Banjo is for people who can't play the fiddle.

That TJWX5 dude's guitar is pretty ugly looking, IMO. I don't have some strict philosophy about guitar design, you can make a Telecaster pretty much any way you want - I think Mare's being a little silly about that. I just don't like how it looks. I've never liked quilted maple at all and I've always thought it reeked of cheapo $200 Chinese made guitars that try to look way fancier than they really are. Flame maple, on the other hand, looks very nice and much less plastic-y. Binding looks pretty odd on Telecasters 90% of the time, and that headstock is pretty strange as well.

I kind of like the Gretsch Tele though.

There's this wild-looking, obscure old Rickenbacker guitar that's green with an anodized gold pickguard. I've always thought it would be interesting to make a semihollow Tele in the same color with the gold pickguard, and use Rickenbacker pickups to get a Rick-like sound and aesthetic with the playability of a Tele.

[img]http://www.rickresource.com/register/user_images/7941/2.jpg[/img]

The 'Tulip' guitar. Rickenbacker had several weird designs that i'm not particularly a fan of. I always rather liked the old Combo 600, though.

[img]http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IX4_F2KDiGE/TZ9RXoBDQcI/AAAAAAAAAKM/rbU4wkqcxk4/s1600/combo.jpg[/img]

[quote="ThinlineTele"]That TJWX5 dude's guitar is pretty ugly looking, IMO. I don't have some strict philosophy about guitar design, you can make a Telecaster pretty much any way you want - I think Mare's being a little silly about that.[/quote]

lol yet you agree with my reasoning of what makes it look bad, I assume? I didn't say you couldn't make a tele any way you wanted, but I do believe that one of the most important/iconic things about a Telecaster-type guitar is the aesthetic, which is about those simple, beautiful curves. So, how am I being silly?

[quote="ThinlineTele"] I've never liked quilted maple at all and I've always thought it reeked of cheapo $200 Chinese made guitars that try to look way fancier than they really are. Flame maple, on the other hand, looks very nice and much less plastic-y. Binding looks pretty odd on Telecasters 90% of the time, and that headstock is pretty strange as well.
[/quote]

I was quite surprised that some here do not like figured maple, that top cost almost $200, it is AAA quilt maple. My guitar does not have actual binding, it is faux binding. The color is painted on the top of the maple, and you leave the edge of the maple top unpainted.

My idea for my guitar was not that original anyways, when I was working at Fender I saw alot of these at the custom shop.

[img]http://www.stratcollector.com/images/stratandteleset.gif[/img]

[quote="Marekenshin"]So, how am I being silly?[/quote]

Well you were an absolute jerk for no reason. I did not care that you did not like my guitar, like many here, but at least the rest were civil. What pissed me off about you was that you vulgarly, and callously ranted about your dislike for my guitar unprovoked.

Vulgarly and callously? lol k

I'm sorry you felt insulted, but I didn't start getting "vulgar" or "callous" until you started getting really upset at the mere fact that I called the headstock and pickguard "incongruous" and made one joke about the "ugly being catching." In fact, you mocked ME with a silly image before I bothered to use strong words about my dislike for the design. And even when I did get "callous," it was saying my honest opinion that such a design misses the point of a Telecaster, with no insults directed at you or your abilities. Chillaxe, bro. If you can't stand criticism over artistic projects, you should probably not show them to people. I even told you that those parts would look great on other types of guitars, but that I personally didn't like the look on Teles. If I may ask, just what was so "callous" about it, other than what I've admitted to (which wasn't even really "callous" at all)?

[quote="TJWX5"]Well you were an absolute jerk for no reason. I did not care that you did not like my guitar, like many here, but at least the rest were civil. What pissed me off about you was that you vulgarly, and callously ranted about your dislike for my guitar unprovoked.[/quote]

Kinda agreeing with you here. Yeah, I too called it ugly (and I wouldn't have done so to your face), but Mare's reaction was more like "You have spat on the legacy of Fender craftsmanship, something akin to insulting my own family and God." I would see where he's coming from a bit more if he had commissioned you to build a Tele with his own, more traditional, aesthetic tastes in mind. Like if there was money exchanged.

