will do! Oh, and clay dots!!
My Tele Journey:
Fender AVRI 52 2007: Loved this guitar but didn't really get along with the neck finish (way too sticky) I had changed the pickups to Lollar Special T's and this was my main guitar for some time. The opportunity came to trade this guitar for a Suhr Classic T (plus $300 on my end) and I took the plunge.
Suhr Classic T olympic white with rosewood board: This guitar was beautiful. It was with this guitar that i realized i prefer rosewood boards on tele's. Overall, this guitar was great, but something was missing. I'm not sure if it was the stainless steel frets, poly finish, or what it was...maybe it felt too perfect? SO i traded the Suhr Tele for a PRS Stripped 58 (which i eventually traded for my current amp - Dr. Z Seafoam Green Z-LUX 1x12 combo- one of my best trades to date...Teedawg seems to love the PRS too!)
So after all this trading, i was left with my Dr. Z Z-28 1x10, Dr. Z Z-LUX, and my Gretsch g6112-TCB JR (my most sentimental guitar alongside my Martin D-17M).
I began to miss having a tele. Even when I had the PRS, i always wondered if I had made a mistake trading the suhr away because i loved how single coils could be so dynamic and open, and i couldn't get the PAF style 57/08's to sound like single coils no matter how i tried (they were great humbuckers though, no option to tap). I really didn’t want to go down the rabbit hole of PAF pickups and coil tappable pickups. There’s something about a good tele with that 25.5 scale length that just does it for me. i dunno. Maybe I’m just a tele guy.
I thought that I would run a wet dry rig with the z-28 and z-lux, but realized that not only was it going to cost me some more $$, i would never lug two amps to a gig.
So i started shopping the z-28 around and ran across this Protocaster Tee-type in the classifieds of tgp. I've always had my eye on guitars like nash, dano's, fender custom shop relics, but never heard of Protocasters. After some research, i quickly realized that josh grove's work is well respected not only on tgp, but by other luthiers and many people who have him refinish their guitars. I decided to make an offer and we were able to work a deal out.
The Protocaster '59 Tee type has everything i loved about the diff teles i've had and is overall more of what i was looking for. It has a nice medium-large neck (not a baseball bat) that just fits perfectly in my hand KIND OF like the AVRI, but MUCH MORE COMFORTABLE and without the sticky finish. It also has the ash body of the AVRI as well. It has the rosewood board i loved on the suhr, but the neck feels more comfortable and "at home" TO ME. The guitar overall weighs shy of 7 lbs and is about a pound lighter than the other two teles i've had. Just overall, extremely comfortable and a joy to play.
THE SOUND: The AVRI i had was lifeless unplugged compared to the suhr and the protocaster. Unplugged, it feels like the edge goes to the protocaster for resonance over the classic t i had. The protocaster has a Don Mare Super Sport in the neck position and a Peter Florance TE-60 (RIP) in the bridge. This florance TE60 bridge pickup is hands down the best tele bridge sound i've had to date. I think it’s the BL model and is maybe overwound a bit. This includes any of the custom shop teles i've played and any other tele i've ever held. Strumming a chord clean, or dirty with my timmy or black box 2 through the z-lux just put this huge grin on my face and i couldn't stop smiling or playing. flipped on my trusty handwired forest green compressor pedal in sustain mode and my goodness, the snap and snarl of the TE60 is second to none. So thankful I have this pickup! The middle position with the two pickups combined is some of the best funk and rhythm tones i've had as well and sounds lovely clean playing open chords. Neck by itself is lush and can go from jazzy sounds with the tone rolled off to a nice rhythm tone.
Overall, I am extremely happy with this guitar. The relic job on it is very tasteful and truly feels like an old guitar (nitro checking makes me happy...so do clay dot inlays!). The guitar seems to have had some minor dings to some parts of the neck where the RW board and maple neck meet. That may have either happened during the building process or when it was played, but I feel as though it just adds to the overall vibe of the guitar (and it's only noticeable to the eye when looking for it...don't feel it when playing).
If you're even considering a protocaster, just do it. I can't see myself ever letting go of this guitar. Josh grove is just a great guy too. I called him to talk about the guitar and we spent about 30 minutes chatting. He talked to me about his process and how he hand carves each of the necks and his process for finishing and setting up his guitars. Just a cool dude with such an amazing depth of knowledge of vintage guitars and how they should feel. Although I will miss having my z-28, this old blond will do! Oh, and clay dots!!