But nah, like it or not, this guitar is TJWX5's aesthetic truth. We don't have to asskiss him, but I would say Mare went kind of insultingly far (which did probably open the flood gates for more harsh criticism, which is my/our fault, not Mare's. I blame the internet). His design choices should definitely be on the table for discussion, but we should respect the fact that he put a lot of skill, time, and creativity into this thing. If I could craft a handmade uggabug Tele, I would be thrilled, and I would feel bad when my music-peers trash it.

[quote="Mare"]Stop getting offended[/quote]

Duder, you not only said his guitar looked like shit, you told him his direction was [i]wrong[/i]. There's a difference between "I don't like that design" and "There is no way this guitar is possibly attractive, to anyone, throughout any time in history." Mare, you are working off the rubric that Fender's iconic body has only a few possible alternative design choices open to it: bold colors, maybe a 3TS, standard Tele pickguard, standard Tele headstock (which TJ said he would have gotten sued for). Whether most people would agree with you aesthetically or not is sort of beside the point. That is because you were trying to shove your dominant view down his throat. [b]If we shit on any sort of deviation from what is considered the "norm," then innovating becomes much more difficult. And I like Jazzmasters.[/b]

[quote="Mare"]I'm sorry you felt insulted[/quote]
NOT A FUCKING APOLOGY, DON'T EVEN PRETEND.

[quote="Mare"]you mocked ME with a silly image[/quote]
Not even close to (uncalled for) mockery. Guy was defending himself against the notion that he must conform to your taste-standards and style.

[quote="Mare"]I personally didn't like the look on Teles[/quote]
Again, nothing personal about it. You were enforcing and trying to make it seem like you were being passive and reasonable while he was being a bully. Not coo.

[quote="Marekenshin"]If you can't stand criticism over artistic projects, you should probably not show them to people. If I may ask, just what was so "callous" about it, other than what I've admitted to (which wasn't even really "callous" at all)?[/quote]

I would have liked some constructive criticism, but that is not what you did. If you believe that using foul language directed at a persons art is acceptable, you are socially arrested.

[quote="GoldenRhino"]Cool stuff[/quote]

Thank you GR.

[quote="GoldenRhino"]Duder, you not only said his guitar looked like shit, you told him his direction was [i]wrong[/i]. There's a difference between "I don't like that design" and "There is no way this guitar is possibly attractive, to anyone, throughout any time in history."[/quote]
Pretty much this.

[quote="Marekenshin"]lol yet you agree with my reasoning of what makes it look bad, I assume? I didn't say you couldn't make a tele any way you wanted, but I do believe that one of the most important/iconic things about a Telecaster-type guitar is the aesthetic, which is about those simple, beautiful curves. So, how am I being silly?[/quote]

Yeah, I pretty much agree with that. I just don't necessarily think a Tele has to be "simple" for some abstract reason - in theory, you can make a very attractive Tele that is more "complicated," such as with a figured maple top, gold hardware, more pickups, and that sort of thing, even though I don't like how it looks in his guitar.

Though come to think of it, most of the ones I've seen like that haven't been very attractive to me - maybe because I feel that the pickguard looks a little out of place with a figured top? The first guitar posted in this thread comes pretty close to sexiness, though!

I tend to agree with what Rhino's saying, Mare. In this thread, you come across as remarkably similar to those semi-autistic/antisocial aspergian kids all over the internet who get shocked and offended when someone doesn't think the exact same way as them. Something about internet forums seems to attract those kinds of people like flies to a dead rat slathered in maple syrup. The simple fact that you have a girlfriend tends to make me think you're not [i]really[/i] one of those people, but man, if this thread was all I had to go by, you'd sure fool me.

Sigh. I have apologized to him legitimately twice now, and I have already more than once complimented the design of the parts (while stating that I simply don't think they look good on a Telecaster in specific), and I've been aware from the start that he can't put a Fender Telecaster headstock on there. Additionally, curse words in a post from somebody who uses curse words regularly is not at all the same thing as "using foul language at somebody's art." I went overboard with some of my comments, AFTER he mocked me (and yes, I'm aware it was not necessarily to the same scale, etc, but when you're in a shitty mood, you take things differently; I went that far specifically because I was annoyed at my perception of him mocking me, so I decided to be more insulting to troll and annoy him), and I have already apologized. There are literally TWO posts that had one sentence each in them that were over the top, and the rest was just back-and-forth, yet here you are jumping all over me still despite the fact that it's been finished for a while. I'm done with this discussion. If TJ's still insulted, I'll talk with him on Steam and apologize again/more fully to him, but there's no need for people to try to stir shit back up after it's already settled down with some meta-analysis of how "boo-hoo rude" I was (GR).

@Thinline: I don't think a Tele has to be simple over-all, but I think the "simple curves" is the basis of their aesthetic design. For example, a 3TS finish isn't really a "simple" type of finish. And I'm sorry if me being grumpy makes me post angrily and troll people, apparently you've never done such a thing.

[quote="ThinlineTele"]I tend to agree with what Rhino's saying, Mare. In this thread, you come across as remarkably similar to those semi-autistic/antisocial aspergian kids all over the internet who get shocked and offended when someone doesn't think the exact same way as them. Something about internet forums seems to attract those kinds of people like flies to a dead rat slathered in maple syrup. The simple fact that you have a girlfriend tends to make me think you're not [i]really[/i] one of those people, but man, if this thread was all I had to go by, you'd sure fool me.[/quote]

LOL, I would have said almost the same thing, except I thought it was a bit rude.

I originally did not want to use a pickguard since it would cover the beautiful figure of the wood.
Kind of like this
[img]http://www.telecastergallery.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10006/AmberTele1.jpg[/img]
But my playing style is very rough on guitars, and would have destroyed the beautiful top. So I designed a pickguard that covered the area that gets the most damage from my picking style, and that covered the least amount of the guitar's top. And it has worked very well for what I purposed it for.

[quote="Marekenshin"]I went overboard with some of my comments, AFTER he mocked me (and yes, I'm aware it was not necessarily to the same scale, etc, but when you're in a shitty mood, you take things differently; I went that far specifically because I was annoyed at my perception of him mocking me, so I decided to be more insulting to troll and annoy him), and I have already apologized.
[/quote]

[quote="Marekenshin"]You put that shit on a more metal-looking guitar, it'd be cool. As it is, I wouldn't let that guitar near my MIJ '62 reissue 3TS Tele for fear that the ugly is catching. I'm sorry, it's the truth.[/quote]
This was before I posted that little image. You called my design "shit" how do you not realize that is offensive. And then you stated it as truth. I find foul language offensive, it is extremely disrespectful, low class, and for people who have a small vocabulary. I only ever used it when I really am trying to disrespect someone, and I strive not to use such language anymore.

Sounds like you are the one who really got offended here, just with that little image. The thing is you are an extremely opinionated person, that is actually the truth. I am not the one at fault for you having a bad day, you need to find other ways of venting your anger. I could have told you off, but I did not. Guitars are very precious instruments to me, I love almost all guitars, and when someone insults any guitar I get offended.

[quote="TJWX5"]This was before I posted that little image. You call my design "shit" how do you not realize that is offensive. And then you stated it as truth. I find foul language offensive, it is extremely disrespectful, low class, and for people who have a small vocabulary. I only ever used it when I really am trying to disrespect someone, and I strive not to use such language anymore.[/quote]

I was not saying your design was shit, I said "you put that shit," with "shit" being a generic term for "stuff," "things," etc. Again, I swear. A lot. I would have hoped that my general posting style combined with the fact that I said it would look good on other things would be enough for that to come across properly, but I can see now that it did not. I'm sorry, that was not at all what I meant. You read into that incorrectly, it seems, which sparked of a chain of me also reading into your image more than you intended. Assuming, asses of you and I, etc.

Sure is whiny in here.

Also, GR, not going to be a dick here, but it's a bit rude to call me out after the fact just because others are insulted. You didn't seem to have any problems with anything being posted, and even mocked it with "itt about ugly guitars." Hypocritical, bro. And then on top of that you question the validity of people's apologies?